Fornits
Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform => Straight, Inc. and Derivatives => Topic started by: Anonymous on February 16, 2009, 08:42:08 PM
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I seem to have difficulties with interacting with my peers now that I am away from the program, away from graduates, and forging my own life. I can play the part, hard worker, good student, good employee, etc. but I can't seem to get it together in the friend department. It is so hard for me to relate to people my own age, I am extremely intolerant, even though I hate that quality in others. Even though I am no longer following the program, I still have all those little voices and snap judgements inside of me. Any time there is any confrontation, I just shy away. I can't handle critisism, I take it as a personal attack, even when rationally I know it is not. I would rather cut someone off than have to deal with trying to repair a friendship. The only reason I think I can so easily cut people off is because of the program. Does anyone else know what I'm talking about? I didn't used to have these problems before the program. I made friends normally, and had no problem going to parties with people I didn't know. I liked it because I got to know new people. Now it is terrifying to go to a party/bar or any social situation, even with people I know. This is turning into a vicious cycle, and I am just cutting myself off even further to the point where I am not comfortable with people I've known my whole life. My significant other tells me that it is just going to take some time to 'deprogram' but I don't even know what that means, and it has been a few years since I left the program. I wish I could brainwash myself into forgeting everything about that horrible place, and undo whatever they did to my head to get me to buy into all of that bullsht. I want it all out of my head. I just want to go back to normal. I have a double life of putting on a good face to the world when I have to, and then hiding out like a scared little kid. It's fucking exhausting.
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Sounds like you are realizing this within a few years after 'graduating'. That's a good sign.
It takes years to untangle the clusterfucked ball of twine these programs wrap around our true identity.
Hell it's been 20+ years and I still have to rip massive sections of twine out every now and then. I look back on the first 10 years out and laugh at all the mistakes I made because of the sub-sconcious and conscious program think burned into me noodle.
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It takes years to untangle the clusterfucked ball of twine these programs wrap around our true identity.
How do I untangle it? I feel like I'm losing/lost myself.
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It takes years to untangle the clusterfucked ball of twine these programs wrap around our true identity.
How do I untangle it? I feel like I'm losing/lost myself.
Yeah I would like to know as well. Its been 22 yrs for me since I've been out of Straight.
I still feel out of place no matter what normal functions I'm attending. I never felt this way before Straight. Inc
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I came to accept a long time ago that we can't go back to who we were before these programs, nor will we ever see the world the same way "normal" people do. But we CAN live as normal people with normal social interaction and relations to others. Recognizing what parts of the program lead to those changes in you is a good step.
Have you tried therapy? I know a lot of people shy away from it because they think therapy might be like the program you were in, but it's not. Friends can only understand so much what we went through. The right professional can help guide you through the detangling process. We all became tangled up in different ways, so while it helps speaking with other survivors (A LOT) we still have an individual mess to work out.
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Yes, they threw the baby out with the bath water.
How do I untangle it? I feel like I'm losing/lost myself.
Learning a foreign language has been helpful for me. When I actively study/practice a foreign language it feels like I'm engaging unused parts of my brain. Brain parts that were left surprisingly unscathed from the gale force kool aid shitstorm.
Living overseas proved to be an even better experience. I felt myself relating to the world differently. I'm convinced that I was perceiving and processing basic cognitive tasks in a new way. You gain an appreciation for the important things in life. You begin to assimilate to your new culture and eventually it occasionally dawns on you that America is rife with hyper-consumptive, quick-fix loving, greedy fat fucks, with no grasp of common sense or decency.
*Footnote - Living in Canada and/or working for the UN doesn't count. That would be the equivalent of gazing into a mirror while giving yourself a reach around.
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I very much identify with your dilemma Brainwashed. It took me about 14 yrs to realize the effect the program had on me. For the last 6 yrs or so I've been seeking out an isolated lifestyle and purposely shut out any possible friendships, and recently have figured out why. Friendships were not a problem bfore, but now the very idea can make me panic and I often give the impression that I am an asshole just so no one will attempt a connection w/ me. I thought understanding the reason would release me from that, but I'm afraid it's not exactly the case. The more pressure I put on myself to get past it seems to make it worse. I wish I could give you a better solution, but I have found that once I stop giving myself shit for not making friends, being social and isolating I seem to be able to deal with that stuff better.
