A Non-Profit Public Benefit Corporation 501c (3)

A few tips on Attitudinal Healing Groups in prison:

1. We supply well-trained and committed (trust is a big issue) facilitators, min.6 months at once a week. That is a minimum 3/4 hours each week driving and entry and exit.
   
   
2. Prison gives us a consistent weekly classroom or chapel space where we can have privacy and the attention of our prisoners for 1/12 to 2 hours.
   
   
3. Prison 'supplies' 8 to 10 prisoners per group who will be able to make each session. Can be volunteers or "command performance". I've done both with equal results. (I have facilitated 4 groups in one day, two days per week, for more than a year, at 8am, 10am, 12pm and 2pm with no problem.)
   
   
4. Ethnic mix of each group must be the same as prison stats i.e. 46% black, 29% Latino and 25% cauc.. (Important that there is not a 'white group', a black group, etc.)
   
   
5. "NO DROP OUT" contract with prisoners. Prisoners should have a minimum of 6 months left on their sentence.
   
   
6. Physical safety of facilitator is a minor issue but two per group is critical unless the facilitator has very strong experience, i.e. Ex-prisoner, addict etc. as arguments/discussions are sometimes heated.
   
   
7. Permission from the prison admin. to give collateral material, mini-courses, books, etc. to prisoners where allowed. These are good incentives for prisoners to show up for groups, and, for group participants to share their knowledge with other prisoners. Even a small % of "practicing prisoners" will change the energy of the entire prison/unit. Almost all of our group participants become teachers and leaders of others.
   
   
8. Certificates of completion are important to prisoners. Ours decree that participants are certified as "TEACHERS OF PEACE".
   

In one unit of 88 male addicts we succeeded in reducing the "incident rate" from an average of 112 per month to less than 5 per month utilizing Attitudinal Healing groups and meditation/yoga instruction along with other volunteer programs such as a.a./n.a., Alternatives To Violence workshops and 'community' meetings. We also encouraged prisoners to take available correspondence courses such as High School GED, parenting, etc..