What Is “The Process”? Episode #31: Losing Your Religion - How The Manhattan Project Sobered Up The Process
Feb 7, 2026
A deep dive into the Process Church's outreach, from faith healing and free kitchens to volunteer programs inside psychiatric hospitals. The story traces institutional scandals, eugenics-era experiments, and controversial rehab models like Freedom House and Synanon. It also covers community PR, property moves, and alarming recruitment claims tied to places such as Willowbrook and Fernald.
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Process Church Emphasized Social Work
- Dana shows the Process Church publicly emphasized social services like free stores, kitchens, and hospital ministries in the early 1970s.
- Those activities were framed as civic action to change systems as well as individuals.
Lakeshore's Institutional Vulnerabilities
- Dana traces Lakeshore Mental Health Institute's long history of overcrowding, harsh treatment, and experimental therapies up to the 1970s.
- The facility's conditions made it vulnerable to outside programs and controversial interventions.
Freedom House Rehab And Process Volunteers
- Dana recounts Freedom House's rehab model at Eastern State, which used encounter groups and the Synanon Game in early stages.
- She highlights Process volunteers' involvement with that program and its risks around vulnerable clients.