Drug Treatment- Inside a Synanon Clone Program
The first drug treatment program chosen for me (besides CRC- which is
the California Department of Corrections "Program") by my parole
agent was the Long Term Family Program at the Tarzana Psychiatric
Hospital.I was somewhat shocked when I arrived there.
My first view of the "Family" was in the cafeteria and it looked
like a line of carnival sideshow freaks. The men had shaved heads and
wore dresses. The women were wearing men's clothes. Some were wearing
paper bags over their heads with eye,nose,and mouth holes. All were
wearing cardboard sandwich board signs with crayon marked messages on
them.It was a weird menagerie of bizarre design.
My first night there I was rudely awakened at 2:00 A.M. by our phase
leader screaming "Creep,creep, creep". As I was to find out a
'creep' meant to be awoken in the middle of the night for
'therapy'. It is amazing what can be done to human beings in the
name of "Therapy" The first therapy was to stand on the wall.
Standing on the wall was a big part of Tarzana. If you were ever stood
in the corner as punishment as a child with your face against the wall,
then you have a sense of standing on the wall. Usually it was from
10-30 minutes. However there were times when we stood on the wall for
as long as 20 hours. This ,of course, is cruelty and not therapy but
that's what they did. In the beginning I was not told a lot about the
program except that I would have to have a lot of blind "faith" and
that the program worked.
The Tarzana Family was a Synanon clone program. A Synanon Clone program
is one modeled after the infamous Synanon program in Santa Monica..
Many people know a little about the Synanon program and certainly a
large number of people went through it.At the time I was in Tarzana
(the early 1970's) synanon clone programs were still popular , but
seem to be more replaced by 12 step programs these days. Tarazna itself
still exits and now hosts 12 step programs . Tarzana was run by former
drug addicts who were graduates from the Camarillo Family program.
Therapies were varied but it was basically group therapy. The Synanon
Game which was developed at Synanon was used there and I believe it is
still used as therapy in some drug treatment programs.
Briefly, the game is group confrontation. One person is placed on the
"hot seat" or probe and basically attacked by other people in the
game. Much truth is said but since we are talking about corrupted drug
addicts it is often without love (at least in my experience). Much
non-truth is also said. The purpose of the game is therapeutic but
well---let the reader judge the efficacy of sick drug addicts acting
like psychiatrists to one another
The Candidacy phase of the program lasted a few weeks. It was ,I
suppose, a period of time where the candidate got oriented and the
program observed the candidate to see if they were acceptable. Many,
many people "split"during the candidacy phase due to the creeps,
standing on the wall and other 'therapies". I remember one fellow
who split and we heard several weeks later that he had committed
suicide. Drug addiction is a serious business and many don't survive
it one way or another.The candidate phase lasted a few weeks and then
it was time for my screening into the family.
Screening was accomplished by the Synanon Game. I walked into the room
and was put on the hot seat. They started asking me questions like what
had I been doing there. I gave them the answers I thought would please
them. I told them I had been fulfilling the assignments I had been
given etc.,etc,etc,Then they started verbally attacking me. I had never
experienced anything like it.There were maybe a dozen people and they
started shouting things at me, and insulting me; I was told to sit on
my hands. More shouts.Screaming. Ridicule. I started getting angry. No
anger is not the word for it. Hate.Resentment. Deep burning ready to
kill hate.The same kind of hate I felt when my mother beat me as a
child. I remember someone saying "look at that hate". I exploded at
one of the senior staff members,' You can take this whole great big
program and roll it up into a little ball and STUFF IT UP YOUR ASS."
The staff member himself gave me an ultimatum to apologize or get out.
They started counting down as a group. 10,9,8.,7,6, 5,4,3,2,1- "YOUR
OUT". I felt like it was prize fight and I was being counted out.
When they said "YOUR OUT" it became a hypnotic suggestion to me due
to my resentment.. I closed my eyes and went out. I went into a
hysterical trance like state.
I remember them telling me to open my eyes. I replied that I
couldn't. I was in a
trance like state and my eyelids were stuck shut. They kept telling me
I could open my
eyes but I tried and couldn't. Apparently, the group attack and the
intense hatred had
produced a hypnotic state and the suggestion "Your Out" made me go
into a semi-
conscious hysterical state. I vaguely remember them calling some of the
staff members at
home and saying " What we feared would happen has finally
happened". I have no
memory of waking up but I must have because I remember them sending me
out of the
room and I came back. "Welcome to the Family " they said and hugged
me.

