Robert Schwebel

Background

About Robert Schwebel

I wrote and developed The Seven Challenges® Program for adolescents and adults with drug problems, now widely used across the United States, and in Canada and Germany. More recently I wrote Leap of Power: Take Control of Alcohol, Drugs and Your Life, a self-help book available now for the general public. This continues my effort to provide progressive and empowering options to a population blamed (and sometimes shamed) and too often led to feel powerless about their own ability to take control of their lives. Leap of Power is written to inspire people to make their own informed decisions, including about their use of alcohol and other drugs, and to succeed with them. It is currently used in Challenging Yourself - The Seven Challenges counseling program for adults. My interest now is in confronting barriers that have kept individuals from getting high quality help in overcoming drug problems. A major barrier has been counseling approaches that are developmentally inappropriate for adolescents, and controlling, narrow-minded, and stigmatizing for the general population. I am directing my efforts toward replacing outdated dogma with progressive drug policy; developing effective self-help and counseling approaches that empower people to make their own decisions and improve their lives; and toward upgrading the counseling skills of professionals. I conduct training, do public speaking, and continue to provide oversight and work closely with organizations that use The Seven Challenges. As a clinical psychologist, I’ve worked in the field of mental health and drug counseling for more than 40 years and been the author of several books including Saying No Is Not Enough; Keep Your Kids Tobacco-Free; and Who’s on Top, Who’s on Bottom: How Couples Can Learn to Share Power. I’ve appeared on the Oprah Show, The Today Show, The CBS Early Show, CNN interviews and other national media. I contribute articles to thefix.com and pro-talk at rehabs.com.