Texas Government to Fund Handwriting Formation Therapy Program for Juvenile Recidivists



April 25 2005 Treyce BenavidezdGabriel 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 Thats 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 ed 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 egative 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 alreadyexistent 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 pretrial 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 she 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 todate none have ever reoffended 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 7080 across the US 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



Texas Government to Fund Handwriting Formation Therapy Program for Juvenile Recidivists