Honestly, I don't know if this sort of thing goes on at Tarzana now,
but it certainly
Did then. Sleep deprivation, shaving heads, wearing dresses for men,
standing in
Uncomfortable positions on the wall, verbal attacks by entire groups:
all this was considered therapy. It was all done With tax dollars. If
you are wondering what all this had to do as "treatment" for drug
Addiction, you are not the only one. 30 years later Im still wondering.
http://christianrecovery.bolgspot.com

In article <1103679741.965114.73020@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups. com>, tedw2
@earthlink.net, dougwa says...

> Drug Treatment- Inside a Synanon Clone Program
> The first drug treatment program chosen for me (besides CRC- which is
> the California Department of Corrections "Program") by my parole
> agent was the Long Term Family Program at the Tarzana Psychiatric
> Hospital.I was somewhat shocked when I arrived there.
> My first view of the "Family" was in the cafeteria and it looked
> like a line of carnival sideshow freaks. The men had shaved heads and
> wore dresses. The women were wearing men's clothes. Some were wearing
> paper bags over their heads with eye,nose,and mouth holes. All were
> wearing cardboard sandwich board signs with crayon marked messages on
> them.It was a weird menagerie of bizarre design.
> My first night there I was rudely awakened at 2:00 A.M. by our phase
> leader screaming "Creep,creep, creep". As I was to find out a
> 'creep' meant to be awoken in the middle of the night for
> 'therapy'. It is amazing what can be done to human beings in the
> name of "Therapy" The first therapy was to stand on the wall.
> Standing on the wall was a big part of Tarzana. If you were ever stood
> in the corner as punishment as a child with your face against the wall,
> then you have a sense of standing on the wall. Usually it was from
> 10-30 minutes. However there were times when we stood on the wall for
> as long as 20 hours. This ,of course, is cruelty and not therapy but
> that's what they did. In the beginning I was not told a lot about the
> program except that I would have to have a lot of blind "faith" and
> that the program worked.
> The Tarzana Family was a Synanon clone program. A Synanon Clone program
> is one modeled after the infamous Synanon program in Santa Monica..
> Many people know a little about the Synanon program and certainly a
> large number of people went through it.At the time I was in Tarzana
> (the early 1970's) synanon clone programs were still popular , but
> seem to be more replaced by 12 step programs these days. Tarazna itself
> still exits and now hosts 12 step programs . Tarzana was run by former
> drug addicts who were graduates from the Camarillo Family program.
> Therapies were varied but it was basically group therapy. The Synanon
> Game which was developed at Synanon was used there and I believe it is
> still used as therapy in some drug treatment programs.
> Briefly, the game is group confrontation. One person is placed on the
> "hot seat" or probe and basically attacked by other people in the
> game. Much truth is said but since we are talking about corrupted drug
> addicts it is often without love (at least in my experience). Much
> non-truth is also said. The purpose of the game is therapeutic but
> well---let the reader judge the efficacy of sick drug addicts acting
> like psychiatrists to one another
> The Candidacy phase of the program lasted a few weeks. It was ,I
> suppose, a period of time where the candidate got oriented and the
> program observed the candidate to see if they were acceptable. Many,
> many people "split"during the candidacy phase due to the creeps,
> standing on the wall and other 'therapies". I remember one fellow
> who split and we heard several weeks later that he had committed
> suicide. Drug addiction is a serious business and many don't survive
> it one way or another.The candidate phase lasted a few weeks and then
> it was time for my screening into the family.
> Screening was accomplished by the Synanon Game. I walked into the room
> and was put on the hot seat. They started asking me questions like what
> had I been doing there. I gave them the answers I thought would please
> them. I told them I had been fulfilling the assignments I had been
> given etc.,etc,etc,Then they started verbally attacking me. I had never
> experienced anything like it.There were maybe a dozen people and they
> started shouting things at me, and insulting me; I was told to sit on
> my hands. More shouts.Screaming. Ridicule. I started getting angry. No
> anger is not the word for it. Hate.Resentment. Deep burning ready to
> kill hate.The same kind of hate I felt when my mother beat me as a
> child. I remember someone saying "look at that hate". I exploded at
> one of the senior staff members,' You can take this whole great big
> program and roll it up into a little ball and STUFF IT UP YOUR ASS."
> The staff member himself gave me an ultimatum to apologize or get out.
> They started counting down as a group. 10,9,8.,7,6, 5,4,3,2,1- "YOUR
> OUT". I felt like it was prize fight and I was being counted out.
> When they said "YOUR OUT" it became a hypnotic suggestion to me due
> to my resentment.. I closed my eyes and went out. I went into a
> hysterical trance like state.
> I remember them telling me to open my eyes. I replied that I
> couldn't. I was in a
> trance like state and my eyelids were stuck shut. They kept telling me
> I could open my
> eyes but I tried and couldn't. Apparently, the group attack and the
> intense hatred had
> produced a hypnotic state and the suggestion "Your Out" made me go
> into a semi-
> conscious hysterical state. I vaguely remember them calling some of the
> staff members at
> home and saying " What we feared would happen has finally
> happened". I have no
> memory of waking up but I must have because I remember them sending me
> out of the
> room and I came back. "Welcome to the Family " they said and hugged
> me.
>
> Honestly, I don't know if this sort of thing goes on at Tarzana now,
> but it certainly
> Did then. Sleep deprivation, shaving heads, wearing dresses for men,
> standing in
> Uncomfortable positions on the wall, verbal attacks by entire groups:
> all this was considered therapy. It was all done With tax dollars. If
> you are wondering what all this had to do as "treatment" for drug
> Addiction, you are not the only one. 30 years later Im still wondering.
> http://christianrecovery.bolgspot.com
>
>

