Equipping teens with resilience, positive mental health skills, and practical tools to overcome life’s challenges.

THRIVE is an evidence-supported, trauma-informed resilience and positive mental health curriculum that helps students in grades 6–12 build the skills they need to make healthy choices, manage stress, strengthen confidence, and navigate life’s challenges. Designed for schools, coalitions, counseling organizations, diversion programs, and youth-serving agencies, THRIVE delivers nine engaging lessons that are flexible, practical, and easy to implement in in-person, virtual, hybrid, or e-course formats.

Recognized by AHCCCS as a “Promising Practice” by SAMHSA standards, THRIVE focuses on protective factors, emotional awareness, healthy decision-making, substance misuse prevention, and real-world coping skills. The program is currently used across multiple states and youth-serving settings to equip teens with practical tools for resilience, purpose, and positive growth.

Program Overview

Vision Statement: “Empowering youth through skill-building and practical application to overcome and conquer life’s challenges, enabling healthy and productive lives.”

THRIVE focuses on the risk and protective factors that influence teen decision-making. Through a supportive learning environment, students are encouraged to reflect, participate, problem solve, and apply resilience concepts to real-life situations.

Trusted by Schools and Youth-Serving Organizations

AHCCCS deemed THRIVE a “Promising Practice” by SAMHSA standards. The program has been implemented in school districts, charter schools, coalitions, counseling organizations, diversion programs, children’s and group home organizations, and other youth-serving locations.

THRIVE has been delivered in numerous Arizona communities, including Mesa, Tucson, Chandler, Glendale, Tempe, Queen Creek, Casa Grande, Surprise, Buckeye, Peoria, Maricopa, Nogales, Patagonia, Rio Rico, San Luis, Douglas, Benson, Safford, Morenci, Clifton, Duncan, Coolidge, Apache Junction, Superior, Ajo, Marana, Sahuarita, Bullhead City, Lake Havasu City, Kingman, and the Colorado River Union High School District. THRIVE has also been used in states such as California, New Mexico, Washington, Nevada, Kentucky, Tennessee, Maryland, Georgia, Minnesota, Missouri, and South Carolina, as well as internationally in England, Ireland, New Zealand, the Cayman Islands, and Colombia.

Projected Outcomes

THRIVE is designed to help students strengthen the protective factors that support healthy behavior, resilience, and positive mental health. Projected outcomes include:

Reduced substance use and high-risk behaviors.
Improved life skills and emotional awareness.
Stronger healthy decision-making and problem-solving skills.
Increased mental fortitude, confidence, and personal responsibility.
Greater ability to identify stress, triggers, purpose, and realistic goals.

Reported Results

Organizations using THRIVE have reported measurable student growth and positive behavioral outcomes. Examples include:

Willis Jr. High in Chandler, Arizona: Reported a 66% reduction in substance-related offenses and a 40% reduction in tobacco/vape-related offenses after course completion.
PPEP / Pima County Community Prevention Coalition: December 2020 quarterly outcomes reported that THRIVE exceeded standards for increasing student knowledge of the risks and harms of youth substance use and improving life skills that mitigate trauma.
LPKNC survey results: Students increased their ability to understand and identify stress, triggers, purpose in life, and realistic goal setting.
Mesa Public Schools / Mesa Alliance: 70% of youth indicated they agreed they can work out personal problems if they try hard enough.
Casa Grande Alliance: Reported 77.7% growth in student understanding of healthy and effective coping skills for dealing with stress.

Funding and Qualification Highlights

THRIVE may qualify for a variety of school, prevention, behavioral health, and community-based funding sources. Examples of funding pathways and recognition include:

SAMHSA “Promising Practice” qualification.
AHCCCS recognition as a “Promising Practice.”
AZ GOYFF funding pathways.
DFC funding opportunities.
RICO funds where applicable.
Additional school, prevention, behavioral health, and community funding sources.

