Changes to the Guidelines, 2013
Leaders of our RC Communities meet every four years at a World Conference to continue the development of the Guidelines for the Re-evaluation Counseling Communities. 1 These Guidelines have existed for more than forty years, contain the work of thousands of people’s minds, and provide us with important guidance as our Communities develop. We continue to work on them as we understand more and as the conditions in which we exist continue to evolve.
The entire 2013 Guidelines will be available as a pamphlet in early 2014. I encourage everyone to obtain a copy of these Guidelines and read them so as to further our common understanding of our Communities. We also intend to have them on the RC website when they are finished, and hope to have a draft of them (pending the final edition) on the website before then.
Below are some of the significant changes and additions to the Guidelines made at the 2013 World Conference. (They have not yet gone through the editing committee.) Additions are underlined, and deletions crossed out.
Tim Jackins
A.4. THE MEMBERSHIP OF THE COMMUNITY
It is helpful to distinguish between a “Co-Counselor,” a “member of the RC Community,” and an “RC leader.”
1. A Co-Counselor seeks recovery of his or her occluded intelligence and assists others to do the same.
2. An RC Community member is a Co-Counselor who assumes responsibility for helping the Community to function—by participating in and contributing to RC activities, supporting leadership, and assisting in the work of the Community.
3. An RC leader is a Co-Counselor who assumes responsibility for everything going well in the RC Community by teaching and leading RC classes, support groups, and/or workshops, and/or serving as a Reference Person.
The RC Communities organize and sponsor introductory talks, fundamentals classes, special classes, ongoing classes, support groups, topic (discussion) groups, leaders’ groups(Wygelian2 or other), publications, and other means for sharing RC insights. Participation in such classes and activities does not in itself entitle a Co-Counselor to membership in the RC Community.
Co-Counselors are considered members of the Community and given broader access to its resources when they take responsibility for assisting in the functioning and operation of the Community. Strong RC Communities are the result of the combined efforts of many people. Co-Counselors function as organizers, editors, translators, interpreters, treasurers, librarians, website designers and administrators, teachers, Reference Persons, and more. Community members also make a commitment to follow the Guidelines and support their use.
Each RC Community can define Community membership inas it applies to their particular situation, in accordance with this Guideline and in consultation with their Regional Reference Person. Membership requirements should not be applied in a way that excludes or negatively affects people who could be excellent Community members, for example, people who are poor, people with disabilities, Native and Indigenous people, people targeted by racism, young people, and others in groups targeted by oppression who currently and historically have been denied access to material resources and full participation in society because of their social-group membership.
REASON
To preserve the essential peer nature of our work, RC Community members need to take similar levels of responsibility for the Community’s functioning and flourishing. Participating in a weekly RC class is a common requirement for RC Community membership. Weekly contact with other Community members is desirable when possible. Regular contact creates more opportunities for individual re-emergence and building the Community. Simply making the effort to participate regularly (a very large effort for some) can remind us of our own importance and the importance of the RC Community.
The structural and material conditions of people’s lives vary greatly due to oppression and should be taken into account.
D.4. STRUCTURE OF THE COMMUNITY—ORGANIZING LOCALLY
Cooperation and Contact
Co-Counselors in any one geographical location are to cooperate with each other and stay in contact with the International RC Community.
Leaders’ Groups
As soon as there are two or more Co-Counselors in a given geographical location or of a given constituency, these people should be encouraged to meet occasionally as a leaders’ group. The aim ofThese meetings should beare to discuss and plan for the growth, improvement, and organization of Co-Counseling in the locality or constituency. People who are functioning as leaders, or are willing to become leaders, are to be invited to these meetings. If such a leaders’ group becomes larger than ten people, the groups ofthose leaders carrying out particular functions can be divided from it and meet separately. However, one leaders’ group is expected to continue to take responsibility for the overall growth, improvement, and organization of Co-Counseling in the locality or constituency.
Formation of an Area
When there are thirty (30) to fifty (50) Co-Counselors actively participating in Co-Counseling activities in a locality or constituency, the leaders’ groups are to call for a meeting to form an “Area” and propose an ARP and an Alternative Area Reference Person.
