Seven Weeks Out

Who it was for

The family member, sponsor or friend a client names on their relapse prevention plan, who is given a list of warning signs and no training at all.

The problem

People locate relapse at the moment of use, which puts the intervention at the least tractable point available. The emotional stage runs for weeks and is entirely visible, but it looks like nothing: two missed meetings, shorter replies, irritation when asked.

What I did

Branching where the branches are ordinary. The learner is never told which stage the character is in, because no observer is told that in life. Endings are graded by how early you acted rather than pass or fail, and each one ends in the backward reconstruction the session teaches: the path replayed, colour-coded by stage, with the earliest detectable point marked.

What this shows

• Branching built so the consequence teaches rather than scores
• Designing for the audience a curriculum names but never trains
• Scenario writing where the dramatic moment is deliberately absent