A-Z List


Topics


Anger and Heart Health

  1. Begin the session talking about what our heart does for our bodies. Hand out the "Anger and Heart Health" worksheet to the inmates. This session is based on a sermon by Dr. Joseph Stohl talking about the heart and how we use it.
  2. Next, pass out "Enemies of my Heart" worksheet and have inmates fill out. Have inmates share their answers with the group.
  3. The third worksheet to hand out to the inmates is entitled "Goal: Love the Lord Your God with ALL your Heart." This worksheet compares fertile soil to a good heart. Ask inmates to give examples of their ploughing, weeding, watering, and desired fruit. Play the song "In the Garden" while inmates complete the worksheet.
  4. Sing the song "I Surrender All." When finished, ask the inmates to think of what they need to surrender to make it to their destination and fill in answers on the worksheet "Destination." Play the song "Out of my Bondage, Sorrow, and Night, Jesus I Come to Thee" in the background while the inmates complete the worksheet.
  5. Play "Shine, Jesus, Shine" while inmates fill out "Surrender" worksheet. What things do you need to keep you on the right path to do God's will?
  6. Inmate Responses

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Being Broken - Fragile by Nature

  1. Pass out the lyric sheets and play the song "Less like Scars" by Sara Groves.
  2. Pass out the "Broken" worksheet and have inmates complete them while the song plays a second time. When everyone has completed the worksheet, have the inmates take turns sharing and discussing their answers.
  3. Next, have the inmates take turns reading the story called "THE CRACKED POT."
  4. Play the song "Broken Things" by Julie Miller and have the inmates fill out the worksheet entitled "I Am Broken." Discuss as a group when you are finished.
  5. Have the inmates fill out the worksheet "The Potter and the Clay" and discuss. You may play the songs "Have Thine Own Way, Lord" by Adelaide Addison Pollard and "When the Rain Comes" by Third Day while the inmates finish completing the worksheets.
  6. Take turns reading "THE MINISTRY OF CRACKED POTS" by Pastor Fred R. Anderson. This reading, taken from 2 Corinthians 4, uses the metaphor that we are like clay jars - "from dust we have come, to dust we shall return."
  7. Take turns reading "Cracked Pots" by Tim Dubberly. It is based on Jeremiah 18:1-6 and is a good reading to use as a closing because it ties the entire session together. It is interesting to note that when a light is put inside a jar, the light will shine through if there is a crack in the jar. Aren't we all glad God can use us as "cracked pots"?

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Choices - The Line You Won't Cross

  1. At the beginning of the session talk about anger triggers and responses to them which ultimately causes anger to expand. You might want to use the example of a guard who has a fight with his wife, he takes it out on an inmate, the inmate takes it out on other guards and prisoners, and pretty soon everyone is having a bad day. Draw a representation of this anger chain to depict a concept map (click here to view samples of inmates' responses of concept maps; Inmate Responses). Play "There is a Line" in the background.
  2. After drawing the concept maps, discuss them as a group. Explain: Your anger can lead to shards of glass. One crack in anger splinters off into different directions- exponentially bigger. Go backwards, see the things that affect you. What made you angry? Can you trace this maze back to its source? Listen to the song "There is a Line" again, and have an open discussion of the song.
  3. Explain the following: You don't have control over what maps from others come to you, but you have the choice to stop it (how you respond to anger set-ups). What is the line you won't cross? Will you give in, refuse it, or stop the chain? Make sure to discuss contributing factors, choices they have, and the results from the choices they make.
  4. Inmate Responses

Note: This session is not good for juveniles because it is a perspective session in which older inmates have a broader perspective based on their life experiences.

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Decision Making

  1. Use Personal Choice/Decision Making worksheets.
  2. Sing song Old Man's Rubble and discuss lyrics. Especially note that how a fight is won begins with listening choices-where we place our attention.
  3. Share the story "Necessity of Accountability" from Dropping Your Guard by Chuck Swindoll.
  4. Work through accountability worksheets.
  5. Sing the song "Man In The Mirror" and discuss.
  6. Read and discuss Perseverance worksheet.
  7. Sing song "Shine Jesus Shine" and discuss.