Leaders’ Groups in Unorganized AreasDeveloping Communities
A leaders’ group in an unorganized areaa “Developing Community”(area will be capitalized throughout this document when it refers to an RC entity with this name.)is expected to stay in regular communication with the Regional Reference Person (RRP) (or the International Reference Person [IRP] if no RRP has been designated). To assist with this, leaders’ group members, in consultation with the RRP, could choose an individual to play this role. This leaderThey should consults with him or herthe RRP about classes and support groups and recommends workshops for the developing community to the RRP.andThe leader (in consultation with the local leaders’ group) recommends people to be certified as new RC teachers. The leader recommends people to attend workshops to the RRP. The leader approves the use of the Developing Community’s Outreach Funds.and so on.Other responsibilities, for example those carried out by the Area Reference Person (ARP) in an organized Area (and listed in Guideline D.6.), are the responsibility of the RRP.
REASON
Developing Communities usually need support from experienced leadership until they have grown large and experienced enough to form an Area and choose an Area Reference Person. (Area will be capitalized throughout this document when it refers to an RC entity with this name.)
Organizing into an RC Area in a geographical location has proven to be important for the ongoing development of RC. Building an Area leads to many people taking responsibility for the good functioning of the Community. The Area has proven to be an effective structure for communication, organization, good counseling, the growth of Wygelian groups, and leadership development.
D.8. STRUGGLING AREAS
If the growth and development of an Area has stalled, action is to be taken. The ARP and the AARP, after consultation with their RRP, are to hold an Area membership meeting. Those attending the meeting can discharge about the struggles of the Area and discuss and choose steps to be taken to revitalize it.
The ARP, RRP, and IRP should consult with each other about the possibility of dissolving the Area structure, especially if that would release more initiative3 for building the local RC Community, only after significant efforts have been made and have been unsuccessful.
REASON
When we encounter difficulties in building an RC Community, we need to have the local Community members and the Reference Persons connected with the Community think freshly about what steps can be taken to overcome any existing difficulties, including starting over.
F.1. WORKSHOPS—OVERVIEW
Re-evaluation Counseling (RC) workshops are organized on class, Area, Regional, and International levels. Teachers should encourage students to attend workshops at the level for which they are ready.
Goal of Diversity
Our goal is to bring together people of varied backgrounds (unless the topic is itself self-limiting) as a practical step toward the unity of all humankind, rather than bringing together only people who are easily comfortable and familiar with each other.
Young People
There is to be one free place for a young person (age twenty-one [21] and under) for every twenty (20) fee-paying adults (except for young people coming to a young people’s workshop or with their family to a family workshop). At the same time, young people are encouraged to pay what they can. This partial payment may allow two or more young people to use the one free place.
Approval to Attend
StudentsPeople need an RC teacher’s approval to attend a class or Area workshop. They need the approval of an Area Reference Person (ARP) (or Regional Reference Person [RRP] if there is no ARP) to attend a Regional or International workshop, or other workshop outside of their Area. If the ARP does not approve attendance, the student may ask the RRP to review that decision. The RRP should make his or her decision in consultation with the ARP and any appropriate ILRP.
One Leader, One Organizer
Workshops are to be led by one leader (who is an RC teacher) and organized by one organizer, except by special permission of the International Reference Person (IRP). ALleadership fees areis to be paid to only one leader, and an organizer’s’ fees are is to be paid to only one organizer.
If the leader or the organizer uses assistants, they these assistants are either to be volunteers and either unpaid, or paid by the individual leader or organizer out of his or her fee at his or her choice. (Family workshops are an exception and are to be led by no more than two leaders who may each be paid a leadership fee.) (See Guideline H.9.)
Accessibility
Meeting places for wWorkshops need to be accessible (for example, being wheelchair accessible for people with mobility disabilities, having microphone loop systems or sign language interpreters for people with hearing difficulties, assigning support persons for people with vision difficulties, and so on).
