A group of nine men and women from all walks of life gathered in an isolated farm house amid the rolling hills of eastern Maryland to do, what was for them, the unthinkable. Under the care of three seasoned therapists, they came to re-enact and re-experience the heartrending pain and anguish of profoundly damaging events in their lives – serious family dysfunction, that over the course of many years has driven each them to the problems of addiction, promiscuity, co-dependency, isolation and fear, and the struggle to find, give and accept love. Through the remarkable use of a therapeutic technique called psychodrama or sculpting, a powerful, improvised, experiential process that moves the participant to confront the perpetrators and abusers of the past, we watch as each group member, in his or her own way, re-lives the most terrible moments of their past. By confronting their own personal demons, each individual participant begins to breakthrough their personal suffering and take their first steps down the long, hard road to healing.Our 6-part documentary series, BREAKTHROUGH, is the first cinema verite project to be afforded access to this unique 6-day psycho-dramatic workshop, filming it in its entirety, as it happens. The workshop, which itself is called Breakthrough at Harmony Farm, was chosen by the filmmakers for its unique approach to healing from family trauma: dramatic, powerful, brutally honest and, ultimately, profoundly inspiring.
What exactly is the definition of “family trauma?” How extreme does dysfunction have to be to have a lasting and crippling effect? Are there really any of us who live within well-adjusted families and, if so, can we be truly free of relationship damage in our lives? Do the consequences of familial abuse, neglect or simple indifference ever disappear? If we can never hope to change the past, how can we expect to change the future? These questions and more are raised by the documentary, and answered, but only in part, by the emotionally charged work of the Breakthrough participants.
Description of the Film
In shooting BREAKTHROUGH, the filmmakers gained unprecedented access to everything that occurred during the 6-day Breakthrough retreat – grief groups, gender specific groups, family sculpture psycho-dramas, peer groups, etc. in addition to mealtime, playtime, leisure time and even bedtime. In a successful attempt to record not just the drama of therapy, but to afford us deeper insight into the personalities of the participants, the changes that developed for them over the week and the relationships they form with each other, the filmmakers had camera’s rolling virtually 16 hours a day. In addition, a number of one-on-one interviews were conducted with each participant and with each therapist during the week. This allowed us to fill in the gaps and help get inside the heads of both participants and therapists as they work with each other and begin the process of change.
The Group Members:
Hodet: A bright, pretty, 21-year-old college co-ed, Hodet has endured too much pain and suffering for someone so young. The victim of sexual and emotional abuse, abandoned by her father, Hodet sank into the abysmal world of drug addiction, alcoholism and depression at a very young age. After a number of suicide attempts, Hodet finally checked herself into a rehabilitation facility and has been able to put together almost 2 years clean and sober. But the ghosts of the past continue to haunt her and if she is to maintain her newfound recovery, she knows she will have to face her painful past head-on. She has come to Breakthrough to do just that and, during the course of the workshop, will learn more about herself and her capacity to love and be loved.
Leslie: A 55 year old parole officer from Baltimore, Leslie has survived severe emotional abuse from her mother by honing a cutting-edge wit and using it to deflect attention from her life-long struggle with addictions to food, pills and self-mutilation. Still wrestling with the memory of a life of pain under the strict rule of her mom and the guilt of being accused of hastening her mother’s death from Cancer, Leslie brings to the group issues of co-dependency as well as addiction. With the pain of her childhood still so fresh, it is hard for us to believe that Leslie’s mother died over 30 years ago. Leslie is adored by her peers as she regales them with amusing, poignant and revealing stories about her youth and her attempts at leading a normal, happy life.
Mayer: A 30-something former Chassidic Jew, Mayer was never able to find a place for himself in this insular and rigorously religious community in Brooklyn. Forced into an arranged marriage at a very young age, his discomfort with both his marriage and his religion grew until he felt himself forced to choose between a life that others had planned for him, and a life of his own making. Mayer finally divorced and began living life on his own terms. But the cost has been high. Banned by his ex-wife from seeing their now 6 year old daughter for over the past 2 1/2 years, denied of all support by his wealthy Chassidic family and deficient in his knowledge of American life and language, Mayer’s self esteem and self confidence are unbearably low. He is hoping that Breakthrough will help him to find some way out of his emotional paralysis and give him the strength to regain access to his daughter.
Sarah: An unusually attractive 35 year old Floridian, Sarah claims to have the kind of problem in adolescence that every teenage girl dreams of. Self-described as the “best looking girl” in her high school class, a homecoming queen sought after by every boy in the school, Sarah was seemingly living the dream-life of most teenagers. Yet, as the victim of sexual and emotional abuse, Sarah was actually one of the unhappiest girls imaginable. As compensation for the feelings of shame and guilt that often accompany sexually abused children, she acted out sexually with many of her schoolmates, creating a “reputation” for herself throughout the school. Girls her age began to tease and scorn her incessantly, exacerbating her feelings of worthlessness and forcing her to adopt a posture of superiority as a defense against the low self esteem that is that almost inevitable result of abuse. Sarah has carried many of these feelings and shortcomings into adulthood, resulting in failed marriages, self-absorption and behavior that seems like a pattern of narcissism.
Josh: A 28-year-old single parent, Jason is one of those boyish, smiling young men that girls like to call “adorable.” But under Jason’s charming veneer lies a very angry young man who has spent most of his young life addicted to marijuana and confused by the divorce of his parents and the dissolution of his family. At the age of 12, Jason endured the trial and subsequent imprisonment of his dad, leading to his parents divorce and their going from being the “richest” family in town, to “one of the poorest.” As his dad began to reconstruct his life after prison, he sued his wife for custody of Jason’s brothers and sisters – but not for Jason. Just 2 weeks clean from his marijuana addiction, Jason has come to Breakthrough to help him deal with his feelings about being abandoned by his father and to give him a chance at finally getting (and staying) drug-free.