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Deliverance: Road to Freedom

  1. Give clients the opportunity to complete worksheet Do I reflect God's Glory? and listen to the song "Goodbye..Hello" and allow clients to discuss ways in which they can relate to the song.
  2. Give clients the opportunity to draw to represent cells in which they are imprisoned and allow them to share their drawings with the group. Play freedom songs while they are drawing.
  3. Listen to "Draw the Line" and discuss the need to set boundaries and take a stand.
  4. Listen to the songs "In the Middle of It All" and "Come Home" and "When You Come Home."

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Father

  1. "See! I will not forget you. I have carved you on the palm of my hand. - Isaiah 49:15" Read Lee Anna's letter "A Tribute to My Daddy." Lee Anna wrote this tribute to her daddy after he died to be placed in his coffin and buried with him. When people came to pay respects, they requested copies of it from the funeral director. When Lee Anna arrived with her family to receive friends at the funeral home, copies were being handed out. She decided to use it in this session.
  2. Hand out the worksheet "What is a real father?" and have the inmates fill in the two columns. Have the inmates take turns sharing their answers. Play the song "What Would I Say" and "When God Ran" in the background while the inmates complete the worksheets.
  3. Listen to the song "Measure of a Man" and take turns having the inmates read "A Strong Man." Discuss what they think makes a real man. Have the inmates complete the worksheet "What is a Real Father?" and "Describe the Perfect Father." Then read over "Description of a Man of God" and "That Man is a Success." Does this fit your description?
  4. Listen to and discuss "The Old Man" as a group. What will you never forget about your father? What things would you like to/would have liked to tell your father before he is gone?
  5. Complete the worksheet "Anger for my Father" and discuss. Play the song "Cat's in the Cradle" in the background while the inmates complete the worksheets. Next, complete the worksheet "Image" and listen to the song "What Would I Say."
  6. Hand out the worksheet "Forsaken, Forgotten, and Abandoned." Have the inmates read and list or draw a time when they have felt separated from someone they really loved. How did it feel? What helped you to deal constructively with your feelings? Next, complete "How My Anger is Related to My Relationship with My Father." When finished with the worksheets and sharing the inmates' answers with each other, sing the song "I Will Never Forget You" and discuss how God will never forsake, forget, or abandon you.
  7. Finish with reading as a group the poem entitled "The Strength of a Man."
  8. Client Responses

Additional material:

  1. The story of "The Chaplain, the Inmate, and his Son- Find and Forgive"
  2. Tommy - A Story of Love and a Search for God

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Freedom - Release and Let Go

  1. Start the session by asking the inmates what their definition of "freedom" is. After the introduction, hand out the worksheet entitled "Freedom." Ask the question, "In what ways do you relate to these quotes?"
  2. Hand out the worksheet entitled "Freedom From Straying." This worksheet explains the idea that jail is intended to be a time to be made ready for freedom. The story of the lamb fleeing the flock may be acted out by the inmates while it is being read. Some materials that have been used before are: plastic sheep (toy farm animals), grass and a fence made out of felt pieces, and a bread dough ornament for a Shepherd. Each inmate can choose one of the plastic sheep to act out the story of the 23rd Psalm to represent himself/herself. A simplified version of this story starts with the Shepherd going after a sheep that had strayed from the flock and was in danger of falling off a cliff. One sheep becomes the leader for the rest and leads many of the sheep in the wrong direction. The Shepherd breaks his legs because he led the group into danger. The Shepherd broke the legs of this sheep out of love and concern for the safety of all the sheep, not as a punishment. Because this little sheep has difficulty walking because of a broken leg, the Shepherd carries the sheep. Being carried continuously by the Shepherd means that the little sheep bonds closely with the Shepherd. When he is better, the Shepherd only has to touch the sheep lightly to send him in the right direction. After the story, ask the question, "How has God made you closer to him?"
  3. Pass out and read excerpts from Chicken Soup for the Prisoner's Soul.
  4. Have the inmates answer the questions on the worksheet entitled "Questions of Freedom." During this time, the songs "I Shall Be Released", "Free", "Free (By Tulani Kinard)", and "Shackles" may be played in the background.
  5. Another activity to do during this session may be making and breaking paper chains. What represents your bonds? String a chain of the inmates "bonds" together and break them while singing songs about freedom that are symbolic of breaking chains. Some inmates in the past have been very selective about what piece of paper chain they want to touch and break because this symbolism is very powerful to them.
  6. Inmate Responses

