John Sornberger, MA, LADC (retired), Author of Challenge Master
As preparation for my 25 year career as a mental health and substance abuse counselor, I sought comprehensive training in very different theoretical approaches to client needs. First, I trained in Transactional Analysis and Gestalt therapy in order to earn an advanced degree in Humanist Psychology. Then I trained extensively in Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) for three years and became certified as a Master Programmer. I developed my initial counseling skill set by cherry picking what I considered to be the “best of” from these approaches.
Initially, I worked exclusively with adults in a group practice. A high success rate led to an offer to become the Students' Counselor at Pomfret School, a prestigious local preparatory school. I accepted, but knew I needed to change what I offered to become age appropriate and helpful. I began doing so and again had a high success rate.
After several years working there as a mental health counselor, I decided to become a substance abuse counselor as well. I trained, became licensed, and began working in an outpatient clinic with mandated court-referred parole and probation clients. They all had a primary diagnosis of substance abuse (primarily heroin). Once again, I knew I would need to expand the change techniques I could offer. I would be counseling clients who had recently been released from prison, were told they must see me whether they wanted to or not, and were being asked to give up what was usually the only way they knew how to numb the pain of past trauma and abuse. Having a high success rate with this population would require change techniques that were powerful and fast-acting, as well as easy to learn and internalize. My response to this challenge was to develop and then teach my clients a set of self-regulation skills. I cherry picked some of the techniques I was already employing, while also designing other techniques that were uniquely my own.
It turned out that teaching clients these skills resulted in a higher than normal success rate; it was not unusual for me to get calls from probation officers regarding clients to say thing like “I don’t get it. I don’t know what you are doing with…..but keep doing it.” For many clients learning to control anger and rage would be their key to recovery.
When I was first asked to lead the clinics’ anger management group, I realized that all of the “Anger Management” approaches I knew of were significantly flawed, because they were only helpful to clients when they were thinking clearly. But I knew that whenever clients would experience feelings of anger or rage that get too intense too quickly, as they often do, clear thinking was not a reliable option. The anger management group I was asked to run was a success because participants learned how to access clear thinking. They had learned how to quickly reduce the intensity of their “over threshold” feelings of anger and rage.
The success of that counseling experience motivated me to continue to further refine the self-regulation skill set to help clients successfully take on a wide range of challenges. These refined skills are now embedded in the Challenge Master Tutorial. The impetus for this was when a frustrated friend, a middle school teacher who was familiar with my work, asked me if I thought the techniques I had assembled and developed would work with young learners as well. I was instantly intrigued by the idea and when I explored and tested that possibility, I found out that they could work. The first teaching vehicle I developed for young learners was called Self-Mastery and Success. It is the source material for Challenge Master and is a four work-book course designed for classroom use. That initial and well received work was designed before computer assisted learning and apps were established protocols. That foundational work has evolved into a cutting edge computer based tutorial and app that I am proud to now introduce.
Initially, I worked exclusively with adults in a group practice. A high success rate led to an offer to become the Students' Counselor at Pomfret School, a prestigious local preparatory school. I accepted, but knew I needed to change what I offered to become age appropriate and helpful. I began doing so and again had a high success rate.
After several years working there as a mental health counselor, I decided to become a substance abuse counselor as well. I trained, became licensed, and began working in an outpatient clinic with mandated court-referred parole and probation clients. They all had a primary diagnosis of substance abuse (primarily heroin). Once again, I knew I would need to expand the change techniques I could offer. I would be counseling clients who had recently been released from prison, were told they must see me whether they wanted to or not, and were being asked to give up what was usually the only way they knew how to numb the pain of past trauma and abuse. Having a high success rate with this population would require change techniques that were powerful and fast-acting, as well as easy to learn and internalize. My response to this challenge was to develop and then teach my clients a set of self-regulation skills. I cherry picked some of the techniques I was already employing, while also designing other techniques that were uniquely my own.
It turned out that teaching clients these skills resulted in a higher than normal success rate; it was not unusual for me to get calls from probation officers regarding clients to say thing like “I don’t get it. I don’t know what you are doing with…..but keep doing it.” For many clients learning to control anger and rage would be their key to recovery.
When I was first asked to lead the clinics’ anger management group, I realized that all of the “Anger Management” approaches I knew of were significantly flawed, because they were only helpful to clients when they were thinking clearly. But I knew that whenever clients would experience feelings of anger or rage that get too intense too quickly, as they often do, clear thinking was not a reliable option. The anger management group I was asked to run was a success because participants learned how to access clear thinking. They had learned how to quickly reduce the intensity of their “over threshold” feelings of anger and rage.
