This essay describes some of my experiences in RC (International Re-evaluation Counseling Communities), when questioning RC's controversies, and after leaving RC, with references to articles that illustrate and amplify some of the issues I had with being an "RCer". I hope that my experiences and analysis will be helpful to people in RC, people thinking of joining RC, people who have left RC, people with loved ones in RC and people involved in other unhealthy groups. From talking to many people while I was involved in RC and after I left, my experiences in RC were typical. That is not to say that everyone who questions RC's leaders, is treated the same. As they say, "your mileage may vary."

A friend recruited me into RC when I was in college. She invited me to an "each one bring one", a typical way to recruit one's friends and family into RC in the '80's. I was nervous but curious about this "RC" that she was always talking about. She took me to a house where her RC class met and we joined a large group of people, mostly college students since this was a university town. The RC teacher gave us some "RC theory" and paired us for something called "mini-sessions". It was wonderful to get the undivided, uncritical attention of another person. I also enjoyed listening to people's deepest feelings and thoughts when I was in the counselor role. All the experienced counselors treated me as someone special who they really wanted to get to know and join their class. The teacher encouraged everyone to hug each other, men and women. I saw some dramatic "demonstrations" of counseling, opening up the client's deepest feelings to the group. It was a bonding experience for me.

The simplicity of RC theory made sense to me on an intuitive level. It answered may questions: what are feelings for and what to do with them? Discharge them and magically regain my inherent genius! RC's world view and understanding of being human ("all human beings are born completely good, intelligent, etc.."), appealed to me for its simplicity and salving my sense of guilt and inadequacy. RC's nurturing culture made me feel warm and welcomed; I was returning to my true home, a "rational island," after a long exile in a chaotic world.

I gradually became more involved in RC. At one time, I cut my work hours to part time, so I could participate in RC's events. I was going to 2 or 3 RC classes a week, at least one workshop per month, and having co-counseling sessions with several people almost daily. I led a support group and taught a fundamentals class for a while. I was leading "the big life", an RC term for being totally involved in RC. It is not uncommon for people in RC, RCers, to immerse themselves in RC activities at some point. RC actively encourages it.

I first heard of problems with Harvey Jackins, RC's founder, soliciting sex in co-counseling sessions about 12 years after I began counseling. At that time I was confused about the disconnection between what Jackins said and what I was hearing from some reliable people in RC about his sexual compulsions. Could this be the same idealistic leader and liberation theorist who was bothering women sexually at RC events and at Personal Counselors, INC., his one-way counseling business in Seattle, Washington? What about RC's "No Socializing" rule? Didn't the rationale for that rule apply to RC's head counselor as it did to the rest of us? Being the founder, sole theoretician, administrator, guru and owner of RC, Jackins would be in a position to abuse his power over his following. Weren't mental health professionals who had exceptional power over and intimate knowledge of their clients, required by law to refrain from sexual relations with their clients? It was inconceivable that Jackins, who had written so much about "rational sex", not trusting one's sexual impulses, and not acting on sexual attractions to our clients, could be sexually exploiting hundreds of women clients who trusted him!

I talked to some people in RC leadership who I had known for years and trusted, about this. Their answer was to counsel me on my distress around authority and sex. They asked me if this sounded like the Harvey Jackins that I knew and trusted. So I put the doubts out of my mind for 10 more years.

When I stumbled onto the Liberate RC web site and read the articles, documenting Jackins' history of sexual exploitation of women in RC and RC's origins in Dianetics, I was confused and sickened at first. This time when I asked several RC leaders about the reports, I got several different replies. Of course, everyone wanted to give me a session about my distress around sex and authority. Another response was that the reports were exaggerated, and there was only consensual sex going on. Another one was that Harvey indeed makes mistakes and has distress patterns around sex as we all do, and that he was working on it. Still another was that Harvey was too old to have sex (he was in his 80's then), the reports were old ones, and that I should wait for his son, Tim Jackins, to take over when his father died. I was urged to stay in RC and try to change things from within RC's framework. This meant ultimately figuring out how to counsel Jackins out of his sexual addiction, counseling on my early sexual memories, issues around authority, disappointment, etc.

