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Desert Waters’ two Correctional Family Wellness™(CFW) courses—one course for correctional staff (CFW-S) and the other for their adult family members (CFW-F)—are designed to be offered either after completion of the From Corrections Fatigue to Fulfillment™(CF2F) course (which is offered to staff only) or independently. However, offering CF2F to staff first provides significant benefits. CF2F is a foundational course that helps staff understand the nature and consequences of Corrections Fatigue—why it occurs and how it impacts their identity, worldview, spirituality, health, and overall functioning. It introduces strategies to enhance professional fulfillment, both individually and as a team, while also promoting better self-care. By fostering self-awareness and initiating resilience-building, CF2F prepares staff to more effectively manage themselves and their relationships at work and at home. Through CF2F, staff gain critical insight into the unique challenges of correctional work and its psychological and relational consequences. This self-awareness is essential before addressing more deeply how those experiences affect family life. Once staff can recognize and begin to manage their own Fatigue, they are better [...]

Dear Corrections Employee: The wife of a corrections officer once told me, “When my husband got a job at the Department of Corrections as a Corrections Officer, I had no idea that it was a package deal—that we’d be signing up too, as a family.” Since then, I’ve heard similar statements expressed by other family members of corrections staff as they navigate through the uncharted waters of their loved one working in corrections, and while trying to understand and adapt to changes in their life as a family. More often than not, your spouse and your other family members enter into the world of corrections uninformed and unprepared for the toll this occupation can take on you, and by extension on them, and the changes they will be experiencing in their home life as a result of your job demands. Your family members are happy that you will have a steady paycheck with benefits. They are thrilled to hear [...]

 Correctional employees serve on the front lines of public safety, often working under intensely stressful conditions in highly challenging environments. However, behind most correctional employees are families that share in the burdens of the profession—quietly making sacrifices that too often go unrecognized. National Correctional Family Appreciation Week—celebrated this year from the 2nd of June through the 8th of June—offers a critical opportunity for administrators to celebrate these families. We all need to acknowledge that their unwavering and exemplary support plays a vital role in the well-being and even the retention of the correctional workforce.The Hidden Sacrifices of Correctional FamiliesCorrectional families make significant sacrifices that enable their loved ones to perform their duties. Mandatory overtime—sometimes multiple times per week—can leave families scrambling to adjust childcare, household responsibilities, and emotional needs without the presence of the correctional employee. These demands include accommodating unpredictable shift schedules, nontraditional weekends, and holidays spent apart.In the absence of their loved one, correctional families must find ways to maintain household stability, [...]

The words I offer here are my attempt to express how I experience the world of working inside a prison — a world that is dirty, harsh, and unforgiving. It's a world I chose to step into in order to provide for myself and my family — the people who make up the other, very different, world I inhabit. Two worlds: one of light, one of shadow. As different as day and night. The outside world — the world I share with my family — should be filled with love, laughter, and hope for the future. The inside world — the prison world — is a place defined by frustration, anger, violence, and despair. When I first began this career, I was rooted firmly in the outside world. But as time passed, I became so wrapped up in the inside world that I began to embrace it. Each day spent within it pulled me in deeper. Slowly, I lost [...]

When I began my correctional career during the first decade of this century, correctional culture was nearing the end of "hard" inmate supervision. There were still large areas of prisons lacking security cameras, and use of force by staff against inmates was frequent. The amount of time dedicated to attempting to negotiate a peaceful end to a cell being held "hostage" was short, and cell extractions were common. Disciplinary reports were frequent, and disciplinary sanctions were harsh. While intentionally mistreating inmates was no longer tolerated by the administration, many line staff continued to mistreat inmates because your peers didn't report you, and the investigator never believed the inmate's side of the story. My, how things have changed! A recent trend in corrections has been the introduction of a series of practices informed by a philosophy of treating inmates with respect, dignity, and humanity. Development of professional relationships with inmates is now highly encouraged. A few of the many softer, [...]

