What really amazes me is how the school hires all these young faculty who quickly end up leading FLCs and other group discussions that are like therapy sessions. How can this school justify putting these novices into those situations, especially when parents and students end up talking about the most amazingly sensitive family stuff imaginable?
The key here being "like" therapy sessions. A conversation with a friend can be "like" a therapy session, but there are differences. Sometimes thoses conversations can get out of control and that's when they have to be directed elsewhere or outside professional help suggested. I've been through a couple of FLCs and while they sometimes went into very deep, personal issues, those discussions were entered into voluntarily and were appropriately guided by the facilitator. I can't say that I experienced "traumatic" situations as some have alluded to, but I'm not discounting the experiences of others.
I did not disclose my personal issues voluntarily. I am not disputing what your experience was, but I did many more FLC's then the "couple" of ones you say you did. My experience in those FLC's, was that the parents and kids were very much pressured into opening up even when they didn't want to. The other students and parents in the FLC's along with the facilitator sometimes would belittle a person in order to get them to spill their guts. One time a woman stood up for the allowed time and didn't want to say anything. She was obviously very troubled about something in her life. The facilitator humiliated this woman in front of everyone until she ended up crying. This was a great feat in the facilitators cap. You could tell she was very proud of herself when she broke this woman down. The woman still would not divulge the family secret she had inside of her. The facilitator badgered and badgered her the entire weekend. I understand she pulled her child out of Hyde shortly after.
This to me is not a sufficient way of helping a person deal with their issues. What kind of training and education do these former students and parents have when they take on the role to facilitate a group session? Do they know what to do in an emergency situation? To me this seems like very dangerous territory.
I am glad that you did not experience "traumatic" results. You are of the lucky ones. I don't want to be "lucky" with my child. I want to know he is getting the best care possible when I pay $35,000++ to get him a "character education."
I personally think these people at Hyde are the ones who need the group sessions with a good therapist because they seem to be nuts! They are stuck in a place for many years where they don't grow and yet they are trying to dispense therapy??? This seems crazy.
