Newsgroups: alt.drugs.hard Subject: GIZMO'S LOST ADVENTURES From: Gizmo Date: 31 Aug 2000 I just recently started peeking into this newsgroup again after a 4 year hiatus. I noticed looking through some posts and on that website that someone was nice enough to put up that a few of the old "Adventures" are missing. Well I finally got back into town, finally got the stuff ported over from my old computer and now I can pull these up and repost them. This is Adventure #26. I noticed that #27 is on that website, but not #26. This was the first part of that 2 part "adventure. Enjoy....again.... Gizmo TC'S TC'S. Therapeutic Communities. Long Term Drug Rehab Programs. These programs were modeled after and were an outgrowth of Synanon. Synanon, which was started in California back in the mid 50's by Chuck Dederich got a lot of publicity in the press after it turned into a cult. But before it became a cult, it was a brand new attempt at dealing with drug addiction. There probably were some earlier versions before Synanon, but none that I know of. Or course there were the two "Narcotic Farms," the most famous one located in Lexington Kentucky, but these were really different than TC's. No, TC's were a breed apart. These were long term (18-24) month, live-in residential treatment programs designed to cure a drug addict of his or her addiction. A few of the more famous ones, that are most likely still in operation, would be Daytop Village, Phoenix House, Smaratan House, J- Cap, etc. Also, most likely due to State and City funding, most of these long term programs flourished in the New York area, and I believe PA, CA and a few other large cities. Most of them were funded, meaning that if you had no means, which most addicts don't have, you could "reside" in one of these places and have the tab paid for by the Welfare system of that state, along with additional monies from the Fed. My first blush with one of these places took place in 1967. My dad tried his level best to get me to go for an interview at Daytop Village, in Mt. Vernon, NY. This was a scary experience. The drill was they put you in a room and told you to wait for what could be a couple of hours or so. Finally they would call you in to the "interview," and sit you down in the center of room on a wooden stool. About 10 or 12 ex-users would surround you and basically humiliate the shit out of you for an hour or more. These were all "residents" of the facility with varying degrees of clean time under their belt, plus a counselor. And even the counselor would be someone who was once a user. They would hammer the hell out of you, and attempt to make you feel like a complete lowlife in an effort to make you see what a mess you were. In those days, they were real big on shaving your head and other humiliating tactics. But I'll get into that a little later. When the "interview" was over, I promptly went home and shot up again. There was no fucking way I was going into one of these places! The next time I almost got sucked in, was in 1976. This time, it was me and my ex-wife that went for the interview at another program, who's name I don't recall. We went through the same "interview." I was on methadone at the time, and the fuckers dumped my methadone, because I was supposed to go in that night! They informed us that they would separate me and my ex-wife also. We would have no contact with each other for the next 12 months or so! We both said, "fuck you," and left. But in 1982, I finally ahh, saw the light as it were. That is, I hit rock bottom. No job, no money, nowhere to live, pending court cases, totally strung out. You got the picture, right? So this time, I had to go in. It was either that or jail. The only good news was that TC's had become a little more humane in the years from 1967 to 1982. By this time, most of them stopped doing things like shaving your head or making you wear diapers. Shaving your head? Baby diapers? Yes, and then some. They all did this shit during their heyday. The concept, was that an addict was such a loser, with such low self esteem, that they endeavored to reduce a person down to his very basic self. Like the Army or the Marines, they meant to "break you," so they could start the process of rebuilding you again. Did this work, you may ask? Well, that's another story. Okay, yea it worked for some and not for most. Such is the nature of addiction. It ain't easily cured. And boot camp tactics are not the only answer. Here's an example of a persons typical stay at one of these TC's. After submitting to the "interview/induction" phase, they would bus you to wherever their main housing facility was. By the early 80's, if you were still strung out, most of these programs would first send you to a hospital to be detoxed for 7-10 days. In earlier times, you went in and kicked cold. But either way, you eventually ended up in a facility that could house 80-200 residents depending on the size of the program you "signed up" for. These were ex-addicts with varying amounts of clean time, who were still living within the program. Usually you entered one of these programs and were placed in what they called the orientation phase of treatment. This would usually last about 2 months, during which time, you attended groups, worked very menial jobs in the house, such as sweeping, mopping, scrubbing, throwing out the garbage, cleaning the grounds, etc. In other words, very much like boot camp in the Marines. The only difference was, it was not perceived as "an adventure!" And of course the emphasis was on learning about your addiction. Another thing I should mention is that, while these programs often suggested, especially in the later part of treatment that a person should get involved with AA/NA, they were not 12 step programs at all. In fact their "philosophy" was almost counter to the AA/NA 12 step ideology. There was no mention of "higher power," or "turning it over," kind of shit. So for the first two months, you were subjected to hard physical labor and groups. Orientation groups, emotionality groups, individual counseling, and the all time famous, "Encounter Session!" I'll mention these encounter sessions now. The encounter session was the heart of a TC. Everything was supposed to revolve around encounter groups. These barbaric sessions were designed to allow a recovering addict to get in touch with and get control of his emotions. For example, in