From Trauma to Healing: Advocating for EMDR in Prisons

By Ernest Nate Benjamin

Hello, friends, family, and supporters of Family & Friends of Individuals with Mental Illness (FFIMI). I wanted to share another piece for the FFIMI blog. I wrote to the powers that be a while ago, hoping to secure funding and training for clinicians to learn about Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR). As I’ve mentioned in my previous writings about my battle with PTSD, I’ve found EMDR to be a breakthrough in my treatment. However, it saddens me that, in the facility where I’m placed, only myself and one other person receive this therapy. And due to a lack of funding, other clinicians are unable to receive the necessary training.

As I’ve shared before, I unknowingly—and later knowingly—suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) for most of my life. The aftereffects of the nightmares and trauma have been severe. But I’m not one to make excuses. I believe more needs to be done to help incarcerated individuals affected by trauma get the treatment they need. I’m passionate about this because of my own experiences with EMDR.

Being a victim of sexual assault and violent attacks at a young age, witnessing violence, and even being horrifically assaulted with battery acid, has made life difficult for me. Persistent night terrors and flashbacks ravaged my body and mind. But once I began EMDR therapy, I started to dig deep into both my hidden and open traumas.

It’s not just inmates who suffer—officers have experienced trauma too. Some of my peers might not agree with that, but we are all human. Mental health affects us all, especially the inmates and the staff who live and work here. I truly believe that “hurt people hurt people, and healed people heal people.” So shouldn’t we come together and do what we can to help as many as possible who suffer from mental health issues?

It is my hope that more can be done to secure funding for more clinicians to receive EMDR training. I’ve seen and felt the power of this therapy, and I’m sure others will too. Too many times, I’ve had private conversations with inmates and certain staff members about the personal trauma they’ve experienced. The late, great rapper Tupac Shakur said it best: “It takes skill to be real, and to heal each other.”

I’m asking for your help, my FFIMI friends and family. Please contact the commissioner’s office of the Department of Correction and anyone else who can make a difference.

God bless,
Ernest Nate Benjamin

Editors Note: Interim Commissioner of the Department of Corrections Shawn Jenkins can be reached at shawn.jenkins@doc.state.ma.us.