Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform > Facility Question and Answers

The Carlbrook thread

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Anonymous:
From the other Carlbrook Thread
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=8792


--- Quote from: "ears" ---
--- Quote from: "survivor1" ---
--- Quote from: "legal eagle" ---
--- Quote from: "summoned guest" ---Tim Brace was the director of mount bachelor academy for awhile. He had the same job as Sharon Bitz did until MBA got its license suspended and Aspen shut it down. MBA and Sharon Bitz personally were cited by Oregon for a number of kinds of child abuse, you can find this on other boards or on the web. I witnessed much of the same happen under Tim Brace and I saw him do a lot of it myself.

in his first meeting there he announced to the whole school that he used to "suck cock for crack" - his words
--- End quote ---

Carlbrook survivors -- this http://http://www.dss.virginia.gov/files/division/dfs/cps/manuals/03-2009/partIIdefinitionsofabuseandneglect3-09.pdf may be worth taking a look at

A good start might be the sections
B)2.12 Physical Abuse - Bizarre Discipline
D)2.4 Medical Neglect - Necessary Medical Care or Treatment
E)2.0 Mental Abuse -- Caretakers Actions or Omissions

Virginia Department of Social Services Hotline Numbers
Hotline Numbers

In Virginia: (800) 552-7096
Out-of-state: (804) 786-8536
Hearing-impaired: (800) 828-1120
--- End quote ---

Thanks for the research!!
--- End quote ---

Ditto. I hope the Carlbrook survivors have the courage to speak up, spread the word to their fellow grads. The deal with these investigations seems to be the state has no impetus to take action until kids start to make complaints.


--- Quote from: "lk" ---Tim Brace told everyone about "sucking cock for crack" but only because he wanted to show how dark his life had gotten and if he could rise up, so could we. Still, it seemed like he would say it not just to bond with us but also partially for shock value...I don't know...he is definitely a used car salesman but I think he swallows his own bullshit, you know?
--- End quote ---

yes


--- Quote from: "lk" --- Like I think he genuinely believes in what he does, and I'm not sure if that makes it better or worse. Scary to think about.
--- End quote ---

Well it definitely makes it more sad. I think most of these staff mean well. But on the other hand most of them have degrees in something else, don't have even a teaching credential or an MFT in counseling, and haven't been getting anything but the most minimal sort of continuing education. I think the way you can succeed in working in one of these programs without any training etc is very seductive. Suddenly these people are doing something that seems meaningful and they get to feel like an expert—they think they know better than the medical establishment, etc—and kids are hugging them and parents are thanking them and then there's all the BS about how they're "saving lives." To me it's terribly arrogant.  
 

--- Quote from: "lk" --- I have so much anger inside me right now towards Carlbrook. I'm just now starting to realize how horrifically manipulative it was...not just while I was there but NOW. I feel like my brain works differently now. I get so scared and anxious in random situations because I have this fear of...well, I'm not sure what I'm afraid of.
--- End quote ---

like you get up to take a leak in the middle of the night and you just get this disorderly feeling, like everything is a howling mess?


--- Quote from: "lk" ---But it's the same crippling fear I felt at Carlbrook, of being "bad" or getting in trouble or having everything taken away. Carlbrook messed with my psychologically and I don't feel like that's ever going to go away. My therapist says the therapy that I got there created a need for more therapy to undo that therapy, ironically enough. He says I exhibit a lot of the same symptoms that his vets with PTSD do. I hate this, feeling like my mind's been violated. Were we really behaviorally modified? How can Carlbrook control me so much even when I'm not there? Help.
--- End quote ---

first few times i smoked pot after i got out i had terrible flashbacks. saw the staff's faces in my mind scolding me. evil imagos
--- End quote ---

