Texas Government to Fund Handwriting Formation Therapy Program for Juvenile Recidivists
As a pre-trial phase of a Pilot Program pioneered by Treyce Benavidez-d'Gabriel, Texas has approved a program for the juvenile recidivists - a program that has never been offered in the history of the science.
(PRWEB) April 25, 2005 -- Treyce Benavidez-d'Gabriel has been a Handwriting
Analyst for 17 years. However 20 years ago she was an abused wife and a client
of the Handwriting Formation Therapy program. "Traditional psychology makes you
think it is wrong to feel. They force you to relive past events which then cause
you to waste energy, suppress your feelings and make you feel worse. That's why
it takes so long to progress". She remembers trying traditional psychology prior
to this handwriting therapy program. She stated she was in a positive mood prior
to her appointment but afterwards she hated herself. Upon her successful
completion in the Handwriting Formation Therapy program she continued on to
become a certified therapist.
Since 1998, while working at a juvenile
agency, she realized that these kids are very high recidivists and the
traditional methods are just not working. She noticed that their behavior
changed, similar to hers, after their appointments. She conducted her own
research and identified disturbing 'red flags' of writing styles that were
directly related to the individuals potential to carry out acts of violence such
as school shootings. Her book, Teenage Terror - the Personality Behind the Pen,
reveals some of these key flags. It was after this research that she had the
idea about this pilot program but did not know how to accomplish it. Since she
believes that everything happens for a reason, five years ago she met her now
good friend, Vicki Spriggs, the Executive Director for the Texas Juvenile
Probation Commission.
It is Vicki that assisted Treyce in introducing
this project to the Texas Legislature. "Vicki is one of the reasons I moved to
Austin, I love being around her - the energy is addicting". Thanks to Vicki and
her own dedication, Treyce met with Christie Goodman at the Capitol in Austin on
Friday, April 8th. Ms. Goodman is a former Juvenile Probation Officer and really
understood the productive prospect of this Handwriting Formation Therapy
program; she also had a similar viewpoint about traditional psychology.
Many people make jokes about handwriting analysis but the science, and
especially Handwriting Formation Therapy, is no joke. To those who ask if they
will get married or win the lottery she simply replies, “If you want to know
your future call a psychic but if you want the truth - call me”. It may sound
easy to just 'write differently' but it is definitely not easy. It takes true
discipline and desire to change because it is like taking yourself back to first
grade and learning how to write all over again. You will no longer be able to
write the way that you have been in the past... it will be completely different.
Handwriting Formation Therapy is best described as Behavioral Modification on a
Neurological Level. During this pilot the juveniles that participate in this
program will remain completely anonymous and Treyce will never meet them.
However each juvenile will receive a full personality profile and their
own personalized set of guidelines which includes their own alphabet, baseline,
zones, slant, spacing and more as dictated to fit their personality. They will
never have to think about the past events and they don’t have to hear some
intimidating psychologist say “you should not feel...”.
With Handwriting
Formation Therapy, the "negative" traits will be forced out by the "positive"
traits automatically as long as they continue writing every day for six to
twelve months. The only prerequisite to joining this program is that they must
show a willingness to change their ways. As with any therapy or program, if the
individual does not want to change, it just will not work. "We all have energy
in our psyche but when we behave negatively the energy is used against us"
Treyce explains. This program takes that already-existent energy and reroutes it
into positive outlets such as sports, literary arts, music and the like. This
program also balances their everyday and circumstantial traits to increase the
clients psychological stability.
During the pre-trial phase 10 kids will
be chosen from five juvenile probation departments in various areas across the
state. These 10 kids will be between 11 and 17 years old and on various levels
of probation. Treyce will work with these kids anonymously through their
probation officer until they "graduate" from the Handwriting Formation Therapy
program. She will closely monitor their progress each week and continue to track
their success through the next year for recidivism, attitudes, grades, behavior,
etc. If proved successful, as it has been for her former clients, then the Texas
Legislature will be ready to appropriate funds for an entire pilot program.
Treyce plans to attend the next legislative session with statistics, success
stories, and more in hand. Currently the average cost for traditional
therapeutic methods - per juvenile, per day - range from $63 - $171. The
Handwriting Formation Therapy program will only cost $10 per juvenile, per day.
The Handwriting Formation Therapy program is conducted in the individual’s own
home so nobody knows that s/he is in therapy. This successfully prevents the
juvenile from being stigmatized.
While Handwriting Analysis and
Handwriting Formation Therapy are not new to the universe, this type of
therapeutic project has never been initiated in the history of the world; it is
long past due. When people make light of or belittle this program she quietly
replies, "For decades traditional psychologists have been telling people to
‘journal each day’ - it is obviously not the book that helps them. It is the act
of writing”. Handwriting Formation Therapy takes it a step further by requiring
that the client journal using only approved and personalized guidelines to build
a strong and solid psychological structure that will carry them through the rest
of their lives.
Aside from this project, Treyce is no stranger to the
field of law enforcement or probation. In fact she has been training agencies
and profiling the criminal traits of both adults and juveniles for years. Some
of the recommendations include a comment from Lamar County Juvenile Probation
stating, “Of all the juveniles you have profiled to-date, none have ever
re-offended”. Many other probation agencies state that her profiles directly
match their traditional psychological evaluations. However she has often been
told that her results are more detailed and uncover much more. She states,
"...psychologists feel that we are trying to interfere with their programs but
we can truly help them and the success of this program should definitely build
that bridge between these two fields".
Ironically she is currently
attending college and working toward her PsyD in Criminal Psychology. She firmly
believes that the Handwriting Formation Therapy program will also help clients
under her care then.
When asked if she is only willing to work with
Texas she states, “The juvenile recidivism rate is around 70-80% across the
U.S.... not just in Texas”. However Texas has been great to her and she feels
very honored to help change the lives of these juveniles... and those that live
with them. She is proud that Texas is intelligent enough to admit the
traditional methods are not enough and proactive enough to support her at the
forefront of this project.
For more information on current research
projects, to view a television segment, view her pictures or read her bio please
visit her website.
# # #
Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/4/prweb227461.htm