Recently I heard a sermon regarding the idea of relationships being more important than rituals in a church setting. It got me thinking about the balance of relationships and rituals at the workplace. As a manager, I am responsible for ensuring adherence to rituals. For the purposes of this article we will define rituals as policies, directives, and mandates. The things that keep facilities operating and people safe…the rule of law, if you will. You see, rituals have a place regardless of the negative connotation sometimes associated with them. Roll call, counting, searching, marching, lines, steps, keys, swipes, shifts, uniforms, use of force… the list goes on. So where does relationship play into this? How do these two dimensions work together and/or against each other in the daily activities of correctional facilities? I would argue that in corrections and maybe even beyond, these two principles tend to be routinely at war with one another. A constant teeter-totter with the [...]

This article looks at ways to reduce avoidable conflict—and the stress, and maybe even injuries or psychological trauma—that correctional staff often face. The goal is to help staff skillfully steer around preventable conflicts with incarcerated persons. To tackle this topic, we discuss how our brains deal with perceived threat, and we explore practical ways that staff may reduce the likelihood of pushing incarcerated persons’ “hot buttons" whether inadvertently or intentionally. At the outset, however, we at Desert Waters acknowledge that not all conflict and violence can be prevented in correctional settings no matter how skilled staff may be at conflict de-escalation and helping calm people down. We recognize and honor the dedicated corrections staff—especially officers—who place themselves at risk to carry out their critical duties in the midst of uncertainty about their physical safety. These officers demonstrate extraordinary courage and self-control, even under extreme stress, on a regular basis. Additionally, I’d like to acknowledge that maintaining professionalism through self-control [...]

I was in a training last year with others who work behind the walls when I heard something that stuck with me. When talking about staff wellness, an officer shared that, on days that he comes home and complains and complains about all the difficult things that officers now have to face at their jobs, his girlfriend lets him vent for a bit and then says, “Ok, give me three things that went well today.” When I heard that something shifted in my brain and I caught onto this idea. Yes, I have attended other trainings that presented the same or a similar idea. But for some reason, that suggestion clicked for me on that day. I think we have all had those days where we can’t sleep all night but then decide to get the best sleep of our lives an hour before we need to wake up. Then we push snooze one too many times and are a touch behind. We [...]

In addition to delivering valuable information, Desert Waters’ trainings focus on teaching essential emotional intelligence skills, resilience-building techniques, and wellness-promoting practices. These tools are designed to enhance participants’ ability to navigate challenges with confidence, manage stress more effectively, and foster a balanced mindset. By equipping participants with these capabilities, the training empowers them to respond to personal and professional demands with emotional agility and resilience. The Process of Developing Lasting Change However, the development and sustainability of these behaviors is not instantaneous. It requires consistent practice, repetition, and reinforcement. Like any meaningful transformation, integrating these skills into daily life relies on creating opportunities to rehearse and apply them in real-world scenarios. Over time, this deliberate effort solidifies these practices as new habits, eventually transforming them into automatic, default behaviors. Creating a Ripple Effect of Positive Change This transformative process not only enhances individual well-being but also fosters a ripple effect, cultivating a more supportive, emotionally intelligent environment in both [...]

Recent developments in New York State’s correctional system have made one thing abundantly clear: the focus should not be on choosing sides between incarcerated persons and staff. Instead, the priority must be a commitment to humanity—an overarching principle that recognizes the dignity, well-being, and rights of all individuals within the system. The entrenched “us versus them” mentality, which has historically divided incarcerated persons and correctional staff, only leads to mutual suffering. A system that truly values reform must address the needs of both groups, acknowledging that improvements for one inevitably lead to improvements for the other.The notion of picking sides—whether supporting incarcerated persons or staff—results in a zero-sum game where everyone loses. Poor living conditions for incarcerated persons, lack of rehabilitation programs, and inadequate mental health resources not only harm those incarcerated but also create dangerous and stressful environments for correctional officers. Likewise, when officers are undertrained, overworked, and unsupported, their ability to perform their jobs effectively diminishes, which in turn negatively [...]