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Tag: mental-health

  • Healthy Reintegration Part 3: Support & Partnerships

    As Better Life has worked together with faith communities across the Pacific Region, we hear many different responses to the invitation to provide reintegration support.

    Some faith communities and their members feel that providing reintegration support is an important expression of their faith. They’re all in, and they want to provide support as effectively as possible.

    Others respond with desire to get involved, but feel overwhelmed by questions.

    Our hope at Better Life is that having clarity around a REINTEGRATION STRUCTURE AND SYSTEM answers many of your questions and gives you confidence that you can help develop a healthy reintegration pathway that can literally be life changing for a parolee and an invaluable contribution toward them experiencing a better life.

    However, we recognize that Structures and Systems only take us so far.

    We experience this in our own life. At times we have great aspirations, sometimes expressed in New Year’s resolution. But living out our resolutions can be another thing entirely.

    This leads us to acknowledge that we’re all individuals who are made up of many different influences—our families, our experiences, and our habits, to name a few.

    What type of influence has each of these areas had on our life?

    As human beings, we each respond to varied circumstances in different ways. Specifically, we experience and are impacted by trauma in very different ways.

    In your own family, your experience growing up may have impacted you in a radically different way than a sibling. You could have experienced very similar circumstances, but how you experienced those circumstances and integrated them may have been very different for each of you.

    The same is true for a parolee.

    You’ve listened to their story, you’ve created a pathway together that you hope will lead to a healthy reintegration experience, but so much of an individual’s experience, their growth, their ability to overcome painful experiences and trauma, and to believe that they can live a different and better life, rests with them.

    With this understanding, we want to assure you that not only is Better Life made up of an experienced team of Reintegration Chaplains, but that we are a part of an invaluable network of organizations and caregivers committed to healthy reintegration.

    The Better Life Reintegration Chaplain who, in many cases, has provided an inmate support for a year within the prison, who has worked with the inmate’s Correctional Team and has supported them to complete the recommended steps so that they can have a positive parole hearing outcome, is now available to support you as you support that parolee.

    While the Better Life reintegration chaplain doesn’t remove their support from the inmate as they enter parole, they shift their primary support to you as a caregiver.

    When you have questions, when you wonder what healthy next steps should be, when you’re concerned about certain patterns of thinking, or behaviour, and wonder what to do next, the Better Life Reintegration chaplain is available to provide you with support.

    This is also true of the connections Better Life can provide you with various reintegration partners—often beginning with the parolee’s Parole Officer. Through the Parole Officer you can gain a clear understanding of what the parolee’s conditions are, as well as specific areas that may need attention (work, education, therapy, certain thought patterns, etc.)

    Beyond a connection with a parolee’s Parole Officer, Better Life has close relationships with many Reintegration Partners operating in various regions and areas of specialization.

    At Better Life we are here to support you. We believe that you can make a life changing difference in providing reintegration support, and we want to support you to do that effectively.

    Thank you for joining us for this series on providing healthy reintegration. We’re grateful to be on this journey with you.

    With thanks,

    Adam Wiggins

    Executive Director

  • Numbers, Trauma, and Healing

    Happy 2023!

    As we head into a brand new year, I was curious to look back on the level of reintegration support provided by the Better Life Team and our amazing community over the past year.

    One part of Better Life’s responsibility as the Correctional Service Canada (CSC) Pacific Region Faith Community Reintegration Partner (FCRP) is month-end reporting, so I get a regular look at our stats. However, I was still surprised by the number of men and women Better Life has had the privilege of supporting over the course of a whole year.

    As you may know, Better Life is often invited into the process of providing reintegration support at one of the nine Correctional Institutions in the Pacific Region (BC and the Yukon), usually within twelve months prior to an individual’s parole hearing. This is followed by another twelve-month period during which the Better Life Team helps with the transition period by reintegrating men and women into their community of faith.

    How many men and women? Including both Institutional and Community support:

    • 178 in the Lower Mainland/Fraser Valley/Central BC, plus
    • 30 in Victoria/on Vancouver Island

    Providing reintegration support for these 208 individuals equalled 3,532 “reportable” hours of support.

    Staggering, isn’t it?

    Staggering both that the Better Life Team provided that many hours of support and frankly, that so many hours of support were required for just the portion of individuals who accept Better Life’s support—because all that is just a drop in the bucket when compared to the many men and women that enter parole without any support at all.

    What we have found to be true is that healthy reintegration requires support and structure in the context of relationships of trust and accountability.

    However, behind the numbers, what strikes me most deeply is that behind a number is a life.

    Curiosity begs us ask the question, why commit crimes?

    What are the series of events, the life, the experiences that led someone to offend, to break the law?


