I became a completely different person.
FullCircle Program Survivor Story: 2019 - 2022
I had the epiphany Full Circle was not doing what they said they were doing. Regardless of me knowing that I was in a cult, I stayed.
The Addict and Six Degrees of Separation
Adolescents In Recovery Survivor Story: 2005 - 2009
When I was about three weeks sober, just before my 19th birthday, we discovered Adolescents in Recovery (AIR), an outpatient treatment center for young people that offered group and individual therapy, peer mentoring, and social activities. Little did we know this treatment center was based on an infamous rehab known as PDAP.
The Crossroads Program stays with you forever.
The Crossroads Program Survivor Story: 2016 - 2017
I was in the Crossroads program in Columbia, Missouri from the summer of 2016 to April Fools of 2017. I had known people who went through Crossroads and had really great things to say about it. Intensive outpatient was ideal, because I wanted to continue getting my bachelors degree. I met with the head counselor, who made it immediately seem he understood the way I was feeling.
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.
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.
The Only Way.
The Insight Program Survivor Story: 2017 - 2019
While in The Insight Program, I cycled through manic and depressive episodes as a result of being stripped of all mental health medications and therapy. June of 2019, at almost 11 months sober, I has reached absolute rock bottom with my mental health after a chaotic visit home. I felt I was incapable of even closing my eyes without triggering a trauma flashback.