alt_religion_scientology/FACTNetARS20020208

From: < XXX-Obsolete.email.Deleted-XXX > (Lawrence Wollersheim)
Newsgroups: alt.religion.scientology
Subject: Scientology reaches out to troubled with ad campaign
Date: 8 Feb 2002 13:52:34 -0800
Message-ID: <67cf5f5d.0202081352.42d9bd05@posting.google.com>
NNTP-Posting-Date: 8 Feb 2002 21:52:36 GMT

Found At : http://www.sptimes.com/2002/02/08/Worldandnation/Scientology_reaches_o.s...

Scientology reaches out to troubled with ad campaign

Billboards are going up in major U.S. cities claiming to have an
answer for those in distress. Some mental health experts question the
church's motive.

By DEBORAH O'NEIL, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published February 8, 2002

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For Americans troubled by economic uncertainty, fear and grief, 1,100
Church of Scientology billboards going up in major U.S. cities claim
to have an answer.

"No matter how bad it is ... SOMETHING CAN BE DONE ABOUT IT."

The billboards are part of an unprecedented national media campaign by
Scientology to reach what it calls "a nation still troubled by the
Sept. 11 attacks."

But the blitz disturbs some mental health experts who express concern
about both the church's motive and its expertise in treating emotional
distress.

The advertisements promote the services of Scientology's volunteer
ministers, parishioners trained in basic Scientology principles that
the church says can solve problems ranging from grief to marital
difficulties to drug addiction.

"Call a Scientology volunteer minister," the ads read:
1-800-HELP-4-YU. And while the billboards don't say so, the services
are free, the church says.

The Church of Scientology is spending $1.1-million on the billboards,
which have gone up in New York, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco,
Sacramento, San Jose, Cincinnati and this week in Clearwater. More are
slated for Atlanta, Boston, Miami, Washington, D.C., Chicago and St.
Louis.

In New York alone, there are 1,000 billboards, many mounted in the
subway system. Clearwater, the spiritual headquarters of Scientology,
is getting eight, and some of those will rotate to Tampa.

It's a "pretty impressive" campaign, said Robert Coen, a longtime
predictor of advertising spending and senior vice president at
Universal McCann in New York. It doesn't match the efforts of mega
brands such as Coca-Cola or Loreal, he said, but for a single entity,
it's "a significant effort to get their message across."

The campaign grew out of Sept. 11, said spokeswoman Linda Simmons
Hight of the Church of Scientology International in Los Angeles. Since
the attacks, the ranks of the volunteer ministers have grown from
5,000 to 14,000, she said. Scientologists wanted to help at ground
zero, and many did.

"That's what brought it together," Hight said. "We have volunteer
ministers. We're soon to have 6,000 more and we can do something about
any situation in life."

Mental health leaders say the campaign looks like a recruitment
technique that could mislead emotionally vulnerable people.

"We are concerned Scientology may be playing on people's vulnerability
to increase their membership," said Cynthia Folcarelli, executive vice
president of the National Mental Health Association, the country's
oldest and largest nonprofit mental health research and advocacy
organization.

"The (billboard) message clearly conveys the idea, "We understand
you're in emotional stress and we can help,' " Folcarelli said. "We
have seen the Scientologists present themselves in other settings as
mental health counselors when in fact they're not qualified to provide
those services."

The National Mental Health Association criticized Scientology soon
after the Sept. 11 attacks when the church promoted a hotline number
under the heading "National Mental Health Assistance." The hotline
scrolled across the bottom of the screen on Fox News, but made no
mention of Scientology. The cable news channel yanked it after being
told of its Scientology connection.

The Church of Scientology is opposed to psychiatry and psychology.
Church founder L. Ron Hubbard believed Scientology's applied religious
philosophy offered a better way to deal with life's pains and make
people happier.

Volunteer ministers study a 19-chapter text called The Scientology
Handbook that provides lessons such as improving communication skills,
resolving conflicts, getting people off drugs, handling confusion in
the workplace and improving domestic relations.

The ministers also learn how to conduct "assists," procedures
Scientologists believe help people overcome physical or emotional
difficulty.

It takes about 40 hours to complete all the chapters, although some
volunteers study only select ones, said Sarah Gorgone, who coordinates
about 200 volunteer ministers in the Clearwater area.

"They have the tools to be able to help people," Gorgone said. "If you
have a friend that's on drugs and you're like, "I don't know what to
do,' you feel helpless. If you have a tool to help your friend get off
drugs, you feel better."

But Folcarelli said mental health professionals spend years studying
and are licensed.

"Mental health training is not a do-it-yourself proposition," she
said. "They (Scientologists) not only aren't trained to provide
counseling, they reject what years of science and research have taught
us about appropriate mental health intervention."

Church leaders aren't surprised to hear criticism from "an industry
that doesn't really have the technology to help people, that has false
and misleading ideas about what constitutes the human mind and
spirit," Hight said.

Volunteer ministers do not proselytize, nor is the campaign about
recruitment, she said.

"It's Scientologists who have solutions to problems who are willing to
go out of their way to share that with other people," Hight said.