High Control Group
The Crossroads Program Survivor: 2001 - 2004
The aspect of the Group that I’ve had the most difficulty articulating is how deep this sort of control goes. You are expected to constantly share all of your thoughts, feelings, and actions. Anything less is dishonest.
Not a Typical Staff Meeting
The Crossroads Program Staff Survivor Story: 2002 - 2010
Truthfully it is hard to share Purpose stories because I don't remember a lot of details. Likely because I walked into every single Purpose SO afraid I just blocked much of it out, while I sat there hoping I would not be the one put on the "hot seat" that night.
Rock Bottom Was The Only Answer
Palmer Drug Abuse Program Survivor Story: 2015 - 2016
A majority of PDAP was the "younger group" which was comprised of the ages 12-17 years old, literal children, being told that their experimentation with drugs and alcohol labeled them addicts and hopeless without intervention. Not one bit of harm prevention is taught, just fear mongering that using will inevitably kill you.
Staff Survivor Story
The Insight Program Staff Survivor Story: 2015 - 2019
I joined the group when I was 16. For the first couple of years, it seemed like my salvation. It felt like after years of trauma and abuse I had finally come home. For the first time, I felt like I belonged and I fell head over heels for that feeling. I had spent almost every day of the last 5 years not wanting to wake up the next morning and now it felt like my world had filled with color again. I did whatever I wanted and had hundreds of friends who all loved me, just so long as I complied with the rules and expectations imposed on me.
Insight might actually breed drug addicts instead of helping them.
The Insight Program Survivor Story: 2018 - 2021
My story is similar to everyone else’s who dealt with the horrors of Insight. I joined when I was 17. I was only smoking weed (never really touched anything else) when I started the outpatient program. By the time I finally left the group for good, there was about 6 new drugs added to my list. Was it my choice to do them? Yes. I almost feel, however, that insight might breed drug addicts instead of helping them.
Steering Committee Purpose
The Insight Program Survivor Story
Four of us were on Steering Committee; myself and my roommate were the two females and there were two males. Before a Purpose, I had felt the energy shift with Steering Committee and the counselors - that my roommate was ‘not healthy’ or ‘not being honest.’ And before she arrived I recall Staff giving us a heads up in what was coming and how and what could we contribute about her being ‘fucked up.’
I Never Received the Help I Needed.
The Cornerstone Program Survivor Story: 2007 - 2012
My mother found the Cornerstone when I was 13. I had two previous psych hospitalizations for my mental health and they were not going to release me without an Outpatient program in place. Basically, the only place available because of my age was Cornerstone. My mother was able to take me on a day trip from the hospital to see Cornerstone. I was so young and all the freedom seemed so exciting.
A Personal Account of the Program’s Approach to Sex and Sexual Orientation
The program not only intrusively dictates the sex lives of their clients, but has proven itself to be particularly unloving toward those who are LGBTQIA+. It is a cultural issue that can not be reduced to a few examples of bad counseling. It is clear that they see no reason whatsoever to change this.