Michelle: Michelle is the embodiment of everywoman: pleasant looking, but not beautiful; interesting, but not exciting, she is the all-American housewife. Michelle gives to others much more than she gives to herself. By being the quintessential “good girl,” she has found herself the victim of a cheating husband and a current family situation that sees her present husband more involved with the children of his “first family” than with her. Michelle is here at Breakthrough to deal with her anger and unrelenting resentment against her first husband (and the woman who stole him), to learn to take back her power and, for the first time, to get want she needs from her current marriage.
Floyd: A strapping 28 year old, Floyd is in recovery from drug and alcohol use and very much involved in 12-step work. He too is dealing with an abusive father, a mother who has developed a cocaine addiction and a rough-and-tumble trailer park upbringing. Full of anger, resentment and a volatile, explosive personality, Floyd becomes the “defender” of other group members, joining them in their rage against their abusers and quite demonstrably feeling their pain. He develops a close relationship with Sarah and with one of the counselors (Ralph) who, like his brother in Iraq, is a former marine.
Pat: Once ‘conventionally’ married, Pat left her husband for another women. Since coming out, Pat, who is a surgical nurse, has had to deal with the repercussions of her new lifestyle and her past abuse that, she believes, led her into an unhappy, caretaking marriage and a denial of her own sexuality. Pat becomes a ‘mom’ to many of her fellow group members and is sought after for her gentleness, maturity and wisdom. A poster child for the affliction of Co-dependency and “approval addiction,” Pat lives to help others at the expense of her own needs. She is anxious to make her life with her new partner work in ways that provide her with the emotional closeness that no previous relationship has afforded her.
Susan: Susan begins as an enigma and remains one throughout the retreat. A substance abuse counselor who is herself in recovery from drugs and alcohol, she is highly emotional and extremely sensitive, so much so, that at one point, after a perceived slight from another group member, she decides to leave the program in her bare feet and with just a knapsack on her back. While her reasons for coming to the program are never truly clear, Susan is always in an emotionally charged state, either laughing long and loud, or depressed and isolating. She works at the same treatment facility as Sarah, and although they have never been close (in fact, there was work-related friction between them), they now seem to bond and vow to become closer in their ‘real’ lives.The three therapists involved in Breakthrough (led by the program’s originator, Ann Smith) create an environment of trust and support that allows remarkable therapeutic work to take place. Only by rapidly developing a safe and cohesive family, made up of people who have never met before, are the therapists able to encourage each member to publicly face the trauma of past events. Each is experienced as a personal therapist and psychodrama leader. And each has personally (and frequently) undergone the emotional and often gut-wrenching experience of dealing with her or his own personal family dysfunction in experiential therapy.
Ann Smith, MS, LPC, LMFT, NCC: Since 1974, Ann Smith has dedicated her career to helping individuals and families seeking a healthier way of life. Her early years of work with chemical dependency led her to the Caron Foundation where she developed the first inpatient program for adult children from dysfunctional families in 1984. In her 8 years with Caron and subsequent work at Harmony Farm, 17,000 people have benefited from her groundbreaking work with experiential therapy. Her knowledge of individual and family dynamics is documented in her two published books: Grandchildren of Alcoholics; Another Generation of Codependency and Overcoming Perfectionism: the Key to a Balanced Recovery. Ann is a frequent lecturer to national audiences on a variety of professional and personal growth topics.
Episode 1 –Pilot
Hodet and Mayer
Hodet, a college student, was the victim of molestation by a close relative during childhood. She demonstrates incredible honestly and openness in dealing with her pain and in moving toward recovery.
Mayer is a former Chassidic Jew, rejected by his family for leaving the Chassidic tradition. His former wife has denied him access to their 6-year-old daughter and Mayer strives to find the strength to fight for the right to see her.
Episode 2
Josh and Pat
Josh comes from a once wealthy family turned destitute after a nasty divorce. He attends Breakthrough to deal with marijuana addiction and was recently arrested for possession with intent to sell and weapons charges.
Pat is an incest victim who left her husband when she accepted that she was gay. She is dealing with feelings of guilt and anger as a result of her past.
Episode 3
Leslie
Leslie is a middle-aged woman trying to overcome the abuse suffered at the hands of a cruel mother. Although her mother is long-since dead, Leslie is only now dealing with the damage that she caused and continues to cause in many facets of her life.
Episode 4
Sarah and Sue
The daughter of Playboy Bunny and sexually promiscuous, Sarah, who works with Sue at a drug rehab center, tries to understand her behavioral patterns and to cope with a painful miscarriage. Meanwhile, her friend Sue is attempting to heal from a lifetime of dysfunctional relationships and many deaths in her family. Sue becomes frightened at the thought of some of the participants dying and decides to leave the workshop.
Episode 5
Floyd and Michelle
Floyd is a recovering drug addict who attempts to come to terms with his uneasy relationship with his critical father. After a sting in rehab, he became a drug counselor himself, but the pain of his past still haunts him and undermines his effectiveness at work. Michelle was unmercifully criticized as a child and became painfully shy. Her husband cheated on her and she experienced a painful divorce. She is only now beginning to understand who she is.
Episode 6
Where Are They Now?
We re-connect with all of the participants to find out if and how their lives changed as a result of attending Breakthrough.