Charles Dederich was the founder of Synanon, generally regarded as the first rehabilitation system/center specifically for heroin addicts.  Dederich, a an alcoholic who had found the gospel of AA and the sacrament of LSD through a study at UCLA started his first outreach for addicts in his home in Santa Monica called "Tender Loving Care."  

Addicts began to show up at Dederich's group experience, including jazz musicians like Art Pepper and Joe Pass.

Dederich eventually coined the term "Synanon" and promptly incorporated it.  

Addicts would show up, go cold turkey, and then eventually be brought into a process called "The Game." The Game was a three day, group session that would feature what was called, "attack therapy." This technique was linked to the North Korean technique of brainwashing,

Dederich eventually grew Synanon into a major financial institution, which ran afoul of the IRS. To deal with the issue, Dederich changed Synanon into a church.

Eventually, Synanon becomes a full on, hardcore cult, replete with an elite guard, who were charged with over 80 counts of violence.

This is part one of the Synanon story, which also loops into the ongoing series of San Francisco, cults, power and mind control/