Built from the Inside

Who am I, Really?

Main Focus: Identity & Self-Definition
NYSED Alignment: CDOS 1; Health Standards 1 & 2
DOCCS Alignment: Life Skills – Personal Development; ART – Social Skills Module

Who told me who I am—and who do I want to become?

Inside correctional systems, people are often reduced to a number, a charge, or a case file. Labels like “offender,” “inmate,” or “failure” begin to shape identity from the outside in. Who Am I, Really? creates space to challenge those labels and reconnect with the person beneath them.

Through guided journaling, personal storytelling, and trauma-informed group dialogue, participants begin peeling back the masks they’ve worn for survival. Using tools like the Identity Mirror and Label Filter, they reclaim authorship of their self-image—not based on what they’ve done, but on who they choose to become.

Mastering the Fire

Main Focus: Emotional Regulation & Anger Management
NYSED Alignment: Health Standards 1 & 3
DOCCS Alignment: ART – Anger Control Module; ASAT/RSAT Emotional Awareness

Anger isn’t the issue. What we do with it is. In Mastering the Fire, incarcerated participants explore their emotional triggers and reaction patterns such as explosions, shutdowns, deflections, or disassociation. With tools like the “Trigger Tracker” and “Reaction Split,” they learn to slow down these cycles and take back control of the emotional fire inside them.

This book doesn’t shame anger. It validates it. But it also asks hard questions. What’s beneath that rage? What do you risk when you lose control? Participants gain space to unpack their emotional energy and reframe it as focused power, not destruction.

Blood In, Blood Out

Main Focus: Loyalty, Boundaries & Belonging
NYSED Alignment: Health Standard 2; CDOS 3a
DOCCS Alignment: Thinking for a Change – Social Perspective; RSAT – Peer & Family Support

Not all loyalty is love. Not all belonging is healthy. Blood In Blood Out challenges the unspoken codes many incarcerated individuals live by. Stay loyal no matter what. Trust no one. Never show weakness.

In this book, participants reflect on who earned their loyalty and who simply claimed it. Using tools like the “Loyalty Ledger” and “Code Check,” they examine how their circles formed, which relationships build them up, and which ones hold them back.

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Your Story Ain’t Over Yet

Main Focus: Grief, Guilt & Narrative Rebuilding
NYSED Alignment: Health Standards 1 & 2 – Mental Health, Self-Management
DOCCS Alignment: RSAT – Trauma Recovery; CBT – Personal Narratives & Reframing

This book invites participants to confront the stories they have been told or told themselves about who they are. Whether shaped by loss, abandonment, guilt, or failure, many incarcerated individuals carry silent grief and unspoken blame.

Your Story Ain’t Over Yet helps participants recognize that the story is not finished and they get to hold the pen. Through frameworks like the “Growth Flip” and the “Paper vs. Proof Grid,” they learn how to reframe their pain without erasing it, viewing setbacks as chapters instead of life sentences.

Pain Is the Proof You Survived

Main Focus: Trauma Processing & Emotional Reflection
NYSED Alignment: Health Standards 1 & 3 – Emotional Literacy & Self-Management
DOCCS Alignment: RSAT/ASAT – Trauma Awareness; CBT – Coping & Resilience Tools

Many incarcerated individuals carry trauma they have never named or processed. Pain Is the Proof You Survived meets them in that space not to analyze them but to help them speak their pain with dignity.

Using tools like the “Survival to Healing Journal” and “Wound Words,” participants name emotional injuries and develop language to distinguish between coping, avoidance, and healing. They explore how unprocessed pain shows up in behavior, relationships, and identity and how to convert that pain into purpose.

Who’s Talking in Your Head?

Main Focus: Self-Talk & Cognitive Restructuring
NYSED Alignment: CDOS 1 – Self-Knowledge; Health Standards 1 & 3 – Inner Dialogue, Self-Esteem
DOCCS Alignment: Thinking for a Change – Cognitive Self-Change; CBT – Thought Distortion Rewiring

This volume helps participants identify their internal narrator and decide whether that voice deserves the microphone. Who’s Talking in Your Head challenges the automatic thoughts that shape behavior, decisions, and self-worth.

Participants learn to track their internal script, name where it came from, and rewrite the parts that no longer serve them. Tools like the “Voice ID” and “Script Rewrite” support this process, helping them build a conscious and intentional relationship with their thoughts.

You Already Know the Answer

Main Focus: Radical Honesty & Personal Accountability
NYSED Alignment: CDOS 2 – Integrated Learning; Health Standards 2 & 3 – Decision-Making & Character
DOCCS Alignment: ASAT – Relapse Prevention; RSAT – Integrity & Self-Reflection Work

Most participants know what is right. The struggle is not awareness. It is honesty. You Already Know the Answer invites individuals to confront the truths they have avoided. The excuses. The half-steps. The self-deception that keeps them stuck.

This book does not shame. It illuminates. With tools like the “Excuse Filter” and “Truth Audit,” participants examine the cost of avoidance and what real accountability looks like. It challenges them to move beyond survival thinking such as justifying, deflecting, and blaming and instead stand in clarity, even when it is uncomfortable.

Who You’re Becoming

Main Focus: Leadership, Integrity & Long-Term Vision
NYSED Alignment: CDOS 3a – Universal Foundation Skills; Health Standard 2 – Personal Responsibility
DOCCS Alignment: Thinking for a Change – Future Planning; Life Skills – Vision & Character

This volume centers the future not as fantasy but as something built from today's values. Who You’re Becoming guides participants to define leadership by who they are when no one is watching, not by titles or image.

Using tools like the “Character Grid” and “Integrity Anchors,” participants explore personal values, long-term goals, and the ripple effects of their choices. They examine how to align their actions with the kind of legacy they want to leave.

The Hustler’s Flip

Main Focus: Skill Conversion & Legal Hustle Strategy
NYSED Alignment: CDOS 2 – Integrated Learning; CDOS 3b – Career Majors: Entrepreneurship
DOCCS Alignment: Reentry – Legal Business Building; Vocational – Skill Transfer Planning

This is where street intelligence meets structured entrepreneurship. The Hustler’s Flip helps participants recognize the transferable skills they already have and repurpose them for legal success.

Participants work through exercises like the “Skill Flip Map” and the “Brand Purpose Chart” to convert hustle mindsets into strategic business, leadership, or workforce assets. They learn to reframe resourcefulness, loyalty, timing, and hustle not as risks but as raw materials for sustainable purpose.

Free Inside

Main Focus: Nervous System Mastery & Emotional Peace
NYSED Alignment: Health Standard 1 – Self-Regulation; Health Standard 3 – Stress Management & Resilience
DOCCS Alignment: CBT – Mindfulness & Body-Based Coping; RSAT – Emotional Regulation Tools

Freedom is not just a date on the calendar. It is a state of mind. Free Inside equips participants with daily practices to calm their nervous system, manage stress, and return to peace even in high-stress environments.

Participants explore grounding techniques like the “Five Second Reset,” “Breathwork Drills,” and the “Grounding Map” to recognize when their bodies are dysregulated and how to bring themselves back to center.