We seek accessibility for our workshops. Where accessible locations are not available, Communities can help make locations accessible. They canby conferring with the people in charge of the locations and assist by contributeing money and/or necessary physical labor to achieve such resultsaccessibility.
This is our goal and our standard rather than settling for any limited accessibility.
Interpreting
Interpreting at RC workshops will occur whenever the workshop leader does not speak the language of the people who live where the workshop is taking place. When possible, there will be interpreting for all native and/or first languages spoken by participants of the workshop. (See Guideline J.2. and Language Liberation Section of the RC website.)
Care of the Environment
Workshops should be organized and run with attention paid to care of the environment. Special consideration should be given to environmentally sustainable practices, including sustainable transportation, both while organizing the workshop and during the workshop itself. (See Workshop Organizer’s Manual, on the RC website, for specifics: rc.org/workshops/index.)
REASON
The workshop format has proven effective. It promotes both individual and Community growth.
Our workshops benefit from having all varieties of people. They need to offer a broad vision for human living.
This Guideline requires workshops to provide this level of financial support for young people. (Workshops do not otherwise provide financial support to participants, apart from Outreach Funds.) (See Guideline H.8.) It doesn’t dictate how this financial support is to be divided among the young participants.
Our fundamental principle is that leadership is individual. That makes accountability clear. Every activity or organizational structure must have one person designated as the leader. Having one leader and one organizer is consistent with this principle.
Having assistants trains new leadership and promotes a rational sharing of responsibilities. The designated leader and organizer are each responsible for the overall good functioning of the workshop. However, having assistants trains new leadership and promotes a rational sharing of responsibilities.
Interpreting is an important part of language liberation and is necessary for full inclusion and complete understanding.
Putting attention to care of the environment at workshops is rational and supports the implementation of our related RC Community Goals.
G.2. REQUIREMENTS OF RC TEACHERS
Experience and Knowledge
Persons applying to teach RC shall, whenever possible,
1. have participated in many RC classes,
2. have Co-Counseled effectively with a number of Co-Counselors,
3. have discharged consistently and well in their sessions,
4. have been having regular Co-Counseling sessions,
5. have shown a commitment to staying up-to-date with RC theory, which includes reading the literature, and
6.4. have had continuing good relations with the Co-Counseling Community in their own locality.
Teachers should understand the purpose of the Community policy on not socializing and should follow it.
Moving Against Distress
When approving teachers, Reference Persons shall take into account the applicants’ competence, responsibility, relationships with others, and capacity to handle their surroundings and their own well-beingmastery of the environment. The goal is to have each teacher be free of any pattern that interferes with being an excellent model. Classist, racist, anti-Jewish, sexist, age-related, and other oppressive patterns, including greed, are woven into our cultures. Teachers are to challenge these patterns in RC activities, and in their own lives, and discharge on them.
Compulsive Addictive behavior4and “thinking” will and must yield to discharge. Meanwhile, teachers are expected not to engage in or defend the use of tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, or other mind-altering drugs, including psychiatric drugs. Teachers are also expected to oppose both the existence and the use of pornography.5 They are expected to work to free themselves from any distresses connected with pornography, along with other rigid and repetitive sexual behaviors. They are also to counsel on and challenge all distresses related to sex, money, food, and the unthinking use or avoidance of medications.shall not use, or defend the use of, tobacco, marijuana, alcohol, or mind-altering drugs, including psychiatric drugs. Teachers are also expected to discharge distresses related to sex, money, food, and the unthinking use or avoidance of medications. Teachers are furthermore expected not to intentionally do anything that endangers themselves or others.
Teachers are expected to discharge and take action against oppressive patterns:
1. for their own successful re-emergence,
2. to be models for other people,
3. to teach successful classes and build successful Communities, and
4. in order to be leaders wherever they are.
Attitude Toward Teaching
Eagerness to teach is not a necessary condition for being certified as an RC teacher. Reference Persons need not feel obligated to certify individuals whose patterns seek approval through being a teacher. Co-Counselors who are reluctant to teach and must be counseled and persuadedencouraged to do so are often morecan be successful as teachers. In our experience neither eagerness to teach nor reluctance to teach has any bearing on how successful a teacher will be.