    The answer to that question is very complex and is answered by each individual’s unique story. However, one common denominator is trauma.

    What life trauma, and as we are learning, what generational trauma even, has led this individual to commit a crime, or even lead a life of crime?

    And most importantly, is there a way to help address and heal the trauma that often underlies an individual’s criminal behaviour?

    Again, there is complexity to any answer. However, what we have been discovering is the development of very effective treatments for trauma that, once undergone, can provide an opportunity for healing, growth and consequently, experiencing a new and better life.

    One of Better Life’s Board of Directors is a psychotherapist who first exposed the Better Life team to an effective therapy called Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy.

    In so many respects, EMDR is a therapy that affirms the beliefs of people of faith, specifically the Christian faith, and the understanding that human beings are created in the image of God, fearfully and wonderfully made, in such a way that trauma can have a far-reaching impact in preventing us from experiencing the life that God created us for.

    I’m going to allow the experts to finish the story. In this podcast, two women of faith, Dr. Anita Philips, with therapist Kobe Campbell, provide an excellent and encouraging introduction to EMDR therapy.

    My hope is that this can be a resource as you support men and women through their experiences of trauma, and potentially, a treatment that can be valuable to you personally.

    The podcast can be accessed here.* (*If you’re not on an Apple device, the podcast is by Dr. Anita Phillips (In The Light: The Podcast) titled ‘The Dwelling Place,’ October 21, 2022.)

    The Dwelling Place – In The Light with Dr. Anita Phillips

    Your body is a sacred dwelling. Generations of memories are stored within you. Some are beautiful and some really hurt. In this follow up to our Story Time episode we're diving deeper into how generational trauma manifests in our bodies. Guest therapist, Kobe Campbell is our guide on this leg of the healing journey. She's introducing us to the power of EMDR therapy and Dr. Anita is switching things up by putting herself in the client chair to make sure you have the tools you need to dwell in peace and wholeness. Get 20% off your first purchase of any Munk Pack product by visiting Munkpack.com and entering our code ANITA at checkout.

    Wishing you and yours God’s best for 2023!

    Adam Wiggins

    Executive Director

  • Resources for Addiction Support

    Happy Fall, everyone!

    Other than the recent forest fire smoke, it’s been beautiful in the Fraser Valley.

    As mentioned in a previous update, one of the ongoing challenges that offenders and paroles face is the battle against addiction.

    I am no expert in addiction, although I’ve had the privilege to support numerous friends and family through facing the challenges of addiction, but one of the experts who has helped me understand the challenges and treatments of addiction more clearly is Dr. Gabor Maté.

    Dr. Maté was very active in caring for patients with significant addiction challenges in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver. I find his book, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction, invaluable. His most recent book, The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture, is also very relevant for the support we provide in reintegration.

    Another resource you might find helpful as you support men and women who may face significant addiction challenges, or perhaps face addiction challenges yourself, is this valuable podcast/YouTube episode with Dr. Maté and Tim Ferriss, Episode 620: “The Myth of Normal, Metabolizing Anger, Processing Trauma, and Finding the Still Voice Within.”

    While it doesn’t communicate from a ‘faith’ perspective, I believe it can be invaluable in helping all of us understand the vulnerabilities in each of our lives where we are especially susceptible to temptation and weakness.

    (Edit for clarity: I just want to take a moment and emphasize that this interview in no way represents Better Life’s endorsement of spiritual or cultural practices discussed in the course of the podcast. My hope is that we could learn from Dr. Maté’s expertise regarding addiction, specifically the discussion of issues of attachment and vulnerability, and the role they play in addiction and recovery.)

    Enjoy!

    Adam Wiggins

    Executive Director

  • Illustrating the Life-Transforming Power of Reintegration

    This past month, you may have come across this news headline:

    Sask. woman found frozen was released from correctional centre 3 days earlier

    It is such a tragic story. This young woman had family and community who cared for her, yet they were unaware of her release.

    This post isn’t to criticize Correctional Services Canada or any particular Correctional Institution. However, as I read this tragic story, it emphasized for me the incredible contribution community chaplaincy makes.

    When an offender is released, they can be walked to the door of the prison, given their belongings and a bus pass, and simply sent on their way, if they have no one waiting to escort them.

    Contrast this with the reality that the period following an offender’s release is the most critical in terms of re-offending (rate of recidivism).

    Offenders often express that the most stressful time they face isn’t necessarily inside a Corrections Institution. As bleak as it can be, there often develops a rhythm and a pattern to institutionalized life.

    What’s most stressful turns out to be the initial weeks and months after release.