Anonymous:
Some questions for anyone who wants to talk about Carlbrook

about the workshops:
Is there any role-playing? I mean, something where the staff assigns a character for you to act out?
In the Amicitia, how physical is the circle of exclusion?
Are there horeshoe-style groups where you only get "feedback"? How harsh does it get?
Are there exercise where you call yourself names? In which you call your parents names?
In the Animus, what's the "pillow fighting" about? What other bioenergetic exercises are there? Are you ever restrained under a sheet by the group? Do they do the one where you have to bite towel and pull on it?
They make you watch Requiem for a Dream, right? Other stuff? Under-age kids watching this?

about request group:
Do people get called names? Yelled at?
How harsh does the "feedback" get?
Are people ever supposed to yell out the floor?

about punishments in general
How often are you supposed to do honor lists? Just in workshops?
Do you ever have to do manual labor? If so what kind of work? For how long at a time? Only if you break a major rule, or...?

I'm going to post this on the other Carlbrook list too. Sorry for the repeat

Anonymous:
I went to Carlbrook and graduated in December 2008. I'm pretty active on the other Carlbrook thread. Earlier in this thread, you guys were talking about how you were parents/friends/etc. of Carlbrook students but needed actual Carlbrook students to have a real discussion. Soo...any questions? I'll answer anything.

Anonymous:

--- Quote ---I'd rather do a month of work details then 2 days in a row of staring at the wall being monitored.

I'd go apeshit. That's real fucking scary. Tim brace is overseeing that. It's a fucking POW camp. Hell i'd rather be in a 72 hour caroline rap than be told I was on an indefinite stare at the wall program.

Please elaborate on how you got put on one of those. Was it before or after work details?.
--- End quote ---

TWO DAYS??? Try two weeks, minimum. One guy was in there for nine months IN A ROW.

And a repeat from the other thread:

about the workshops:
Is there any role-playing? I mean, something where the staff assigns a character for you to act out?
Tons. I can't think of it all but there's a bit in every workshop and some in regular groups if you're in a Sally group or an Andy group. In Amicitia, you push people out of the circle of friendship. In Animus, you go to your own funeral/read your obituaries/die/get buried/rise from the dead/etc. You also have to act out your negative sculpture (you know, shooting yourself in the head, having your legs open like a whore, snorting coke, whatever your issue is). You also fight for a spot on the "lifeboats." In Teneo, you go from being born to turning into a rose or something weird like that the last day. Also in Teneo, you have to act out 3 of your "roles" and use people in your peer group as other characters. I can't remember the other bits.

In the Amicitia, how physical is the circle of exclusion?
I don't know about other people's experience but in mine it wasn't like kids were getting punched or anything. You know, you'd shove them out and stuff but everyone was pretty half-hearted about it. I don't know, those acting-it-out scenarios never "worked" for me.

Are there horeshoe-style groups where you only get "feedback"? How harsh does it get?
Yeah, in the first two workshops. Integritas is the harshest probably. You get "monster," "victim," "pathetic," "worthless," "unlovable," "disgusting," etc written on a card and taped on your shirt. I've heard some really fucked-up feedback in those circles...I'm trying to think of the worst..."cum-dumpster," "n****r-lover," etc...or people just bringing up other people's disclosures and using them against them.

Are there exercise where you call yourself names? In which you call your parents names?
I think you kind of call yourself names the whole time with your negative statements, lies, etc. You yell at your parents (aka the floor) in Integritas. You hit/yell at/rage against your parents (aka pillows) in Veneratio.

In the Animus, what's the "pillow fighting" about? What other bioenergetic exercises are there? Are you ever restrained under a sheet by the group? Do they do the one where you have to bite towel and pull on it?
Raise arms over head, brings hands down on pillow and sort of make it an entire-body type of exercise. Yell. Fight Night in Teneo is the one where you pull on the towel and scream and push against your peers. No biting though. Can't remember the other bioenergetics.