I don't really know how to de-program, but my instincts tell me not to let anyone else tell me how to do that, unless they are very trustworthy. One thing that was made clear to me was the need, of these programs, to utilize peer relationships and friendships as the means to implant their "lessons". I think sub-consciously all these years I had developed social fears as a means of defense. I knew that my friends in the program had no intention to harm me, but I also knew my friendships were the tool to manipulate me. I think its possible that there's nothing really wrong with you, you have just had an experience that made you aware of a potential threat that no one else can identify with. And if you are defending yourself in a similar way as me, maybe it's just on "hyper mode" b/c you don't fully understand the means by which you were attacked. Though you'd like to just forget it all, this really can be an important lesson that will help you recognize future threats to yourself or others.
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I too understand. I've been out for 20+ years as well - and unfortunately for me it just took time - a long time.
A few years after, I didn't deal with it at all because I knew my parents felt so guilty about putting me the program, so I didn't want to talk about it much with them. So instead I looked for boyfriends who I could "help" and just kept making bad decisions and felt like I wasn't good enough for the "normal" guys. For years I always felt like I was different somehow.
I wish I would have sought counseling versus taking years to just accept what was and what is. We can't changed that part of our lives - it is there. But there is a lot of life to still live - however you choose to. I know it sounds like a cliche - but life is so short, thus what I think and I don't care what other people think of me because their judgement is meaningless to me. I focus on the things I love in my life and just cherish those things each day. As someone said, that was true for me too, I had to accept I will never be the person I was before the program. But I have accepted that in a positive light, I am who I am so I must make the most of it.
I wish you luck and at lkeast you have a significant other you can talk to. But remember, you're not different or weird b/c of what you are going through - it seems to be very normal. I wish I could give you specific suggestions on how to "untangle", but unfortunately I can't. Just hang in there, enjoy each day - it will get better.
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Thanks for all of the responses. Having other people who can relate is a relief in a way, even though it sucks that we can all relate on this. It's also a little discouraging that this could still be an issue in 20+ years, I'm angry that its still an issue for me only a few years out.
But remember, you're not different or weird b/c of what you are going through - it seems to be very normal. I wish I could give you specific suggestions on how to "untangle", but unfortunately I can't. Just hang in there, enjoy each day - it will get better.
Have you tried therapy? I know a lot of people shy away from it because they think therapy might be like the program you were in, but it's not. Friends can only understand so much what we went through. The right professional can help guide you through the detangling process. We all became tangled up in different ways, so while it helps speaking with other survivors (A LOT) we still have an individual mess to work out.
I have periodically tried to go to therapy. The most recent attempt was a few months ago when all of this really started to hit me hard. It took a few weeks to set up an appointment, but then when the day came, I had a mini panic attack/freak out right before about it, and didn't go. My parents sent me to a therapist for a few months before I was shipped off. I guess that's something I should try again, but I have very little faith and trust in that industry, and also have no idea how to find a 'quality' therapist who isn't a crock of shit. I'm weary of anyone else dabbling in my head, that's the last thing I need.
Yes, they threw the baby out with the bath water.
How do I untangle it? I feel like I'm losing/lost myself.
Learning a foreign language has been helpful for me. When I actively study/practice a foreign language it feels like I'm engaging unused parts of my brain. Brain parts that were left surprisingly unscathed from the gale force kool aid shitstorm.
Living overseas proved to be an even better experience. I felt myself relating to the world differently. I'm convinced that I was perceiving and processing basic cognitive tasks in a new way. You gain an appreciation for the important things in life. You begin to assimilate to your new culture and eventually it occasionally dawns on you that America is rife with hyper-consumptive, quick-fix loving, greedy fat fucks, with no grasp of common sense or decency.
*Footnote - Living in Canada and/or working for the UN doesn't count. That would be the equivalent of gazing into a mirror while giving yourself a reach around.
I've never thought about a foreign language like that, but I see what you're saying. The program wouldn't let us speak foreign languages until second phase, and that was only for school. They didn't want to risk not understanding what we were saying I guess? I just remember getting asserted for that on first phase. I totally agree with you on living abroad. I felt alive in a way I haven't when traveling, completely open to everything, and having to relearn everything in a different culture (even opening doors sometimes) made me look at things differently. I'm trying to figure out a way to live and work abroad right now.
I very much identify with your dilemma Brainwashed. It took me about 14 yrs to realize the effect the program had on me. For the last 6 yrs or so I've been seeking out an isolated lifestyle and purposely shut out any possible friendships, and recently have figured out why. Friendships were not a problem bfore, but now the very idea can make me panic and I often give the impression that I am an asshole just so no one will attempt a connection w/ me. I thought understanding the reason would release me from that, but I'm afraid it's not exactly the case. The more pressure I put on myself to get past it seems to make it worse. I wish I could give you a better solution, but I have found that once I stop giving myself shit for not making friends, being social and isolating I seem to be able to deal with that stuff better.
