APn 03/24 0139 Satanism Treatment Copyright, 1990. The Associated Press. All rights reserv

APn 03/24  0139  Satanism  Treatment  Copyright,  1990.  The
Associated Press.  All rights reserved.

   By CHARLES J. GANS

   Associated Press Writer

   CHICAGO (AP) -- At his parents' home,  Mike  painted  his
room  black,  decorated  it with black candles and an altar,
and put up obituaries and Satanic symbols on the walls.

   He   began   driving   recklessly,   drinking    heavily,
experimenting with marijuana and threatening his parents.

   That's  when  Mike  ended up in one of the nation's first
treatment programs aimed  at  weaning  disturbed  teen-agers
from Satanism.

   "At the time, Satanism seemed to have, for Mike, a lot of
answers  that  he  couldn't  find  elsewhere,"  said Michael
Weiss,  a   psychologist   who   specializes   in   treating
adolescents.  "It  gave  him the sense that he could control
all things."

   "Now that he can find other ways to feel  good  and  have
some  sense  of purpose ... he seems increasingly willing to
put aside any Satanic influence," said Weiss,  of  Hartgrove
Hospital on Chicago's North Side.

   "He  successfully went through the in-patient program and
at this point is continuing in treatment  on  an  outpatient
basis  with individual therapy and also some family therapy.
To date no  major  crises  and  no  return  to  any  satanic
involvement, that we're aware of at least."

   Mike  -- not his real name -- is among about a half dozen
youths,  ranging  from  ages  14  to  17,  who've   received
treatment  or  are  undergoing therapy at Hartgrove's Center
for the Treatment of Ritualistic Deviance.

   The center, attached to the hospital's  adolescent  unit,
began receiving patients in October.  The in-patient program
lasts  four  to eight weeks, and involves individual as well
as group therapy.

   Most patients are admitted voluntarily based on referrals
from mental health workers, police and parents.

   Weiss said it's still too early to determine the  success
rate.

   "We  didn't  know what to expect ... but I'm pleased with
the way things are right now,"  he  said.  "We're  certainly
finding   that  we  can  work  with  these  kids  and  their
families."

   A similar program exists at Denver's Bethesda PsychHealth
System.  And Hartgrove has received inquiries from hospitals
in Texas, Virginia  and  Wisconsin  interested  in  starting
their  own  Satanism  treatment programs, said social worker
Dale Trahan.

   "I definitely see the problem as growing,"  said  Trahan,
who's  been  researching satanic beliefs for three years and
was contracted to set up Hartgrove's center.

   "The factors that seem to be adding to a  growth  of  the
occult don't seem to be going away -- a breakdown in family,
an  abandonment  of  traditional  values, resistance towards
traditional religious beliefs, and an increasing  number  of
youths  who  feel  both  alienated  and powerless over their
lives and future," Trahan said.

   "So many kids are feeling like they're ... not  going  to
get  their  needs  met  using  traditional  means so they're
looking for alternatives ... and there are many  destructive
alternatives"  such  as street gangs, neo-Nazi groups, drugs
and Satanism, Trahan said.

   There has been a marked increase in the number  of  young
people  involved in Satanism, said Cynthia Kisser, executive
director of the  Chicago-based  Cult  Awareness  Network,  a
non-profit  organization  that  has  30  volunteer  chapters
around the country.

   Two years ago, the network got only one or  two  calls  a
month regarding  Satanism.   Now, there are as many as 300 a
month, Ms.  Kisser said.

   Weiss cautions that just  because  parents  find  that  a
teen-ager  is  into  heavy  metal  music  or wearing Satanic
symbols, it doesn't mean he's a  candidate  for  Hartgrove's
program.

   "Kids  are  admitted because they are having emotional or
behavioral problems ... coupled with involvement  in  occult
and Satanic beliefs," he said.

   Some  warning  signs  include  a  sudden  drop  in school
grades, withdrawal  from  the  family,  increasing  drug  or
alcohol  use  and  increasingly  aggressive behavior, Trahan
said.

   Satanic beliefs  often  can  make  traditional  treatment
approaches  unsuccessful  because  a  teen-ager  can use the
occult as a defensive mechanism, Weiss said.

   Trahan said staff members are advised not to  react  with
shock  or  fear  to  Satanic beliefs because this would only
encourage the patient to believe in the power of the occult.

   About 35 to 40 hospital staff  members  --  psychiatrists
and  psychologists,  physical  and  recreational therapists,
social workers, teachers and nurses -- are involved  in  the
program and have received special training.

   Trahan  said  the program doesn't have anything in common
with deprogramming -- the radical therapy used to break some
youths away from cults that use  psychological  manipulation
to gain members.

   "We help them identify constructive alternatives.  That's
not brainwashing," Trahan said.

   Said  Weiss:  "Our overall goal is to have a kid walk out
of here who is going to be able to adapt to  the  world  and
live a reasonable, safe and sane life."