Maria Arpa
This week
More news from Portland Prison
Plus…
Maria’s Midweek Mindfulness
and
The Wednesday Whisper
Amazing progress
Last week David and I spent the week at Portland Prison with our Peaceful Solutions Facilitators. The project has only been live for a few months and I have been informed that there has already been a reduction in self harm and violence. Obviously we can’t take all the credit but we can certainly say we are part of Governor Pete Lewis’s vision for a safer jail.
This visit I was training the men in how to facilitate a programme I designed called, The Self Reflection Pack. This is an intense emotional journey which supports participants to examine their inner world in balance with what they manifest over a series of 21 exercises that includes embodiment, forgiveness and healing. It was used in Dartmoor to support prisoners who were stuck. Examples of its effectiveness include a man who had been an addict since the age of 12, now in his 40s undertaking the pack, overcoming his addiction and becoming a facilitator, and a man who had been in prison for 42 years, resigned to dying in prison, finally getting his Cat D (open conditions), after many parole refusals.
During the week we saw DRM in action as one of our facilitators arrived to the session in a state of shock and anger after an early morning incident. Over the course of an hour we were able to give him emergency First Aid Empathy which slowed down his thoughts and opened up capacity to receive wisdom from the other Facilitators. In a calmer space he was able to realise the range of choices available to him from his instinctive urge to retaliate, to acceptance. And I was able to explain that I would not love him any more or any less for whatever choice he made, while at the same time, some choices would naturally exclude him from continuing with the group because of our agreed code of conduct, yet he was empowered to make the choice that was right for him taking everything into account. He took time for his own self reflection, sleeping on it, and returned the next morning having made the choice to let it go, rise above it and stay part of the team. What was most important was the feeling he had in making that choice freely, not under threat, and how proud of himself he felt. What a wonderful foundation to build on.
The men will be undertaking the pack themselves over the next 12 weeks, facilitating each other and taking supervision from myself, David, Tom, Louisa and our team of DRM trained Volunteers. Not forgetting that one of our most experienced Facilitators of 8 years has now transferred to Portland, after choosing to give up a more comfortable prison, and has integrated into the team and is supporting their wellbeing and practice.
Not forgetting the staff team in Safer Custody who support the work by taking care of all the logistics that make it possible, and being pleasant and kind to work with.
Maria’s Midweek Mindfulness
We see so many examples of DRM in action in the prison as we watch our Facilitators, who are prisoners themselves, work in parallel on their own changes while supporting others.
The Wednesday Whisper
Are you moved by our work in prison? Would you like to hear more about how this programme works in any community?
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