The documentary has been out for quite a few hours now but I haven’t watched it yet (waiting for this evening). What I am seeing quite the jump in page visits in the analytics already. I figured that it may be good to have a post welcoming the influx of visitors. So first, here’s what […]
Welcome, Newcomers! Read More »
Katherine was nice enough to share her story about her experiences with Global Expeditions.Trigger Warning: The last bullet point does involve sexual assault. Although I didn’t attend the Honor Academy, I participated in four Global Expeditions (GE) mission trips as a teenager: 2 months in Panama (age 13), 1 month in China (age 15), 1
It has been three weeks since the airing of Shiny Happy People: A Teenage Holy War and I couldn’t imagine how much of an impact it would have on all of us. I think it’s safe to assume that everyone was forced to face their experience and reflect, regardless if one is in the “TM
The Shiny Happy People Aftermath Read More »
I am an almost 52 year old woman and I remember as a teenager the rhetoric from watching the Shiny Happy People season 2. We were told that we were warriors for Christ… I heard about Teen Mania (couldn’t afford it) but I still remember the youth conferences at our church. I also remember as
A visitor shared her takeaways from her experiences with GE and ATF in the early 90s. While she didn’t attend the HA, she did work at a church that espoused a lot of the same beliefs. These are the values that came to mind when she watched Shiny Happy People season 2. Us versus them
Guest Post: Teen Mania Unspoken Values Read More »
Corey Wright hitting us with some great wisdom! Thanks for posting this video, Corey! I’m just like the commentor Corey is responding to. I’ve mentioned it in recent posts but I felt like I was mostly good with a few deep things to process still. I even started addressing this with my therapist. Then the
Repression vs Suppression and How to Deal Read More »
I am honored to post the first user-submitted story as the new RA. If you would like to share your story, feel free to email stories@recoveringalumni.blog.This story does discuss the current political climate, but does so in accordance with our politics policy. I attended at least one BattleCry event in the summer or fall of
Man, episode 2 is a brutal one! So many triggers and back to back. I wish the editing team were a little nicer to us survivors! But if there’s one thing I’ve learned about triggers, they can be absolutely random. One of the first times I got triggered was while I was watching Avatar the
Shiny Happy People: A Teenage Holy War ep3 – Live Reaction Read More »
I don’t know about y’all but I am struggling with this flurry of memories and emotions when I think about many people during my time at TM. I consider myself well connected with alumni but almost all of them are either from before my time, after, or they were people on the opposite shift and
In the Space Between Hurt and Healing: A Call for Amnesty Read More »
The first episode got me hyped but the next-episode teaser had clips that made me nervous. To me, episode 1 is more just history and exposition. I relate to a lot of the discussion but this was more educational than therapeutic since ATF and GE were always highlights. The teaser suggested to me that the
Shiny Happy People: A Teenage Holy War ep2 – Live Reaction Read More »
A quick thought occurred to me off the tails of my therapy sesh. One thing that I have been grateful for is the validation from the documentary and seeing TikTok after TikTok of people talking about their experiences and just how batshit insane the internship was. Validation feels great because it reassures us that yes,
The Double-Edged Sword of Validation Read More »
So, what is self-care? To me, self-care is taking a moment to make sure that your needs are being met. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a fairly well-known concept typically found in any intro to psychology class at university. In the education world, the buzzword “Maslow’s before Bloom’s” crops up a lot in professional development.
Hey you, do some self-care! Read More »
Hoo boy! Here we go. I am ecstatic that this documentary is out! I have been antsy leading up to the release date. Part of me was happy but another part of me was anxious and I just wasn’t sure what to expect. The trailer suggested to me that I would see lots of older
Shiny Happy People: A Teenage Holy War ep1 – Live Reaction Read More »
My wife and I watched all 3 episodes of Shiny Happy people. I think this gif best summarizes the first episode. I was hoping to post last night after binging all 3 episodes and provide some slight raw reaction. I was also hoping to do some kind of live blog post that I would constantly
Holy…. Mother…. of God… Read More »
Today’s the day that Shiny Happy People season 2 airs today. A number of us alumni are doing a watch party, thank the gods that we have the internet to do such. I decided to “pregame” by rewatching Mind Over Mania before the party starts and thought it’d be interesting to try and almost live
Revisiting the MSNBC Exposé after 14 years Read More »
The last documentary shook the Teen Mania world in a significant way. It was a turning point in my own life, including helping me with my severe depression. What will this new documentary have in store? Check out my predictions here.
My Predictions of the Documentary Blowout Read More »
If you haven’t been keeping up, Amazon Prime Video has a docuseries on the Duggar Family (brought into the public spotlight thanks to TLC’s 19 Kids and Counting). Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets showcases the Institute in Basic Life Principles and its horrendous teachings and practices, how opens families like the Duggars to abuse,
Shiny Happy People Season 2 Read More »
It’s summer so that means I am finally back and making some updates. I am hoping to get more consistent with updating throughout the year, but I’m pretty sure I’ve said this 3 times already… What has happened since last summer? Well, for starters… Not to mention the past 6 months just being absolutely horrendous
Don’t tell me another year has already passed Read More »
(2024: This is one of ~80 posts located in the drafts folder and not archived by the Wayback Machine. The post was started by the original Recovering Alumni. I believe that this post was originally spurred by a conference call that happened about a month prior to this post. Here are some of the posts
Why Can’t Teen Mania Give Refunds? Read More »
It’s summer time, which for a teacher means a much needed break from hellion students and grading. There are many overlapping conversations at the cafe I frequent and one that has stood out is between three people talking about their summer plans. One person said that he is going on a mission trip. The announcement
Are Short-Term Mission Trips Ethical? Are They Even Useful? Read More »
This blog has talked about finding freedom in Christ and recently about finding freedom out of Christ, this post is going in the same direction but in a different car. It seems that this may turn into a series of its own right since I guess this could be considered an update from my post
Freedom in Druidry? An Unexpected Twist to Recovery Read More »
No one really chooses to join a cult; at least not knowingly… I recently watched the documentary on Synanon, which can be viewed on HBO’s Max streaming service. Some readers may remember a chapter from the “textbook” in Dave Hasz’s Worldview class, the book being How Now Shall We Live? by Charles Colson. I do
My Eye-Opening Experience Learning About Synanon Read More »
(2023: This is one of ~80 posts hidden in the drafts folder of the original blog. The quote below is the original beginning of a post. It lines up with how I feel so I’m using it more as a writing prompt.) You know, sometimes I think legalism is easier. When I was a legalist
Who Wouldn’t Want To Be Legalistic? Read More »
The topic of finding freedom in Christ was discussed before on this blog. It is a wonderful post examining verses in Colossians 2. It is wonderful for Christians who are still part of a faith that had been used to beat them down. Personally, I ask why one should remain a Christian when all one
Freedom OUT of Christ Read More »
(2023: This is one of ~80 posts located in the drafts folder and not archived by the Wayback Machine. The post was started by the original Recovering Alumni. The additions made to the original post by the current RA will be italicized. Other changes were formatting and aesthetic decisions.) One former member observed that she
Leaving the Spiritually Abusive System Read More »
