Never Too Young to Teach Houses of Healing
July 16, 2024
Kathleen Jackson has been facilitating Houses of Healing groups at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center (formerly known as San Quentin State Prison) in California for 10 years, and with her 90th birthday approaching in September, she has no plans to slow down. We got a chance to chat to Kathleen to hear her experience facilitating Houses of Healing.
How long have you been teaching Houses of Healing groups?
I believe it was August of 2014 that I started facilitating Houses of Healing, so about 10 years.
How did you come to teach Houses of Healing?
I was facilitating a Victim Offender Education (VOED) group and one of the men that was in my group came up to me a couple of times saying, “You've got to see this program Houses of Healing. It’s the best program I've ever done!” Eventually I got in touch with Susan Shannon, who was teaching a group, and I sat in on one of her classes and I looked at the book and I just fell in love with it. So, I started my own group with the help of Father Williams, the Catholic Chaplin.
How many individuals have gone through the Houses of Healing Program with you?
Oh my gosh… Well, I teach about three groups a year… and for 10 years. So over 300 hundred people!
What brought you to prison teaching?
I wanted to volunteer, so I went to an organization that was helping schools throughout the United States, helping them be more effective, and the woman that I met with said, “I looked at your resume, you might want to go into San Quentin.” It never occurred to me so I thought, “Well, I guess I could do that!” So I went in and first sat in on a University class of men who were talking about a book they've been reading, and I just fell in love with that and I thought, “I've got to do this.” I started just doing some tutoring and then somebody told me about a group and I joined that group and it just went from there.
What are the highlights for you in teaching a Houses of Healing program?
I think one of the biggest benefits of it is the sense of community that the men develop. In my current group, one of the guys said, “I've never spoken up in a group before, but this group makes me feel comfortable.” The sense of the community, and the men knowing that other people have gone through what they've gone through, and also that they can help each other. I typically insist that the men give each other's names until they know everybody's name in the group, and I've had people comment on that too, that they’ve never known the people's names.
What impact do you see most in the men in your classes?
The men gain a greater sense of self-worth. They learn that they aren't their crime, and they develop a sense of self-worth and that comes from the curriculum. Principles like the Core Self, I’ve seen growth in the ability to help each other, be more truthful, become more self-aware of themselves and that they’re not all bad; that there were influences that created trauma in their life and they lash out at other people.
What aspects of Houses of Healing are more impactful than others?
The initial idea of the core self and that it is good is impactful. Forgiveness is also a very, very important part of the course. It's not so hard to forgive others as it is to forgive ourselves and that's something that we get into and they ask a lot about so that's I think that's a very very important part of the course.
Meditation has also been impactful for a number of men, while there are some men who just don't really get with that program too much, realizing how important it is. Another piece of Houses of Healing that I just love is the “Sky Awareness” and I have a man who was in my class in 2016 who has been paroled for a number of years and we're still in touch and he still does the “Sky Awareness.” These exercises expand one's understanding of the world, of people, of being incarcerated, and of yourself, and of belief in humanity.
What would you say to people who are thinking about facilitating Houses of Healing?
Well first of all, to observe and to read the book. But what I would probably say to encourage people is that it is a place where you can really get to understand where people come from. Facilitators can really learn more about why people come to prison, how they come to prison, how they can get out of prison. It is also a growing experience for the facilitator just as much as it is for them, and you develop friendships along the way.
Is there anything else you would like to share with us today?
I don't know of one man who really read the book that didn't like the book – they love the book! To think that they could say, “Oh, do I have to read another chapter of this book?” They really love the book and they get into it. They love the fact that there's stories from people who have been incarcerated, and Robin's wisdom.
I think another thing is learning how to be a student; Houses of Healing teaches the men how to be a student (and not all of them get it!) but that's another real value to the program.