The Southwestern Illinois Correctional Center in East St. Louis recently hosted 25 GEO Reentry Services staff members from all over the state to participate in Therapeutic Community Experiential training. The program is based on a theoretical framework developed by Dr. George DeLeon and a historical and programmatic framework developed by Dr. David Deitch.
The training is designed to educate the staff on the Therapeutic Community model of treatment, offering attendees a “learn by doing” approach to understand the various rituals and challenges of the model. DeLeon believes that community is both the method of treatment being taught and being used by the trainer, coining the phrase “community as method.”
GEO Reentry employees such as Manager of Quality Assurance Edwin Knight, Training Manager Jolie Daughtery and Training Specialists Stephan Persad, Korri Hick and Frank Stout gave presentations throughout the four-day training. All in attendance were ready to apply what they learned at the session into their respective jobs.
A special thanks to Warden Ron Vitale and the SWICC staff is in order for their support, assistance and for providing the space.