Phoenix House, late 70's (when I was there)........Basically some of the
same concepts were adopted there also. People were allowed "in house"
relationships in guest rooms, and once reaching re-entry were allowed to
sociably drink.

I believe way back when in Synanon the "society" were sorta cult like,
only marrying within the drug addict circle. And once a member, always a
member.

There were "contracts" shaved heads, sign wearing, stocking caps on
heads, humiliation, haircuts(verbal bashings). Guilt sessions where they
would actually cover windows, remove clocks, no sleep, & wait until
everybody drops their negative actions and than all sit around and watch
as everyone & each guilty party shaved each others heads........

Than there was the famous "marathons." (which still exist in some
residential programs)
Very strange & cult like in it's doing. Everyone wore robes & held
candles in a little ceremony before entering the "room." Counselors wore
different color robes. Than for 2-3 days, little food, little sleep,
everyone tells their life story & lets it all hang out.....The object
was to bring you to a weakened stated emotionally leaving no defenses.

Very interesting that you should bring all that up as it moved me down
memory lane......But at the very end you mentioned you're still trying
to figure it out?
Todays treatment centers will never adopt the "harsh" styles of long ago
but(I might be wrong & it is an opinion), most residential programs are
still "modeled" after synanons concepts in one way or another....Not the
extremes, but family model, groups, behavior modifications.....etc.
So in essence treatment today is done on a more "sensative" note, and
believe it or not a lot of it was adopted from the old styles.
Me personally, I had my moments back than and an awful lot about
treatment has been learned since than.....I was 15yrs old placed in a
population of Hard Core drug addicts, what did I have in common????
Maybe their was a fear factor there as sort of a scared straight tactic,
but in the years to follow it did not work. Today, teenagers are
seperated & treated differently, as should be......

Thanks for the walk down memory lane.

