Texas' Juvenile Recidivism & Handwriting Formation Therapy Program a Success

The Handwriting Formation Therapy project, pioneered by Treyce D'Gabriel, is thus far a huge success! Read about it and how you can get involved!

(PRWEB) October 22, 2006 -- Todays traditional psychological methods are at a 16th Century level. Starting far back in history traditional psychologists have advised their clients to "journal" or write down their everyday thoughts to aid in psychological closure and healing.

Treyce D'Gabriel, the pioneer of the Texas juvenile Handwriting Formation Therapy (HFT) pre-pilot program explains, "The problem with traditional psychological methods is that the client has to reveal, and consistently discuss, past events that can never be changed. This ends up making them feel even worse which is why it takes so long to progress".

While completing an internship at a group home, Treyce D'Gabriel, a 20 year handwriting analyst recalls the juveniles being in a positive mood prior to their appointment but afterwards hating themselves and becoming more problematic and aggressive. She realized that the traditional psychological methods were just not working for most of these teens.

As a Certified Handwriting Formation Therapist she decided to conduct her own research and was able to identify disturbing 'red flags' of writing styles that were directly related to the individuals potential to carry out acts of violence such as school shootings, robbery, assault, etc. In fact, it was these flags that gave rise to the creation of her book, "Teenage Terror - the Personality Behind the Pen".

Many law enforcement officials, school authorities, group home counselors and juvenile probation officers use her books as proactive tools when dealing with this young population. After talking with various juvenile probation officers she decided to approach the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission (TJPC) and the State Legislative branches about conducting a pre-pilot project to put juveniles, who were high-risk recidivists, through her HFT program. In this program the juveniles would remain 100% anonymous and not be involved in any other therapeutic programs. Both of the state agencies approved and, because Treyce was so sure of the success, she committed her time and resources for free [the State had nothing to lose].

The process works similar to this. The client submits a writing sample that Treyce uses to build his or her entire personality profile which reaches back as far as five years old. The individual (or parent of minor child) makes two individualized lists of traits to eliminate and traits to keep. By using the lists as a guide, Treyce develops a highly tailored alphabet that the individual will use from that moment on. It may sound too easy to say that one can change their writing and thus change their personality but it is definitely not an easy process. Treyce calls this 'Behavioral Modification on a Neurological level'. 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 for all these years. HFT is a therapy that re-programs the brain to incorporate positive behavioral changes via daily writing assignments. These changes can take a minimum of six months [average] but it depends on the amount of layers one is digging through.

Despite the challenging process of learning a completely new alphabet both juvenile and adult clients like the HFT program for several reasons. The most common reasons are not have to meet with someone face-to-face, not risk being "labeled" by peers, not having to talk about the past, all HFT assignments are completed at home and all can remain 100% anonymous. The clients energy is spent on regaining positive control of his or her life and concentrating on a happy and productive future [instead of wasting the energy on discussing past events].

When the juveniles completed this HFT pre-pilot program they were asked for feedback; all were very positive in their responses. To-date all of the juveniles that completed the program reported improvements in academic scores, social and home relationships and none have had any other dealings with the law. This information was further verified by their probation officers.

Treyce has successfully guided many men, women, juveniles and children through the complete HFT process in which all report very positive changes. While she has not met any of her clients, they all speak very highly of her and HFT. However in Texas' program, the juveniles were chosen from various juvenile probation agencies across the state. These juveniles were between 11 and 17 years old with diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds who were on various levels of probation; all were high recidivists who repeatedly failed at traditional therapies.

While the process of HFT is not new to the world, Treyce is the first analyst in history to introduce it to the correctional setting and it is long past due. Aside from this project, Treyce is no stranger to the field of law enforcement or probation. In fact she has been training international agencies and profiling the criminal traits of both adults and juveniles for many years. She has recommendations and references from agencies across the globe, is a published author, had her own TV segment and has appeared on radio and television talk shows.

Currently a student at Texas State University studying to become a Forensic Psychologist, traditional psychologists berate her for this HFT work. She states,
"...psychologists feel that we are trying to interfere but if they could just think outside of the box this would be an extremely beneficial tool for both them and their clients". She feels that the success of this Texas program definitely speaks volumes. Despite studying to become a traditional psychologist she will always continue to use HFT.

While some people may think this is akin to "tea leaves", many other states are excited to try this HFT program as well. Like Texas, she is pleased that other states are recogizing that the traditional methods are just not enough. Just as crime is becoming more intricate, treatments have to be as well. "You cannot change part of a wheel without changing the whole" she says.

Therefore if you are interested in more information or would like to become an HFT client please contact her. In the interim to view a television segment, purchase her books, check references or read biography information please visit her website at Treyce dot com.

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