REASON
Teachers who work to meet these requirements will be increasingly effective teachers. Each teacher can be an outstanding example of the basic theory of RC and model how the human mind functions at its best when free of distress and free from the effects of harmful substances and activities.
Our leaders, classes, and Communities function as models. We can eliminate oppressive patterns, and a good place to start is with the leadership. Moving against these oppressive patterns is essential to our progress.
People should not be blamed for engaging in harmful behaviors. Many are the direct result of oppression. However, a certain level of rational behavior is expected of Co-Counseling teachers, no matter how or to what extent they were hurt. If a Co-Counselor has some harmful behaviors, a Reference Person may certify him or her to teach so long as he or she has made a commitment to discharge on and end the behavior (smoking tobacco is an example). However some behaviors are so harmful that a commitment to end them is not enough. For example, violence toward oneself or others is inconsistent with representing the RC Community as a teacher.
Use of pornography has become widespread and acceptable in many societies. Pornography targets and is harmful to all humans and undermines all liberation efforts. We choose to challenge it as RC teachers and leaders. Pornography reinforces the oppression of women and young people (often women and children who are targeted by racism). It promotes and sexualizes violence toward women and children. It promotes the objectification and inequality aimed at these groups. Some pornography exploits Gay men. All pornography reinforces sexual distresses and confusions and pulls people to collude with and economically support the pornography industry, its perspectives, and its actions.
Men, oppressed by society but also an oppressor group, are required to compromise their integrity when they use pornography. The pornography industry, in its pursuit of billion-dollar profits, systematically reinforces male dominance. Pornography becomes part of men’s oppression by confusing men into settling for sexual restimulation instead of real human contact. Pornography supports all oppressions by requiring users to compromise their integrity and further their isolation in the guise of providing relief from that isolation.6
With some harmful behaviors, a commitment to end them has been found to be insufficient and unworkable; the behavior needs to end before someone begins teaching RC. For example, use of alcohol and other mind-altering drugs (such as marijuana and psychiatric drugs) and violence toward oneself or others are inconsistent with representing the RC Community as a teacher. With other addictive behaviors, it may be workable for a Reference Person to certify a teacher so long as he or she has made a commitment to discharge on and end the behavior.
H.1. CLASS FEES AND SUPPORT FUNDS
Re-evaluation Counseling (RC) teachers are encouraged to charge tuition for their classes. They can set their own fees, appropriate for their Community. Teachers in any one Area are permitted, but not required, to agree among themselves on fee limits (minimum and maximum). Teachers are encouraged to set a fee that all members of a specific Community can afford to pay.
Teachers may (but are not required to) use a sliding fee scale, to allow for the variation in income of the people who wish to take the class. If a sliding scale is used, teachers should also indicate a “suggested fee” for those who are not low income, or tie the fees to income, so that sufficient funds for Outreach are generated by those who can afford to pay a higher fee.
Teachers are encouraged to offer financial supportfree or reduced class tuition, without compensation from Outreach Funds, to as many as three young people and as many as two people oppressed by racism or the oppression of disabled people, who would otherwise find it difficult to pay for the class.
When economic disparities exist within an Area or Region, Communities are encouraged to develop policies that would make payment of teachers more equitable.
REASON
People who put time, labor, and skill into teaching Co-Counseling should be paid adequately for their work. Needs, motivations, and economics vary widely among the RC Communities. A portion of the class fees is also an important source of the Community Service Funds (Outreach Funds) of the International Community.
Fees can be best determined by the person who is responsible for the class. We want the widest variety of people to have easy access to RC. The fees we set for our classes should reflect this goal and our desire to reach all of humanity. Financial support from the teacher will Reduced class fees for those who would otherwise find it difficult to pay for the class will increase the participation of these oppressedgroups targeted by oppression and thereby greatly improve the quality of our classes and our Communities.
