or so it says on page 427 of Restoring the Foundations: An Integrated Approach to Healing Ministry
treatment program that Mercy used until June 2008 when it,
formalized its Christian-based counseling curriculum…
[source]
Does anyone else find it odd that the uber successful Mercy ( by their claim) did not have a standardised/formalised treatment program until 2008?
To achieve the level of success that Mercy claims they would have to be applying the same system, otherwise there would be great differences in the service provision and outcomes across the homes – the best of intentions only takes you so far as an organisation.
Not that we can ascertain the validity of their claims of success as they produce no statistics to examine♣.
Or is it more likely that they are engaging in a little revisionism. So that if they are called to account on the use of RTF (up until 2008) that they will be able to pass off the program as being used in a limited context in that “terrible rogue outfit” in Australia.
So did Nancy know about the use of RTF(yes she quotes from it in her books)? Did she know what treatment programs were running in any of the Mercy Centres(it was running at Mercy HQ)?
I am at a loss to understand how this “President”, who is by all accounts a very sharp business woman, can not lead Mercy ministries and not know how it is attaining its success. The RTF program is American in origin, requiring training in its use. Its in line with Nancy’s professed beliefs. The “rogue home” using a “crazy” program excuse, does not sit well with me. The far simpler explanation is that Mercy, an American treatment/religious organisation used the program and exported it to its centres in other countries.
So why nuddy the waters with this formalisation nonsense?
So at this point:
- I know for a fact that RTF was used in Australia
- It was used in the Nashville home from 2000 (Edit. confirmed by US Resident)
- Nancy refers to it in her books(see John’s comment below)
- It’s highly likely then that it was used at other Mercy homes
- It contains detailed, explicit instructions on deliverance (or exorcism if you want to be un-PC)
So when I read this on the Mercy FAQ,
Mercy Ministries does not perform or endorse exorcisms as part of its treatment curriculum. Our emphasis is on the power of God’s grace and unconditional love to help hurting young women overcome addictions and past hurts. View our statement of faith… [source]
I almost choke. What’s ironic is that this above was pointed out to me by a Mercy survivor who was indeed subject to an exorcism Deliverance at Mercy’s hands.
So i feel I must call it as I see it – the highlighted text above is violating the ninth commandment(or eighth if you are a Papist).
I also find it hard to believe that someone that can endorse and use the RTF manual and then do an about face and push a wishy-washy sounding “Choices That Bring Change” -three months after a scandal mind you. I fear that a biblically based treatment program is just as ridiculous and harmful by any other name.
You see, to read and implement the utter filth and rubbish that is RTF you have to believe it, believe it to a point that it is near impossible to have any other view on life and reality without some drastic long term therapy. Certainly the speed at which Mercy has changed gears to push this new program leave me highly skeptical that anything has changed bar the veneer.
Not sure what all this Mercy Ministires hullabaloo is – click here
♣ Mercy Supporters will refer to a survey that was carried out in 2008, coincidentally around the same time that the scandal arose and there was focus on their claims of success. It’s a survey, whose contents and methodolgical approach is not open for inspection. For some criticisms of this so called survey so this post.
Related posts:
- Mercy being sly…again Mercy has changed their FAQ: What happens if a resident...
- Mercy Ministries opens up on the reasons for organisational change Sean questions the reason for the reformation of Mercy Ministries...
- South Australian policeman stood down for exorcism You would think this sort of thing only happens in...
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RTF was used in all Mercy homes around the world until mid 2008.
We have evidence that it was used in Australian homes and that it was used at Mercy HQ and as John notes below Nancy herself refers to it in the literature that she sells. I think its safe to assume that it was being used internationally as their treatment program. Which is why I find the statement about formalizing their program in 2008 as very odd. Its almost a half hearted attempt at a whitewash of the scandal.
The houses involved n the scandal were following the RTF manual, a manual endorsed by Nancy.
No sadly this formalization process was the result of the media having access to the evidence of the programs use and the availability of the RTF program on Amazon.
With an inhouse program Mercy has control of the information we, the public can analyze.
What I want to know is if the program was good enough for Nancy, the Nashville House and the Australian houses and it was good enough for the years leading up to 2008 – why the sudden change?
Dear Sean,
Unbelieveable. The original Mercy For books, which Nancy Alcorn wrote (and of which I have a copy), cite from Restoring the Foundations, so Mercy's claims that they were not using it are simply poppycock. Mercy is doing a Mormon manuever here – rewrite the holy texts so that any aspect of past wrongdoing is expunged. Unbelieveable, but I fear it will ensare a lot of people.
John
I don't know that she is saying that it wasn't used but the language is unclear and intended to promote uncertainty so that when people investigate the scandal it can be explained away by the "rotten apple spoils the bunch" kind of thinking.
I notice she has released to more books. It would be interesting to find out if any new reprints of the old books have had the RTF references removed as well?
Made some edits to the above post including your comments and information
Sean,
I haven't ordered the newest books, but I suspect that they do not include RTF references and that Mercy will pretend none of their old books contained such references. This is a cover-up, pure and simple. Once all the old books disappear, Mercy will simply claim they never used RTF to begin with.
I think I'm going to be sick.
I was a resident in Mercy US in 2007 and I love this quote. "You see, to read and implement the utter filth and rubbish that is RTF you have to believe it, believe it to a point that it is near impossible to have any other view on life and reality without some drastic long term therapy." It's so, so, so true. I have friends including myself trying to recover from Mercy's bs.
They used the RTF in all the homes, because if the whole program is a "vision from god" then it has to be the same in every home. I can gaurantee it's the same manual….they are just trying to keep their god ordained, last chance of healing, charismatic, bullshit homes open, because Nancy and the staff don't want to see how messed up the program is and realize that it's not "godly" at all…whatever godly is…
I find I can only read RTF in short sittings, i either get angry that these people are screwing over already damaged lives or it just seriously messes with your head because they write with such conviction^_^
xmmb did they do exorcisms on you too? i'm sorry you went through that. i was in the aussie home and im still trying to recover from their BS.
I considered them excorcisms, but I'm not completely sure if they were or not. I just constantly look back on the program and can see so much wrong with it and wonder how I got so blind to get sucked into all of it.
If they cast demons out then its an exorcism. They told us all we weren't sick but it was demons. One of the worst things was not being able to escape once they had started. I don't see how they can call themselves christians, with the way they treated all of us. I think they do it so people will trust them and give them money.
I think it important not to get hug up on semantics if they are using prayer to cast out or lift oppresive demons, if they believe that demons are the cause of mental illness then its safe to say its deliverance/exorcism
Dear Sean,
Yea, I have the same problem reading RTF. The problem is, when you grow up in one of these systems, like I did, its very hard to escape from it. My therapy for the last two years has dwelt on all this biblical counseling crap, and yet I'm still not fully over it (though I'm better, thanks to my psychiatrist and psychologist, who do believe in mental illness). One reason it took me so long to post from the RTF manual the first time around was because I would get so upset I couldn't read it anymore. I also find it ironic that a suppossedly 'legitmate' mental health provider would need to publically deny on their website that they do not do exorcisms. Well, that will make people trust you (sarcasm).
I have a client who suffers from schizophrenia two hours driving with him in the care is unsettling, his conversation is like a stream of consciousness, try to follow what he is saying and it strains your brain. Reading RTF is like that for me sometimes.
On the Mercy advertising I agree it is funny, methinks the Lady does protest too much
http://atheisthaven.blogspot.com/2008/01/pope-raz...