Still, how can someone used to physical aggression learn to be so rational?
We call it teaching Mr. Hyde to remember what Dr. Jekyll learned. These men have to learn emotional regulation and the rewards of change based on compassion. We ask them to remember an incident that made them angry; to feel the anger again, and follow the steps of HEALSTM 12 times a day for four weeks. It almost works like a vaccination. You feel the core hurt for five seconds at a time when you practice, and you develop immunity to it. Why is your dropout rate so low? It’s a 12-week program, and if they don’t do their homework, they go to jail. We have surprisingly little resistance. I also say ” If you don’t feel much better about yourself, we’ll give you your money back. You’ll like yourself better when you’re compassionate.” I’ve treated over 1200 abusers in my career, and even the antisocial ones – no matter how justified they felt at the time – never felt proud of hurting someone they loved. Our group is about becoming proud. Does this work even for the true sociopaths, the ones
