Rhonda Describes the GRIP Program and Interviews GRIP Graduate, Shakur Ross The Guiding Rage Into Power (GRIP) Training Institute serves incarcerated men and women in California.  Their mission is to create personal and systemic change to turn violence and suffering into opportunities for learning and healing. I (Rhonda) was introduced to the GRIP program when two of my dearest friends, Steve Zimmerman and Vicki Peet, invited me to a yearly celebration of the GRIP Training institute.  I was blown away by who I met and what I learned that I wanted to share it with the Feeling Good Podcast listeners.  Thank you, David, for letting me deviate from our typical subjects. The GRIP program is a different subject for the Feeling Good Podcast, because it is not about TEAM-CBT.  What the GRIP Program and TEAM-CBT have in common is that they are both evidence-based programs that incorporate CBT theory and methods into their treatment methodology.  But the main thing they have in common is that people who engage in these two therapies experience profound, enlightening changes in their lives. From their program: “The GRIP program is an evidence-based methodology developed over 25 years of work with 1000’s of incarcerated people and many victim/survivors. Rooted in Restorative Justice principles, the program’s trauma informed model integrates cutting-edge neuroscience research.  Students engage in a yearlong, in-depth journey to comprehend the origins of their violence and develop skills to track and manage strong impulses rather than acting out in harmful ways.  They transform destructive beliefs and behaviors into an attitude of emotional intelligence that prevents revictimization.” The GRIP Training Institute was started in 2011.  As of October 2020, nine years after running its first group, 915 students have graduated.  Of the 915 graduates, 369 were released from prison.  Only 1 graduate in nine years returned to prison, which is a recidivism rate of 0.3%, which is very impressive considering the recidivism rate for California is between 44-46%.  Many, if not all of the graduates, say that GRIP saved their lives.  Something many people who have benefitted from TEAM-CBT echo. At the GRIP celebration, I was standing in line waiting for the buffet.  A man got in line behind me.  It was confusing where the line ended, which was not directly behind me. In another circumstance I might have mentioned to him that the line ended somewhere else, but he was kind of scary looking, big, buff with obvious prison tattoos on his neck so I didn’t say anything.  But the line moved slowly and I was curious so I asked him what his connection to GRIP was.  He told me he was a graduate of the program and then politely asked me the same question. It has been my experience that often people love to talk about themselves more than they are interested in other people so I was immediately impressed that he was as interested in me as I was in him.  When

Special Episode #1: The GRIP Program

Get Started

Download the App