Emmaus Community: Efficacy of a Treatment Program for Women Religious

This study was designed as a confirmation of the empirical evaluation of the efficacy of Emmaus Community, a residential treatment facility for women in religious life. Although a previous evaluation by Borrine and Handal (1989) provided preliminary support for the program's efficacy, their study was vulnerable to the internal threats to validity of history, maturation and statistical regression. This study provided controls for these threats and analyzed data from another cohort of participants. Results revealed that participants reported significant decrements in their level of pathological distress; they moved from an impaired to a non-impaired status on an empirically validated measure of psychological adjustment. Also, they reported significant improvements in their interpersonal relationships and their ability to express and receive a variety of affects. ********** During the past 20 years, there has been a marked increase in the establishment of treatment facilities for psychologically distressed men and women in religious life (e.g. Derham Community, Emmaus Community, St. Luke's, Southdown). The designs of some of these treatment programs, namely St. Luke's and Southdown, have been based on traditional pathology or medical model approaches and appear similar to treatment programs typically used outside of religious settings. Other programs, like the Derham and Emmaus communities, have designed treatment programs based on a wellness model which assumes that individuals are responsible for their own life choices, decisions, commitments, relationships and activities. This is in contrast to the traditional pathology or medical model, which assumes that the individual is sick or ill and therefore not responsible for his or her choices. Unfortunately, it appears that only two published articles are available that describe the components and efficacy of wellness treatment programs (Derham Community, see Cummings, Handal, Mink & Mink, 1979; Emmaus Community, see Borrine & Handal, 1989). However the methodological flaws in the designs of these studies prevented the authors from providing sound evidence for the efficacy of this type of treatment program. Cummings et al. (1979) reported favorable outcome data for participants in Derham Community, but the results were criticized since the reported treatment efficacy was based on unstandardized interviews, and data was not systematically collected at both pre- and post-treatment (Borrine & Handal, 1989). Borrine & Handal (1989) attempted to correct these flaws in their evaluation of Emmaus Community, a residential treatment program for psychologically distressed religious women which was modeled after Derham Community. Description of Emmaus Program Emmaus community is an intercongregational center which was established to assist in the personal growth and development of women in religious life within the context of a religious community setting. Consistent with Derham Community, Emmaus Community is based on a wellness model which values individual dignity and assumes that each person is responsible for her own life choices, decisions, commitments, relationships and activities. At Emmaus, religious women experiencing personal adjustment problems and psychological distress are encouraged to recognize and assess the life patterns, and to affirm them or attempt to effect appropriate change. This is accomplished through participants and staff living together as a religious community. Required components of this program included the following: a weekly conference with the director which focuses on the goals, intentions, and directions the sister has chosen for her time at the personal growth community (i.e. identification of problem areas, setting goals, and developing a plan of implementation); a small group which meets twice weekly with a staff member and other program participants; and large community groups where participants, the director, and staff members meet weekly to explore personal and interpersonal issues in a supportive environment. …