The WhyTry Life Skills Program approach
WhyTry’s strength based approach, using cognitive behavioural and solution-focussed strategies, represents what is currently considered to be best practice in the Community Services sector.
The WhyTry Life Skills Program teaches:
- Constructive problem solving and resilience
- Anger management, increasing social & emotional intelligence
- Understanding the consequences of decisions
- Removing negative labels, build self-esteem
- Dealing with negative peer pressure
- Living and keeping society’s laws and rules
- Building a support system
- The value of exerting time and effort and self-discipline
- Setting realistic goals and having a vision of one’s future.
WhyTry is a multi-sensory program (using ten visual analogies, ten songs, and 20 experiential activities) that is attractive and enjoyable to youth and adults. The Program’s modular format enables flexible and seamless delivery options in one-to-one or group scenarios. Certified WhyTry Facilitators are well supported by very user-friendly multi-sensory teaching and learning resources.
The Program teaches youth that it is worth trying hard and putting effort and time into worthwhile goals in life. The program empowers youth to learn to have more control over their lives, to make self-directed decisions leading to positive life-changing outcomes. WhyTry teaches that by putting more effort into life and not giving up a person is likely to secure more opportunity in life, freedom of choice and more self-respect.
The WhyTry Program teaches youth how to focus on solutions to their problems and convert their challenges and dreams, anger, frustration and fear into positive motivation and life outcomes. The Program enables each person to embark on a self-directed rehabilitative process, that places less emphasis on 'offending or negative' behavior by focusing more on the inherent strengths that each person demonstrates. It encourages self-accountability and responsibility for the consequences of One’s behaviour and actions and empowers a person to focus on what he/she can influence or change for the better.
The WhyTry Program is an early intervention tool that is also being adopted by Youth Service Agencies, ‘learning-to-work’ transition workers and counsellors outside the school environment or in alternative education settings.