I don't really know how to de-program, but my instincts tell me not to let anyone else tell me how to do that, unless they are very trustworthy. One thing that was made clear to me was the need, of these programs, to utilize peer relationships and friendships as the means to implant their "lessons". I think sub-consciously all these years I had developed social fears as a means of defense. I knew that my friends in the program had no intention to harm me, but I also knew my friendships were the tool to manipulate me. I think its possible that there's nothing really wrong with you, you have just had an experience that made you aware of a potential threat that no one else can identify with. And if you are defending yourself in a similar way as me, maybe it's just on "hyper mode" b/c you don't fully understand the means by which you were attacked. Though you'd like to just forget it all, this really can be an important lesson that will help you recognize future threats to yourself or others.
This comment hit home. I had a little freak out/rage once that thought sunk in. How messed up is it that they used our friendships to manipulate us? "I knew that my friends in the program had no intention to harm me, but I also knew my friendships were the tool to manipulate me. "
I know that was the whole model, positive peer pressure, but how much that aspect has fucked with me, I just never realized. I'm still mulling all of this over, but it makes sense to me. In the program, your best friend could suddenly turn on you, along with the rest of the group if staff even hinted that they were displeased with you, especially during confrontation groups. The group before I would get feed back from my peers that I was running a strong program, etc. only to be stood up in the next group, confronted by staff, and the same friends who were giving me positive feedback were holding me accountable for things they have never brought up before/ embellishing on things I did, you all understand. That takes away all security. Then even after graduation, this same mentality continues as the bad apples are cut off. Once we heard someone relapsed, they were cut off unless they wanted to come back to the program, maybe even until they reentered their phases and re-graduated. I don't know why I never made that connection. I always thought I was just a cold-hearted person somehow because I can so easily sever ties with people close to me in my life, and never made the association that they taught me to do that. And I also think its weird how these little 'realizations' turn my world so upside down when I have them.
Thanks for listening. I feel stupid posting that on an online forum, but I'm surprised at how much better I feel having a little validation for my craziness.
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Not craziness. It's a natural reaction to extraordinary circumstances.
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Psy summed it up well.
I still can't deal with humans. I blasted people on Facebook today. Sometimes the whole world reminds me of what we went through. The stupid ass games that were used to fuck our minds. I don't think the mind fuck ever goes away and pretending is exhausting. I periodically break as I did today. I can only carry the facade so long. I find isolation keeps me alive. I have no trust of people. After "bans" and everything else, why would i? The RTCs in some ways were a recreation of the world we live in where people can turn on you in a split second, only there are not rewards "levels" in exchange. Personally, I like talking to strangers in malls, because I know I will never see them again. Granted I can't seem to handle the mall. I am too agoraphobic. Explain that. I still can' figure out how I can be claustrophobic and agoraphobic at the same time.
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The biggest mindfuck,outside of the lie that we were all drug addicts,were the labels we placed on people(and ourselves subconsciously).If we can discipline ourselves to catch the times that we put those dumbass labels on people,a big step will be taken.People aren't druggies,screwups,whores,cons and what-nots.No matter how badly someone pisses you off,remember the fact that nobody thinks that he himself is a scumbag and nobody has the market cornered on being an asshole.Everybody is an asshole from time to time.Every time I catch myself judging somebody that way,I remind myself that there are times that I can be just as offensive.Learning another language and immersing myself in another culture definitely helped.The attraction shown by Latinas to Blue-eyed men didn't hurt.You have to make life interesting and put all of that hostility aside.Watch "The Devil's Advocate" with Al Pacino and Keanu Reeves.Watch Pacino's brilliant monologue as Satan for his love of mankind and denouncing God as a twisted sadist.The whole message here is that if Satan himself thinks that he is kind and charitable,there's a good chance so does everybody else.Most crooks feel as if circumstances created their being and possibly,there may be some truth to that.That's why they look at the righteous and feel as if they're being put down,thinking that SOB is no better than me,he just thinks he is.You don't have to like nor love everybody,nor anybody for that matter,but forgiving the shortcomings,real or imaginary,in others will help you forgive the shortcomings and rectifying for real,the shortcomings in yourself.Now maybe my friend Woof understands why I don't hate anybody from Straight,just the malignance the organization like that manifested.Very rarely are things created by panic positive.I forgive my mother in spite of today still thinking that shithole saved my life.In reality,it came dangerously close to making