Welcome

We work with Pike County residents
in custody and after release to
achieve successful reintegration

Who We Are

Choosing Integrity is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation registered in Pennsylvania since 2014. Our staff, volunteers and the seven members of our board of directors are deeply committed to supporting men and women who are in custody and/or recently released.

What We See

Many young adults struggling to address the effects of adverse or traumatic life experiences make unwise choices that lead to personal disintegration and encounters with the justice system. We see hopeful possibilities of healing, recovery and a new chance to make life meaningful and whole. Continue reading “What We See” →

What We Do

Choosing Integrity staff and volunteers are at Pike County Correctional Facility several times weekly to befriend, teach and challenge participants in the ARROW and HOPE programs in character development, integrity, resilience, recovery and employment.
Continue reading “What We Do” →

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Coaching

Counseling

Certified Psychologist / Licensed Professional Counselor

If you are a typical American, what you do when you are in pain is look for a pain reliever. And then, when the pain returns, you take another dose. If your pain reliever is alcohol or drugs–and you return to either one often enough–you may find yourself struggling with addiction.

Wouldn’t it be better to find healing for the pain instead of just another dose of a pain reliever?

Continue reading “Counseling” →

Smart Recovery

Smart Recovery stands for “Self-Management and Recovery Training.” It incorporates evidence-based principles of Rational Emotive Therapy (RET) and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). Smart Recovery includes four areas of focus – (1) Enhancing and maintaining motivation (2) Coping with urges (3) Problem solving and (4) Lifestyle balance.

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Recent Blog Posts

It’s Past Time to Reevaluate Our Love Affair with Incarceration

April 1, 2020April 1, 2020

Even though the coronavirus pandemic seems far from over, thoughtful people are already asking how it will change the lives of Americans in the years to come. Questions about the long-term economic, political, social and public health impacts prompt widely differing opinions and speculations. But what everyone seems to agree on is that it will…Continue reading It’s Past Time to Reevaluate Our Love Affair with Incarceration

The Marijuana Debate

April 4, 2019April 4, 2019

An astonishing number — at least to me — of men and women we encounter in our work are long time, heavy users of marijuana. Some are in jail because of it, which prompts bitter complaints about Pennsylvania’s drug laws. I have heard more than one person say that, upon release, they intend to move…Continue reading The Marijuana Debate

IN THE NEWS…

Choosing Integrity helps Pike inmates rebuild their lives, in and out of jail

Milford. Two former inmates, Tracy Pirl and Christina Uhelsky, said the worst part of their recovery was overcoming the stigma of addiction.

Excerpt from the article by Frances Ruth Harris

“Everybody knew of the monster I was and what I did,” said Tracy Pirl. “I chewed everybody up and spit them out.” Christina Uhelsky spent six months in jail for endangering the welfare of a child — her own children — when she overdosed in a car. Her son helped her.

Pirl and Uhelsky said the one thing they have now, following their incarcerations at Pike County Correctional Facility, is confidence. They said Choosing Integrity, not-for-profit corporation that supports men and women who are in custody or recently released from the Pike jail, and its executive director, Luke Barbalich, bolstered their sobriety and helped reverse the poor decision making that comes from addiction.