H.13. 12. OUTREACH TO ALL OPPRESSED GROUPS TARGETED BY OPPRESSION
Each Area is expected to spread RC to all groups that are oppressedunder-represented in its locality and all groups targeted by oppressiongroups. The ARP (or authorized account signer in an unorganized Areaa Developing Community) can make use of the Area Outreach Funds to help pay for workshop fees, transportation expenses, or both, in this effort. (See Guideline H.7.) Outreach Funds are to be used to develop leaders, to assist new people to begin RC, and to sustain the ongoing participation of Community members from oppressed and under-represented liberation groups who would be unable to participate without such assistance and whose participation helps build a diverse Community and offer a range of perspectives.
Outreach Funds for workshop fees or transportation expenses are to be furnished only from the official Outreach Funds (Area, Community Service Fund, or International) of the Community and not from the workshop income itself or from any Area Maintenance Funds. (See Guideline H.8.)
In situations in which Outreach Funds are inadequate to meet the needs of the Community, efforts are to be made to spread the available funds among those needing and eligible for outreach. Building a broadly diverse Community should be given priority.
REASON
We have a commitment to reach all humankind. (See Guideline H.2.)
Outreach Funds have been an effective mechanism for paying for workshops. Using them has prevented workshop proceeds and Area Maintenance Funds from being misused or depleted.
Outreach Funds are not to be given in exchange for work at a workshop. Instead we operate on the basic principle that helping to make things go well is a natural, enjoyable human trait. It is not rational to harness it to any greed or gain motive.
Outreach is intended for the development of the Community as well as an individual’s benefit. Because the need for Outreach Funds exceeds available funds, we must be thoughtful and deliberate about their use.
K.5. PRESERVING CONFIDENTIALITY WHEN WRITING ABOUT OTHERS
When writing in RC publications, or on RC e-mail lists, about another individual’s distress patterns or struggles, RCers should not use identifiers (for example, my child, partner, parent, and so on, or identifying descriptions of the person) without that person’s consent. RCers should write anonymously (or use a pseudonym) if another person’s confidentiality cannot otherwise be adequately protected.
REASON
Even when a person being written about is not identified by name, other written information can reveal that individual’s identity. Individuals, including children, should be able to decide for themselves whether or not they wish to have their distresses and struggles written about in a public forum. When an RC author has decided to reveal the identity of another person, the author should check his or her judgment with an experienced RCer.7
L.1. INTERNET SECURITY
If RCers send documents (including workshop rosters, databases, and spreadsheets) containing information about Co-Counselors’ addresses, telephone numbers, identities, or confidential information over the Internet, the documents must be encrypted and the password sent by a separate e-mail or by other means. When discussion among the recipients is not necessary, e-mails to large groups of Co-Counselors should have the recipients’ e-mail addresses in the Blind Carbon Copy (BCC) field.
RCers should not use Internet service sites other than the RC website to compile and organize such information.
REASON
The Internet makes efficient communication and organization possible. However, its users are increasingly vulnerable to privacy infringement. Internet services collect and abuse personal data. Internet security not only depends on technology but also on where data is kept and who has access to it. The RC website is being made as secure as possible. It will be a good tool for organizing. No website is completely secure. However, the RC website will be much more secure than are free or commercial Internet services. (See M.3.)
L.5 K.7. ELECTRONIC MAILING LISTS
Membership
The RC Community maintains a number of electronic mailing lists for active members of the RC Community. Most of these lists are only for active leaders of particular constituencies. Permission of the Reference Person for the constituency is required to join such a listparticular constituencies. Messages to such lists should be limited to the topics for which the list was established.
Purpose
RC electronic mailing lists are for the purpose of exchanging original and clear thinking about:
1. the work we are doing in RC,
2. the application of RC theory and practice to the work we are doing outside of RC, and
3. current situations in the world.
Reproducing postings
Postings on a given list are intended only for members of that list. List postings can be communicated to individuals not on the list only under the following conditions:
1. Permission of the original author must be obtained.
2. If the message identifies individuals, permission must be gained from those individuals, or the possibility of identification must be removed.
