The Program

The average resident stays at MeadowHaven from three to nine months, depending on the nature of their recovery needs.  During the first weeks of the program, an Individual Recovery Program (IRP) is uniquely developed for the resident.  The IRP is meant to focus treatment on the specific needs of the resident, and it covers a wide variety of needs -- addressing the well-being of the whole person.  Not relying on any one method of treatment, MeadowHaven seeks to introduce as many healing factors into each resident's treatment program as possible.  Examples of IRP activities include:

• Resting

• Community Involvement

• Individual Counseling

• Support Groups

• Social Services

• Volunteer Work

• Workshops

• Informal Mentoring

• Part-Time Employment

• Music Lessons

• Regular Exercise

Formal treatment (e.g. individual counseling and support groups) constitutes about 20% of the program.  The remaining 80% takes place in a therapeutic community, where residents work out in everyday life experiences what they are encountering through formal treatment.  Over the course of formal and informal treatment, residents discover their true identity as they understand the forces that shaped their cult identity.  They move from feeling devalued to being able to self-validate, and ultimately are able to articulate an answer to those who ask “why.”

MeadowHaven's program consists of three phases.  Each phase is designed to build upon the previous phase, starting with helping the resident feel safe and secure, moving into confronting the cult issues, and eventually ending with the resident being able to articulate to themselves and others their experience.  The three phases are outlined below.  For a graphical illustration of the three phases, click on this link.

I.  Resting & Safety

It is important when a resident first arrives that they feel safe and secure.  Healing will not occur until the former member feels that he or she is in a safe place.  This phase of treatment focuses on:

• Resting

• Testing (MBTI, TJTA, & Millon)

• Addressing Thought Reform Issues 

• Addressing Self Esteem Issues

• Developing an Individual Recovery Plan (IRP)

• Acknowledging Spiritual Confusion

II.  Remembering & Mourning

Upon leaving the cult, many former members experience an extreme sense of loss.  It is important for the healing process to remember the entire experience -- events leading up to joining the group, experiences while in the group, and the experience of leaving the group.  In this phase of treatment, the focus is on:

• Building a Chronology of the Trauma; Connect Emotions

• Developing Boundaries

• Understanding Cult Leaders & Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD)

• Addressing Spiritual Issues:

  • Confusion

  • The Cultic Belief System

III.  Reconnecting

Once the resident has gone through phases I and II, phase III helps the former member reconnect in preparation for their graduation from the program.  The focus during this phase is to look forward and help the resident prepare for re-entering society.  A Community Integration Plan (CIP) is developed for the resident that outlines specific goals for post-MeadowHaven life.  In this phase of treatment, the focus is on: 

• Looking to the Future:

  • Education / Career

  • Life Skills

  • Social Supports & Relationships

• Increasing Spiritual Clarity

• Building Self Image

• Self Validation Abilities / Critical Issues:

  • Answering Others

  • Answering Self

• Developing a Community Integration Plan (CIP)