The RETEACH project was a six-month exploratory study of the use of a Relationship Enhancement skills training program (Guerney, 1977) in a drug addict therapeutic community (Integrity House, Inc.) which has three treatment stages. The goals of the project were to implement an appropriately modified Relationship Enhancement (RE) program in the Pre-re-entry stage and conduct an empirical and qualitative evaluation of the feasibility of using RE programs in any therapeutic community (TC). Phase One of the project was devoted to the development of the appropriately modified RE program (RETEACH). A pre-/post-test experimental/control study involving 16 and 24 residents respectively was conducted in Phase Two. Only the trainees demonstrated a significant increase in positive interpersonal responses (p = .001) and perceived a significant improvement in the quality of the staff's relationships to them (p = .002). However, because of limitations in design and methods, these findings were considered only promising for and not conclusively in favor of using RE with drug-addicted persons. In the light of the findings of the study it would be feasible to use RE in any TC re-entry program like Integrity's, given the following conditions: sufficient funding, trainers, training time for the staff, and an acceptance of the educational, democratic, and empathic practices promoted by RE. Further, it would be very promising to use RE in most psychiatrically derived TC's because they already embrace such practices. In constant, predominantly psychotherapeutic, authoritarian, and severely confrontive practices, which currently prevail in most Synanon-derived TC's, would make the use of RE unfeasible.