me another statistic,an abyss I'm still navigating myself through.Trying to explain the incredible mortality rate of Straight graduates vs the rest of the world to her is like trying to read Mao's Little Red Book to her in Mandarin.She admits that Petermann was a horse's ass(apologies to equine backsides worldwide as this term probably flatters Helen's true character)and the staff was unqualified to make the decisions they were making regarding clients' lives,to her,she thinks these shortcomings were minor flaws in what she perceives to be greater good.By her saying that Petermann was an ass and staff was unqualified,for those who were there would know,HOW COULD IT POSSIBLY BE GOOD?Unfortunately,disagreements between Mother and Son are rarely resolved with logic.So in what is becoming more and more tradition in my world(My wife is an evangelical Christian and I am a Jewish kabbalah reader),I sign off many discussions with we're going to have to agree to disagree.Not the worst resolution.Woof maybe can resolve his differences with what seems to be a Mule of a father with the same attitude.Agreeing to disagree.He,too,is a victim.He is being played by the great lie,con,hustle that is being perpetrated even today on parents today.Sign your kids into these shitholes or buy your baby a tombstone.Any parent can understand the moral dilemma.This is not about logic,this is about maternal and paternal emotions.Any parent can feel the same pain.The bloodsuckers who have made this an industry are the thugs.Jean Cassidy told me(while her husband was an exec staff),the group has very few true addicts.Her and Scotty are now running a rehab brainwashing kids,not addicted to drugs,that they really are hooked and either the graveyard,jail,or the looney bin is waiting for them.Somebody please tell me what good could possibly come from that?
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Psy summed it up well.
I still can't deal with humans. I blasted people on Facebook today. Sometimes the whole world reminds me of what we went through. The stupid ass games that were used to fuck our minds. I don't think the mind fuck ever goes away and pretending is exhausting. I periodically break as I did today. I can only carry the facade so long. I find isolation keeps me alive. I have no trust of people. After "bans" and everything else, why would i? The RTCs in some ways were a recreation of the world we live in where people can turn on you in a split second, only there are not rewards "levels" in exchange. Personally, I like talking to strangers in malls, because I know I will never see them again. Granted I can't seem to handle the mall. I am too agoraphobic. Explain that. I still can' figure out how I can be claustrophobic and agoraphobic at the same time.
i am also very isolated. I have lost most or all of my friends. i was messed up from my parents abuse before program but it really really pushed far deeper into mental damage. My problems are not all due to my programs, but all my problems are all generated by my program. One thing leads to another. My program caused something so horrible that i cant even bring myself to describe them here.
and yes, isolated too, i dont know how to reach out to people, pretty sad
I dont really know how to reach out to people. sad
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because i was not involved in the program and now my brother has been out for 10 months we can not connect. i did not ageee with he program and i knew my brother wasnt an addict. my mother has big doubts about the program but my brother thinks it helped him. now he addicted to n/a and a/a meetings. i notice isolation by my lil bro and any conflict cannot be resolved as the other person expressed , with logic. my bro says i missed the boat and your view is from the land and mine is fromthe boat. but this was not the case before program. i dont understand how now i cannot relate to my bro as in the passed. it is really weird. it is as if i do not fit in his world, box whatever you want to call it. and we used have big trust bewteen us and he knows i will not enable him. i do not drink or smoke and he knows that. so what is going on his his head. can someone explain? and what can i do to communicate effectivly? any tips would be greatly welcome.
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because i was not involved in the program and now my brother has been out for 10 months we can not connect. i did not ageee with he program and i knew my brother wasnt an addict. my mother has big doubts about the program but my brother thinks it helped him. now he addicted to n/a and a/a meetings. i notice isolation by my lil bro and any conflict cannot be resolved as the other person expressed , with logic. my bro says i missed the boat and your view is from the land and mine is fromthe boat. but this was not the case before program. i dont understand how now i cannot relate to my bro as in the passed. it is really weird. it is as if i do not fit in his world, box whatever you want to call it. and we used have big trust bewteen us and he knows i will not enable him. i do not drink or smoke and he knows that. so what is going on his his head. can someone explain? and what can i do to communicate effectivly? any tips would be greatly welcome.
I hate to say it my friend, but only time will tell if he will come out of the brainwashing. For some it gets so ingrained that they become lost in the cults of NA, AA, or what ever other "A" orginization that they choose to belong. The program makes them believe that they will die without being in their programs by telling them that if they step out of their little circle, all that is left for them is "Jail, Institutions, or Death" and that comes directly from the NA literature.
