THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF RECOVERY,
INC.
PART I
A conversation between Treasure Rice, past president and current member of the Advisory Committee, and Phil Crane, former Director of Leader Training and member of the Advisory Committee. Both Treasure and Phil worked with Dr. Low and were trained by him to fill the roles they played so well for so many years.
This series was originally printed in The Recovery Reporter between March-April 1970 and September-October 1972 as a Fourteen Part Series.
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TREASURE: Where do we begin, Phil?
PHIL: Why don't we go back to the very beginning! For me, that would be at the Psychiatric Institute of the University of Illinois Medical School in 1941. I was showing improvement as a mental patient of Dr. Low's, and I was able to be a part of his project at the Institute.
TREASURE: As you know, I didn't join Recovery until 1947. I've heard and read about those very early days, but I'm anxious to learn more about them. Did Dr. Low conduct many group meetings at the Institute?
PHIL: Oh yes, in fact for six and one-half months, as I continued to improve, I regularly attended the weekly meetings that he conducted.
TREASURE: What year was that?
PHIL: That was in 1941, but Dr. Low had been conducting his classes at the Institute for several years before that.
TREASURE: What kind of meetings were they?
PHIL: Well, they were completely under
Dr. Low's direction every minute of the time. What impressed me so much
about those meetings--and still does--was that Dr. Low was constantly
encouraging members of the class to participate in the discussions. Always,
as he was interviewing one member, he would ask questions of the other
members. In this way, he brought out the group viewpoint; an average point
of view of what was being discussed. Also, to bring out the self-help
effort of as many members of the class as possible.
TREASURE: That reminds me of when I joined Recovery in 1947, and attended the Tuesday night classes Dr. Low held at headquarters. I remember how he asked questions of the class, or an individual member, about the member that he was interviewing.
PHIL: Yes, that's right. His method of questioning kept all of us on our toes and encouraged us to respond to questions he might ask. For instance when he was interviewing a patient at the Tuesday night class, he might ask, "Is this man trying to control his feelings?" The answer might be something similar to "Yes, he is, when instead he should be spotting that he cannot control feelings, they're passive responses."
TREASURE: I wonder how many of those reading this can answer that question?
PHIL: I would imagine quite a few! There is a chapter titled, The Will Says Yes or No, in Mental Health Through Will Training that deals with this question.
TREASURE: There's another chapter in the book that offers additional insight--"Temper and Symptoms-Passive Response and Active Response". I remember how well that chapter helped me get out of the set-back some years ago. I was under the tyranny of some rather severe symptoms and had been in the vicious cycle for several weeks. Now, I know that I was trying to control the symptoms. Then, it wasn't until I was reading that chapter and came across these words, "Do you understand now that your belching cannot be cured unless you control your temper and the latter can only be checked if the brakes are applied to thought and muscles?" that I realized where I had to begin the control. Not with the feelings and sensations, but with the muscles and thoughts. Once I applied this insight, the symptoms soon ran their course.
PHIL: Yes, it is hard to ignore the discomfort of the feelings and concentrate on what we really can control. But, let's get back to the Tuesday night classes.
TREASURE: Essentially then, the meetings at the hospital and the Tuesday night classes were the same, in that they both encouraged self-help effort and were professionally supervised by Dr. Low. I suppose the classes that Dr. Low conducted at the Psychiatric Institute were supplemented by other self-help activities. What else did Dr. Low initiate at the hospital?
PHIL: From my own experience, what I particularly remember about those hospital days was The Retriever. Dr. Low encouraged four of us, who were improving mental patients, to originate this weekly self-help publication right there on the wards of the hospital. We, the four-member staff, wrote, edited, mimeographed and distributed the paper. We even raised a little money to pay the expenses of our publication. I had been co-editor of the college humor magazine at the University of Michigan, and had worked for the Chicago Sun-Times. I really enjoyed working with the others on the staff, writing the news and poking a little fun at ourselves. It was a healthy thing. Let me give you an example of the type of thing we published. This article appears in Vol.1, No. 6 dated June 4, 1941. It was a report of the group psychotherapy class of June 2, and was titled, "Monday Meeting."
TREASURE: You mean that this excerpt is an actual reprint from that issue of The Retriever?
