Here is how the Mychal Institute views group therapy. Note how similar -- in some spots, identical -- the wording is to that of Georgi Educational and Counseling Services' treatment of the same subject:
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Group Therapy
Some of the most important work you will accomplish while at the Mychal Institute will take place in group settings. The combination of both group and individual counseling improves treatment outcomes, according to scientific studies. There are four basic kinds of groups that you will experience while at the Institute: psycho-educational groups, participation groups, therapy groups and multifamily groups. Psycho-educational group are those set up primarily to inform and facilitate the interchange of ideas. They will be lead by professionals who are particularly familiar with specific content areas and will often be interconnected under the overarching umbrella of the Mychal Spiritual Platform. Participation groups, unlike in psycho-educational groups, focuses more on the guest’s involvement in the activity and the skills learned rather than an academic or intellectual understanding of the experience. Participation group activities include mindfulness/awareness, meditation, yoga, mindful eating, tai chi, and gratitude. Therapy groups are the backbone of your recovery while at the Mychal Institute. They will occur four or five times per week depending on whether or not there is a weekend workshop. Within your therapy group you will share your concerns, learn to actively ask for help while offering others help, learn about how you affect other people and they affect you, learn to speak more comfortably about your emotions, practice better self-care skills, and develop deep and satisfying connections with other people committed to recovery. You will discover that many of your issues are not unique to you and in fact connect you to others within your group. You will experience the breakdown of your isolation and withdrawal from others. It is important to underscore that groups held at the Mychal Institute are neither shaming nor confrontational. We used a modified interactional group approach which embraces the power of connection and our shared humanity. You will never be forced to divulge anything in group until you are ready. You may be asking why groups are so important. At its most fundamental level we are all born into groups, live in groups, are wounded in groups and eventually find healing in groups. Consequently the group experience is one which will receive special attention during your involvement with the Mychal Institute and one which we believe has spiritual significance.
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The more I read this stuff again, the more it sounds like made up fluff. I can't believe that real professionals would recommend to hard core drug addicts, or anyone really, Tai Chi, yoga and mindful eating to fix anything. Not that some period taken for relaxation and reflection doesn't serve as valuable, but it needs to be combined with something more tangible and I just don't see these as being tangible.
Additionally, what's the "gratitude" part about? This almost sounds like a step used by alcoholics anonymous where you say sorry to everyone. This gratitude comes off as forced rather than simply a choice by the subject. I have always found that when someone, like say a parent, has said, "Now say you are sorry." Or, "Now say thank you," it doesn't carry the same meaning as if you said these things on your own, with spontaneity.
Then there are these four group types of therapy. Again, I see this as focused almost exclusively on group, rather than individual. But the first one described, psycho-education, is facilitated by professionals about specific topics, yet is supposed to be, at the same time, an exchange of ideas. It sounds like any ideas would be shot down in favor of the prescribed treatment by these professionals, who would believe naturally that they have all the answers already.
Then comes the description for Participation Groups. Here they are saying right away that the "guests" (Odd name for a patient or student) are now going to be participants, as opposed to psycho-education, thereby confirming that psycho-ed groups are not inclusive. The "guest" is not involved in the discussion. This sounds like every program out there. They have a script they are following and any deviation from the script leaves the staff unable to proceed since they know nothing except the script. One of the reasons programs hire so few staff that have any training or education. Following a script or recipe is far easier.
Then you get this about Participation Groups; "Participation groups, unlike in psycho-educational groups, focuses more on the guest’s involvement in the activity and the skills learned rather than an academic or intellectual understanding of the experience." Involvement in the skills learned, but not from an academic or intellectual experience? Is that even possible? If I taught you 2+2=4, you would not be able to meditate your way to understanding this. You either understand it intellectually or you do not. This just seems peculiar. Participation Groups also include Mindfulness/Awareness (Of what?), mindful eating,(What exactly is mindful eating? Being aware you are chomping on food and swallowing it?) yoga,(Sit Indian-style and hum your way to no more problems?) Tai Chi, (Solve your inner problems and issues and learn to kick someone's ass at the same time.) meditation (More sitting and humming) and gratitude (Thank everyone for not making you do anything useful to make you better.)
Now personally, when I went through a program, I sure wish today that all that humiliation and abuse was replaced with sitting on the floor and humming to myself and practicing martial arts. I might not have graduated with any useful skills, but I am sure I would not have missed the abuse.
Now comes Therapy Groups. "Therapy groups are the backbone of your recovery while at the Mychal Institute. They will occur four or five times per week depending on whether or not there is a weekend workshop." These sound like the Raps we went through in the CEDU program that spawned from the confrontational-style therapy made popular in the 60's. Those also happened 3 or 4 times a week except when special workshops happened. Workshops of course being Propheets or LifeSteps. So this all sounds like more of the same stuff regurgitated and repackaged by some university researcher. The descriptions of "learning to ask for help and giving help to others" sounds like the same forced, confrontational stuff we got. Basically your peers screaming and yelling at you telling you how bad you are, how you will never amount to anything, if you're a female you're probably told you are a slut or whore. Seen this before. Nothing new. "You will discover that your experiences are not unique to you." This translates to me as others spontaneously telling you their life histories, often including graphic descriptions you probably will wish you had never heard, including from staff who you might have looked up to briefly but now realize they are sexual predators with some pretty severe criminal histories. So yes, you will realize you are not unique, but also surrounded by some pretty horrible people. "You will experience the breakdown of your isolation and withdrawal from others" means you will be forced to participate with threat of real punishment if you don't. In the CEDU experience, not only would you not be allowed to withdraw but you would also be forced to allow people to touch you, hug you, lay on top of you, rub against you and resisting this would entail further punishments.
Now Mychal states that their approach does not including shaming or confrontational approaches, but from what I read above, it does. I am pretty sure that as soon as a "guest" becomes resistant, they will soon find out how confrontational things will become. And I am just as sure they will stop thinking of themselves as a guest and more like a prisoner. Yeah, this stuff looks familiar to me. CEDU, RMA, Mount Bachelor, all the others. Nothing new. Just repackaged as new.
