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Join and engage in our online Google meetings each Sunday. Meetings are held on Sundays at 1:00 p.m. EST. We welcome all to join in, listen, share, and leave informed with hope and directions for your journey. This is a safe space. “No recording of any kind is allowed”. Please share this with others and invite another Returning Citizen to join. Let’s grow our community.

HEALING SPACE

GROUP SUPPORT – How are you coping since returning home?

NOTE: Do you have Post-Incarceration Syndrome [PICS]? If you have ever served time in jail or prison. If you have been in and out of treatment centers. If you lived in an adult living center. Or if you’ve been in and out of state-run foster care, you HAVE been experiencing PICS. Join us and learn the syndromes, listen, and/or share your lived experiences. You will leave knowing you are no longer alone and have others who are here to walk with you.

Click here on Sundays at 1:00 EST to join: meet.google.com/vwb-qkro-few

 Sunday Support Group Topic – April 5, 2026

Topic: Identity Crisis — When You Can Only Tell Half Your Story

As returning citizens, many of us face a unique challenge:

We’ve lived a powerful story…

But we can’t always tell it.

There are spaces where our full story matters.

And there are spaces—like job applications, interviews, and public settings—where we have to be strategic, careful, and sometimes only tell part of the truth.

We may:

 • Reword our experience to be understood

• Leave out details of incarceration

• Present our growth in ways others can receive

This creates a tension: Who am I, if I can’t fully say where I’ve been?

Today we’ll talk about navigating identity as a returning citizen: • Where is it safe to tell your full story?

• Where do you need to be strategic?

• How do you stay authentic while being practical?

How this connects to PICS:

• PTSD — fear of judgment, rejection, or being exposed

• Institutionalization — adapting identity to fit systems and expectations

• Antisocial traits — withdrawing or avoiding sharing altogether

• Social sensory deprivation — difficulty reading when it’s safe to open up

• Substance use disorder — numbing identity conflict or internal pressure

Practical Growth & Certification

As returning citizens, we also have tools to support our reintegration.

Through the Breaking Chains, Mending Minds Workbook and Certification Program, participants can:

• Learn stability, decision-making, and growth principles

• Earn a Reintegration Certification

• Show employers proof of continued development

When asked about a felony, we advocate honesty:

“Yes — willing to explain. Since my release, I’ve completed the Breaking Chains, Mending Minds certification program, focused on personal growth, stability, and responsible decision-making.”

This allows you to: 

• Tell your story with structure

• Show growth, not just history

• Move from explanation to transformation

Reflection questions:

• Where do I feel safe telling my full story?

• Where do I feel like I have to hide parts of myself?

• How does that affect how I see myself?

• What does authenticity look like in different environments?

Coping skills we may discuss:

• Learning when to share vs. when to be strategic

• Separating identity from circumstance

• Communicating growth clearly and confidently

• Using tools (like certification) to support your story

• Building safe spaces where your full story is honored

You don’t need to prepare or share. Listening is participation.