By Bob Johnson
mlive.com
SAGINAW, Mich. — In a place where survival often depends on hiding emotion, a different kind of lesson is taking root.
On April 10, inside the Saginaw County Jail, nine inmates with gun-related felony charges graduated from The GRAY Effect—a new, 10-week intervention program designed to tackle the root causes of violence by teaching mindfulness, emotional intelligence and trauma awareness.
The program’s name stands for “Getting Real About Yourself.” Its founder, Saginaw therapist Twannie L. Gray, believes that’s exactly where true rehabilitation begins.
“Most people in jail wrestle with trauma,” Gray said. “If we’re serious about rehabilitation, we have to deal with that.”
Unlike traditional approaches that focus on punishment or surface-level behavior, The GRAY Effect invites participants to look inward—to explore how emotions, unchecked, can spiral into violence, and how understanding those emotions can open the door to a different life.
Through guided discussions, therapeutic exercises, and self-reflection, the program challenges men who have often been told to suppress feelings to instead confront them with honesty and accountability. Gray calls it “mindfulness through a therapeutic lens.”
“Not being able to process emotions is one of the reasons so many are here in the first place,” Gray said.
‘This is where it began’
The evidence-based curriculum draws on Gray‘s professional background as a licensed therapist—and his lived experience. In 1994, Gray himself was sentenced to four to 20 years for a drug conviction. While incarcerated, a conversation with an older inmate changed his trajectory.
“He had me look up the word ‘institution,’” Gray recalled. “I saw that schools, hospitals, prisons—they’re all institutions. He told me to choose where I wanted to be institutionalized.”
Gray chose education.
Within four years after his release, Gray had earned an associate’s, bachelor’s and master’s degree—and later, a doctorate. But the real work, he said, started with a decision.
“I had to get real with myself first,” he said. “That’s where this began.”
Emotional growth
The GRAY Effect is not a bootcamp or lecture series—it’s emotional work. The curriculum focuses on emotional intelligence, mindfulness, and trauma-informed care.
“In jail, showing emotion is seen as weakness,” Gray said. “But the truth is, most of these men are wrestling with trauma. Early in life we tend to teach competition before we teach togetherness. By the time they’re grown, they don’t know how to deal with feelings without flipping out.”
The first cohort’s results suggest the program is working. Nine out of ten participants demonstrated significant emotional growth during the 10-week session—a promising start for an initiative Gray hopes will expand.
The Saginaw County Sheriff’s Office has supported the effort, offering inmates a voluntary sign-up. The next session, which begins Thursday, May 1, is expected to include 10 to 15 participants.
Being part of the solution
“Gun violence is destroying our community,” Gray said. “This program is about helping people heal so they don’t go back out and repeat the same cycles.”
Part of that healing, he said, is teaching logic alongside emotion—learning to pause, think and consider consequences before acting. It’s a simple concept, but one that isn’t often taught in environments where survival often trumps reflection.
“We have to learn how to fulfill our emotional needs in healthier spaces,” he said. “Not just depend on one person, or one place, to do it.”
For Gray, the goal is bigger than a 10-week class. It’s about changing mindsets, one person at a time, before another moment of anger leads to another tragedy—and another person spends decades of their life reflecting on what went wrong.
“I love Saginaw,” Gray said. “And I just want to be part of the solution.”
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