    Federal Corrections, in particular, involves longer sentence terms, and the world an offender walks out into can seem like a whole new one. Offenders not only have to navigate the complexity of navigating their own finances, dramatically different technology, housing, employment, and relationships, but rejection waits for them at every turn.

    Thanks to Google and a deeply connected world of near-instant access to information, the details of their offence are readily available to potential employers, landlords, banks, and other connections.

    Rejection, fear, feelings of inadequacy and vulnerability, and this stream of logistical challenges—and potential reconnections with toxic relationships or environments—often push parolees right back into institutionalization.

    But what if we change that scenario?

    What if, on the day of release, instead of being shown the door, handed a bus ticket or being shipped to a halfway home, there’s a familiar face waiting for them at that door? And that someone—who already has been extending support during incarceration—drives them to their destination? And they engage in the continued conversation about what the parolee can expect, and where their people and places of support will be?

    What if the parolee is introduced to a community of faith that they identify with from (before) day one? And they have mentors and places of connection that can provide support as they navigate “a whole new world” full of new or dramatically altered technology, and the need for income and housing, positive relationships, and an environment that supports healthy spiritual practices?

    In fact, when we can provide the above ingredients in an individual’s reintegration it is, with no exaggeration, a game-changer—and a life-changer—for that individual.

    The most commonly shared statistic is that when parolees are reintegrated into their faith communities upon release, there is an over 70% drop in re-offending.

    That’s staggering, isn’t it? That’s good for the individual, the community, the mentors and volunteers (because we’re always learning a lot!), and frankly, the nation!

    I am so grateful for all of our churches, faith communities, Better Life community chaplains and volunteers, whose sacrificial investment makes such a life-changing difference for the men and women we serve. Thank you.

    If you’d like to find out more about how you can volunteer, or how your church can be involved in the work of reintegration, I would love to hear from you!

    With gratitude,

    Adam Wiggins, General Director

    adam.betterlife@gmail.com

  • “Physical” Distancing

    Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

    I love when someone says something that brings clarity.

    One of my favourite educators, Tim Elmore, made the valuable distinction between social distancing and physical distancing in a recent episode of his Leading the Next Generation podcasts.

    What Elmore observed is that “social” distancing—a term being widely communicated during this season of pandemic—is actually not a good description of what we’re being asked to do, and may even be harmful for our mental health.

    What he’s referring to is this widespread sense of unease as we try to cope with our new pandemic-influenced reality, and how that translates into how we interact with each other.

    Or perhaps even how we ignore each other.

    You may have experienced, like I have, people literally turning themselves away as they pass by. No eye contact. No acknowledgement.

    It’s an unsettling experience.

    The distinction Elmore makes so well is that this is absolutely a time for “physical” distancing.

    We need to make a concerted effort to put more space than we’re used to between each other to “flatten the curve” of COVID-19, limit exposure, and keep cases to a trickle rather than a river until a vaccine is available.

    However, while all of that is true,

    social engagement and relational closeness are more important than ever.

    I was impacted by this idea again as I listened to a podcast interview by Tim Ferriss with Dr. Vivek Murthy, a former U.S. Surgeon General.

    What I found so relevant in that interview was the idea that, in this cultural moment, we’re experiencing a loneliness crisis on a global scale.

    Loneliness—a lack of meaningful connection with others—impacts us physically, in terms of our health and longevity, but also—and this is especially relevant when we think about incarceration—in Dr. Murthy’s words:

    loneliness is “a root cause and contributor to many of the epidemics sweeping the world today, from alcohol and drug addiction to violence to depression and anxiety.”

    So, let me encourage you today to recognize the distinction between “social” distancing (harmful if taken literally) and “physical” distancing (essential in flattening the COVID-19 pandemic curve).

    Perhaps you can be a catalyst for helping the people around you experience connection in creative ways.

    In fact, I’ll end with this:

    Dr. Murthy, in his book, Together: The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World, recommends four key strategies to “help us weather this crisis, but also to heal our social world far into the future.”

    1. Spend time each day with those you love.

      Devote at least 15 minutes each day to connecting with those you most care about. (In this season of pandemic use the ‘tools of connection’ – video, phone, conversation with appropriate physical distance).
    2. Focus on each other.

      Forget about multitasking and give the other person the gift of your full attention, making eye contact, if possible, and genuinely listening.
    3. Embrace solitude.

      The first step toward building stronger connections with others is to build a stronger connection with oneself. Meditation, prayer, art, music, and time spent outdoors can all be sources of solitary comfort and joy.
    4. Help and be helped.

      Service is a form of human connection that reminds us of our value and purpose in life. Checking on a neighbour, seeking advice, even just offering a smile to a stranger six feet away, all can make us stronger.

    Wishing you well,

    Adam Wiggins

    General Director | Lead Chaplain