What Does Healing Actually Look Like in Prison?

By Jessica Charles- Healing Beyond Bars

Let’s be honest, healing isn’t a word that’s often used in prisons. And when it is, it can sound a bit... distant. fluffy, hippyish, vague. Like something from a therapy book that doesn’t belong in a place where people are just trying to survive the day.

But healing isn’t some soft, sparkly concept. It’s gritty. Messy. Brave. And in prison, it’s also completely necessary.

🔁 Healing Looks Like This…

• A man who used to explode with anger now notices the build-up and says, “I need a minute.”

• Someone who never trusted anyone shares something real for the first time.

• A prison officer sees the behaviour and the pain underneath it, and responds with curiosity instead of control.

• A prisoner starts to sleep through the night for the first time in years because his nervous system is no longer on high alert.

  
  

That’s what healing looks like. Small shifts. Hard-won moments.Not perfect. Not linear. But real.

🧠 Healing Is Nervous System Work

You can’t talk your way into healing if your body still thinks it’s in danger. That’s why at Healing Beyond Bars, we work with the body as much as the mind—breathwork, grounding tools, sensory regulation, auricular acupuncture. These are simple but powerful ways to tell the nervous system: You’re safe now.

Until someone feels safe in their body, they can’t really connect, and if they can’t connect, they can’t heal. It’s that simple.

💬 It’s Also About Language and Relationship

Healing isn’t something we do to people. It’s something that happens with them—through consistent, respectful relationships.

In our groups, we talk about survival behaviours instead of “bad choices.”We ask, “What happened to you?” not “What’s wrong with you?” We let people go at their own pace. We don’t demand vulnerability—we earn it.

Because healing can’t be forced. But it can be invited.

🛠 It’s Slow. And That’s Okay.

Prison culture tends to want quick results: fix it, manage it, move on.

But healing doesn’t work like that. It’s layered. Sometimes people take two steps forward, one back. Sometimes it looks like nothing’s changing, and then something unexpected happens. A breakthrough in a one-to-one. A calm response where there used to be rage.

That’s when you know: it’s landing.

🔑 Final Thought

Healing in prison isn’t fluffy or abstract. It’s practical. Physical. Relational. And, above all, human.

It’s the slow undoing of what pain has taught someone about themselves. It’s the quiet re-learning of trust, regulation, and choice, and yes, it’s absolutely possible, even in the hardest places.

We see it, every single week.

#HealingBeyondBars #TraumaInformedCare #PrisonReform #HealingIsHardAndHoly #RealChangeStartsWithSafety