The cornerstone of the REAL LIFE program is a 23-module curriculum written by Dr. Scarbrough. The curriculum is based on trauma-informed care and behavior modification. This approach is unique to REAL LIFE due to the complexity, intensity, and significant training required to implement. The curriculum’s behavioral modification focus inspires participants to face their problems and overcome their addictive lifestyles, whether it is to drugs, alcohol, dealing drugs, women, cars, etc.—namely, whatever placed them in their current situation, and so often kept them caught in the cycle time and time again. Highlights of Our Curriculum Written by REAL LIFE Founder and Director, Dr. Sarah Scarbrough after working with thousands of inmates over 10 years within a jail setting and in the community. Written through a trauma-informed lens, this curriculum uses social learning models and cognitive-behavioral interventions to help participants restructure and reframe destructive thought patterns while developing healthy coping skills. One curriculum that encompasses a comprehensive approach to addressing addictions and behaviors to modify thinking. Written specifically for education levels of 6th grade for men and 9th grade for women. Focused on long-term change, helping Lifers understand, apply and establish lasting change.
REAL LIFE’s core curriculum entitled Real Life with REAL LIFE, written by REAL LIFE Founder and Director Dr. Sarah Scarbrough, positively and comprehensively addresses addictions and behaviors, while working to also modify thinking. Dr. Scarbrough authored Real Life with REAL LIFE after years of searching for an appropriate curriculum and not finding one that was practical and all-encompassing for REAL LIFE and the Lifers. REAL used different curriculums in the past, but there were always problems. Some were written at an education level that was too advanced (the average education level of those served is 6th grade for men and 9th grade for women). Further, there was not ONE curriculum that encompassed all that was needed, and therefore the expectation was for an individual to go through many different curriculums in order to get all of the pieces needed for change. After working with thousands of inmates over 10 years in the jail, and then working a similar population in the community, Dr. Scarbrough realized a curriculum needed to be written. One that included all aspects of life that needed to be addressed in order to have LONG TERM change. Not just change for a month or a year, but LONG term. As such, Dr. Scarbrough took nearly a year and a half writing Real Life with REAL LIFE. She wrote it in a way that she knew was necessary for Lifers to understand, apply, and establish long term change. This curriculum is based on evidence-based practices and is in the research phase, so that it may become an evidence-based curriculum in the future.
