 Re: The Synanon Game
In article <1113619184.657696.46760@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com>, tedw2
@earthlink.net, dougwa2@hotmail.com says..
> The Tarzana Family was a Synanon clone program. It was supported by
> taxpayer money. 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.
>
> When I was in The TarzanaFamily (1972) synanon clone programs were
> still popular , but seem to be more replaced by 12 step programs these
> days. Tarzana itself still exists and now hosts 12 step programs at
> their facility .How their current program is run I do not know. Tarzana
> was run by former drug addicts who were graduates from the Camarillo
> Family program. Therapies were varied but it was basically
> confrontational 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 Synanon game is a combination group confrontation and
> group therapy. One person is placed on the "hot seat" or probe and
> verbally attacked by other people in the game. Much truth is said but
> since we are talking about corrupted drug addicts it is mostly or
> entirely without love (at least in my experience). Much non-truth is
> also said. There were certain theraupuetic rules regarding the game. No
> threats of violence were tolerated. What was said in the game was
> supposed to stay in the game (although sometimes it did not).No
> theruapuetic contracts were allowed which meant you could not have
> secret verbal contracts outside the game to not confront someone about
> their behaviour and secrets inside the game .We were taught techniques
> like engrossing a person problems (making them seem bigger than they
> actually were). Except for a staff member everyone playing the game was
> a drug addict and a drug addict fairly new in recovery at that. Of
> course if any of them had really had insight on how to overcome a drug
> problem they would not have been in Tarzana in the first place (with
> the possible exception of a senior paid staff member). So in a sense it
> was a case of the inmates running the asylum. One current website says
> "playing the Game can accomplish a unification and healing of the
> personality, an appreciation and acceptance of new and more
> constructive forms of behavior -- or so they say -". At any rate the
> purpose of the game was supposed to be therapeutic and in some
> mysterious way not understood by me to help us solve our drug problems.
> Of course, Synanon had become wildly popular and endorsed as effective
> in some mental health circles and thus its techniques had spread and
> become popular, and that's why they existed at Tarzana. Despite
> Synanons popularity and noteriety I dont believe any studies were ever
> done on its efficacy. I have known a handful of people who were at
> Synanon and they were all pretty screwed up, some still on drugs, and
> none who really understood addiction.
So, what's your point?? Issue?
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