Carlbrook

[Anonymous]

On 2005-09-14 15:20:00, Anonymous wrote:

"I would like to hear from former Carlbrook students who believe they were abused in any way or who feel that the staff was lacking in some way.  

Please speak up if you are out there.  Everything we have here on this thread from parents or students who actually have experience with the program is positive.  Maybe this Tim Brace changed???"

Looks like you are searching for validation rather than information. Maybe Tim Brace is an angel. So what. Maybe no abuse ever happens at this facility. So what. This program and its clinicians have no licensure to practice in the realms of substance abuse or mental health treatment. And they charge $5700 per month for their lack of adequate credentials. If you send your kid here, consider him / her an experiment.

How about searching for ways the kid can be helped without sending him away? Unless he is court mandated, there are less restrictive alternatives (day treatment, for example). When a kid is sent away, he will likely feel abandoned and labeled as "the bad one". A kid wants his parents to parent him, not "staff." If the parents are frustrated, worried, confused, they need to get some therapy for themselves. Problems with kids always involve, at least in part, a family problem.

Does this kid have a history of trauma? Depression? Anxiety? Substance abuse?If the answer is yes to any of these, you will be throwing him to the wolves. An Emotional Growth program, that is unlicensed by the state office of mental health, treating kids with behavioral health and substance abuse issues. Great idea. Sounds like a recipe for behavioral health and substance abuse problems down the road.

[Troll Control]

It seems like you're getting a good look at the normal procedure of the program apologists.  They make unfounded, ridiculous statements about the worth of programs and when challenged with verifiable facts (as you presented) they proceed to bash the poster of said facts with outrageous ad hominem attacks.

When the "factual" poster does not acquiesce to the bashers and logically and thoroughly rebuts the apologists' assertions, the apologists impotently and vainly threaten legal action (usually they threaten to sue for slander) and subsequently withdraw.  

I can assure you, however, the withdrawal is only temporary.  They are lurking and watching and soon their compulsion will overwhelm them and they will bash the hell out of you again.

Anyway, thank you for your thoughtful and logical refutation of the dubious credentials of Carlbrook staff.

[Anonymous]

Carlbrook does (or did when my kid went there) have a psychiatrist who handled evaluating depression, ADHD, anxiety, etc. and communicated with the parents regarding treatment and medication.  I felt that there was proper medical attention to his needs.  The whole atmosphere of the school is preppy boarding school, and the therapists are referred to as "advisors."  I think they do try to mask the fact that they are an emotional growth school.  This may be one reason why colleges seem to accept Carlbrook kids quite readily.  My kid has been home for over a year, and tonight he's filling out his application for the ACT test.  He liked Carlbrook and doesn't hate us for sending him there.  Some of the posters on this board seem to have been sent to terrible places, and will never love or trust their parents again.  That's a terrible loss for both parent and child.

[Anonymous]

On 2005-09-15 18:24:00, Anonymous wrote:

"I think they do try to mask the fact that they are an emotional growth school."

Sounds like a saavy marketing ploy.

There isn't a psychiatrist / prescriber listed on Carlbrook's website. They are not a licensed program for mental health services. And the majority of the listed providers have no license. It is pretty scary that that they are providing medication management and therapy. Licensed mental health programs can overmedicate / overdiagnose / provide inadequate mental health services. But at least fraud, unethical treatment, unsavory practices, etc. can be revealed during audits and state certification reviews. Imagine what a program with no state oversight can hide?

If your kid, and others, complete this program unscathed, I would count your lucky stars.

[Anonymous]

The psychiatrist is a consulting doctor- not fulltime on staff.  He comes to campus once a week or so.

[Anonymous]

This is how this program is protecting itself legally.  The MD is a consultant and takes the heat in a psychiatric crisis. Being an  unlicensed mental health program, they cannot hire a prescriber as a staff member. It would raise too many red flags for the state. I wonder what percent of the student population is on psychotropic meds?

[Anonymous]

On 2005-09-15 18:24:00, Anonymous wrote:

"I think they do try to mask the fact that they are an emotional growth school.  This may be one reason why colleges seem to accept Carlbrook kids quite readily.  He liked Carlbrook and doesn't hate us for sending him there.  Some of the posters on this board seem to have been sent to terrible places, and will never love or trust their parents again.  That's a terrible loss for both parent and child.  "

Thank fucking god for that. I remember when I left RMA, they had the same obscurity in terms of hiding themselves as an emotional growth school, fortunately, as did most of the CEDU system. I didn't have any problems getting into small liberal arts schools. There was one school I had to come in and talk to people to about my experience there before they decided to accept me into the college, but fortunately, I was still pretty brainwashed about the whole place, so I could paint a rosy picture about it and sell them.

And not all people who left programs are bitter, either. I don't hold my parents responsible. They simply didnt know. I could have been in worse places.

[Troll Control]

This sounds like a great place to do some waterfowling.  LOTS of quacks at the facility...

