PATH OF FREEDOM
Our main curriculum used in prison programs worldwide. Path of Freedom® is a mindfulness-based emotional intelligence (MBEI) model for at-risk and incarcerated youth and adult prisoners
THE PATH OF FREEDOM
Path of Freedom was developed by Kate Vita Pires-Crisp, Ph.D., and introduced in a five-year pilot program at the Lookout Mountain Youth Services Center (a maximum-security prison for juvenile males) in Golden, Colorado, in the early 2000s. Over the past few decades, we have trained over 1,000 facilitators worldwide to deliver the Path of Freedom curriculum.
The Path of Freedom is a mindfulness-based emotional intelligence (MBEI) training that draws on key elements of social-emotional learning and mindfulness-based cognitive-behavioral training. The program focuses on increasing participants’ resources, capacities, and skills for self-awareness by developing mindfulness, presence, focus, and attention stabilization. The program offers tools for developing emotion regulation, resilience, deep listening, empathic communication, problem-solving, forgiveness, and conflict management.
The Path of Freedom curriculum also focuses on increasing participants’ resiliency, self-reflective capacity, confidence, and positive life outlook through mindfulness-awareness meditation and contemplative/reflective practices. This direct meditative experience encourages a shift from fear-based, anti-social, or criminal strategies for meeting needs to pro-social strategies grounded in emerging confidence in their innate goodness, the inherent goodness of others, and a greater sense of possibility for their present lives and future. The program is also grounded in a holistic, whole-person, bio-psycho-social-spiritual, integral view of human development.
The program is non-sectarian and is open to participants of any faith and/or those who do not identify with a particular faith tradition. The curriculum has received very positive reviews from experts in the corrections field.
Online: Intro to the POF
We offer our six-week online course Introduction to the Path of Freedom (POF) on our EMI Community & Courses site.
2026 Dates:
Cohort One/ March 2nd- April 13th
Cohort Two/ Oct 5th- November 16th
Use the button below to apply!
Path of Freedom Book
Our Executive Director, K. Vita Pires-Crisp, Ph.D., wrote the Path of Freedom book as a clear and precise illustrated manual that guides prisoners through the Path of Freedom training.
The Path of Freedom book is available for $17.99, plus shipping, to those who have completed the "Intro to the Path of Freedom" online training course.
Facilitating the POF
The Intro to the Path of Freedom online course is the first step in a two-step preparation process for those who wish to begin facilitating Path of Freedom classes in a prison, jail, reentry program, or other setting.
This six-week introductory course offers an orientation to the Path of Freedom curriculum, its core principles, and its overall approach. It is not a certification program.
After completing the Intro to the Path of Freedom course, participants may apply for the POF Intro to Facilitation course, an 8–12 week live (zoom) training focused on the practical skills needed to deliver the curriculum with clarity and fidelity.
Completing these two introductory steps prepares you to begin facilitating the curriculum, but it does not certify you as a Path of Freedom Instructor. Full certification is a separate and more extensive process.
Read more about the path to becoming a Certified POF Instructor.