The success of that counseling experience motivated me to continue to further refine the self-regulation skill set to help clients successfully take on a wide range of challenges. These refined skills are now embedded in the Challenge Master Tutorial. The impetus for this was when a frustrated friend, a middle school teacher who was familiar with my work, asked me if I thought the techniques I had assembled and developed would work with young learners as well. I was instantly intrigued by the idea and when I explored and tested that possibility, I found out that they could work. The first teaching vehicle I developed for young learners was called Self-Mastery and Success. It is the source material for Challenge Master and is a four work-book course designed for classroom use. That initial and well received work was designed before computer assisted learning and apps were established protocols. That foundational work has evolved into a cutting edge computer based tutorial and app that I am proud to now introduce.
Peter F. Love, MPH, PhD Educational Psychologist
Dr. Peter F. Love is an educational psychologist who has worked with people with a variety of cognitive and physical disabilities throughout his forty-year career. Dr. Love has worked in different capacities including community case worker, non-profit agency director, residential school director, college professor, and psychologist in private practice working with people with developmental disabilities, people with acquired brain injury and college students with learning disabilities. Dr. Love has also worked as a Birkman Method Certified life and career coach with agency executives and community leaders, helping them to overcome motivational and communication challenges that limit their job performance.
Dr. Love has also presented at national conferences on multiple topics related to people with disabilities. One of Dr. Love’s presentation specialty areas is helping students with cognitive and physical disabilities to successfully meet the challenges of transitioning into more demanding environments. Dr. Love has written instructional guides in a number of subject areas including: effective communication, behavioral interventions, overcoming the resistance to change, and successful academic strategies and skills.
Dr. Love first became involved with the Challenge Master program (originally called Self-Mastery and Success) when he was the Director of the Allen Institute-Center for Innovative Learning, a residential school for young adults with developmental and learning disabilities who had been unsuccessful in other educational environments. The Challenge Master program exposed the students to a novel and helpful way of addressing the uncertainties and insecurities developed over a lifetime of set-backs and discouragement. He is very pleased to be joining the Challenge Master team as an educational consultant
Dr. Love has also presented at national conferences on multiple topics related to people with disabilities. One of Dr. Love’s presentation specialty areas is helping students with cognitive and physical disabilities to successfully meet the challenges of transitioning into more demanding environments. Dr. Love has written instructional guides in a number of subject areas including: effective communication, behavioral interventions, overcoming the resistance to change, and successful academic strategies and skills.
Dr. Love first became involved with the Challenge Master program (originally called Self-Mastery and Success) when he was the Director of the Allen Institute-Center for Innovative Learning, a residential school for young adults with developmental and learning disabilities who had been unsuccessful in other educational environments. The Challenge Master program exposed the students to a novel and helpful way of addressing the uncertainties and insecurities developed over a lifetime of set-backs and discouragement. He is very pleased to be joining the Challenge Master team as an educational consultant
Jill B. McAllister, Tonsha Marketing Agency Owner
Tonsha's ideal customers are those who are passionate about their business - those who see their work as their mission. The customer is able to identify their unique purpose in how they serve others. With that foundation, Tonsha receives the insight and inspiration to create the marketing plan, materials and activities to best serve the customer in fulfilling their mission.
Jill began working on the Challenge Master project in 2011 after witnessing the passion of founder John Sornberger and experiencing the power of the CM program. She has assisted with strategic business planning that has directed product development, and has led marketing efforts, both as it relates to attracting investors and future marketing to consumers.
Tonsha Marketing Agency is a full-service marketing, printing and design firm. As owner, Jill is skilled in developing a clear understanding of her clients’ businesses and industries, and creating marketing plans that match objectives, competitive pressures, and allotted budgets. Tonsha’s talented designers and writers create attention grabbing materials for print and online that make lasting impressions on prospects and customers.
Jill began working on the Challenge Master project in 2011 after witnessing the passion of founder John Sornberger and experiencing the power of the CM program. She has assisted with strategic business planning that has directed product development, and has led marketing efforts, both as it relates to attracting investors and future marketing to consumers.
Tonsha Marketing Agency is a full-service marketing, printing and design firm. As owner, Jill is skilled in developing a clear understanding of her clients’ businesses and industries, and creating marketing plans that match objectives, competitive pressures, and allotted budgets. Tonsha’s talented designers and writers create attention grabbing materials for print and online that make lasting impressions on prospects and customers.