The Dawn Treader

I will save you the click ... a first time commenter writes:

"I am a Christian who many years ago was a child in Bob Meehan's programs. I also worked for them as a counselor for many years. I worked for Bob Meehan personally. I can tell you without a doubt that his programs are cults. Recent news articles by former members (over 200 strong on a few websites for survivors of this cult) caused Bob to publicly state that he had retired and his son-in-law was now running all of his programs. Rest assured, Bob Meehan is as much in control of his organization as he ever was. His son-in-law has spent the better part of his life (I've known him personally) as a member of this cult and is as indoctrinated as anyone has ever been by Bob and Joy Meehan. There is so much I could say about this. DO NOT SEND YOUR CHILDREN TO THESE PEOPLE! THEY ARE ANTI-GOD, ANTI-CHRISTIAN, and NOT SAFE INDIVIDUALS! They are con-artists and they are the last people who should be entrusted with the welfare of your children."

The commenter has not returned to the Dawn Treader to answer my follow up question.  I read a lot of these kind of sentiments on the anti-Bob Meehan site.

What is a cult?  Turns out it is a slippery term.  I have googled for sites dealing with cults.  While I did not find a Christian site, I found one helpful site International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA).  ICSA is careful about throwing around the term "cult".  For instance, they do not list suspected cult groups.

ICSA references several dictionaries and research articles to piece together elements of a definition.

• A religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious...
• A system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator...
• Great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work...b. a usually small group of people characterized by such devotion...
• Dangerous, authoritarian groups

... and finally ...

"A group or movement exhibiting a great or excessive devotion or dedication to some person, idea, or thing and employing unethically manipulative techniques of persuasion and control (e.g. isolation from former friends and family, debilitation, use of special methods to heighten suggestibility and subservience, powerful group pressures, information management, suspension of individuality or critical judgment, promotion of total dependency on the group and fear of leaving it, etc.), designed to advance the goals of the group's leaders, to the actual or possible detriment of members,  their families, or the community."

The Bob Meehan inspired groups, like Insight, fit some of these bullet points ... "powerful group pressures" ... "isolation from former friends and family" ... promotion of total dependency on the group and fear of leaving it .. etc.

After reading Meehan's manifesto on drug rehab, I was not struck with the idea that this guy thought  he was the true messiah.  He definitely believes himself to be saving kids from drugs.  In that sense, his message contains messianic type overtones.  Still, I did not find overt claims to some kind of religious self-identity.  He largely eschews organized religion.  One of his mottoes in his book is, "I am here to save your ass, not your soul."

Interestingly, Meehan quotes from C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity in his book.  He tinkers with the idea of God, but prefers to leave the interpretation of "god" up to you.  To Meehan, god appears to be the notion of love and goodness.

Here is a quote from the Tucson Weekly article :

A signature of Meehan's programs is his version of the 12 steps, which have been subtly altered from the design used by Alcoholics Anonymous. For instance, step three of AA states, "Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood him."

Pathway's [one of the Meehan programs] version states, "We realized that a Higher Power, expressed through our love for each other, could help restore us to sanity."

The key difference: Many members of AA are able to pick any god of their understanding, but Pathway clients come to depend on their peers and counselors, over which Meehan and Stonebraker [Meehan's son-in-law] had absolute control, former counselors and clients said.

Given this "god is whatever you want him to be including nothing but a feeling" approach, it is disingenous (in my opinion) that he signs some of his correspondence "With God's Love,"  ... and his son-in-law, with "God Bless,".  One is certainly given a false impression.  So does the fact that churches, including PCA churches, have opened their doors to meetings for parents of kids in his programs.

I don't have time to unpack Meehan's book completely.  Suffice it to say, it was crystal clear that his worldview was secular and his presuppositions about the nature of man [especially evident in his discussion of teenage behavior] was flawed.  Choosing drugs, like choosing any sinful addiction, is a moral choice.  Meehan's philosophy is total pragmatism and does nothing to address the moral condition of the heart.  How can it?

His philosophy is basically to use peer pressure to get kids "addicted" to the group instead of to drugs.  Many parents are thrilled with this.  Anything but drugs, right?  Personally, I don't see how exchanging one addiction for another is considered a cure.

I don't have time to unpack this, but I am aware of influence tactics utilized by this group as they recruit (through a first hand report).  I studied influence tactics in grad school.  Meehan's group uses them effectively -- especially on parents.

Is it a scam?  Possibly, but not a very good scam.  There is the $7,000 fee for the teen to go through outpatient therapy.  That seems like a good money maker.  After that, however, there is no charge for the after-care program.  Kids can hang around in the after-care program for years, it seems.  If the child gets recommended to in-patient therapy, then the costs skyrocket ($15,000 I think).  It seems that only a small percentage get referred from outpatient to inpatient therapy.  I could not find any published statistics on how often this happens.   The overhead of the program appears to be low -- they don't require nice facilities, and they don't appear to pay their counselors very well.  Their margins are undoubtedly high.  Still, it seems like they could make a lot more money if they built in a fee structure for the after-care program.  Call it a maintenance fee or something... so I am mixed on whether this is a huge con game.  It does not seem sophisticated enough to me.

The programs, since they are privately funded, go through very little state auditing.  To become a counselor, you can simply go through Meehan's training program and get a certificate.  I believe there is some kind of test given by the state ... but that I am guessing that this test is not difficult to pass.  Some of the articles suggest that the counselors are trained to pass the state required test and then basically forget it.  One of the articles suggests that the state requirements to maintain certification basically amount to paper pushing ... and that employees falsify forms just to meet the state licensing requirements.  The state gets completed forms and presumably a relicensing fee and simply leaves them alone. 

Is this just a case of disgruntled ex-employees with an axe to grind?  Could be.  Or they could be telling the truth.  I have no way to verify that, of course.

Remember that family I told you about in my second post in the series?  They spoke with their son.  He has been in the program for three weeks.  He says he likes the program and that he thinks it will help him.  He admitted his drug problem for the first time.  His mom was thrilled obviously.  She and her husband originally hoped their son would be in and out of the program before Christmas.  However, their Insight counselor said six months ... minimum.  They have accepted that.  My heart sank into my toes when I heard that.

Why do I have this little inner voice haunting me?