My Workshops in the Chippewa Correctional Facility
As Bryan Stevenson says,
“Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done.”
With this strongly held belief in mind, I traveled to the Upper Peninsula to deliver workshops to 60 incarcerated lifers in the Chippewa Correctional Facility this past weekend.
As I went through security and had my ID checked, I was thinking about the fact that it has been 3 years since I’ve last taught behind bars. I was nervous, but I reminded myself that I’ve done this many times, and did my best to remain focused on giving as much value to the men in this 1-time workshop as I possibly could.
Meanwhile, my fiance and family sat in the car, simultaneously supportive of the work I was doing, and a little freaked out at the idea that I was going into a prison alone for the first time (in the past, I had co-facilitators).
Once inside, I was greeted by Demel Dukes and a few other leaders of the National Lifers Association Chapter there. These men care a whole lot about providing personal development opportunities for their fellow incarcerated brothers. They even run their own personal development course that teaches skills like Compassion, Accountability, and Ethics.
The men made me feel at home from the minute I came in the door.
They even wrote in big letters on a white board “WELCOME MORGAN BARBRET.”
During the workshop, we looked at examples of conflicts from their lives, and explored how they could use their words and body language to
A) improve their relationships with the people they love and
B) help their day to day interactions feel more supportive and collaborative.
After the sessions, I received a message from one of the men who is a leading organizer of the National Lifers Association Chapter there that read:
“WOW!!! First let me send gratitude and appreciation. Not only were you well received, you were the talk amongst the men… The most poignant aspect of your work is the fact that harsh conversations and confrontations are our way of life. To be given the tools to change our entire experience w/ one another is more heavy than you can imagine.”
Hearing that they so deeply internalized the tools I shared with them brings me an incredible amount of joy. Getting to interact and exchange ideas with these men was so fun and fulfilling for me. And knowing that they also got a lot out of it made me excited to look into other ways I might be able to bring value to them (and men and women at other facilities) in the future.
Now that I have proof of how impactful my 1-time “Intro to Supportive Communication” session was, my next project is to look into ways to make these skills and tools accessible to more people both behind bars and on the outside.
If you know of any organizations or prison facilities that would be interested in having the skills I mentioned above shared with their audience, please encourage them to reach out to me at morgan@selfloveatlas.coach.
P.S. My approach to this content isn’t just about communication skills either! I also include neuroscience and trauma-informed explanations of how defensiveness and miscommunications happen. This helps help participants get a “big picture” understanding of what happens during conversations that have potential for conflict.
P.P.S. I’ve decided to run a second edition of my “Change any Habit in 30 Days Program” in June. The program involves weekly coaching to help with, well, changing any habit you want! Whether it be stopping or starting a habit, I’m prepared to support you uncovering what’s getting in the way. Then I’ll help you finally take the leap to make meaningful change in your day to day life. If you’d like to learn more, keep an eye out for more info on my instagram at @morgan_barbret.
Did this post resonate with you? If so, I’d love to hear from you! Leave a comment or send me a message to share your thoughts. For more uplifting content, check out some other posts on my blog or follow me on instagram @morgan_barbret
Cheers,
Morgan Rita Barbret
