Anger Management

After over a year of waiting, I finally got started in the self-help program Anger Management.

There is a limited number of self-help programs in the prison. Therefore, the waiting list for any program is superlong.

I attended my first session of the program this morning. There were 18 life prisoners participating in this 10-week program. The doctor who is facilitating the session is a woman in her early fifties.

We took turns introducing ourselves and shared what had motivated us to want to make changes. During the sharing, two guys got choked up when they were talking about their parents. They were visibly shaken up.

It was during the sharings that I thought about powerful it would be if members of the parole board could see these grown men bearing their souls to a group of strangers.

Everyone was eager to share their past and their perspectives on anger. That's a good sign of having a productive program. I look forward to learning from the group.