PHIL: Absolutely! "The old one about the patient who never stops bragging
about his operation should be revamped to a new one about the patient
who is proud to having recovered from a mental illness. Saying that the
recovered mental patient has at least as much reason to be proud of himself
as the guy who laid down on an operating table. Dr. Low pointed out that
the mental patient faces both the obstacle of recovering from the illness
and the possible stigma he may meet on the outside. A patient who has
successfully overcome both of these obstacles is justified in having a
feeling of pride in his accomplishments. "Dr. Low was ably assisted in
his discussion by Mike Ruggio, (another member of the staff of The
Retriever ), who gave a very high percentage of correct answers to
questions asked. The one important point on which
Mr. Ruggio showed mild hesitation was the query, 'What does a recovered
mental patient do to stay well?' The answer is, of course, 'join the Recovery
Club'."
TREASURE: Why did you use the work "club", Phil? Recovery certainly isn't a "club" and we never think of it that way today.
PHIL: While we were hospitalized, and for a short time thereafter, we
formed what we called "clubs." We called ourselves "club-members," and
had special names for our clubs. For instance, one was called the "Fortnightly
Club" and another one was known as the "Companion Club". Dr. Low called
these self-directed" projects, in contrast to "hospital directed" endeavors.
We elected officers and planned our own social activities. Dr. Low let
us know that he was pleased with our self-help efforts. Later, as Recovery
matured, we realized that we were not just a "club," and eventually the
term was dropped completely as the self-help aftercare techniques were
developed and were made available to those who were not patients
of Dr. Low's.
TREASURE: Yes, of course, it really had to be changed once our self-help organization was available to everyone. But, let's get back to your paper at the Institute. I can tell from that article in The Retriever that you were probably beginning to view your illness in a new way--with respect. By the way, how did the paper get that name?
PHIL: It was the idea of one of our staff members, Mary West. Recovery's first publication--almost entirely written and edited by Dr. Low--was called LOST & FOUND. So, Mary reasoned that if improved mental patients could be thought of as "lost and found," they could also be thought of as having been "retrieved." Consequently, The Retriever !
TREASURE: What an appropriate name! I'm sure the paper played some part in retrieving" many of the patients. I'll bet Dr. Low was pleased with it.
PHIL: Dr. Low wholeheartedly approved of our creative self-help efforts. He said that as far as he knew, it was the first weekly newspaper ever published on the wards of a psychiatric hospital by improving mental patients.
TREASURE: I realize that there were many different types of activities at the hospital--dances, physical therapy, occupational therapy, sleigh ride parties, etc. Also I realize that someday Recovery's history will be published and all of this will be included. However, right now, I'd like to know what other activity or activities had a direct bearing on our organization as we know it today?
PHIL: There was what I consider a very significant development in July of 1941. It was just a week or two after my discharge from the hospital when Dr. Low asked me to participate in a panel demonstration at Chicago State Hospital. Dr. Low conducted the panel and the other members were recovered patients, as I was. My participation was relating my own experience in overcoming mental illness through cooperating with Dr. Low and his staff at the Institute. It's as clear in my mind as though it happened yesterday. How well I remember mingling with the audience after the panel and shaking hands with many of them.
TREASURE: Then that, I suppose, would be the forerunner of the demonstration panel as we know it today? Since the stigma was a real problem at that time, that demonstration of former patients who viewed their illnesses in an entirely different manner must certainly have been impressive.
PHIL: Yes, it was. Recovery was really a pioneer against the stigma of mental illness.
TREASURE: Wasn't 1941, the year we've been talking about, the year that Recovery left the Institute to become an independent organization?
PHIL: Yes, in that year we established Recovery's first office at 64 East Lake Street, in Chicago's Loop. It was there that Dr. Low began having his private classes interviewing patients and also, where the Saturday afternoon panels began. You remember, don't you Treasure, those Saturday afternoon panels were an entirely different type of meeting?
TREASURE: I sure do! When I joined Recovery in 1947, Dr. Low would give
a short talk on a specific topic chosen by him. Then there would be four
or five Recovery members who would give examples of their Recovery practice.
Dr. Low didn't take part in the example portion of the meeting at all,
but would sit in the audience.
PHIL: That's right, and then after the example period, Dr. Low would give another talk, which he based on something that had been mentioned by the panel members in their examples. Then he would elaborate to make very clear just what it was that he had chosen from the examples to discuss. By the way, these pre-panel and post-panel talks, made in 1953 and 1954, are the tapes we play at our meetings now.