: "................Me personally, I had my moments back than and an
awful lot about
: treatment has been learned since than....."


thank HP!

--
*
*/|\*
* //|\\*
* ////|\\\\*
* /////|\\\\\
* ///////|\\\\\\*
*/////////|\\\\\\\* H A P P Y H O L I D A Y S





"ByTor" <ByTor@snowdog.com> wrote in message
news:sV4yd.2$iw1.0@fe26.usenetserver.com...
: In article <1103679741.965114.73020@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups. com>,
tedw2
: @earthlink.net, dougwa says...
:
: > Drug Treatment- Inside a Synanon Clone Program
: > The first drug treatment program chosen for me (besides CRC-
which is
: > the California Department of Corrections "Program") by my parole
: > agent was the Long Term Family Program at the Tarzana
Psychiatric
: > Hospital.I was somewhat shocked when I arrived there.
: > My first view of the "Family" was in the cafeteria and it looked
: > like a line of carnival sideshow freaks. The men had shaved
heads and
: > wore dresses. The women were wearing men's clothes. Some were
wearing
: > paper bags over their heads with eye,nose,and mouth holes. All
were
: > wearing cardboard sandwich board signs with crayon marked
messages on
: > them.It was a weird menagerie of bizarre design.
: > My first night there I was rudely awakened at 2:00 A.M. by our
phase
: > leader screaming "Creep,creep, creep". As I was to find out a
: > 'creep' meant to be awoken in the middle of the night for
: > 'therapy'. It is amazing what can be done to human beings in the
: > name of "Therapy" The first therapy was to stand on the wall.
: > Standing on the wall was a big part of Tarzana. If you were ever
stood
: > in the corner as punishment as a child with your face against
the wall,
: > then you have a sense of standing on the wall. Usually it was
from
: > 10-30 minutes. However there were times when we stood on the
wall for
: > as long as 20 hours. This ,of course, is cruelty and not therapy
but
: > that's what they did. In the beginning I was not told a lot
about the
: > program except that I would have to have a lot of blind "faith"
and
: > that the program worked.
: > The Tarzana Family was a Synanon clone program. A Synanon Clone
program
: > is one modeled after the infamous Synanon program in Santa
Monica..
: > Many people know a little about the Synanon program and
certainly a
: > large number of people went through it.At the time I was in
Tarzana
: > (the early 1970's) synanon clone programs were still popular ,
but
: > seem to be more replaced by 12 step programs these days. Tarazna
itself
: > still exits and now hosts 12 step programs . Tarzana was run by
former
: > drug addicts who were graduates from the Camarillo Family
program.
: > Therapies were varied but it was basically group therapy. The
Synanon
: > Game which was developed at Synanon was used there and I believe
it is
: > still used as therapy in some drug treatment programs.
: > Briefly, the game is group confrontation. One person is placed
on the
: > "hot seat" or probe and basically attacked by other people in
the
: > game. Much truth is said but since we are talking about
corrupted drug
: > addicts it is often without love (at least in my experience).
Much
: > non-truth is also said. The purpose of the game is therapeutic
but
: > well---let the reader judge the efficacy of sick drug addicts
acting
: > like psychiatrists to one another
: > The Candidacy phase of the program lasted a few weeks. It was ,I
: > suppose, a period of time where the candidate got oriented and
the
: > program observed the candidate to see if they were acceptable.
Many,
: > many people "split"during the candidacy phase due to the creeps,
: > standing on the wall and other 'therapies". I remember one
fellow
: > who split and we heard several weeks later that he had committed
: > suicide. Drug addiction is a serious business and many don't
survive
: > it one way or another.The candidate phase lasted a few weeks and
then
: > it was time for my screening into the family.
: > Screening was accomplished by the Synanon Game. I walked into
the room
: > and was put on the hot seat. They started asking me questions
like what
: > had I been doing there. I gave them the answers I thought would
please
: > them. I told them I had been fulfilling the assignments I had
been
: > given etc.,etc,etc,Then they started verbally attacking me. I
had never
: > experienced anything like it.There were maybe a dozen people and
they
: > started shouting things at me, and insulting me; I was told to