As far as people that they associate with, well they make them believe that anybody who is not in the program (Normies), will lead them back to using.
And yes it has taken me 20 plus years to finally cleaning up some of the "Botched Programming" that they done to my head in Straight.
Each of us that you speak with here who has endured the cruel and inhumane treatment of a Straight like program will tell you with all honesty that we may never totally heal. But there is a bright side, for some of us we have worked our way to a point that we can speak the truth and help others to heal.
Good luck and do not give up.
BP
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because i was not involved in the program and now my brother has been out for 10 months we can not connect. i did not ageee with he program and i knew my brother wasnt an addict. my mother has big doubts about the program but my brother thinks it helped him. now he addicted to n/a and a/a meetings. i notice isolation by my lil bro and any conflict cannot be resolved as the other person expressed , with logic. my bro says i missed the boat and your view is from the land and mine is fromthe boat. but this was not the case before program. i dont understand how now i cannot relate to my bro as in the passed. it is really weird. it is as if i do not fit in his world, box whatever you want to call it. and we used have big trust bewteen us and he knows i will not enable him. i do not drink or smoke and he knows that. so what is going on his his head. can someone explain? and what can i do to communicate effectivly? any tips would be greatly welcome.
Wow,
You said a lot there to digest. I am a survivor of a straight descendant program, and I only wish that my brother(who did not attend or visit the program, but only once) would have asked someone these same things about me.
Unfortunately, we have not spoken more than a few words in a matter of years. The program promised if we were both honest then they would let me see him. He came in, he was honest, and they still denied me seeing him. Fuckers ruined our relationship. We were best friends too, like you guys. When I finally was allowed to see him, on fifth phase vacation, I felt awkward as hell around him, and embarrassed of myself. What the awkwardness was in me is that seeing him caused me to have moments of clarity within the brainwashing. So, in recognizing this within myself I became embarrassed of myself and how I had become, "programmed", "emotional", etc...in front of him. So, I retracted away from him and recoiled. A lot of it was me b/c of the inner conflict of the programs version of "recovery" and my brother. Well, obviously the program won that battle. It strained our relationship immensely. After they denied him to see me, the following Halloween I had made it to second phase, and was home alone that first weekend, and he dropped off a pumpkin with a note for me to let me know he was still there anyways. My mother let me keep it and did not tell the program anything about it. They would have set me back for that. But still, it takes two in any relationship and I couldn't respond to him at all and tell him thank you for still caring etc... So, on his end the silence from me went on for over a year and a half. Fucked up! I really just wanted to talk to him the whole time. Talk to him, give him attention....it doesn't have to be a talk about this, it can be about anything. Keep the dialogue open, and flowing.
My advice to you about how to deal with your little bro? Hell yes I have some advice that I think may be helpful.
WAIT OUT HIS WORLD! Wait it out.....simple.....Please do not give up on him. Let him know you are there for him. Invite him to normal places, and do fun things. reminisce with him about some good ole times.
WAIT OUT HIS WORLD! Wait it out! Do not give up on him.
sincerely,
-DP
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because i was not involved in the program and now my brother has been out for 10 months we can not connect. i did not ageee with he program and i knew my brother wasnt an addict. my mother has big doubts about the program but my brother thinks it helped him. now he addicted to n/a and a/a meetings. i notice isolation by my lil bro and any conflict cannot be resolved as the other person expressed , with logic. my bro says i missed the boat and your view is from the land and mine is fromthe boat. but this was not the case before program. i dont understand how now i cannot relate to my bro as in the passed. it is really weird. it is as if i do not fit in his world, box whatever you want to call it. and we used have big trust bewteen us and he knows i will not enable him. i do not drink or smoke and he knows that. so what is going on his his head. can someone explain? and what can i do to communicate effectivly? any tips would be greatly welcome.[/q
i was in straight for 2 yrs and was not ok for a long time but my sis believed all the program hype and said I seemed fine after I got out.. I was ababdoned after I 7th stepped and was lost and messed up and didn't know why.. i had completely denied my time in the program, it was that traumatic!! til I came across the book 'help at any cost' 15 YEARS LATER!!!! and it helped me connect the dots and understand why i did what i did after the program. anyway my sis read the book also and said it explained alot about me... so that understanding was nice however it did not repair the damage the program did to our relationship or give us back all the time we had been separated. It is the saddest thing to me to hear you and your brother are not close anymore and to know he is a different person now and not better b/c of the program... i suggest you get the book for him and yourself to read. try to hang on to him, he needs normal support now especially when he starts 'coming to' and the sooner the better...try and get him to read any anti cult/program material you can and this should help bring him back.... it doesn't need to take 15 years.. in fact the sooner he comes out of his brainwashed state the better... he will fair much better mentally for getting help sooner rather than later on. he is lucky you and your mother see the program for what it is...
