This is a six-session course designed to acknowledge how inmates and parolees have been affected by their pasts. It is also
designed to emphasize that they are not victims of the past, and that their children can benefit from their decision to practice what they learn in this course. Session 1 shows how recidivism can be connected to the effects of child abuse. It provides
exercises that show how abuse fixates the victim at the point of abuse, that overreaction can injure themselves and others, and ways that living in the past can negatively affect a person’s life. Session 2 defines abuse, how to
recognize abuse, overcoming resistance to deal with abuse, and the feelings of some survivors of childhood abuse. Session 3 maps the voice of abuse. The exercises help to draw a connection between past abusive events and reactions to present-day events. Session 4 defines some of the common symptoms of abuse, which include disassociation (unplugging from life), chronic excessive anger (overreacting to situations), psychic numbing (not feeling much emotion), and hypervigilance (always feeling in danger). Session 5 defines how abuse dictates the quality of life. The exercises demonstrate how abuse affects the ability to parent and have intimate relationships. Session 6 provides tools for dealing with the legacy of abuse. The steps are to become sober if addicted to alcohol or drugs, to accept the abuse as a part of life, to begin to trust others, to recognize when old abuse is in control of life, to take any medications prescribed, and to have conscious contact with a Higher Power.