PART V: The Self-Help Panel Procedures
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TREASURE: Of all the important milestones in Recovery's history, no doubt the most significant one was the establishment of the self-help panel procedures by Dr. Low in 1952.
PHIL: Yes, this was a long sought after goal. It was the culmination of many years of patient work by our founder and medical director. Finally, he was able to leave the panel meetings completely to the members, with no professional supervision whatsoever.
TREASURE: Frankly, Phil, I approach this subject with a lot of respect for what is involved. We're not in a position to speak for Dr. Low, and we have often said that none of us really know exactly what happens during a panel meeting, that is, as Dr. Low knew. All we can hope to do is to tell what happened during those years from 1948 to 1952. Most of all, it should become clear to our readers just how painstakingly Dr. Low went about developing the procedures we all take so much for granted today.
PHIL: The validity of Dr. Low's work becomes more and more apparent as the years go by. His self-help procedures for our meetings have enabled us to expand. Professional interest has been engendered by their recognition of the good results obtained by patients participating in our self-help panel meetings. I certainly do share your healthy respect for our discussion of something so important. How can we best set the scene?
TREASURE: First of all, I'd like to mention that our branch group in Michigan was not really exposed to the training you had from Dr. Low. At least not until 1952. Even though I visited Chicago frequently, and attended the panels, I was not aware of what was happening. I conducted our one small group in Michigan just as I had seen the home groups in Chicago conducted. Can you give us some idea of just how our training came about?
PHIL: As you know, Dr. Low's office, where he maintained his large private psychiatric practice, was at 30 North Michigan Avenue, just a few short blocks from Recovery headquarters. Starting in 1948, almost every afternoon about 3:00 or 3:30, Dr. Low would leave his office and walk down to join us around the table at headquarters where we gathered every weekday. This was after my third hospitalization. I was earning my living as a musical instrument salesman at the time, and worked mornings and evenings. I attended the afternoon sessions at headquarters regularly. Sometimes, Dr. Low would be there for about half an hour, sometimes a little less, before returning to his office where his private patients were waiting to see him.
TREASURE: I'm sure that Dr. Low didn't suddenly announce, "Now, I'm going to train you as a leader for a completely self-help panel!" How did he train you? Exactly what did he do?
PHIL: He trained me by demonstrating and, of course, through repetition. He constantly stressed certain things. For instance, he would be listening to what we said about our difficulties and someone would be rambling on with a discussion of Recovery. Then, Dr. Low would stop us and ask that we give a specific situation. He would remind us that Recovery principles must always be illustrated with an example . There must have been dozens of times that he drew this to my attention, until it made an indelible impression on me that this is what Dr. Low, the medical director developing the techniques we were using, wanted from us. Then, as the leader of the panel, it soon became my own conscious habit to remind the members of this when he was not there.
TREASURE: We have to keep in mind that this training took place over a period of at least four years. That it was a gradual process. I can see that this topic is going to provide us with enough material for several issues. It dovetails with the Recovery Method we practice away from the panel meetings, and undoubtedly will lead us into other subjects as we go along. What else can you tell us about your training by Dr. Low, Phil?
PHIL: Well, after a specific example had finally been given by a member, Dr. Low might make a few brief statements about the particular difficulty mentioned. Then, Dr. Low would usually ask the person who gave the example if he had spotted his symptoms as "distressing but not dangerous." Sometimes, he would point to another member and ask what progress he or she was making in overcoming the habit of self-diagnosing. Most of all, I became aware of the great stress Dr. Low put on controlling the fearful and angry temper. As the months and years of my apprenticeship went by, I'm sure he asked questions about temper hundreds of times. Another thing that he stressed was the improvement different individuals had made in Recovery. He would point out the great difference between before and after their Recovery training in their ability to control angry and fearful reactions.
TREASURE: It's plain to see how the structure for the panel gradually developed, with you taking your cue from what Dr. Low demonstrated and stressed as important. After this structure became more clearly defined, we have the four steps of the example, don't we?
PHIL: Sure, that's just the way it evolved, and then Dr. Low wrote it down just as it's read at the start of each panel meeting today. By the way, you know that the example that he used on the example form sheet was taken from page 183 (ed note: page number from original edition of MHTWT) of Mental Health Through Will Training. Not only do we follow this four- step procedure at the panel meetings, but it is the same four steps we are to follow in our own practice on the street, at home, in our place of employment, etc. It is essentially the Recovery Method. (ed. note: the example sheet was changed slightly during the 1990s to delete the references to the specific example referenced above ).
TREASURE: I'm sure that many Recovery members don't understand this, and they wonder why we read the form before the first example at our meetings. Last year, during a visit to an area in the south, Doug Elbert gave the simple explanation that the four steps of the example are the Recovery Method. Afterward, one member told me it was the first time she realized why the four steps were important. Prior to Doug's explanation, she had questioned the necessity of reading the example sheet before the first example at each meeting. Now, she had a whole new understanding of what Dr. Low had fashioned for us in the self-help method. Phil, can you sum-up what we have tried to bring out in this article?
PHIL: I'll be glad to. First--that the Recovery principles must be illustrated with a specific example. Second--that we should stress the spotting of our symptoms as distressing and not dangerous. That is, we are not to indulge in self-diagnosis. Third--that we are to spot the temper, both the fearful and the angry varieties, and to control our reactions. Fourth--that we should notice the comparison with before we had any Recovery training. In fact, the control of temper is not complete unless there is self-endorsement, which leads to self-approval and self-respect.
In those years when I was being trained as the leader of the self-help panel, I would say that these were the points most stressed by Dr. Low. Of course, there are many, many more things that we'll bring out in future articles.
TREASURE: You also mentioned how Dr. Low helped the members of your panels to participate by asking questions of them. This was the panel technique that made such a lasting impression on me when I attended a panel you led in 1952, at Recovery's headquarters. I knew there were some important differences in the way you led the panel on that day from what I had previously observed. Do you remember how I collared you after the meeting that day?
PHIL: I sure do! You asked to meet with me at headquarters the next morning to explain to you just what was so different about the panel from the way you were used to seeing it conducted. Maybe, this would be a good place to begin in the next issue.
TREASURE: Yes, I think it would be a good place to start because it was those self-help procedures that were responsible for the expansion that took place in Michigan in the following two years. See you in the next REPORTER.!