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tell your brother you love him everyday. dp is right, he pulls away from you because he feels great, great shame and fear. He may also simply find it hard to be with human beings because these places can destroy the instincts that enable it. My sibling had that. I had that. These 'programs' are murderers, nothing short. Destroyers of love, of children, of lives. And they do it for money, the cheapest of all motivations. And for complete power over the helpless, the most cowardly.
Tell your brother you love him everyday. Invite him to be with you. Dont stop reaching out. Eventually he'll take your hand. Tell him he has nothing to be ashamed of. Tell him its the AARC that needs to be ashamed. Tell him he's been brainwashed and tortured but it's not his fault, and no matter what theyve done to him he's still your baby and you love him. Tell him they'll never hurt him again because you'll stop that. This is what I would tell my sibling if my sibling hadn't been murdered just in mind, but also in body.
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Most of what the above guest said, but i'd suggest avoiding using the word "brainwashed". Many people turn off after hearing that word directly applied to them. My suggestion is to let him come to his own conclusion on that. Perhaps give him a book on cults to read such as "Cults in Our Midst". He might come to the conclusion on his own that he was in a cult and brainwashed. He will, eventually, in time... but giving him some information related to cults and brainwashing can help him to connect the dots on his own a bit quicker.
Also... invite him to hang out with normal people (non-cult members) and do normal things. Maybe try to help him to become interested in things outside his extended "recovery family". Especially things he liked to do before he was in the program but doesn't do now with his "recovery" "friends".
Does he have any old friends from before program?
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thanks you guys it helps, i was thinking the same on the book thing and reading. and yes psy you are correct about the brainwash thing. it is very hard becasuse in feel like i need to have a psych degree to relate to him now. i also agree about getting him away from program people, as he seems to connect the most with them and i want to get him out and away from all that bullshit. and he refuses to go for anyother therpy mostly because, i think, he has had it with that shit and is totally turned off/burned out. so i guess your right about keep trying, i just dont want it to become a premanent block. i have read alot over this site and everything makes sense and has merit from what i have experienced. this shit is fucked up big time the the words fucked up sum it up the best. no lie. i cannot believe th number of stories which express how thier family life got negativily fucked over too, this is why im here, and hoping to salvage the wreck. the whole family now just does not know how to act. the holidays were weird, it makes me understand the word crazy.
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Which program was this, if you don't mind me asking?
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I have been reading over some old research on the Esalen institute (Big Sur, CA 1962-P) where they conducted many strange experiments with groups of people. Esalen was probably the epicenter for the development of many new “innovative” psychologies growing during that time. Maybe this will be of some help.
The one thing that remains constant throughout the TTI programs, LGAT’s (est, Lifespring), Synanon, and most all of the explosion of psychotherapeutic approaches coming out of the Humanistic Psychology era, is the presence of sensitivity training in various forms. Focused on individual/group change through group processes.
1955-1959: Sensitivity training, an extension of T-group ideas, was being explored at the UCLA School of Business Administration in California and in other locations as part of the expansion of the National Training Laboratories. Sensitivity training was developed by a german behavioral scientist/Gestalt practitioner who fled during the Nazi collapse and headed the National Training Labratories.
The Period of Innovation
1958-1966: Frederick (Fritz) Perls, Laura Perls, Paul Goodman, Ralph Hefferline, and others developed Gestalt therapy in New York; it became popular after Fritz Perls moved to the Esalen Institute in California around 1966.
1963-1966: Marathon (time-extended) group therapy (mainly for personal growth); Frederick Stoller, George Bach, Elizabeth Mintz.
1963-1966: Eric Berne developed his method of Transactional Analysis.
1963-1966: Michael Murphy and Richard Price organized Esalen Institute just south of Big Sur, California. It was the prototype of the "growth center," and hundreds sprouted up around the country (and some overseas) over the next decade. These centers became the focus of the human potential movement, which was a marriage of humanistic psychology and T-group methods.
1967: Will Schutz, at Esalen, combined many modes of therapy with the process of the basic encounter group psychodrama, bioenergetic analysis, sensory awakening, guided fantasy, and a variety of action techniques, many of which were ultimately based on Moreno's methods.
