Competence factors work in support groups too.
If you attend an alcoholics anonymous (AA) meeting, you’re provided with advice and personal experiences (skills) to fight alcoholism.
You have daily/weekly/monthly meetings to share your story with the group (opportunities).
You might get a sponsor who can give you one to one support (skills).
AA participants learn to tackle each day at a time, not focus on staying sober for the rest of their lives (optimal challenge).
Members also receive sobriety coins for remaining sober (achievement).
Whenever you’re tempted to have a drink, you can look down at their collection of coins to see how far you’ve come (progress). The number of days sober keeps adding up.
These six factors (skills, opportunities, challenges, achievement, progress and recognition) combined make AA a powerful tool for long-term behavior change.
How can you use them to change the behavior of group’s you’re working with?