THERAPY

THERAPY: A WAY TO COPE WITH THE STRESSORS OF COMING HOME

BY MAGGIE GREENE Program Director, Better Living Center The Fortune Society

On October 29th, 2019, The Fortune Society held its annual Hope and Justice Gala, where justice involved people gave speeches about their journeys returning home from prison and celebrated their achievements. There were many successes shared – people finding employment, completing internships, participating in Fortune’s transitional housing, and other important gains. The annual gala is a celebration of all the hard work that occurs within Fortune’s walls. However, coming home may not always feel like an easy path worth celebrating. Adjusting to the community after incarceration is fraught with many stressors, including accessing safe housing, reconnecting with family and friends, finding employment, and maintaining physical and mental health. Being in prison changes a person’s thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. Take a look at how you’re eating – do you attempt to eat your food as fast as possible? Do you often avoid the cafeteria due to the crowd? Do you eat with your food covered by one arm? A task that many people do not do mindfully – eating –

can become different inside the prison walls due to learned behaviors.

All of these behaviors may be signs of Adjustment Disorder, a clinically treatable mental health diagnosis that impacts 11 – 18% of people with any clinical psychiatric disorder. Adjustment Disorder is found in all age groups and all cultures, and is essentially the development of emotional or behavioral symptoms in response to a stressor. Coming home, you may experience feelings of hopelessness, nervousness, or other negative emotions or behaviors.

If you do, you may want to consider enrolling in therapy—a powerful way to help with the stressor of coming home. Therapy can be the first step in managing your mental health for life. However, it does not mean that you will be in therapy for life. The skills and self-knowledge you gain in therapy can stay with you long after you stop attending sessions. Therapy is essential in helping to recover and readjust back. Typically, a client comes weekly for individual therapy for a period of time, which can then be decreased to biweekly or monthly depending on the progress. Therapy is different from talking to a friend. A therapist creates a nonjudgmental, safe space for you to discuss successes and challenges in your life. Everyone’s life story is different, so therapists create an individualized treatment plan that focuses on strengths. The therapist can teach positive coping skills to help navigate the stressor of coming home. However, going to therapy, and making the decision to start it, is hard work. The choice to heal may require discussion of past wounds and traumas that impact us. Our bodies remember our mental pain in the same way they remember our physical pain. Do you know anyone who has ever broken their arm and says that it still tingles in the cold weather? Traumas often impact our bodies as well; when discussing a painful memory, your head may begin to hurt. Our bodies remember our mental pain like physical pain.

Additionally, there is stigma associated with mental health. However, this is a negative stereotype that is not rooted in the reality of what therapy entails and who seeks mental health help. If you find yourself having difficulty after coming home, you owe it to yourself to focus on your mental health and have therapy be a part of your coming home journey. Therapy can help shape you to be the best version of yourself – a version that may one day be celebrated at Fortune’s annual gala. If you are seeking mental health treatment after release, you are welcome to come to our New York State Office of Mental Healthlicensed Better Living Center (BLC), which offers services to individuals with mental health needs and histories of justice involvement.  “Therapy can be the first step in managing your mental health for life.”

INTERESTED IN ATTENDING THERAPY? HERE ARE SOME TIPS:

Accessing therapy inside: If you live in New York State, discharge planners in any state prison have a legal obligation to provide you with referrals for mental health treatment. A referral from a jail or a prison is seen as a priority by mental health clinics, and this may be the fastest way for you to receive an appointment. The first appointment in a mental health clinic may be an assessment screening where an intake coordinator gathers your demographic information, explains your rights as an outpatient client and administers some surveys. Then, you may meet with a licensed provider for the comprehensive psychosocial, which will require asking questions about your life story.

Your first session: Nothing is offlimits in therapy, although it may be hard to discuss at the first session! As staff, we try to create a place of comfort for you to begin to share your story, thoughts, and emotions. Depending on the setting, you may participate in individual, group, family, and couple’s therapy. You may also be required to see a psychiatric provider to complete a psychiatric evaluation.

After your initial sessions: If you tried a therapist, and he or she didn’t seem like a good fit, don’t give up on the therapeutic process! There are many different types of therapy. A therapist may be trained in a type of therapy that just doesn’t work for you—and that’s ok! You can always ask for a referral to a different provider. Don’t let disliking an individual therapist stop you from taking part in therapy overall.

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