[Fake Parent Troll]

I sent my teen son to this program, twice. I highly reccomend it, when he came home he was barely the same person. They killed his fighting spirit more than I expected. Parents who want their child rewired, don't look any further.. this place will suffice. If you really hate your kid though, check out WWASP or PROVO. ALl you Forniscators belong in programs!!!!  :flame:  :flame:

[Anonymous]

Check your facts.  Karen's son didn't even finish the Carlbrook program and he certainly didn't go there twice. He did go back to wilderness during Carlbrook (he wanted to). He was in the group with my kid, who also didn't finish the program.  Karen probably challenged the methods more than any other parent.  Her son is probably the most high-achieving kid to come out of the school.

Karen does not post on this forum, but I'm sure she would be willing to share her impressions of Carlbrook privately if anyone really cared for that level of dialogue.

[Troll Control]

On 2005-09-16 08:24:00, Anonymous wrote:

"Check your facts.  Karen's son didn't even finish the Carlbrook program and he certainly didn't go there twice. He did go back to wilderness during Carlbrook (he wanted to). He was in the group with my kid, who also didn't finish the program.  Karen probably challenged the methods more than any other parent.  Her son is probably the most high-achieving kid to come out of the school.



Karen does not post on this forum, but I'm sure she would be willing to share her impressions of Carlbrook privately if anyone really cared for that level of dialogue.  "

Karen just posted.  You must be mistaken.  Check your facts.

If Carlbrook is so great, why would Karen's son WANT to go back to wildrness?  If it's so great why are your son and her son both dropouts?

Maybe for your next kids you both will get court orders mandating them into the program so they have to finish or go to jail. That's more the type of rigid control you freaks are looking for.

You must have been outraged that your kids dropped out.

[Anonymous]

If you think that KareninDallas login belongs to Karen, I have some land to sell you.
There are many good things about Carlbrook.  It is not perfect and it is not right for every kid. It is an emotional growth school with a strong academic focus.  Kids generally finish the program. Some don't and the reasons vary.

[Troll Control]

On 2005-09-16 11:59:00, Anonymous wrote:

"If you think that KareninDallas login belongs to Karen, I have some land to sell you.

There are many good things about Carlbrook.  It is not perfect and it is not right for every kid. It is an emotional growth school with a strong academic focus.  Kids generally finish the program. Some don't and the reasons vary. "

If it's a good program, why are the staff unlicensed/unqualified?  Why is the program itself not registered as a "therapuetic" center?  Why do they hire rejects from other BM programs that are confimedly abusive (staff have been convicted of crimes/lawsuits have been brought and won)?  Why is that?  Why do you reccommend Carlbrook knowing they are practicing therapy without licensure?  Why would you support that?

Could you please answer these questions, specifically why you support "therapy" administered by people who have no license to practice?

[Anonymous]

"If it's a good program, why are the staff unlicensed/unqualified? Why is the program itself not registered as a "therapuetic" center? Why do they hire rejects from other BM programs that are confimedly abusive (staff have been convicted of crimes/lawsuits have been brought and won)? Why is that? Why do you reccommend Carlbrook knowing they are practicing therapy without licensure? Why would you support that?

Could you please answer these questions, specifically why you support "therapy" administered by people who have no license to practice?"

I do not necessarily recommend this program across the board. As I said, my kid didn't complete it. I do believe most of the staff are very qualified. I don't really care if they have the exact certification previously mentioned in this thread. The head guy (Grant Price) makes sure any duds are axed pretty quickly. The advisors that are there are really good at working with the kids.  It is an emotional growth program- I truly don't know about the licensing requirements.  It didn't bother me. I trusted the staff.  I don't believe anyone on the Carlbrook staff (most of whom have excellent academic credentials) has been convicted of anything.  Much of the emotinal growth benefits came from interactions with peers.  Carlbrook is quite selective in what students they accept.  There is a waiting list (especially for boys). The kids admitted to Carlbrook are not extreme psychiatric cases.  They do not have severe learning differences. They are bright kids who struggle with issues such as substance abuse, extreme family dysfunction, adoption issues, lack of boundaries with the opposite sex etc.  Carlbrook allows the kids to work on some of these things without sacrificing their academics or jeopardizing their chances of going to a good college.   For a few kids (such as Karen's kid), the academics are not good enough.  Tim Brace seems to be loved by all the kids- I personally think he is a little over the top and weepy, but the kids respond well to him.  At Carlbrook, he is certainly not the Bad Cop.  That would be Grant Price, who holds all the cards at the place.

[Troll Control]

"It is an emotional growth program- I truly don't know about the licensing requirements. It didn't bother me. I trusted the staff."
_________________________________________________
This is the problem with program parents.  "Trust the process, trust the staff" is reinforced over and over again until the parental bots don't know or care if the law is being broken or if minimum standards are being met - which they CLEARLY ARE NOT at Carlbrook.

This is how confidence men, like Mr. Tim Brace, get your money.  Enrolling your kid in a program like this is rolling the dice with their future, plain and simple.

Unlicensed, unaccredited, unregulated, unqualified facilities should NEVER BE CONSIDERED AN OPTION FOR PLACEMENT.  You, parents, are asking for trouble and playing with fire.