Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform > Facility Question and Answers
The Carlbrook thread
Charly:
Why would the kids be begging to leave? Come on- What teen wants to be at a school where they don't have a cell phone, car, internet, girlfriend or boyfriend, malls, jeans, organized sports etc? It's not a fun place compared to what they had at home. They have to follow rules and there are consequences when they do not. Leaving the entire issue of whether the therapeutic model is abusive, it is still a place that has rules and enforces consequences. This wasn't happening at home for these kids. It was interesting that a lot of the girls found it a safe, nurturing place and many of the boys felt like they were in prison.
psy:
--- Quote from: ""Charly"" ---Why would the kids be begging to leave? Come on- What teen wants to be at a school where they don't have a cell phone, car, internet, girlfriend or boyfriend, malls, jeans, organized sports etc? It's not a fun place compared to what they had at home. They have to follow rules and there are consequences when they do not. Leaving the entire issue of whether the therapeutic model is abusive, it is still a place that has rules and enforces consequences. This wasn't happening at home for these kids. It was interesting that a lot of the girls found it a safe, nurturing place and many of the boys felt like they were in prison.
--- End quote ---
You make a valid point. But was it necessary to remove many of these things to help the kids (eg: internet, cell phone, letters to girlfriends, organized sports...)
You might also want to ask your son if kids were decieved about rules by the school?
Were there things you felt were misrepresented to you regarding the type of therapy when you sent your son to Carlbrook? What types of services did they claim to provide? What did they?
If anything... i would recommend sending the Carlbrookkaren correspondance to your son and seeing if there are any innacuracies that he could point out.
Anne Bonney:
http://www.ex-cult.org/bite.html
II. Information Control
1. Use of deception
a. Deliberately holding back information
b. Distorting information to make it acceptable
c. Outright lying
2. Access to non-cult sources of information minimized or discouraged
a. Books, articles, newspapers, magazines, TV, radio
b. Critical information
c. Former members
d. Keep members so busy they don?t have time to think
3. Compartmentalization of information; Outsider vs. Insider doctrines
a. Information is not freely accessible
b. Information varies at different levels and missions within pyramid
c. Leadership decides who "needs to know" what
4. Spying on other members is encouraged
a. Pairing up with "buddy" system to monitor and control
b. Reporting deviant thoughts, feelings, and actions to leadership
5. Extensive use of cult generated information and propaganda
a. Newsletters, magazines, journals, audio tapes, videotapes, etc.
b. Misquotations, statements taken out of context from non-cult sources
6. Unethical use of confession
a. Information about "sins" used to abolish identity boundaries
b. Past "sins" used to manipulate and control; no forgiveness or absolution
Charly:
Anne- that adds nothing to this discussion.
Psy- Nothing was really mis-represented to us regarding the therapy. We were given a pretty good summary of what would occur in terms of the number of groups per week and the amount of time he would spend with his therapist (called an Advisor). There wasn't a whole lot of written correspondence back and forth. While my son was there we communicated by email and phone. Before he was there we visited Carlbrook, met with students and staff, interviewed and were interviewed ourselves. It was not at all certain that Carlbrook would accept our son. He was very borderline.
I believe the removal of all the creature comforts mentioned was a good thing. The things that DID work about the place would not have worked if cell phones, etc had been available to the kids. There were no huge complaints about all that from the kids. There was plenty to do and the days were pretty full, except for the weekends which could get boring.
try another castle:
I'm with Anne on this. It seems quite relevant to me.
--- Quote ---I spoke to him briefly a little while ago.
He said there were three group therapy sessions a week. There was rarely a specific topic. Someone would begin by saying, "There's something I would like to take about." It would go from there.
--- End quote ---
and from waaaay back in the thread...
--- Quote ---I think twice a week. Maybe 3 times. The groups were coed and I seem to recall that you could "call" someone to be in your group. So-if you wanted to confront someone or yell at them, you requested a group with them. This was awhile ago, but I think that's how it worked. Then the kid who was "invited" got to sit there and get shit.
There were some good staff who led better groups than others. My son particularly objected to one senior staff- he hated me and my son and took it out on my son.
--- End quote ---
Uh, Okay, RAP. Definitely.
Complete with "Rap request" ("calling" someone.) and "indictments" (confrontations). TSW addressed this, too. It's the CEDU model, fo' sho'.
I think I even remember you (charly) writing something about having to switch chairs to yell at someone in group, but I can't find it in this thread. Maybe I'm mistaking your post for someone else's.
Question 1: Were there workshops/propheets there? I've read through the thread, but I might have overlooked it. If so, has your son told you anything about them?
Question 2: Re: bioenergetics/running your anger. Did your son ever talk about having to scream at the ground? Hit things like cushions? This is yet another thing that I may have overlooked on this thread, but I haven't found anything addressing it so far.
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