EPP Guide Training Program (GTP)
Since our inception in 2012, we have had our heads down creating impactful, replicable Enneagram curriculum for those incarcerated. Somewhere along the way we started to realize that we were also creating a most unusual, extraordinarily fulfilling workplace that is full of love and care - in prisons!
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Transformation on Both Sides of the Bars.
EPP’s work is not only transforming lives inside prisons, but also empowering our paid Guides—formerly incarcerated individuals—who emerge with powerful, life-changing stories. This growth is fueled by the creativity, courage, and commitment of our community, who lead by example. We've built a supportive, family-like environment with plenty of room to welcome more.
Validating the inherent worth of a person as absolutely true is nothing short of a transformative conversation - no matter on which side of the prison wall you happen to stand.
Founder, Susan Olesek
Inside the Guide Training Experience
Explore the pillars of our Guide Training Program—from the values that ground our work to the rigorous training, mentorship, and ongoing support that shape every EPP Guide.
What is an EPP Guide?
Who Are EPP Guides?
EPP Guides are conscious, continually evolving individuals who have explored their own inner landscape deeply and skillfully. They use this personal insight to support others on their transformative journeys with wisdom, empathy, and grounded presence.
Our Greater Vision
EPP is committed to freeing people—everywhere—from the “prisons of our own making.” While our roots lie in working with incarcerated individuals, our mission extends far beyond. We aim to reach all who seek freedom, healing, and self-awareness.
Trauma-Informed Compassion
Many of our students have lived through significant trauma, including generational cycles of abuse, violence, addiction, and neglect. This reality calls for Guides who are emotionally mature, compassionate, and grounded—individuals who can hold space without judgment and embody self-mastery in their work.
Inner Practice & The Enneagram
EPP Guides stay grounded through consistent inner work and self-care, allowing them to show up with clarity and compassion. The Enneagram is a central tool in our work—offering a powerful framework for understanding ego patterns, reconnecting with the true self, and guiding others through their own transformation.
EPP Guides are like having a trail leader on the journey with you who has been walking the path for years and is not only holding the map, but can provide to the group through the curriculum tools and their experience, a compass, and a satellite phone with GPS to assist the journey.
–Dr. Heather Greenwald
Chief Psychologist Statewide Corrections Mental Health Program
I'm proud to support this well crafted and determined outreach to the incarcerated. Susan Olesek and now the Enneagram Prison Project brings the spiritual quality of Truth in Action to this necessary and forward-looking Enneagram public-education program.
Helen Palmer
Author and Teacher