3. The posting must be presented as an individual’s thinking, not as Re-evaluation Counseling theory.
4. If a posting is to be duplicated and circulated in an RC class, the following statement must appear on each page: “This is a posting from an RC discussion list and as such has not yet been edited, checked for theoretical correctness, or approved for publication.”
Unlike RC publications, list postings are unedited and not checked for theoretical correctness. They should not be used in place of RC literature.
REASON
Such lists facilitate our work. (Information on and guidelines for the use of the electronic mailing lists can be found on the RC website: <http://www.rc.org>.)
Leaders’ lists allow our liberation leaders to exchange thinking and experiences about our liberation work. These leaders are writing for specific audiences. Any reposting of their writing to another list or publication needs to be carefully considered and only done with their approval. Postings to a list are meant to encourage thinking. They are not for communication to individuals not on that list.
N.1. M. CO-COUNSELING RELATIONSHIPS
We recognize that the Co-Counseling relationship is a unique opportunity to move towards total re-emergence from distress recordings.
As a general rule, Co-Counselors are not to socialize with other Co-Counselors. This is unless they had an established relationship before they began Re-evaluation Counseling (RC). Get-togethers of Co-Counselors must be organized primarily for discharge, re-evaluation, and group counseling activity. Any food, or entertainment, or other activity is only to be supportive of this main purpose.
People who want to learn to Co-Counsel should be informed of the purpose of the no-socializing policy and assisted to discharge and think about it. This policy is to be discussed in fundamentals classes. In order to be members of a Co-Counseling class, individuals are required to follow the no-socializing policy while working to develop their own thinking. People who have learned Co-Counseling and want to become members of the RC Community should be told that following the no-socializing policy is a requirement of membership.
Co-Counselors are not to be recommended for RC leadership or certified as RC teachers unless they have explicitly accepted the no-socializing policy. Co-Counselors who are not yet able to follow the no-socializing policy are thereby disqualifying themselves from teaching or leading RC. The Regional Reference Person (RRP), in consultation with local leadership, is to decide whether or not a Co-Counselor who persists in violating this policy may continue to participate in Co-Counseling events.
REASON
This Guideline supports and protects the one-point program of RC. It is not intended to limit our thinking about each other or limit the love, caring, and commitment we have for one another. It is fine for Co-Counselors to love, care for, and assist each other. All people inherently love all other people—and almost everyone naturally comes to love his or her Co-Counselor.
We want to create and maintain a safe environment for all people (particularly young people, women, and members of other oppressed groups targeted by oppression). Further, we do not want undischarged patterns to interfere with the safety, trust, and effectiveness of the Co-Counseling relationship or the RC Community. Clearly communicating this policy from the very beginning gives prospective Co-Counselors the best chance at using RC tools and information on a long-term basis.
Because of the mistreatment we have endured in our lives, most of us enter Co-Counseling with strong “frozen needs” for companionship, love, cooperation, help, and commitment from others. (A “frozen need” is the feeling of need that resultsing from the hurt of a real need not having been met in the past. When this hurt is restimulated, we often feel it as a present need.) These “needs” cannot be filled; they can only be discharged. Supportive Co-Counselors can seem to be the “answer” to all present and past needs, because of the thoughtfulness we learn to extend to each other. This attraction will often take the form of romantic feelings, sexual feelings, or the desire to “spend time with each other.” A Co-Counselor can also seem to be the perfect business partner, “the mother or father I never had,” and so on.
In other circumstances, our undischarged feelings of urgency and obligation can make us feel like we need to “solve” our Co-Counselors’ difficulties in a patterned way instead of counseling them through their difficulties to solve their own problems. However, we are committed only to counseling each other out of the distresses that interfere with our lives. That is all that is required in the Co-Counseling relationship.
A Co-Counselor may thoughtfully choose to play an additional role only if that role is supportive of the counseling role. (For example, if one’s Co-Counselor is living in chaos because of heavy patterns of disorganization, in addition to counseling that person on the distresses involved, one might choose to spend a day helping begin his or her reorganization.) The support is aimed at temporarily creating better conditions for the Co-Counselor to work themselves free of the distresses, not taking over handling of difficulties in their lives.
