FINDING FREEDOM FROM BEHIND BARS: The writings contained within this compilation are the words of prisoners – inmates that have been involved in the Bethesda Family Services Foundation programs. As you read their expressions you will see some of the wounding that encompassed these individuals’ lives. And you will also see that these individuals have hope – hope for themselves, their families, their children, and the world. It is our belief that some of this hope was acquired through the teachings that they experienced through being part of Bethesda’s Relational Healing programs.

Relational Healing Workshops
Bethesda Family Services Foundation offers training to correctional staff and inmates through our powerful Relational Healing approach. Our healing model is based on the following premises:

• The source of all major problems and failure in humanity lies in relational conflict.
• Inmates above all others have no healthy dual relationships in their lives.
• Incarcerated individuals have offended their families, their victim(s), and society, resulting in their exile from the rest of the world.
• Inmates' total detachment from humanity hinders their adjustment back to their homes and society.
• When real internal change takes place in inmates' lives, there is a revived interest on the part of their families to reconnect with them in healthy ways.
• The end result of any healing process should be "anger dissolution" rather than anger management.

 
The focus of the Bethesda training program is on relational healing within the family lives of inmates. Participants will journey through our "Four Steps to Emotional Healing" process, which will provide opportunities for powerful disclosures, restorative meetings with those offended, and healed relationships. This model has been featured on several national prime time television documentaries including ABC World News Sunday.

Peer Governance Workshops
Bethesda offers training to correctional staff and inmates through our unique Peer Governance model (video). This proven approach ensures that the healing environment is safe, boundaries are well-defined, and accountability is consistent, allowing for healing of hearts and changing of lives.

Implementing Bethesda's Peer Governance model within a correctional setting will: 

• Establish a safe and practical governmental environment designed to maintain order.
• Allow individuals to better relate to one another.
• Give inmates a greater chance for family reconciliation and emotional healing.
• Increase incarcerated individuals' opportunities for success after release.
• Diminish the chance for recidivism.
• Reduce problems among inmates.
• Facilitate leadership mentoring and development within the inmate community.
• Empower everyone involved through a process of self-governance—one of the best ways to prepare inmates for re-entry into mainstream society.

Parenting & Family Healing Program(Video)
The pervasive theme throughout the Bethesda Parenting and Family Healing Program is one of healing the inmate's pain from the past, followed by positive change and a feeling of greater preparedness in coping with the complex demands of raising a child.

Implementing the Bethesda Parenting and Family Healing program will:

• Dissolve the anger within the inmate participant.
• Enhance inmates' relationships with their children, their spouse/partner, and their own parents.
• Offer an opportunity for intergenerational relationship healing.
• Enable inmates to better relate to one another without using abusive actions and language.
• Counteract negative family consequences due to incarceration.
• Maintain family contact during incarceration.
• Learn and use appropriate parenting techniques.
• Increase inmates' chances for success upon release.

Bethesda's methods focus on rage dissolution rather than anger management, which directly leads to victory and healing in the lives of inmates. When real internal change takes place, there is a revived interest on the part of inmates' families to reconnect with them in healthy ways. Bethesda staff members facilitate this change through intensive group and individual counseling. These powerful sessions, which are encompassed in our "Four Steps to Emotional Healing," require that every individual confront his/her own failures and make a purposeful decision for change. Breaking through the wall of denial allows our staff to prepare inmates for the steps of change. This is the beginning of their journey on the road of victory and healing in their lives.