It’s probably obvious to most Tribune readers that I am a novice writer. Putting my thoughts, or the stories of others, into print is my hobby — albeit one I am passionate about.

My true passion, however, lies in the responsibilities of my “real” job as a cognitive specialist at STAR Community Justice Center in Franklin Furnace.

Felons, the “students” who attend my classes, aren’t the only ones among us who struggle to make common sense decisions in life (me included).

I’ve noticed that most of the topics that the other cognitive specialists and I routinely teach could benefit members of our community. They certainly help me.

So, if you’ll indulge me, I would like to share, in this and future columns, some of the topics STAR residents are taught. Please note that I do not claim to be Ann Landers or Dr. Phil. I’ve screwed up in life more times than I care to count. But, I genuinely feel that everyday citizens can benefit from the curriculum taught at my facility.

The cornerstone of our curriculum is called “Thinking for a Change,” which is titled with an intentional double entendre. Our residents are taught to think about their thinking (which has resulted in incarceration) to alter their behaviors and eliminate consequences for themselves and others.

This course, created for the National Institute of Corrections by Barry Glick, Ph.D., Jack Bush, Ph.D., and Juliana Taymans, Ph.D., is a simple and wonderful breakdown of the human thinking process. It places emphasis on the thoughts that lead to emotions, which are driven by underlying attitudes and beliefs that ultimately lead to success or failure in life.

As an example, suppose you are running late for work and get stuck behind a slow driver on a winding, two-lane road. How do you react? Are you banging on the steering wheel while placing a finely manicured digitus medius in your windshield? Do you feel your body giving you anger cues, such as clenched muscles, rapid breathing or an increased heart rate?

Do you ride the bumper of this turtle, weaving in and out of your lane in a futile attempt to pass while growing more impatient and, along the way, more angry? Are you screaming expletives at the top of your lungs decrying the licensing procedure for morons in your state?

Once you arrive at work, do you carry this anger with you throughout the day, negatively affecting your relationships with clients and coworkers (blaming everyone else but yourself for your problems, of course)?

Does this behavior eventually land you in your supervisor’s office for an attitude adjustment?

And if that attitude adjustment wasn’t dialed to the right frequency, do you take these newly created problems home, kick your dog, scream at your spouse and create even more problems?

If so, you need to Stop and Think (a Thinking for a Change staple) about who really made you mad. The slow driver didn’t force you to become upset and alter your outcomes for the entire day, your perceptions did. You just willfully followed along because that’s how you’ve always done it in the past.

How many of these problems could have been avoided if you had taken a moment to dispute your thoughts, and the resulting anger, by asking, “What part did I play in this?” Could you have possibly left home a little earlier to avoid all of this stress? Was it really worth it to allow this situation to spoil your day before it really began and create such a mess?

An emotion, such as anger, cannot be formed without a thought to support it. Thoughts drive emotions. Emotions, if left unchecked, drive behavior. Behavior produces consequences.

In this simple scenario, consequences could have easily been avoided if you challenged your own thinking. You are the only person in this world who can make you mad. Nobody else can think you into a rage.

Thinking for a Change literally asks people to talk to themselves and question the thinking that leads to emotions and, ultimately, behavior.

If you’d like to check it out for yourself, visit http://nicic.gov/T4C.

We all think. How we think determines who we become.

Billy Bruce, M. Ed., is a nationally certified counselor who works as a cognitive specialist at STAR Community Justice Center in Franklin Furnace, Ohio. He can be reached via email at hollandkat3@aol.com.