By Gemma Fraser
Head of content
A group of more than a dozen men lie on the ground in a circle, heads inches away from one another.
Their arms are relaxed to the sides of their torsos which are dressed in matching pale blue t-shirts.
In the centre crouches a woman, guiding, calming, nurturing.
Despite how it may appear, this is not some kind of male-only yoga retreat; far from it. This is prison.
“I’ve had guys come in going ‘well, I’ve got nothing better to do, might as well’, and then coming out going ‘oh my God, my life has changed’”, says counsellor Caroline Georgiou, the figure in the centre of the circle.
The ‘guys’, she explains, are all prisoners, and the life-changer is a trauma-informed sound-based therapy called ‘innerdance’.
“Innerdance very much refers to you going inward, and the dance is the movement of energy, of brain wave states, of your nervous system,” explains Georgiou.
“I know that some of the guys were a bit worried that they would be dancing in front of each other. They were very relieved to discover that all they have to do is lie down on their back and close their eyes.”
The process of innerdance uses music and sound to support emotional discovery by guiding participants on a journey using their mind alone.
Georgiou creates specific ‘soundscapes’ using music software, coupled with her understanding of different brain wave states, and each individually-crafted piece of music is designed to stimulate an ‘inner journey’.
Prisoners have reported being transported back to their childhood, to happier times, or to places they could only ever imagine visiting.
They can also be taken to darker places, such as the moment they committed the crime which led to their incarceration.
All of these ‘journeys’ help them deal with their own experiences, and often their own trauma.
“When you have that level of insight, it absolutely makes sense that they’ve ended up in prison. I’m not sure there were any other pathways available”
Caroline Georgiou
A leading innerdance facilitator, Georgiou was first invited to bring her healing process to HMP Perth more than a year ago, delivering weekly sessions to inmates after a successful pilot, and has subsequently taken her techniques to America, working in several maximum security prisons.
While there are noticeable visible differences between the prison systems on either side of the Atlantic, Georgiou says the trauma and vulnerability are the same everywhere.
“I’ve had the honour of reading some of the prisoners’ life stories from when they were born, and what they’ve endured is horrifying,” she says, speaking to 1919 from her current base in California.
“When you have that level of insight, it absolutely makes sense that they’ve ended up in prison. I’m not sure there were any other pathways available.
“Pretty much all of the men in the prisons that I work with in America are in for at least a murder of one person, so, there’s a guarantee that you’re working with that level of violence and crime, and they’re much longer-term sentences.”
Georgiou says she is able to see beyond the crimes committed and focus on her purpose: to help support the prisoners in their emotional recovery.
“I guess I’m just really focusing on why I’m here,” she explains. “I’m here to be in service. I’m here to support the men and women to remember how amazing they really are, and that they’re not defined by the worst mistake of their lives. There’s so much more to them.
“Prisoners are such a forgotten part of our community”
“There have been times when I’ve been curious: ‘am I able to do this?’
“It’s really important to be a very reflective practitioner, and I have my own biases and prejudices, and I’ve still been able to hold clear space and to see the person clearly, not for their crimes, but the bigger picture.
“It’s just a very interesting way of me meeting someone, you know, just let’s just put all of that to this side and let’s just meet in this moment.
“Prisoners are such a forgotten part of our community.”
Georgiou will return to her home in Dundee when she finishes her work in the American prisons – including Oregon State Penitentiary, Ironwood State Prison, and Calipatria State Prison – where she hopes to continue her work in HMP Perth, and also forge new relationships with other local prisons, including the Bella Centre, the UK’s first women’s community custody unit.
Her success with the prisoners in Perth has led to her innerdance soundscapes being played via the prison radio, allowing the process to continue while she has been in America, and also opening it up to a wider audience.
One of the best parts, says Georgiou, is the support the prisoners offer one other, and their willingness to share their experiences.
“It’s an important part of the meaning-making process and integration, and it encourages them to support each other,” she explains.
She adds: “This is very deep work and they can go to places that they didn’t expect and they can resolve a lot of trauma from their past…
“Some of them have definitely had visions of people that they’ve hurt. Some of their crimes. Some of them are still dealing with that internally, but they’re listening very deeply and closely to the men who are willing to share.
“You can work through your worst nightmare in this moment and survive it. You can survive your healing.”