New Art Therapy Tablet Application Helps Incarcerated Individuals Regulate Emotions and Behaviors, Improving Mental Health
Applications that address mental health support individuals in reducing anxiety, enhancing relationships, and learning better communication skills
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Falls Church, Virginia (AccessWire) – February 9, 2021 – GTL, a trusted partner that connects those affected by incarceration with the resources and support necessary to achieve success, today announced that it has partnered with Hayes Art Therapy to provide new content on GTL tablets.
The Art Therapy app will teach incarcerated individuals how to use different art materials, such as drawings and collages, to help regulate their emotions and behaviors. By doing so, they can reduce their anxiety, enhance their relationships by learning better communication skills, and better handle frustration, disappointment, anger, and other feelings.
“We recognize how important it is to have content that addresses mental health in the correctional environment,” said Pelicia Hall, Senior Vice President, Reentry Services. “Because of that, we are very deliberate in establishing meaningful partnerships to help address these issues, such as our partnership with Hayes Art Therapy. We are very excited to get a course of this nature on our digital platform. This is where innovation in technology can truly have a positive impact and help transform the lives of those incarcerated.”
Art therapy has shown to be an effective mental health treatment for individuals who have experienced trauma, medical illness, depression, and social difficulties. It can help achieve personal insight as well as healing. There will be no cost to incarcerated individuals who use the Art Therapy app.
“Words are our primary method of communication, but often words cannot express the complexity of our internal and emotional lives,” explains Pamela Malkoff Hayes. “The process of art-making provides people with a means to their own subconscious that is unrefined and uncensored. In addition, it is often easier to talk about a drawing than it is to openly express or take responsibility for feelings. The exercises in this program allow participants to externalize all those pent up, and oftentimes frightening, emotions in a safe way.”
More than half of all incarcerated individuals at the local, state, and Federal levels suffer from a mental illness though few receive treatment because of barriers such as lack of resources. GTL tablet applications such as Breaking Free from Substance Abuse, the Peace Education Program from The Prem Rawat Foundation, Art Therapy, and others help to expand the resources available to individuals and address this area of need. With an eye to the future, GTL is working to offer even more mental health-focused apps on the tablets.
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About GTL
For over 30 years, GTL has worked side-by-side with correctional facilities and government agencies to provide imperative technology solutions to the populations they serve. These solutions facilitate meaningful connections, provide educational opportunities, enable successful reentry, and strengthen operational efficiency. GTL is headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, with an employee presence throughout North America and provides solutions in support of 1.6 million inmates across the globe. To learn more about GTL, please visit www.gtl.net, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
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