NCJ Number
174530
Journal
International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology Volume: 41 Issue: 1 Dated: March 1997 Pages: 24-35
Date Published
1997
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This article explores use of the Early Memories Procedure (EMP) in psychotherapy for a prison population of substance abusers.
Abstract
Treatment programs in prison settings lack a solid basis regarding rehabilitation of inmates who want to change. Although there is a continuing need for practical and effective treatment programs, there are few viable interventions. Richardþs program for substance abusers, customized to eight modules for an offender population, is one promising exception. One module involves filling out Bruhn's Early Memories Procedure (EMP) and discussing these memories in a 10-person group, in this case incarcerated male substance abusers. Advantages of the EMP include: (1) individuals get in touch with their own issues more quickly than in traditional psychotherapy, leaving more time for resolving underlying issues; (2) the written format permits clients to access feelings and suppressed memories that might have required considerable one-on-one treatment time to uncover; (3) similarity of the maladaptive patterns evident in memories to the same patterns acted out in the present gives a perspective not easy to duplicate using other techniques; and (4) sharing memories in group treatment begins the establishment of a supportive therapeutic community, an experience that helps some clients begin to heal. References