It takes a long time to discharge feelings of loneliness, helplessness, obligation, and fear of other people. Therefore, the more “comfortable” socializing with (including “helping”) Co-Counselors can continue to be attractive in a patterned way until significant discharge resisting these urges has occurred.
If we socialize with people who are already Co-Counseling, there is a tendency, whether noticed or not, to “lean” on those people (and for them to lean on us) instead of both people being mutually responsible. However, If an additional“sociallizing relationship” is entered into, including when the patterns of both parties are equally enthusiastic, it will eventually spoil the Co-Counseling relationship. This is a significant loss because the Co-Counseling relationship provides some of the most important support any two people can give each other. The attempted relationship will be built on a patterned basis and in this way be limited and likely to fail.
When two people have multiple both a Co-Counseling and a non-Co-Counseling relationships (for example, as parents, lovers, or business partners), each of these relationships must be responsibly maintained by each of the parties, separate from the other relationships. This is a basic RC principle.
Co-Counselors experiencing a patterned urge to socialize should seek referencing by the most experienced leaders available. If they feel an urge to be secretive, the need for referencing is even greater.
Establishing other relationships other than that of Co-Counseling with Co-Counselors is damaging to the Co-Ccounseling relationship and a drain on the resources of the RC Community. This has been the long-term experience in the RC Communities. We can fulfill our human need for aware, supportive, social relationships by adding Co-Counseling to the relationships we already have with our friends and acquaintances. IfWhen we do our socializing with “non-Co-Counseling” people, we will tend to take responsibility for thosethe relationships. In addition, as we discharge, we will become increasingly able toget better at setting up and enjoying good relationships. We can use thesethis skills to share RC with people who are not already in RC.
If one person associates another person with RC at the beginning of their relationship, there is a strong tendency to expect, awarely or unawarely, that the person associated with RC will operate as a counselor in the relationship. This same confusion consistently arises between people who were, but no longer are, involved in RC.
Sometimes, at an RC event, there is an incidental meal or songfest or creative “show-and-tell.” In this context, thesesuch an activityies are is used awarely for discharge and to enhance the effectiveness of the get-together.
If a Co-Counselor persists in pursuing a non-Co-Counseling relationship with another Co-Counselor, even after every reasonable effort has been made to assist him or her to reach a rational position, the Community is not obligated to provide its resources to that individual.
In particular, Co-Counselors cannot become or remain leaders or teachers in the Community unless they can follow and support the no-socializing policy and thus model for others this amount of responsibility.
NO.1. PSYCHIATRIC DRUGS AND RC
All Co-Counselors are strongly urged to oppose, in words and actions, the use of psychiatric drugs. The use of these drugs is inconsistent with Re-evaluation Counseling (RC) theory and practice. Psychiatric drugs interfere with discharge, re-evaluation, and the ability to counsel others. All Co-Counselors are asked to discharge any distress that interferes with their taking a firm stand against the use of these drugs, the concept of “mental illness,” and any distress that interferes with their thinking well about people who may have used or are using psychiatric drugs.
People using psychiatric drugs are not to be blamed. The oppressive society is the actual source of the difficulty.
A decision to stop using psychiatric drugs should only be made by the person using them. Young people, vulnerable adults, and some others are not, by law, allowed to make that decision. In these cases, parents, caregivers, and allies should firmly oppose the imposition of psychiatric drugs on them. People may need active support and resource to decide to stop using psychiatric drugs. They may need continued support to (1) hold to that decision and (2) keep their attention on building their life in the present while feeling distresses previously numbed by the drugs. This support needs to come from their friends and family. It may also include Co-Counselors who have agreed to be part of these efforts, but the RC Community itself is not to be expected to provide resource. Racism, poverty, classism, young people’s oppression, genocide, and war have resulted in psychiatric drugs being put forward by society as the only option for controlling the results of the heavy recordings that oppressions have installed. Co-Counselors need to discharge to think well about people who are oppressed in these ways.
