A few words

About Compassion Prison Project

History

Our story starts back when...

After reading “The Body Keeps the Score” by Bessel van der Kolk in 2018, Fritzi Horstman realized that her behaviors were rooted in childhood trauma. Thus, she started her transformative journey. Viewing Kern Valley State Prison as a trauma center, she began volunteering there. Together, she and the men in custody experimented and eventually developed Compassion Trauma Circle which was aimed at addressing issues of childhood trauma and its impacts. This led led to the establishment of Compassion Prison Project (CPP) in 2019.

In 2020 they had a powerful event filmed at California State Prison – Los Angeles County that highly exposed how childhood trauma is linked to imprisonment. Since then, they have produced the Trauma Talks series and podcast with an intention of facilitating global shifts in the institutionalised approach towards trauma. This was done in support of adults in custody being successfully reintegrated back into society.

Her Efforts Proved Impactful

Fritzi Horstman’s film found it’s way inside the Oklahoma Department of Corrections. There, a reintegration team worked to develop trainings that could help the Oklahoma Correctional Industries workforce. One incarcerated man, inspired by this discovery, soon began to educate himself – much like Fritzi did – about adverse childhood experience and resilience.

After years of researching, further developing his own program curriculum, and becoming certified as a Trauma Informed/Supportive/Practitioner Trainer with the CRI, he reached out to Fritzi with hopes of doing more to help transform a trauma impacted world. Fritzi’s response was more than he had dreamed.

Today, Fritzi and he are partnering to expand the vision of both the CPP and the Resilience Prison Project.