What Is The Most Effective School of Therapy?

Very, VERY cautious optimism on the new program, rating Jason 0–9 on each of the five “M.A.G.I.C.” categories: Map, Action, Gratitude, Intention, Cleanliness (yes, I gamed that last “C” from its normal “Courage”)

He hates getting “zeroes” in anything. Very competitive. So if I give him a chance to make it up, he JUMPS at it. And I remind him that a “zero” in any category means a “zero” for the day. And he needs to have no “zero” days to get his higher stipend for the week.

The trick with teaching anybody anything is to break it down into chunks small enough for them to absorb, presented in the way they can best absorb it, and incentivized with BOTH pain and pleasure.

One of these days, I’ll tell him about something I do to cause myself pain, when “pleasure” isn’t enough to motivate me: burn a five dollar bill. THAT will do it. I HATE that. “If I don’t re-write that essay today, I have to burn a five dollar bill.”

That’s visceral. And you don’t have to do it more than once or twice before you realize this is real, and just the THOUGHT is painful. And no, giving that bill to someone else isn’t the same thing (although you might want to try it). It is literally just destroying a piece of your time and energy. Up in smoke.

It makes a good point.

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Anyway, while he didn’t wake up until 4 in the afternoon, and didn’t get to his meeting until five, he was VERY alert and communicative…