Brian Begley had a lot to grieve during his 18-month stay at Pepin County Jail. After his girlfriend died, he turned to drugs, which led to his incarceration. Then he lost his house and construction job. He also lost his coping mechanism of substance use.
“Drug use was my solution to life, and so now I need to find different ways to communicate my feelings or needs,” he says. With the support of a class led by UW-Madison Division of Extension in five northern Wisconsin county jails, Begley gained perspective on his emotions.
“There’s so many types of grief, and probably one of the biggest misconceptions of being a guy is to just get over it, just move on,” Begley said. “[In the class,] you can be more open. I was blessed with [classmates] that actually went through some grief.”
For three years, small groups of people incarcerated in county jails in Buffalo, Dunn, Jackson, Pepin, and Trempealeau County Jails have been meeting over Zoom for the class, called Companions Through the Wilderness – Healing from Loss and Grief. Over 10-12 sessions, they learn about grief and the mourning process to heal together. They discuss the book they’re reading, “Understanding Your Grief: Ten Essential Touchstones for Finding Hope and Healing Your Heart.” They also share art drawings, collages, reflective writing, and poems that express how grief affects them. Since 2023, 89 men and women have participated in nine classes for people who are incarcerated.
“It’s not an easy class for people to participate in,” says Mary Campbell Wood, UW-Extension professor and leader of the class. People who are involved with the justice system may have experienced traumatic events and multiple losses, making them more likely to struggle with substance misuse and addiction. However, the communal aspect of working through difficult feelings helps build capacity for healing in people and in communities. Learning the mourning process for healing from loss and grief can also reduce the likelihood of substance misuse that often leads to personal, family, and community instability.
“It changes lives,” says Heather N. Pyka, jail program director at Dunn County Sheriff’s Office in Menomonie. “To be in a safe environment where you’re not having the ability to numb out some of those feelings that are really hard — people are allowed to be vulnerable.”
CTW began in 2023 for community members in rural Buffalo, Pepin, and Trempealeau Counties. Hope 4 U, a grassroots mental health coalition, partnered with Campbell Wood to meet requests for grief support as part of their mission of suicide awareness. Suicide rates are higher among rural county residents than urban residents in Wisconsin. Campbell Wood is a UW Extension professor of 22 years with extensive training and certifications related to grief and healing. She’s led four 10-week classes for 23 community participants whose lives have been affected by suicide, death, and other losses. In the coming months, Campbell Wood will lead CTW classes for two new groups: law enforcement and EMT professionals and community members in the farming community.
“People need someone to talk to,” says Deb Helgeson, who founded Hope 4 U in 2017 after she lost three family members and several regional community members to suicide. Helgeson found understanding and companionship with other CTW participants. “We can talk because we get each other, and we’ve shared those deepest, darkest times.”
In 2023, Campbell Wood partnered with Dunn County Jail, where she was already teaching other classes, to pilot CTW.
For many people who take CTW, it’s the first time they’ve had the opportunity to work through difficult emotions, “especially in a very rural community where those things are not readily available to the general public,” says Elizabeth Jones, behavioral health coordinator at Jackson County Sheriff’s Office in Black River Falls. Mental health support and psychiatric services can be limited in rural areas with wait times that are too long to help in emergencies.
One incarcerated participant shared that the class allowed them to understand grief from their son’s death was behind their addiction and to accept help. “That one dark and scary place I’ve avoided transferred to a path of healing and hope,” they wrote.
Campbell Wood hopes CTW helps communities build healthier ways to respond to loss, grief, and trauma.
“If this can help participants reduce their dependence on drugs and alcohol or increase their willingness to look at recovery in a different way, that makes our community safer, and it makes families safer, more stable, and able to provide a better sense of security for children,” she says.