TREASURE: I hope you'll forgive me, Phil, if I practice just a little vanity. I was one of several who were constantly urging him to make those tapes. Those of us who could not be in Chicago knew that we were missing a very valuable part of the Recovery program. We envied the members who lived in Chicago. I came to Chicago just as often as I could, and was fortunate to be there for quite a few of those Saturday panels. Everytime I attended the Saturday panel, Dr. Low would ask me to speak on the panel, and each time I refused. I was much too fearful in those days. As I listened to those members who did give examples before an audience of 75 to 100 people, I would marvel that they could do it. Immediately after the meeting was over, I'd blame myself for not having the courage to participate, and promise myself that next time I'd accept Dr. Low's invitation. But then, when the next time came, I'd refuse again.
PHIL: Didn't you ever take part in a Saturday afternoon meeting?
TREASURE: Eventually, about 1950 or 1951, I agreed and Dr. Low chose my example to discuss. Then I realized how much more I was involved when it was my example he talked about. I remember at one point, he said, "So, Treasure was a failure!" How my heart sank! Then he added, "But, she turned that failure into success when she decided to practice the sense of humor." After that, I felt much better!
PHIL: That's an excellent example of why it's so important to participate in Recovery meetings. When you give an example yourself, you're just naturally more involved. Needless to say, I attended hundreds of both the Tuesday night classes and the Saturday afternoon meetings. I had almost unlimited opportunities to talk with Dr. Low, along with other Recovery members, about what was taking place. I'm sure you remember that we had very informal get-togethers every afternoon at Recovery headquarters.
TREASURE: Yes, I do remember. Those informal afternoon meetings were my first exposure to Recovery. My husband had taken me to Chicago to consult with Dr. Low about my psychiatric problem. I had about two years of psychoanalysis in Michigan when I read about Recovery in a national magazine. I saw Dr. Low in his office at 30 North Michigan Avenue and, after taking my history and talking to me for quite a while, he asked me to walk over to 185 North Wabash, where Recovery headquarters was then located. He assured me that I would be well received. Well, when I arrived, quaking and trembling with fear, I saw you, Phil, and eight other people laughing and talking and looking so relaxed. I just knew I must be in the wrong place! Surely none of those people could possibly have been nervous or former mental patients!
PHIL: I remember that day very well, but I guess that I was too busy working on The Recovery News to notice that you were quaking. The Recovery News, by the way, was a sort of continuation of The Retriever . Tell us what happened next, Treasure.
TREASURE: Gertrude Beres saw me standing hesitantly at the door. She came over and invited me to come in. I told her that Dr. Low had sent me. Well, within five minutes, Gertrude had sold me a membership and a whole raft of paper covered articles. Mental Health Through Will Training had not yet been published, or I'm sure she would have sold me it, too! I handed over my seven dollars, and began to suspect that this was just a moneymaking outfit, fronted by Dr. Low.
PHIL: I'm surprised that you stayed! How come you didn't leave?
TREASURE: Just about that time, you all gathered chairs in a sort of semi-circle, and I heard you begin to talk about heart palpitations, fear, fatigue. When I heard you mention your own symptoms and fears, I began to think that maybe this was the place for me, after all. After the meeting, I went from person to person saying, "Why are you here? One woman smiled and said, "Because of my temper." I had visions in my mind that she meant she did things like throwing dishes and was violent. It wasn't until much later that I knew the kind of temper she meant--the kind we all have--fearful temper!
PHIL: Weren't there others present, besides yourself, who were also new?
We had a steady stream of newcomers most every afternoon, most of whom
were private patients of
Dr. Low's.
TREASURE: I remember that there was a man from Ohio who was also new
to the group. He was undergoing treatment at a hospital and
Dr. Low had him attend the afternoon sessions. I'm sure that there were
others who were new to Recovery. However, the ones who really caught my
interest were those of you who had obviously made some improvement. All
of you impressed me as having knowledge that I needed to acquire. This
seems like a good place to pause in our reminiscing, but let's continue
in the next issue of The Reporter. Okay?
PHIL: Okay! Say, wouldn't it be great if some of the "old-timers" would read our series and write to us about their memories of those days?
TREASURE: It certainly would! I hope they'll write and share their memories with all of us.
