The Lionheart Foundation

About the Book Houses of Healing

Houses of Healing: A Prisoner’s Guide to Inner Power and Freedom

• A book for prisoners - available in English and in Spanish (85,000 copies in circulation)
• Used as a self-help book individually, in small informal groups, and in facilitator-led classes
• Facilitator’s manual and supporting videos available

Prisoners and prison staff around the country are praising the power of Houses of Healing: A Prisoner’s Guide to Inner Power and Freedom, the groundbreaking book/curriculum for prisoner healing and rehabilitation by Robin Casarjian. This book is a guide that instructs, encourages, and speaks to prisoners, providing a path to behavioral change, dignity, and respect-for oneself and for others.

How It Works

Houses of Healing draws the readers in by speaking clearly and directly to the situations and feelings that almost all incarcerated men and women struggle with. It guides and supports prisoners in confronting issues such as childhood wounding, grieving, managing anger, facing the impact of crime, and taking ultimate responsibility for themselves and their actions. Interspersed throughout the book are numerous firsthand accounts of prisoners who have worked the program.

Houses of Healing offers guidance in stress management techniques and healthy, practical coping strategies. It addresses, in depth, the necessity of self-forgiveness and forgiveness of others - subjects that are often overlooked and misunderstood despite the fact that they are essential to the cultivation of empathy and emotional and spiritual maturity.

Houses of Healing can be used, as thousands are using it today, independently or in group courses in many settings and formats. Prisoners use the book for self-study over months and even years. Counselors and chaplains use Houses of Healing to complement their treatment programs and/or create an entirely new program. Houses of Healing courses are led by mental health and substance abuse counselors, chaplains, volunteers, and even prisoners. For additional guidance or assistance, they often use the Houses of Healing Training Manual and the Houses of Healing Educational and Training Video Series.

“Like no other book in recent times, this one caught on quickly and deeply. All of the supervisors in the Human Services Department unanimously agreed to recommend to the Sheriff’s administration that a copy of Houses of Healing be purchased for all inmates.”
Brian Murdoch, Director of Recovery Programs,
Suffolk County House of Corrections, Boston, MA

The Houses of Healing Training Manual and
The Houses of Healing Video Series

Click here to see:
Table of Contents,
What Corrections Professionals Are Saying About Houses of Healing
The Development of Houses of Healing