1967: Synanon "games" opened to the public as a form of encounter group in Santa Monica, a seaside suburb on the west side of Los Angeles. Synanon was started in 1958 as a drug abuse treatment center by Charles Diedrich. These games were just short of being violently confrontational, and some of this approach generalized to contaminate parts of the encounter group movement.
1968: Hindu gurus, swamis, and Eastern spiritual teachers and disciplines were becoming fashionable, in part stimulated by the support of the Beatles for the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and his system of transcendental meditation. The use of psychedelic agents added to metaphysical interest, and group therapies began integrating transpersonal issues.
In the 1960s, a number of other forms of psychotherapy became relatively popular, and some of these approaches were applied in group contexts: family therapy (involving several families at a time); art, movement, and other expressive therapies; Arthur Janov's primal therapy; William Glasser's reality therapy; and the like.
Kurt Zadek Lewin (September 9, 1890 - February 12, 1947), a German-born psychologist, is one of the modern pioneers of social, organizational, and applied psychology. Lewin is often recognized as the "founder of social psychology" and was one of the first researchers to study group dynamics and organizational development.
Lewin had originally been involved with schools of behavioral psychology before changing directions in research and undertaking work with psychologists of the Gestalt school of psychology. Lewin often associated with the early Frankfurt School, originated by an influential group of largely Jewish Marxists at the Institute for Social Research in Germany. But when Hitler came to power in Germany in 1933 the Institute members had to disband, moving to England and then to America. In that year, he met with Eric Trist, of the London Tavistock Clinic. Trist was impressed with his theories and went on to use them in his studies on soldiers during the Second World War.
Later, he went on to become director of the Center for Group Dynamics at MIT. While working with at MIT in 1946, Lewin received a phone call from the Director of the Connecticut State Inter Racial Commission requesting help to find an effective way to combat religious and racial prejudices. He set up a workshop to conduct a 'change' experiment, which laid the foundations for what is now known as sensitivity training. In 1947, this led to the establishment of the National Training Laboratories, at Bethel, Maine. Carl Rogers (figurehead of the Human Potential Movement and heavily involved in the CIA mind control experiments of MK-Ultra) believed that sensitivity training is "perhaps the most significant social invention of this century."
An early model of change developed by Lewin described change as a three-stage process. The first stage he called "unfreezing". It involved overcoming inertia and dismantling the existing "mind set". Defense mechanisms have to be bypassed. In the second stage the change occurs. This is typically a period of confusion and transition. We are aware that the old ways are being challenged but we do not have a clear picture as to what we are replacing them with yet. The third and final stage he called "freezing". The new mindset is crystallizing and one's comfort level is returning to previous levels. This is often misquoted as "refreezing" (see Lewin K (1947) Frontiers in Group Dynamics).
Adherents of Lewin, such as psychologist Ed Schein, who studied brainwashing techniques in Korea, admitted that it was modeled on Pavlov’s brainwashing techniques. In an introduction to one of his papers on Sensitivity Training, Schein says that this method includes “coercive persuasion in the form of thought reform or brainwashing as well as a multitude of less coercive, informal patterns.”
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it was that fucking pathway place
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Every time I tried therapy the Docs treated me like a compulsive liar. They simply do not believe a word I say and treat me as if I were an uneducated moron. Doctors can be quite nasty, and expensive and can cause more problems. It took me a lot of angry reflection to come to the conclusion that I am superior to my old captors and their sick network. The reasons for these schools is to destroy self esteem and to keep people from being the social animals that they are and completely docile. In essence they were denying us our own god given nature. I also don't believe for a minute that there wasn't anything in the propheet water.
I had to embrace my rage before I could release it. I also had to get over a lot of guilt that had built up over many forced confessions that were fabricated. I had never been exposed to some of the things I had heard about in raps, and quite honestly no-one who is not trained should be exposed to others intimate memories of abuse etc. When my parental units came to visit I did not read them my fake dirtlist, I had too much respect for myself. I was so afraid of becoming the piece of garbage they told me I was, that I would not allow myself to feel anger appropriately for a long time. "Living well is the best Revenge."
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I don't really know how to de-program.
I do! Start regularly smoking marijuana, and I guarantee that PTSD symptoms will disappear!
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Wow, can I relate to the OP - I too am going through deprogramming after sixteen years...
I was not in Straight or Pathways but AARC in Calgary, what a way to completely mess up me, my family and all of my relationships I once had.
To this day, I still have no relationship with my father, my brother and I are coming around and a lot of my friends I had are starting to re-surface.
I too find it weird to interact with normal people after so many years of forcing myself to believe as that was the only way I'd be accepted by my family, turns out as I found out yesterday, they were against me for being a part of the program as AARC forced them to believe stuff they couldn't.