I've since learned that these are all well-rehearsed, stock replies to these kinds of questions. The only stock response I missed is "you're attacking RC and Harvey". I wasn't satisfied this time but something in me still wanted to believe in RC and Harvey Jackins. I believed in RC's stated goal of eliminating women's oppression, of stopping people from hurting people. The absolute silence in RC about Jackins' severe addiction to sex along with RC hierarchy's preoccupation with handling criticism and questions, left me completely unprepared to understand what was going on, how RC was degenerating into a cult-like group. I thought that this kind of ordinary sexual mischief, common to many organizations, could never happen in such a liberated group with such advanced thinking. Maybe Jackins was right, the FBI was trying to sabotage his progressive RC since they dimly understood that it was "the leading edge of order and meaning in the universe." And even if this was just an ordinary sex scandal that happens everywhere else, didn't RC have the tools for Jackins to discharge and re-evaluate his distress around sex? Perhaps, we just hadn't found the right "contradiction", and if we did, everything would be alright.

I was sick and tormented for quite a while. I continued going to classes and workshops to observe them in this new light. I talked to a few trusted co-counselors as well. I was surprised to hear from some of them that they knew nothing of this, or thought they knew something, or didn't want to hear anything. I investigated the reports and discussed my thoughts and feelings on the "ccounsel" discussion group listserv on the "Liberate RC" web site.

I didn't want to give up co-counseling, my support network, a large part of my life for 22 years. It felt like I was dying. I gave up RC gradually as I found other sources of support, like friends and family, non-RC co-counseling groups, psychotherapy, etc.

I have been completely puzzled why my otherwise smart friends in RC ignore or rationalize Jackins' exploitation of women in RC. Maybe the reports of his sexual exploitation were rumors in 1981, but they have since been well documented, reported by many women and publicized on TV and in the newspapers. I'm puzzled why a parent with a child in RC would not want to satisfy their curiosity about reports of Jackins having sex with under-aged girls at Young Peoples' Liberation workshops. What is going on?

I have spent a lot of time in understanding what happened to me in RC and what happened to RC; in grounding myself, my emotions and my thinking in my own unique experiences and judgment. I've found reading articles about cults, incest and sexual abuse, informative and helpful in my recovery from the betrayal in RC. I don't know if RC is a cult, but it certainly operates like a cult in some respects. And as I've learned from the articles on this web site and from my readings on incest, the RC community dynamics operate much like incest families.

In the following pages I've printed excerpts from some of these articles with my commentary pertaining to RC. I'm sure that people in RC will view this article as an attack on RC, Harvey Jackins and them, a product of my "undischarged distress around sex, authority and disappointment." They really don't understand an angry reaction from being deceived, manipulated or even sexually abused; and the righteous indignation that attempts to alert others about the abuse. They believe that any reaction but relaxed interest signals distress, and distress is never to be acted on.

They will say that since Harvey Jackins died in 1999, none of this critique applies to RC anymore. In fact, under Harvey's son, Tim Jackins, RC has not changed RC at all. The Attack and Criticism policies, the censorship, the uncritical defensiveness of RC persists, even as RC goes public with its program. RC leaders and members missed an opportunity for self-examination, healing and reform following the elder Jackins' death. In my opinion, the unreconstructed International Re-evaluation Counseling Communities and Personal Counselors, Inc. retain the potential for sexual abuse and abuse of power; a potential which is now codified in its policies, leaders' attitudes, and RC Theory.

Rich Mesek

 

Coming soon

Part 1: RC and Sexual Addiction

Part 2: RC Leaders and RCers as Co-dependents

Part 3: RC as an Incest Family

Part 4: Cult-like Aspects of RC

Part 5: Recovery from RC's Betrayal

Conclusion