New Life’s Spiritual Therapy Draws Praise

When New Life Treatment Centers was founded in 1988, it filled what its advocates call an important niche in the therapeutic community: a place for Christians to seek both psychological and spiritual solace.

Since then, “thousands of people . . . have come here from all over the country and made dramatic changes for the better in their lives,” said New Life founder Stephen Arterburn.

Arterburn and New Life supporters say six lawsuits alleging that three care providers engaged in sexual or other misconduct in two Orange County programs in no way represent patients’ general experience in New Life programs.

As evidence, Arterburn cited a patient survey in which 82% of respondents said they would refer others to the programs. One reason for the program’s quality and safety, he said, is that New Life has “the highest (staff-to-patient) ratio that I know of.”

Arterburn and several New Life advocates describe the organization as much more than a business; they consider it a “mission” or a “ministry.”

However one describes New Life, it has done brisk business, especially in Orange County.

In the past six years, the for-profit organization has fielded about 220,000 inquiries and treated more than 20,000 patients at some 20 centers around the country. About 11,000 of those have been treated at its two inpatient programs in Orange County--a 50-bed program at Orange County Community Hospital in Buena Park and a 80-bed program at Western Medical Center-Anaheim.

The organization does extensive advertising around the country tailored to the Christian community, budgeting $2 million for publicity in 1990, according to news stories at the time about the growth of Christian-based therapy.

In a 1990 article in Modern Healthcare, a business magazine, Arterburn said that combining psychiatric and spiritual approaches to therapy is a way to attract a lucrative and as yet untapped market.

New Life acts as what Arterburn calls a “contract management company,” collecting from the hospitals a portion of what patients and their insurance companies pay. In exchange, New Life manages the psychiatric units and provides non-nursing care.

Arterburn said New Life does not make financial arrangements with patients. Rather, the hospitals where its programs are based do that and may offer breaks to strapped patients, such as free plane tickets or waivers on insurance deductibles. New Life intake workers, Arterburn said, often act as advocates for needy patients.

In the Orange County programs, assuming an inpatient stay of about 10 days, Arterburn said adult patients and their insurance companies would pay an average of $6,188, of which New Life would collect $2,288--”well within reason” compared to other psychiatric providers, Arterburn said.

But the success of New Life, supporters said, cannot be measured solely in economic terms.

Several mental health professionals who have worked at New Life or sent patients there say the organization provides a vital, high-quality resource to patients who often are uncomfortable with secular therapy.

“I’ve worked with patients in every psychiatric hospital” in a 30-mile radius, said marriage, family and child counselor (MFCC) Kevin Downing of Diamond Bar. “I feel their program is head and shoulders above what was previously existing.”

Orange psychologist Patricia Cerny said New Life’s work is “really outstanding” because it addresses “every aspect of the human condition--the mental, the physical and the spiritual. They take an (approach) that really addresses the whole person. They’re very compassionate, straightforward and strong.”

As for the allegations in the lawsuits against New Life programs and its care providers, supporters expressed everything from skepticism and surprise to sadness.

“I am very grieved over these types of allegations because of what its effect is on the program,” said Pamela Rice, an MFCC intern, who has worked at New Life centers. “I know it is a wonderful program.”