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Forgiveness

  1. Story of Senator Daniel Inouye from The Greatest Generation by Tom Brokaw. Before completely telling the story about what Daniel did after encountering the barber, sing song, "The Battle Belongs to the Lord" and discuss what clients think he did and what they would do in the situation. Client Responses. After discussing, present what Daniel did.
  2. Audio tape of Getaneh M. Getaneh (Amnesty International Panelist who was tortured by having hot oil poured on him while hanging upside down by his feet)
  3. Story of Saint Patrick
  4. Richard Wurmbrand story
  5. Stories of Steve Saint and Betty Elliot who came to love and minister to the former savage tribe of people in the Ecuadorian jungle who had killed their father and husband
  6. Forgive It - song lyrics from Lee Anna for children in a shelter for abused children
  7. Story of Bryan's mother - personal story from Lee Anna
  8. Story of a client's father who was a rapist - personal story from Lee Anna
  9. Story of Corrie Ten Boom - post WWII - forgiveness for her guard in the prison camp - from Tramp for the Lord by Corrie Ten Boom
  10. Blood Mud = lack of forgiveness (parallel concept of arteries being blocked off by plaque with bitterness and unforgiveness choking off growth - potential for emotional heart attack) Music therapy student, Sarah Eberth contributed this idea which has been most useful.
  11. Use e-mail story: Taking Aim
  12. Sing and discuss the lyrics to "Dear God" by Elton John.

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Healthy Relationships

  1. Read the story "A Case of Authentic Love" from Dropping Your Guard by Chuck Swindoll (page 115-116) in which Chuck Swindoll describes the relationship between Gayle Sayers and Brian Piccolo.
  2. Discuss the handout page, as well as the page that contrasts healthy love with addictive love and that contrasts infatuation with love.
  3. Give clients the opportunity to complete the codependent relationship questionnaire and discuss the page on characteristics of healthy relationships, as well as the pages that contrast my will be done with thy will be done and personality characteristics of self.
  4. Give clients the opportunity to add to the characteristics listed under the two page handout of relationships (these are the characteristics that residents at a juvenile detention center identified).
  5. Close session by singing songs about love such as Take 6 songs, "Spread Love" and "I L-O-V-E U."

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Perspectives

  1. see: I am the Child-Strengths and Weaknesses
  2. Beethoven
    1. Choose either downward spiral or upward growth
    2. Have patients draw a picture to represent each time they became angry. Draw a line at the end of each 24-hour period and go back one more day to depict times of anger. Give patients opportunity to describe anger triggers and their responses if they choose to do so.
    3. Read Fence story.
    4. Pass around a groan hammer while playing 1st movement of Beethoven's 5th. Allow patients to shake their fists in rhythm to music as hammer is being passed around from person to person. Upon receiving the hammer, each person shares a time when he "hammered" someone. Following this discussion, ask patients to give connotations of the uses of the words 'hammered' and 'nailed' in our culture. Ex: nailed = getting caught, doing something perfectly, ace. Getting hammered = getting drunk. Discuss differences in the role of hammer and nail. Ex: the hammer sees the nail as a useful tool; the nail's view of the hammer is not quite so nice.
    5. Tell the story of a woman with syphilis who was pregnant and had several children, some of whom had handicaps (blindness). Ask patients if they were her obstetrician, what recommendations they would provide to her concerning her pregnancy. After patients have given answers, if any of them share that abortion is a recommendation, announce: You just killed Beethoven. Ask patients what would be the most devastating thing that could happen to them. Explain that Beethoven was known and respected as a most gifted composer. When he started to become more deaf, this was the most devastating thing that could happen to him. The actual marks that he made on the original manuscripts of Beethoven's 5th as he was in the process of composing it reveal his anger. Talk about the 2nd movement representing his walks in the woods, the only place he could find peace. Explain that when people asked questions of Beethoven, rather than reveal that he could not hear their questions, he chose to respond by portraying himself as a crazy man yelling back at them. The pastoral movement portrays the peacefulness of his walks in the woods where he doesn't have to run away in fear that people will discover that he is going deaf. Play a minor chord resolving to a major chord and let patients hear the difference. Play the entire 5th symphony for them and ask the patients when they hear this resolution occur to raise their hands and let you know. Allow them to make up a rhythmic chant to the main thematic content by using words that sometimes taunt them and to shake their fists in rhythm as they hear the song play.
    6. Tell the story of Paderewski and the young boy