a facility that housed over 100 residents, whom you were living with every day, usually four or more to a room, working with, interacting with, it was inevitable that "feelings" would be created. That is, someone was always pissing you off. Out in the real world, you either offed the mother fucker, or you went and shot dope over it. In a TC, that could not be allowed to happen or there would be chaos, or something not much different than prison. So if someone with whom you were working with or interacting with, did something that really bothered you, you were strongly advised to NOT REACT to it at that moment. Instead, you were to grab a slip of paper and write down your name and the person or persons who "created" these feelings in you and drop it in the "encounter box." The encounter box was a box that was placed in a central place in the program. The way the program was designed, there was always enough friction in the place, that by the end of the day, the box would fill up with "slips." At the evening meeting, they would call out all the names in the box and about 12-20 people would then go off into a room and have at it. You would have the encounter. At the signal from the counselor, the "game would begin." This involved whoever was the fastest, calling out the name of the person that pissed them off and the game would be on you, if it was your name that was called. First there would be the indictment. This would be a barrage of vile hostility directed at the person who's name was called. If I was the person who pissed someone off, I would be treated to a few minutes of everything short of physical violence. It would literally be like being physically assaulted, sans the blows. You would get torn apart, by your peers. Someone who was a real good encounter player, could make you feel like your skin was being flayed. It was furious. And when the first person was done, anyone else who had "shit for you," would take turns telling you about yourself. When this was done, you would be allowed to respond. The counselor would moderate the whole thing, and if you didn't "come from a real, i.e. emotional place" within yourself, he'd let you know where you were at. When all this was done, there would usually be a "patch up" phase that attempted to make sure you were all right. Then it was on to the next person. Not all indictments were blatant hostility. Sometimes it could be concern, as when a group of your peers perceived that you were about to "fall." That is, leave the program prematurely and go get high. Encounters, what a trip. In the meantime, you progressed through the program. After orientation, there would be levels, such as Level 1, 2, & 3, then "sponsorship" and finally "live-out." Each level gave you more responsibility and more privileges. For example, in the first two months of treatment, you had virtually no privileges. No phone calls, unless it was an emergency. Then in level one, you were allowed visitors on the weekends, and short 8 hour "requests" to go out of the program, usually at first with an escort. In level two, you got 16 hour passes, then finally "overnights," and finally toward the end "weekend passes." And all the way through, you had groups, and more groups, and more groups. You had different job responsibilities in the facility. You progressed from the manual labor to cooking for the house, waiting tables, working in the administration office, running the car pool, etc., etc. If you needed a GED or some type of vocational training, that was made available too. But at anytime along the way, you could get "jackpotted" just to see how you would deal with "unexpected turns of events." For instance, you might have been given a high level position of responsibility in a certain job function. You started to feel important. You started to feel, as they would term it, "well." "Well," as in, you were cured. Then either because you didn't handle your responsibility properly, or just because the counselors wanted to see if you could "deal with shit," you would get "shot down" to orientation again for awhile, and assigned to cleaning, scrubbing and mopping all day. This kind of thing, could often make a person, "spilt," that is, leave the program because that person felt it was too unjust. Most of the "spittee's" would be back in a week or two, after getting high again! The program's position was that if you were that weak and you couldn't deal with a little adversity in here, you probably wouldn't be able to deal with it anyway, so they felt their conscience was clean, even if you did go out, shoot dope and die! All these things were designed to be a microcosm of life in the real world. The idea, was that if you could deal with this artificial reality "in here," you had a could chance of dealing with life "out there." Addiction was perceived as a disease of the emotions. The disease manifesting itself, as turning to drugs, as the line of least resistance to emotional pains, hurts, etc. While this was not entirely untrue, TC's made it the mainstay of their philosophy. This was all pretty harsh, but the felt they were dealing with harsh realities anyway. I'll leave it up to you to decide if it was right or wrong. Another Jim Dandy treatment method that made everyone shit in their pants, was the "closed house." This was a real bitch. Usually the program would do it, if things were getting too laxed. Or if too many residents were coming back from weekend passes high on pot, alcohol or hard drugs! Or they would do it, "just because." A closed house, meant all privileges ceased. Everything stopped. A "closed house" would last for at least a month! You had more groups, 24 hour encounter sessions, lots of cleaning of the facility, no phone calls, shades on all the windows, and no one could go out except for an emergency. These "closed houses" were designed to make residents that were fucking around split. It was like, house cleaning, only of people. All the "guilt" would come out during one of these. "Guilt," as in, if you had stole money, or shot dope, or fucked one of the female residents. Things you did, that you didn't previously get caught at. It all came out in a closed house. And again, the programs position was that if a few innocent residents "split" behind this affair, it was worth the price! Such were some of the gems of living in a TC. To be continued in "Adventure 27." Copyright 1996 Gizmo