I hope one day to regain some sort or normality back in my life but I struggle everyday with serious depression and fear of what might happen - the old cult mantra keeps playing the fucking tape in my head day in and day out...
I am lucky that I have a supportive wife and kids to help keep me going as I am sure if it were just me forging through this mess, I just could not do it.
Guest44431444
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http://www.freedomofmind.com/stevehassa ... oach-2003/ (http://www.freedomofmind.com/stevehassan/steve-hassan-on-the-strategic-interaction-approach-2003/)
I highly recommend following this advice to a "T" it works.
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We too were in AARC, guest. It didn't take me long to realize these things about AARC, and even though I tried to take my child out they kept him and kicked the rest of the family out.
I didn't talk to my son for almost a whole year and I knew how much he was going to have changed and how much he would be just like all the other graduates. I knew better than to try to convince my son that AARC was "bad" but rather told him our experiences from our side of the story, listened to his side of the story and let the reality of life outside of AARC sink in. I let my son interact with us at his pace and he came to realize the things he was convinced of in AARC just weren't true at all. '
When he realized AARC blatantly lied to him about several things including having guardianship over him - that was pretty much what ultimately snapped him out of it all. That and the way his "friends" from AARC treated him like a traitor just for carrying on with his own life and not dedicating himself to AARC. I didn't have to convince him of anything. He still suffers post-program problems like many of the others on here, but he's only been out for a year. With none of his friends and family in AARC it hasn't taken him ages to come around.
AARC pretty much robbed us of a year of our lives. They greatly strained our relationship but they didn't destroy it, and in many ways we are closer now than before.
AARC completely wasted a critical year of my son's life. The time he spent in AARC could have been spent in another program that could deliver all that that AARC promised. My son received no qualified services the entire time he was there. He was also denied an education. If he attended classes and obtained credits while he was in AARC he could have continued at a regular high school this year and have a high school graduation. GED is just not the same. AARC taught my son zero social or life skills they only taught him to rely on AARC and those in AARC.
AARC is the biggest con act I've ever seen!
Parents need to educate themselves. My goal is to get the message out there that the troubled teen industry is unregulated and parents simply can't rely on the government to ensure facilities are helpful and safe. If I can save even one family the heartache and violation of rights we experienced, I will be very happy.
I consider my family the lucky ones. We survived.
:rose:
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It takes years to untangle the clusterfucked ball of twine these programs wrap around our true identity.
How do I untangle it? I feel like I'm losing/lost myself.
Yeah I would like to know as well. Its been 22 yrs for me since I've been out of Straight.
I still feel out of place no matter what normal functions I'm attending. I never felt this way before Straight. Inc
I may have found the answer recently.
I am still experimenting with it though, and I will let you know the results that I find. When I am done, I will publish y findings.
-DP
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Wow, can I relate to the OP - I too am going through deprogramming after sixteen years...
I was not in Straight or Pathways but AARC in Calgary, what a way to completely mess up me, my family and all of my relationships I once had.
To this day, I still have no relationship with my father, my brother and I are coming around and a lot of my friends I had are starting to re-surface.
I too find it weird to interact with normal people after so many years of forcing myself to believe as that was the only way I'd be accepted by my family, turns out as I found out yesterday, they were against me for being a part of the program as AARC forced them to believe stuff they couldn't.
I hope one day to regain some sort or normality back in my life but I struggle everyday with serious depression and fear of what might happen - the old cult mantra keeps playing the fucking tape in my head day in and day out...
I am lucky that I have a supportive wife and kids to help keep me going as I am sure if it were just me forging through this mess, I just could not do it.
Guest44431444
Here's another back-handed AARC plug:
"Yes, thanks for the correction.
Last I heard was that his Mother and Father were in Victoria and Anthony has been committed unfortunatley.
I was in with Anthony and he was a great source of inspiration but his demons were to big and he needed help that AARC could not give him."
Guest44431444
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=24208 (http://fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=24208)
So if his demons were smaller then the cult could have helped him?
But let's not forget that the real issue is the fact that folks who don't like AARC are just relapsed addicts:
"i guess why I have a differing opinion than most of you is that I chose to stay clean after I left AARC although my father stayed a corporate contributor and had his life royally screwed up and used to "cult-speak" me as well"
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=27646&p=333314#p333314 (http://fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=27646&p=333314#p333314)
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How in the hell does that equate a backhanded AARC plug ajax13?
Please - justify your very existence even more.
Guest44431444