REASON
Relying on psychiatric drugs fundamentally denies the intactness of our minds and our ability to discharge, re-evaluate, and think of an elegant solution for each new situation. Psychiatric drugs are dangerous. Some can cause permanent physical damage to the central nervous system, or death. Many of them affect the ability to learn. Though they sometimes allow a person to “fit in” better and to stop “anti-social” behavior, they are not a real solution and they add another layer of hurt. Psychiatric drugs are being used more and more to silence thepeople’s struggle against their oppression, of a growing number of people, including young people’s oppression.
Workers in the “mental health” system are increasingly required to administer drugs to control people’s “symptoms” of “mental illness.” These workers work in under-staffed institutions. They are typically discouraged, and overworked., andThey can be threatened with losing their jobs or being sued if they do not administer the drugs. They do notrarely have access to effective counseling techniques. Teachers and school administrators are in a similar situation. Though the situationit may vary from country to country, forced drugging of “mental patients” is a common practice in much of the world.
“Mental illness” does not exist. The term is used to describe a wide range of behaviors, including heavy, prolonged discharge. These behaviors are the result of experiences of hurt, including oppression and the other massive hurts inflicted on people by society.8 People are conditioned to find these behaviors restimulating. As a result, they push others, as well as themselves, to use drugs in an attempt to hide both the behaviors and the distresses that have caused them.
An increasing number of young people, poor people, people targeted by racism, elders, and disabled people are being put on these drugs, without their consent, in order to mask the hurts that are being inflicted on humansthem by society.
Psychiatric drugs are often used as a “solution” to perceived emotional, learning, and behavioral problems. Young people are particularly vulnerable to lifelong dependence, and addiction, or even death, when adults compel them to take drugs at an early age. Many parents are threatened with total exclusion of their children being excluded from school and other programs if they do not give their children drugs.
There are real solutions to these problems. They require us to organize for fundamental societal change and to pay thoughtful human attention to the people who have been harmed.
The pharmaceutical industry is expanding rapidly and is making huge profits by exploiting the people hurt by oppression. It widely promotes the misinformation that there is “biological/genetic mental illness” and that drugs are the best and only solution.
1 The policies for the RC Communities
2 A Wygelian leaders’ group is a group of leaders and potential leaders of a particular constituency in which each person takes a turn doing the following: (1) reporting on what he or she has been doing in the last period with regard to the constituency, (2) saying what he or she thinks is the current situation facing the constituency, from his or her viewpoint, (3) sharing what he or she proposes to do as a leader in the next period, and (4) discharging on what is getting in the way of his or her leadership.
3“Release more initiative” means create the conditions under which more RCers initiate activities and move forward with their leadership.
4 Addictive behavior is the continued yielding to the restimulated feelings of a distress recording and acting out of its content.
5 Use of pornography is defined as the seeking out of written, audio, or visual materials that are intended to restimulate sexual feelings. Pornography is a form of sexual exploitation, mainly of women and young people, and exists within a context of sexism and male domination. Racism and classism play key roles in the ways that everyone is exploited and oppressed by pornography. Although pornography is primarily geared toward men, the highly profitable pornography industry is increasingly targeting women as consumers of pornography.
6 The use of pornography installs distress recordings, starting with its initial use. Internet pornography tracks and repeatedly targets the specific distresses of users, strongly reinforcing existing recordings, thus making it particularly difficult to resist.
7 Anonymity on RC e-mail lists canbe achieved by obtainingane-mail account that does not reveal who you are, or by forwarding your posting either to the Reference Person in charge of the list or to Allan Hansen, at <hansen@rc.org>, for him or her to post without your name.
8 The brain can be damaged by infections, toxins, trauma, and degenerative processes acting on the central nervous system. These are physical injuries and may affect behaviors, feelings, and other human functions. As with similar damage to other parts of the body, this kind of damage to the brain may benefit from medical intervention. This Guideline doesn’t address such physical injuries. However, our experience has been that psychiatric drugs are detrimental to healing. This is because they suppress the discharge process and hide the symptoms rather than promote recovery.