You can not help him overcome his 'fear' of commitment.

The man I love says he loves me. I believe he is being honest but there is something that causes him to avoid intimacy and rapport in open conversation. He was imprisoned for approx. 6 years and I believe this has damaged his ability to form close, meaningful relationships. He repeatedly says that he is afraid of his own feelings. Is there a way I can help him to overcome his fear of commitment and enter into a fulfilling intimate relationship?

Response from Daniel…

Love is not enough of a basis to pursue a relationship. If your partner has told you that he is afraid of his own feelings, and you yourself have doubts about his ability to have close meaningful relationships, the challenge for you is to exercise healthy self-interest as opposed to have your behavior dictated by your dependency issues. You will be deluding yourself thinking that you can "help" him overcome his fear of commitment and make him ready for an intimate relationship. I often teach people to recognize a lack of rapport or inability to generate one as criteria to decide not to pursue a relationship further. From what you described, he will require a lengthy and intensive regimen of individual therapy before he'll have what it takes to create and sustain an intimate relationship. It also sounds like you will need to do some intensive self-work so that you are better able to take care of yourself in relationships and make healthier decisions.