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Resignations - Letting Go

  1. Listen to the song "Got To Let It Go" and discuss.
  2. Discuss worksheet "Let Go" from the book A Handbook for the Chemical Abuser and Those Concerned.

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Strengths and Weaknesses

  1. I am the Child
    1. Rewrite I am the Man who Cannot - stating all frustrations; then rewrite I am the Man who Can
    2. Discuss cartoon of people and dog
    3. "You and I" from library of Judy Ocker Wibel

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Us and Them- Anger

  1. Pass out worksheet entitled "Us and Them." Have the inmates identify different groups: us, them, and the reasons for differences. Play "Witness" by Moses Hogan in the background while the inmates complete the worksheet.
  2. Hand out and discuss the worksheet "Public vs. Private." Discuss the differences between leaders in our life seen in the public eye and the leaders in our personal lives. Play Moses Hogan's song "I Surrender All" while inmates complete worksheet.
  3. Pass out the worksheet "My Power: Losses and Gains." Dr. Robert Coles describes stopping anger as "trying to undo the work of the devil." This worksheets focuses on mapping out your gains and loses associated with unifying: Our mission is to find a bridge to unite the us and them sectors.
  4. The last worksheet for this session is called "Overcoming the Game." This worksheet helps to conclude the session by discussing the success of overcoming your anger. Have the inmates fill in their emotional/spiritual parallels to healing of the physical body. When finished, have each inmate share answers with the group. Ask them what they have learned from this pain from anger and what they now have hope for in the future.
  5. Inmate Responses

Us and Them- Additional Session Idea

  1. Us Vs. Them Session with Juveniles - "Down on Me" by Janis Joplin - "You and I" poem - Inmate Responses

 

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Victim vs. Survivor

  1. Have each client draw a picture of a spiral downward leading to anger and draw a picture of a spiral upward leading to growth and healing.
  2. Pain related to anger-Give clients examples for concrete ideas (examples: physical - sleepy 2-year-old doesn't even realize the need for sleep and fights it; mental - worrying about something, can't focus and get agitated; emotional - jilted love, betrayed friend, death of a loved one, guilt; financial - worry, fear about the future; spiritual - distress-feeling that God is against you or isn't there, Psalms, Job; pain related to growth/healing - sports-no pain-no gain, change negatives to positives)
  3. Describe a situation with a mother who is pregnant and has syphilis. This mother has several children, some with disabilities and some with illnesses. Discuss what an American OB/GYN might advise. At the end of the discussion, tell clients that the baby of the mother was Beethoven. If abortion was recommended, Beethoven would not have lived.
  4. Victim or Survivor - from page 129-130 in Chicken Soup for the Soul for Cancer Survivors. Have patients read the parallel statements and discuss how they related to those statements. When used in a jail setting, patients rewrite the statements to reflect the differences between the victim and a survivor in the jail setting.
  5. Discuss Winner/Loser from the 6 success strategies of winning at life, love and business by Wolf W. Rinke Health etc. family circle.
  6. Discuss page about the Chinese characters used to depict the word crisis.
  7. Discuss Charles Swindoll quote about attitude.
  8. Have clients read and discuss the prose reading I Asked God.
  9. Discuss "Ships" poem.
  10. Discuss Perspectives page.
  11. Sing the song "The Touch of the Master's Hand"
  12. Recap of session - Use quote page with "People are like tea bags . . . " and the story of the carrot, egg and beans.
  13. End with the story of Paderewski and the young boy.