sit on
: > my hands. More shouts.Screaming. Ridicule. I started getting
angry. No
: > anger is not the word for it. Hate.Resentment. Deep burning
ready to
: > kill hate.The same kind of hate I felt when my mother beat me as
a
: > child. I remember someone saying "look at that hate". I exploded
at
: > one of the senior staff members,' You can take this whole great
big
: > program and roll it up into a little ball and STUFF IT UP YOUR
ASS."
: > The staff member himself gave me an ultimatum to apologize or
get out.
: > They started counting down as a group. 10,9,8.,7,6, 5,4,3,2,1-
"YOUR
: > OUT". I felt like it was prize fight and I was being counted
out.
: > When they said "YOUR OUT" it became a hypnotic suggestion to me
due
: > to my resentment.. I closed my eyes and went out. I went into a
: > hysterical trance like state.
: > I remember them telling me to open my eyes. I replied that I
: > couldn't. I was in a
: > trance like state and my eyelids were stuck shut. They kept
telling me
: > I could open my
: > eyes but I tried and couldn't. Apparently, the group attack and
the
: > intense hatred had
: > produced a hypnotic state and the suggestion "Your Out" made me
go
: > into a semi-
: > conscious hysterical state. I vaguely remember them calling some
of the
: > staff members at
: > home and saying " What we feared would happen has finally
: > happened". I have no
: > memory of waking up but I must have because I remember them
sending me
: > out of the
: > room and I came back. "Welcome to the Family " they said and
hugged
: > me.
: >
: > Honestly, I don't know if this sort of thing goes on at Tarzana
now,
: > but it certainly
: > Did then. Sleep deprivation, shaving heads, wearing dresses for
men,
: > standing in
: > Uncomfortable positions on the wall, verbal attacks by entire
groups:
: > all this was considered therapy. It was all done With tax
dollars. If
: > you are wondering what all this had to do as "treatment" for
drug
: > Addiction, you are not the only one. 30 years later Im still
wondering.
: > http://christianrecovery.bolgspot.com
: >
: >
:
: Phoenix House, late 70's (when I was there)........Basically some
of the
: same concepts were adopted there also. People were allowed "in
house"
: relationships in guest rooms, and once reaching re-entry were
allowed to
: sociably drink.
:
: I believe way back when in Synanon the "society" were sorta cult
like,
: only marrying within the drug addict circle. And once a member,
always a
: member.
:
: There were "contracts" shaved heads, sign wearing, stocking caps
on
: heads, humiliation, haircuts(verbal bashings). Guilt sessions
where they
: would actually cover windows, remove clocks, no sleep, & wait
until
: everybody drops their negative actions and than all sit around and
watch
: as everyone & each guilty party shaved each others heads........
:
: Than there was the famous "marathons." (which still exist in some
: residential programs)
: Very strange & cult like in it's doing. Everyone wore robes & held
: candles in a little ceremony before entering the "room."
Counselors wore
: different color robes. Than for 2-3 days, little food, little
sleep,
: everyone tells their life story & lets it all hang out.....The
object
: was to bring you to a weakened stated emotionally leaving no
defenses.
:
: Very interesting that you should bring all that up as it moved me
down
: memory lane......But at the very end you mentioned you're still
trying
: to figure it out?
: Todays treatment centers will never adopt the "harsh" styles of
long ago
: but(I might be wrong & it is an opinion), most residential
programs are
: still "modeled" after synanons concepts in one way or
another....Not the
: extremes, but family model, groups, behavior
modifications.....etc.
: So in essence treatment today is done on a more "sensative" note,
and
: believe it or not a lot of it was adopted from the old styles.
: Me personally, I had my moments back than and an awful lot about
: treatment has been learned since than.....I was 15yrs old placed
in a
: population of Hard Core drug addicts, what did I have in
common????
: Maybe their was a fear factor there as sort of a scared straight
tactic,
: but in the years to follow it did not work. Today, teenagers are
: seperated & treated differently, as should be......
:
: Thanks for the walk down memory lane.
:
:

In article <pyeyd.61700$NO5.36593@twister.rdc-kc.rr.com>,
readandpost@yahooORhotmail.com, rosie readandpost says...