They make you watch Requiem for a Dream, right? Other stuff? Under-age kids watching this?
You watch like the last 10 minutes of RFAD in Veneratio. Most kids are 18 by the time they graduate but some aren't. I heard they recently got rid of that part though because word got out and they didn't want to get in trouble. It was a pretty horrifying 10 minutes...double-headed dildoes assfucking Jennifer Connelly, shock treatment on the old woman...revolting. It was effective, though.

about request group:
Do people get called names? Yelled at?
Not random named. Like you can't call someone an asshole - it has to be "you're ACTING LIKE an asshole." People do get railed a lot though by staff and peers. Sometimes it's in a constructive way, like you can tell they're yelling because they care but sometimes it's just spiteful, angry bullshit.

How harsh does the "feedback" get?
Very. There's really no other way to say that. Very, very, very harsh.

Are people ever supposed to yell out the floor?
All the time. It's called "running anger."

about punishments in general
How often are you supposed to do honor lists? Just in workshops?
In workshops, before workshops, in suspension, on action plans, if your adviser suspects you've done something bad.

Do you ever have to do manual labor? If so what kind of work? For how long at a time? Only if you break a major rule, or...?
Out-of-school suspensioners work with the maintenance crew - gardening, mowing, digging up tree stumps, raking, etc. And of course everyone cleans. Everyone is always effing cleaning. Wake up, clean your dorm, clean your mod. Before you go to sleep, clean your dorm. After dinner, crews either run jugs (deliver water jugs to various locations around campus while carrying them on their backs and running), cleaning the dining hall/kitchen, or running/cleaning the Commons. You get a crew or multiple crews for minor infractions (didn't wear a belt, bra strap showing, messy dorm, disrespect, cutting across the grass, swearing, spitting without asking, leaving a personal item unattended, late homework, talking back to a staff, etc.). Suspension is for more serious things (lying, cheating, etc.) or if you need "time alone to work on your emotions" or whatever.

And no, we were never restrained by the group with a sheet. The workshops sucked but I don't think they crossed a line. I mean...ugh, it's complicated. I think so much of what went on in there was unnecessary and sometimes damaging but I don't think they did anything ABUSIVE, you know? Like, nothing that was illegal or crazy like those psycho therapists that stage fake birth canals and accidentally smother the kids (does anyone remember that case from a few years ago?).

I think the problem with workshops is that they're scripted. They're not individualized for the specific kids in the specific workshop. It's like manufacturing 20 extra-large t-shirts for 20 kids. You need to make them extra-large because the kids are all different sizes and this way, every kid will at least have clothing on his back even if he or she is swimming in fabric. It's better than to have a kid not be able to fit in the t-shirt, right? So everyone's wearing these extra-large t-shirts. For some kids, the t-shirts fit fine. For others, it's a little uncomfortable, you know, baggy and annoying but okay. For some, it goes down to their knees and when they go outside, it doesn't protect them from the sun and they have this awful weird-shaped sunburn because of the way the shirt fits and...okay. Never mind. This metaphor sucks. Sorry about this, guys.

But basically, they're doing a one-size-fits-all workshop when they need to think about what is going to work FOR and WITH the kids in the workshop. They need to spend more time making 20 different t-shirts in the right size for the right kid. The problem with the workshops is that they do EVERYTHING. They know that some kids are visual learners/experiential learners/etc. So they need to reach each kid. So they throw in some acting-it-out exercises, some bioenergetic exercises, some visualizations, some feedback circles, some written-out tools, some lectures, some writing assignments...basically throwing in everything and the kitchen sink because they know that everything won't affect everyone but SOMETHING will affect EVERYONE, you know? So they need to cover all of their bases.

The problem is that the kids don't know this. They think they're supposed to "get" EVERYTHING. So when they can't connect with something, they think something's wrong with them and fake it and feel like shit. Or, worse, they try to FORCE themselves to do it, to feel it, and end up breaking themselves a little bit. Or the staff try to force it and break something. It's just bad.

Sorry, I sound like an idiot. But hopefully you get what I'm saying.

Anonymous:
they dont do requiem for a dream anymore but my adviser made me watch the last ten min before i graduated bc she thought it would scare me into following my transition plan

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