Hey DLF. Why so defensive?
I too am sad to see the schools close. I was at RMA from 1990-1993 and like you attribute the work that I did there with saving my life. Going to RMA got me out of my house and away from my parents, taught me how to be a friend, how to take care of myself emotionally and physically, and how to build a sense of family with others. What I learned there I continue to use in my life today.
I have also come to terms with the fact that many many people who were recipients of the Cedu education did not have a positive experience. I was vaguely aware of that when I was a student, after all, only about 50% of the folks who came though the door when I was there finished. What happened to the others? What I didn?t really get back then though was that the program, and the way it was delivered, just wasn?t well suited for everyone. Not only that, as someone who is now in the mental health field, I can easily see how the confrontational and sometimes verbally abusive nature of the program could be terribly detrimental for some folks. For me though, I don?t think that anything else would have reached me.
I don?t let myself read fronits too frequently because I find it upsetting. There are so many people out there who are enraged, seemingly vindictive and deeply hurt by their experiences at the various Cedu schools. On one hand I feel defensive and on the other I feel badly for them. And, from the number of lawsuits pending as well as stories I?ve heard from people who graduated years after me, it sounds like the program changed for the worse over the years.
Bottom line for me is that I?m sad that the school and program I graduated from doesn?t exist anymore. I guess it really hasn?t for years, but still, I think that somewhere in my mind I thought of the school as being a place that would always be there. It seems to me though that this is about evolution. The schools were no longer helping people as they should have, and now they are gone.
Best, Mark