20 representatives from 6 prisons and the National Administration of Penitentiaries (NAP) of the Republic of Moldova participated in the Evaluation Workshop on piloting the General Cognitive Behavioural Treatment (CBT) Programme in selected prisons. The Workshop took place in Chisinau on 26 June 2023, following the piloting of the Programme for over six months in six prisons.

Apart from assessing the results of the pilot, the event allowed for an exchange of experience on testing the Programme and the challenges encountered by prison staff when conducting practical sessions with detainees. The participants further discussed the applicability of the Programme in the penitentiaries of the Republic of Moldova.

Further on, on 27 June 2023, the participants followed an induction training with the view to piloting a CBT Specialised Programme for treatment of detainees serving long-term sentences for the next six months in the same prisons.  

The CBT Programme is based on general theories of offending and is designed to ensure a better rehabilitation of detainees. Its aim is to address the factors that contribute to the commission of crimes by conducting sessions on problematic and alternative thinking styles, core beliefs and regulation of emotions, among other things.

The activities were organised under the auspices of the Project “Strengthening the prison and probation reforms, provision of health care and the treatment of patients in closed institutions in the Republic of Moldova”, financed through the Council of Europe Action Plan for the Republic of Moldova (2021-2024) and implemented by the Council of Europe.