> : "................Me personally, I had my moments back than and an
> awful lot about
> : treatment has been learned since than....."
>
>
> thank HP!
>
>

You got it! ;0)

Hi Rosie.........Merry Xmas & all that jazz! ;0)

same to you sweetie!

--
*
*/|\*
* //|\\*
* ////|\\\\*
* /////|\\\\\
* ///////|\\\\\\*
*/////////|\\\\\\\* MERRY, MERRY!





"ByTor" <ByTor@snowdog.com> wrote in message
news:Blfyd.33452$Lo6.17433@fe80.usenetserver.com.. .
: In article <pyeyd.61700$NO5.36593@twister.rdc-kc.rr.com>,
: readandpost@yahooORhotmail.com, rosie readandpost says...
:
: > : "................Me personally, I had my moments back than and
an
: > awful lot about
: > : treatment has been learned since than....."
: >
: >
: > thank HP!
: >
: >
:
: You got it! ;0)
:
: Hi Rosie.........Merry Xmas & all that jazz! ;0)
:

"dougwa" <tedw2@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:1103679741.965114.73020@f14g2000cwb.googlegro ups.com...
> Briefly, the game is group confrontation. One person is placed on the
> "hot seat" or probe and basically attacked by other people in the
> game.

Games created by barely disguised sadists can only be expected to cause pain
and injury. No sane person could expect them to cause healing or to induce
health. The normal human reactions to external attack include lashing back,
on the one hand, and closing up into a tight ball hiding all of the soft
parts, on the other hand. Neither reaction induces opening up or honest
introspection.

Programs of this type remind me of the Soviet use of adrenalin shock
"therapy" to treat perceived antisocial behavior -- and bring to mind
"Clockwork Orange." It is possible to mask the symptoms of problems by
repressing them further, but it is like making a bomb. Setting fire to
gunpowder in the open just makes a flash. Try to tightly contain the
gunpowder makes a bomb and results in an explosion.

I think that is the essence of the rigorously honest self examination of the
4th step. Open it up. Let it out. Trying to contain has it only made it
worse.

On Wed, 22 Dec 2004 09:50:57 -0500, Dan McGown <dmcgown@adelphia.net> wrote:
>
> "dougwa" <tedw2@earthlink.net> wrote in message
> news:1103679741.965114.73020@f14g2000cwb.googlegro ups.com...
>> Briefly, the game is group confrontation. One person is placed on the
>> "hot seat" or probe and basically attacked by other people in the
>> game.
>
> Games created by barely disguised sadists can only be expected to cause pain
> and injury. No sane person could expect them to cause healing or to induce
> health. The normal human reactions to external attack include lashing back,
> on the one hand, and closing up into a tight ball hiding all of the soft
> parts, on the other hand. Neither reaction induces opening up or honest
> introspection.
>
> Programs of this type remind me of the Soviet use of adrenalin shock
> "therapy" to treat perceived antisocial behavior -- and bring to mind
> "Clockwork Orange." It is possible to mask the symptoms of problems by
> repressing them further, but it is like making a bomb. Setting fire to
> gunpowder in the open just makes a flash. Try to tightly contain the
> gunpowder makes a bomb and results in an explosion.
>
> I think that is the essence of the rigorously honest self examination of the
> 4th step. Open it up. Let it out. Trying to contain has it only made it
> worse.

Boyle beat Freud to a proper theory of pneumatics by a couple hundred
years or so. Freud's fawning litter is still trying to get it right.
It would be interesting to study how the popular apprehension of the
hydraulic psyche evolved.

It would probably be more interesting still to study the sociology of
sadistic sociopaths.

It would probably be more intersting still to eat some smoked salmon I
got for xmas and go to bed.

"When inspiration does not come to me, I go half way to meet it."

--
AB5DB9CC