I went to community meetings of Adult Survivors of Child Abuse for a while and their program does not use a higher power. for info:

[ascasupport.org]

They are a real hospital, but a lot of their focus is on rehab. If your grandson is recoverign from an addiction, then it might be the recovery program. With the twelve steps, few programs know how to deal with agnostics or atheists.

The problem being that the 12 step programs are based on surrenderign to a "higher power". When I was in college studying "addiction studies, the professor told us that a higher power doesnt' have to be god. Given examples, he said one person said his motorcycle was his higher power, another said he found a kitten and hte kitten was his higher power, and another said his daughter was his higher power. He told us to think aobut it for a few days to see fi we could figure out what those higher powers had in common.

In each case, the higher power brought out feelings of love and caring in the person. Something or someone they could love more than their chemical of choice. When people choose god as their higher power, they actually have a higher rate of relapse.

The problem with 12 step groups is that a lot of the members act as if it were a religion, and will try to bully and shame others into their way of thinking (in their mind god is the only higher power). Atheist 12 step groups are not common. However the gay 12 step groups are seldom religious based and a lto less judgmental.

If it's Fairfax, Virginia, I wouldn't be surprised. At the same time, I visited a former mental health facility on a tour, and the guide used to work there. She said about 90% of the employees ended up as patients.

Remember when Reagan closed the public mental institutions down? My mother was a psychiatric aide at one for over 25 years. Many are now privatized and it would not surprise me one bit if the mental facility you are referring to are brainwashing their patients. Would not shock me one bit!

I’ve heard of them. I know that they are located in Washington and are privately owned. That’s 100% it.

Privately owned medical institutions can teach whatever they’d like. All they have to do is check some boxes to get signed off as a medical institution and everything else is left to them to teach.

I can’t speak with certainty to this situation even a little bit, but many mental health institutions will use religion to get hope and obedience from the individuals that are admitted. Mental institutions are completely about getting control. That’s kind of their job. Each place has their own methods.

If you are concerned; look up and call their administration phone number. Tell them that you have a family member that is having mental issues (look on google and make something up that you can talk about and tell bs stories to) and ask them about their services. Then later in the conversation tell them that he/she has moved away from church and religion and ask what their religious practices are. Don’t give them a religion, just keep asking them to explain exactly what they offer.

They’ll tell on them selves

Sounds like another version of a happy home. @#$&%?§€£

Or is your grandson getting worse?

You can be an agnostic theist.