MRT Class
MRT Class
Moral Reconation Therapy, or MRT for short, is a program that is intended to be used by substance abuse and offender populations. This program was made in 1985 by Dr. Gregory Little and Dr. Kenneth Robinson. Over 200 studies have been done showing that MRT is capable of decreasing recidivism significantly in offender’s populations even up to 20 years after the program is finished. MRT workbooks can handle a variety of different types of scenarios and people. Some of these include the following: adult & juvenile offenders, substance abusers, Veterans, trauma survivors, and many other populations.
MRT in its most basic form is a workbook with multiple steps that is completed by taking personal time to complete whatever is being asked for in each step. Each step is formulated in such a way to help the individual in the program recognize faulty patterns of thinking or actions being taken and upon making the issues known they are prompted to change these thought processes and actions via the steps upon which they are working.
MRT is defined on their website as the following:
“The term “moral” refers to moral reasoning based on Kohlberg’s levels of cognitive reasoning. The word “reconation” comes from the psychological terms “conative” and “conation,” both of which refer to the process of making conscious decisions. MRT is a cognitive-behavioral treatment system that leads to enhanced moral reasoning, better decision making, and more appropriate behavior.”
AACS Counseling has been using the MRT program with great results for multiple years. Here are some things that you can expect when taking an MRT Class with AACS Counseling:
- Randomized Drug Screens will be given throughout the entirety of the program. Failure to remain sober can have a number of different consequences which can even include termination from the program.
- Written Assignments
- Services done in the community
- Drawing and explaining
- Memorization
- Public speaking – You will be asked to present some of you steps in front of your peers. Your peers will even vote on whether or not you have done a step correctly and can pass on to the next portion of the class.
There are a variety of different reasons why someone would do MRT, but the most basic of these would be court-related circumstances involving either imprisonment or a substance abuse issue. The MRT class spends a great deal of time dealing with substance abuse and for good reason. MRT classes will help you recognize many of the faulty lines of thinking that could promote and exacerbate drug/alcohol use. Normally MRT is given out to individuals who have multiple arrests or charges to their name. Originally the class was specifically designed to be used on incarcerated individuals. Because long-term incarceration is normally preceded by more than one arrest, it makes sense that multiple misdemeanor type arrests would lead an evaluator or prosecutor to determine MRT as a viable program.
MRT is extremely useful in terms of the group as well. You will find yourself working with your peers on a number of different exercises and specifically either asking them questions about themselves and their own circumstances while also having your work critiqued as well. Being comfortable with the responses of others is one of the tenants of MRT and helps build useful relationships that can exceed the small amount of time spent in the actual class and can even blossom into long term relationships.
Two of the steps in MRT involve doing some sort of services to help your community. MRT is specific in its rules about this though. You are not allowed to help people you already know, and you are not allowed to do something that you already do. What this means is that if you are a landscaper, you could not mow your parents’ lawn for free or anyone else’s lawn. This gives the individuals an opportunity to get out of their comfort zones and both help and meet new people. Here at AACS Counseling MRT participants have done a multitude of good for their communities. From working at homeless and animal shelters, nursing homes and schools for the mentally challenged, our students have been capable of really giving back to the community.
MRT classes can be an extremely useful tool to getting an individual’s life back on track, and sometimes it can get someone’s life on a track that they had never even started. Much of MRT is figuring out what steps are needed to make life happen. Much of what is needed to get a start in life is just a recognition of what has happened, is happening, and what might happen if we put in enough effort. MRT allows us to become aware of our issues, accept that they are either changeable or not, and finally can help us place our attention exactly where it should be.