This special 15-hour course is approved by the Alcohol and Drug credentialing board in Illinois.

The underlying assumption of this course is that some people use anger like a drug. They use anger to change feelings of powerlessness into feelings of power. Some people develop an anger habit.

In some cases, they become addicted to anger as a way to change how they feel. Often, addictive patterns of anger and rage surface when people begin the process of recovery from alcoholism and drug addiction. In fact, chronic anger and rage has long been know to be the number one trigger for relapse among recovering alcoholics and drug addicts.

Through this Pathways to Peace course, alcoholism and substance abuse counselors will learn to use a structured approach to helping clients heal from chronic anger and rage. The Pathways to Peace program is an intensive, structured learning experience that uses an interactive workbook. The workbook is organized into lessons and exercises that clients must read and respond to in writing. Counselors learn how to facilitate the Pathways to Peace program for alcoholism and substance abuse clients.

At the end of the course, participants will be able to teach clients how to effectively use the Pathways to Peace program to:

1. Complete an honest self-assessment for their anger problem
   
2. Identify anger as a problem and discovered how they learned their anger pattern
   
3. Recognize how they have used anger like a drug, in order to feel powerful
   
4. Find new, nonviolent ways to experience personal power
   
5. Learn how to change abusive and violent behaviors
   
6. Set meaningful goals for the future
   
7. Begin to reorganize their values to support a nonviolent, clean-and-sober lifestyle
   
8. Identify and change negative attitudes and beliefs about themselves and others
   
9. Avoid relapsing back into violent behavior and active chemical use after treatment
   
10. Develop a personal mission statement as an anchor for a nonviolent, chemical-free lifestyle
    
11. Utilize the Pathways to Peace self-help program in order to maintain recovery from chronic anger and rage

1. Read the workbook and finish the exercises.
   
2. Return the workbook to Transformations Enterprises.
   
3. Transformations Enterprises reviews your workbook immediately upon receipt, and sends back your workbook and certificate of completion by return mail, usually the next day.