Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform > Synanon

Synanon In British Columbia

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karate man:
I did some research on the place that i went through, the Last Door in British Columbia, Canada. I wrote a letter to the local health authority about my concerns. here is an excerpt.

Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of the Last Door’s treatment philosophy is the use of a ‘therapeutic community’. Youth endure up to eight months in an incredibly stressful and strange environment where they are, over time, violently changed into new people who believe that their survival depends on a lifetime of sobriety. They become the perfect candidates for the last door’s therapeutic community, which is a group of graduates from the last door adult and youth programs who shun outsiders and are united by the common principle of lifelong abstinence from drugs and alcohol.

For youth who agree to put down roots in the therapeutic community after graduation, their primary social relationships consist of other program graduates. In the event of a drug relapse, these youth, who are 16 and 17 years old, are completely ostracized by the therapeutic community. Members of the therapeutic community accept the practice of not speaking or associating with youth who relapse, unless the youth are at a Narcotics Anonymous meeting. Because the therapeutic community is united by the practice of lifelong abstinence, youth who relapse are treated with suspicion and contempt. i remember on high-risk youth who had gone on to live in the theraputic community be thrown out of their foster homes and shunned by their former associates. i later saw this youth wandering around downtown vancouver high on heroin and without a shirt. he wanted to know if i was still in touch with anyone from the last door.

They often find themselves socially isolated and experiencing mental health difficulties. Although the concept of a ‘therapeutic community’ implies that these youth experience ongoing supervision and support after treatment is concluded, this is not the case for those who relapse. They are completely shunned and have no access to any support network at all, having been pressured to cut off ties with old associates and in some case their families as well. I find the resulting isolation that these youth experience, and the mental health implications, to be of great concern.


basically people are brainwashed into treatment and then they live in fear of being ostracized by the theraputic community.

i told the woman, 'you know, this is just like this group called synanon that operates in the states, the inspired cedu, straight, kids, etc.'

she says to me, 'well, the program directors who i know personally are actually affiliated with synanon. they go down to california twice a year to visit synanon. i'll be honest, i did have some concerns when i knew they were opening a treatment center that used the extreem synanon method...'

i almost dropped the fucking phone. at least now i understand what i went through and can finally, after 8 years, get the appropriate counselling.

Anonymous:

--- Quote from: "karate man" ---I did some research on the place that i went through, the Last Door in British Columbia, Canada. I wrote a letter to the local health authority about my concerns. here is an excerpt.
--- End quote ---

Karate man where is your “research” on the program you attended. Could you provide a synopsis and links?
What local health authority official did you address your letter to?
You switched mid stream from describing your assertions in this letter to describing a phone conversation.
Who was this conversation with? Did you call her or did she call you.

--- Quote from: "karate man" ---she says to me, 'well, the program directors who i know personally are actually affiliated with synanon. they go down to california twice a year to visit synanon. i'll be honest, i did have some concerns when i knew they were opening a treatment center that used the extreem synanon method...'

i almost dropped the fucking phone.
--- End quote ---
You almost dropped the phone when it dawned on you that this unnamed chick was telling you how the people who ran the program you supposedly attended travel back in time bi annually to visit Synanon, right? Did she offer any explanation for how such a long strange trip is possible?
Are you pretending not to notice the questions asked of you? Do you think we haven’t noticed that?

Ursus:

--- Quote from: "karate man" ---i told the woman, 'you know, this is just like this group called synanon that operates in the states, the inspired cedu, straight, kids, etc.'

she says to me, 'well, the program directors who i know personally are actually affiliated with synanon. they go down to california twice a year to visit synanon. i'll be honest, i did have some concerns when i knew they were opening a treatment center that used the extreem synanon method...'
--- End quote ---
To my knowledge, Synanon itself closed down permanently in the late 1980s.

Btw, therapeutic communities have been routinely used in the U.S. penal system since at least the mid-late 1940s. Dederich was an ex-con, and may well have learned TC methodology during jail time.

See also this thread about Narco Farm (founded 1935).

karate man:
i'm not going to name any names because this woman i spoke with is interested in working with me on contacting former clients of this
place and also former staff to coroberate my concerns.

because this place is still running and there are people out there who share my concerns about the program, i am not going to say, "the place is
run by (blank) and staff include (blank blank blank) and they get their funding from (blank) and these fuckers need to be shut down and thrown
in jail as early as tommorow for being serial child abusers.

the real purpose of my post was to describe the program and see if the response i got confirmed that this program is 'synanonish'. i'm still gathering
information and contacting former staff and clients to see if they would be willing to share what they know about the place and if they share the same
concerns with me bring their concerns to authorities who will be interested in protecting teenagers from this sort of treatment.

as for travelling back in time to synanon, that is what she told me - that the directors are affiliated with synanon and they go down to california twice a
year to visit people in synanon. thats what she said. she also said that pretty much all of the treatment centers in british columbia use the synanon model
to some degree, but this specific place uses the most extreme form.

what i meant by research was i used my own experience in the organization, wrote it all down in an essay, and checked the treatment methods against other
programs that people on this board and others have gone through to see where this place fits. so their arent any links, and my essay is private except for the
erxcerpt that i added here about the theraputic community.

Ursus:

--- Quote from: "karate man" ---as for travelling back in time to synanon, that is what she told me - that the directors are affiliated with synanon and they go down to california twice a year to visit people in synanon.
--- End quote ---
Where do they go? As I said in my previous post, to my knowledge, Synanon is no more.

Delancey Street (spin-off from Synanon) *is*, however, still in operation. Do they go to Delancey Street?

Or... did you mean to say that (she had said that) they go down to California twice a year to visit people from Synanon?

If she spoke of Synanon as a viable entity in the present tense, she might be pulling your leg.

Or... perhaps there has been a phenomenal development here that I am completely unaware of.  :beat:

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