What is the Role of an Inmate’s Prison Counselor?

What is the Role of an Inmate’s Prison Counselor?

Your husband has mentioned a correctional counselor several times during his calls from prison but you aren’t sure what that means. In short, his prison counselor oversees his stay while he is in prison. Some aspects of this supervision include: Initial Evaluation The main focus of a prison counselor is to guide your husband for the duration of his time in that prison. This typically begins an initial evaluation when your husband first arrives. He and the counselor meet to discuss case history, substance abuse issues, mental health needs, educational desires and behavioral goals. From there a plan is developed to get your husband through his sentence. Have you seen: The Stanford Prison Experiment Education At times, your husband’s prison counselor will provide group counseling sessions with inmates. If an inmate needs to have individual counseling, it is arranged. Usually, the focus of these sessions is to help the inmate adjust to living in a prison and also to go over the rules of that particular facility. Problem Solving If your husband consistently gets tickets for anger issues or substance abuse issues, the counselor might set him up with some anger management classes or AA/NA meetings within the prison. Stress management counseling is another function of a prison counselor. Progress Monitoring The counselor will track your husband’s progress and hopefully help him stay on a positive path. Things like setting him up to take court-ordered classes before he can parole is something the counselor should do. Additional Activities: My role as a psychologist in prison Take Away: Prison counselors are not babysitters, but are there to help inmates adjust to prison life and to oversee their progress while they do their time. The counselors report to the prison officials and make suggestions regarding increasing or decreasing the inmate’s privileges based on the inmate’s most recent behavior patterns. You may be interested in: Does an inmate deserve good health care?