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9/11/01 - Hope Leads to Motivation

  1. Pass out lyric sheets and have inmates listen to the 911 song by Kirk Franklin. Then have the inmates share their reactions to the song in general. Then follow up with the worksheet and discuss as a group. 911 worksheet
  2. Have the residents write a list of Changes in Our Lives Since September 11, 2001 and share ideas with the goup. This is based on the writings called Monday... Tuesday and Is This Normal?.
  3. Next, take turns reading You Still Have Hope , Billy Graham on 9/11, and Such A Hope
  4. Then go over Hope Leads to Motivation which is based on a sermon by Chuck Swindoll.
  5. Listen to the song Calmer of the Storm by Jason Germain and Marc Martel and Sometimes He Calms the Storm by Tony Wood and Kevin Strokes. Have the inmates share their reactions to the songs.
  6. Inmate Responses

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Miscellaneous Materials

  1. Life in the Fast Lane Story
  2. The Obstacle in Our Path
  3. Cherokee Indian Right of Passage Story
  4. The Fence Story
  5. It is Well with My Soul Story
  6. The Old Rugged Cross History

Who Am I? What is My Place?

We are weak, but He is strong!
  1. Pass out lyrics and play “The Real Me” by Jaci Velasquez. 
  2. Read Story of woman on page 281 of the Free on the Inside Bible. 
  3. Discuss idea of being realistic and honest about what’s going on in your life. 
  4. Talk about the woman’s realizations and strength she received from reading the Word. 
  5. Discuss the reality that God knows us so intimately –
    there’s no hiding and why should we? 
  6. Let go and let God!
  7. Pass out lyrics and play “Carry You” by Amy Grant.
    Discuss.
  8. Read through the verses and discussion from Romans and Psalms
  9. Pass out lyrics and play “Where I Belong” by Jaci Velasquez.  Discuss.
  10. Handouts - Bible verses

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Additional Session Ideas

  1. Anger Wall - Juveniles - "Break Down" by Jack Johnson and Inmate Responses
  2. Be a Light in the Darkness - Women inmates - "Shine" by Jaci Velasquez and "This Little Light of Mine"
  3. Cause and Effect - "Fence" story - "Get it Together" by India.Arie and Inmate Responses
  4. Control Anger and Root of Anger - Scenarios - "Just" by Radiohead and Inmate Responses
  5. Dealing with Anger - Worksheets - "I Shall Be Released" by Bob Dylan and Inmate Responses
  6. Detour Session - Worksheets - "Detour" by Patti Page - Inmate Responses
  7. Life In Volumes - Drawing CD covers - "I Shall Be Released" by Bob Dylan - Inmate Responses
  8. Measuring Anger - Thermometer Worksheet - "Times Like These" by Jack Johnson
  9. Spider Web - Keep Swimming Story - "Trouble" by Coldplay - Inmate Responses
  10. Stress, Pressure, Anger - Are You A Carrot, an Egg or a Coffee Bean? by Mary Sullivan - "Behind Blue Eyes" by The Who - Inmate Responses
  11. "Jesus Take the Wheel" Session
  12. "Ghostbusters" Session
  13. 1 Corinthians 3: 8-17 Session
  14. Kenny Chesney - "Baptism" Session
  15. The Leaf Session
  16. "Desperado" Session - Questions - Fill-in-the-blank Lyrics - Inmate Responses

*Numbers 1-9 above represent sessions planned and led by music therapy student Emily Mattheison.

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