NCCHC Correctional Mental Health Conference
At the July 2025 NCCHC Mental Health Conference in San Francisco, Dr. Gerchow had the privilege of co-facilitating a roundtable with her colleagues and friends, George K.L. Smith and John (Yahya) Johnson—though the conversation was led by their wisdom and extraordinary presence. Participants joined us from Los Angeles, Nashville, Chicago, and the Bay Area, each bringing insights from correctional health, reentry, and community-based work.
To spark reflection, we offered a set of guiding questions exploring what makes a therapeutic or educational program genuinely meaningful, how healing and growth are experienced in a punitive environment, and how people recognize the moments when change is happening. We asked what hope looks like inside, what “rehabilitation” means when expectations are low, what professionals often misunderstand about long-term incarceration, and what a truly supportive reentry process should feel like.
What made this session powerful was not the structure but the humanity. George and Yahya created a space where participants felt safe enough to name what works in confinement, what gets in the way, and what people inside most need from those who show up for them.