“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but building on the new.”
Socrates
This week I will be writing about the introduction of the Green and Blue privilege system and my experiences prior and impact of the system.
I remember when the privilege system was first introduced during the beginning of my time at Ironwood. It had just been a few weeks after I arrived and I was beginning to feel the ropes of the program. I had experienced difficulties with staying focused and maintaining my motivation to move forward in my program, as there was not much that I really cared about, including my actions. I had been trapped and triumphed by my own behavior. This made my stay more challenging and my defiance as a predicament.
On Wednesday a brand-new system was introduced, privileges were becoming a tool provided for us to aid our focus and motivation. Every week your behavior would be charted and discussed for qualification in privileges. This brand new system helped me to spark the start of my success and hope to positively move forward in my program. This system created leverage in the program providing something immediate to work towards. A few weeks after the introduction, I was already making significant progress. My behavior was not quite perfect, but I was starting to begin an upward trend and picking up on techniques that were taught and provided during group sessions. Thinking before acting and speaking had been a problem for me and many peers, and we all were creating very quick progress motivated by the system. Healthy habits were being created through our eagerness and interest in the privilege system. The work we had put into redirecting and molding our behaviors fruited into rewards provided by the system, creating the gratification we needed to stay on-track and normalizing the use of coping techniques.
Not too long after, I had reached my later phase of the program at the Farmhouse. The redirection in thoughts and premeditated decisions has become habitual in my behavior and the privileges were also now just a plus. Since the introduction of the system, improvements were made promoting better behavior with new and better privileges. I am grateful for this system to help lead and motivate myself pushing success in my journey at Ironwood. Thank you Ironwood staff. Special thanks to the creators of the privilege system.