Program Features

Evidence-supported curriculum.
Trauma-informed lesson design.
Promising Practice by SAMHSA standards.
Protective factor-focused approach.
Motivational interviewing-style engagement.

The THRIVE model intentionally creates a positive, encouraging atmosphere where students can address unhealthy behaviors, recognize their value, focus on solutions, and internalize healthier lifestyles.

Curriculum Topics

Stress and the body.
Identifying emotions.
Sense of purpose and strength of character.
Influence
Risk and choices.
Optimism
Taking active responsibility.
Substance misuse: just the facts.
Resistance skills.

Program Format

Designed for students in grades 6–12.
Includes nine class sessions, approximately 40–50 minutes each.
Flexible implementation options allow lessons to be taught individually or combined into as few as five sessions.
Can be facilitated on successive days, two to three days per week, once per week, or on a customized schedule.

Flexible Delivery Options

THRIVE is designed to be dynamic, adaptable, and accommodating for both facilitators and students. The curriculum can be delivered in multiple formats to fit the needs of each setting.

Traditional in-person presentation using hard-copy materials.
Virtual presentation using downloadable and fillable student workbooks.
Hybrid delivery combining in-person instruction, virtual facilitation, and e-course options.
Standalone use or combined implementation with the THRIVE E-Course.

The program can be used alone or in combination with the E-Course.

Ready to Bring THRIVE to Your School or Organization?

Give students the tools they need to build resilience, manage stress, make healthy choices, and thrive through life’s challenges.

THRIVE is flexible, practical, and designed for schools, districts, coalitions, counseling organizations, diversion programs, and youth-serving agencies looking to strengthen teen resilience and positive mental health.

For more information or to schedule a consultation Contact us!

Click here to Order Course Materials

REFERENCE:

Arizona Youth Survey (Arizona Criminal Justice Commission

2018 School Substance Abuse Prevention Program Inventory (Governor’s Goal Council on Healthy Families)

Monitoring the Future Survey

SAMHSA - Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

Arizona Trauma Institute

The Arizona Adverse Childhood Experiences Consortium

7 Cs of Resilience – Dr. Ginsburg

5 Cs of Youth Development - Project Everlast

NIDA - National Institute on Drug Abuse

AZDHS - Arizona Department of Health Services

PRESENTATION METHOD:

The “Thrive “material is designed to intentionally create an atmosphere for the student to feel safe to participate, encourage reflection, promote critical thinking, and allow for relationship building.

The intention is to promote student participation and encourage the students to actively share, keeping the subject matter relative to their culture & life situations. The lessons provide direction then lead into open-ended style questions / fill-in charts, etc. to promote reflection and allow the students to participate and be empowered to be a part of the process and conclusions.

Significant student participation is largely based on how safe a student feels in the environment and the degree of relationship and connection they feel with the presenter. The material is designed to progressively become more internally focused, requiring more student vulnerability as the student progresses through the lessons. Intentionally establishing a safe environment and a healthy coach / mentor relationship will be important.

The material is also intentionally created to provide the same concepts for the presenter. The individual lesson concepts, instructors outline, notes, videos, suggested activities etc. are a guide and boundary for presenting the concepts. Each presenter & environment / culture have their own unique and diverse components. The material is designed to give the presenter liberty to adapt their own style, videos, suggested activities etc. that fit into the lesson concept and allow for the presenter to feel safe, encouraged, promoted, their critical thinking, etc.

The material is also designed to be flexible enough to reach teens from middle school level through high school. The presenter can adapt the discussions, questions, activities, etc. to the appropriate level of the students.

For Train the "Facilitator" & Train the "Trainer" Click the link or visit the page

Click for - Training / Facilitating

Upon successful completion, facilitators are given access to the THRIVE Training Portal where they have access to all the training materials needed to immediately begin facilitating the program.

(All Material is Copyrighted by Empowering Breakthrough LLC)

Email: [email protected]

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“THRIVE” Resilience Program for Teens

THRIVE Resilience Program for Teens