Inside Prison Programs
NVC and Mindfulness Curriculum
Programs in the Community
Program History

Freedom Project’s curriculum is based on the teachings of Nonviolent Communication (NVC) and mindfulness.  It is designed to offer the conceptual understanding, the practical skills, and the inspiration to apply this learning to transform our lives in alignment with our deepest values.  We look for growth in three interrelated areas:

Consciousness of Values and Needs
NVC stresses awareness of universal human needs and values, e.g. safety, meaning, respect, peace, autonomy, contribution, harmony, honesty, etc.  Practitioners are trained to recognize from moment to moment the needs and values within themselves which are being fulfilled or unfulfilled.

For example, an inmate realizes that he has not received a visit from his family for six months.  Instead of blaming his family (“They shouldn’t abandon me.”), blaming the system (“Damn cops make it a pain for outsiders just to get in here!”), or blaming himself (“I probably bring my folks down.”), the inmate identifies the universal human need that wants to be met within himself in this moment.  It may be a need for connection.

Alternatively, it could be acceptance, support, or any of a number of needs.  When we open ourselves to fully experience this yearning through an internal process called self-empathy, a shift in energy occurs.  We are then ready to focus on ways to meet that need.

NVC distinguishes between a limited number of needs shared by all humans and an unlimited number of strategies by which a need may be met.  In practicing NVC, we begin to see how deeply we embody and cherish each of the universal human needs without exception.  As we separate needs (such as security or peace of mind) from strategies for fulfilling those needs (such as acquisition of money or consumption of alcohol), we begin to recognize an abundance of strategies: our relationship to the world becomes more spacious and our choices more skillful.  We are naturally drawn towards strategies which address a particular need without sacrificing others which we know our hearts also hold dear.

Awareness of Choice
When we realize that every word we utter and every action we take is a manifestation of choice, we become empowered in our lives to replace reactivity with response-ability.

For example, instead of believing, “I have to lock down.  They make me do it,” an inmate practicing NVC recognizes his power to choose to lock down or not.  Whichever choice would be grounded in his clear awareness of the need it is serving.  He may recognize a need for safety (protection from possible harm), a need for order, or some other need that leads him to choose to lock down.  A choice other than to lock down would likewise be based on a particular value he consciously holds.  Without either submitting or rebelling, this inmate grounds himself in an awareness of his own needs to assume full responsibility for his behaviors.

Connection with Self, Others, and Community
Our training is based on the assumption that the wellbeing of the individual, as well as that of the community, derives from connection.  When one of us perceives him or herself to be outside the circle of humanity, we all lose, even though the loss may not be immediately apparent to all.  We want those among us who are being punished for violating societal norms to remember their place at the table of humanity and the integrity of the whole to which they belong.  Our trainings emphasize the direct experience of this integrity while offering tools that allow individuals to sustain honest, meaningful connections.

An essential connection is the one we have with ourselves.  Instead of the common tendency to either suppress or act out one’s feelings and urges, inmates learn to be present to difficult internal experiences through the process of self-empathy and mindfulness.  The skill to translate self-judgments into universal needs allows us to own those parts of ourselves that were once unacceptable without denying or projecting them onto others.  As more and more parts of ourselves are invited to the table we set in our own hearts, we discover ever deepening and widening ties solidifying our place at the outside table where we sit with the rest of humanity.

Trainings for Prison Workers

In the past, responding to persistent requests from people in other states and countries, insofar as our resources allowed, Freedom Project offered occasional “training to other prison trainers”  of other grass roots groups in other states and countries.  In 2003 and 2005, Freedom Project offered nine full days of intensive training to people from around the world who are interested in learning more about NVC and mindfulness trainings in prison.  Many of the people who trained with Freedom Project in these intensive periods have returned home to initiate programs in their home states and countries.  In the past, Freedom Project has also accepted trainings in prisons in Oregon, California, Massachusetts, Texas, British Columbia, Canada, Denmark and Finland.  Each of these regions now have sister organizations who work in prisons using Freedom Project’s training models.  Freedom Project occasionally accepts invitations to offer trainings at other prison institutions as long as local resources are available there to provide follow-up opportunities for continuation of NVC and mindfulness practices.  Currently in 2006, due to human resource and financial limitations, Freedom Project is focusing solely on prisons and prisoners in the greater Puget Sound area.