Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform > Who Am I Discovery/Whitmore

Dizzy Izzy strikes again

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Anonymous:
From the Offices of the TS Waygookin:

http://http://www.whitmoreacademy.blogspot.com/


I also direct your attention to:

http://http://www.isaccorp.org/documentsnz.asp#whitmore




--- Quote ---Whitmore Academy: Mark and Cheryl Sudweeks

Owners and Directors of the Whitmore Academy
Sunday, March 18, 2007
The Whitmore Academy: Part I: Up close and personal

How it all began

Many years ago Mark and Cheryl Sudweeks owned a hunting and fishing lodge in Northern British Columbia, Canada. Many of the adolescents who were brought there by their wealthy parents were uncontrollable teens. Some of these teens worked at the lodge under the supervision of the Sudweeks.

Within a short period of time their parents often noted a marked improvement in their behavior and attitudes. As Mark Sudweeks said, ?these kids will learn what they are ready to learn, they will accept what they are ready to accept. Trying to force them into it is counterproductive.?

Some of these teens and their parents decided the teen should stay at the lodge and work under Mark and Cheryl. By the time they went back home several months later, most had become responsible, happy, productive, outgoing kids, and thereafter continued to succeed.

Their program ? a program that works

Mark and Cheryl realized that what they were doing for these teens worked. They opened their home and opened their hearts to children who others had either given up on or knew they could no longer help. They eventually purchased the Whitmore Mansion in Nephi, Utha, and opened The Whitmore Academy, a small program that gradually grew to about 40 youth. Mark and Cheryl?s program was unique, and has had a positive impact on the lives of many.

As their program grew they continued with the methods that had proven effective and that had turned teens? lives around. Before long, their home was bustling with children and teens who had found new hope in life.

According to former parent, Peggy Rodebush, ?Mark and Cheryl each had their own approach with the children which complemented each other. While Mark was the outdoorsman, taking the children flying, to the cabin, on dirt bikes, hiking, hunting, and being a positive male/father figure for the boys, Cheryl had the patience of a saint. She would listen to the children for hours. She taught my son how to trust his own feelings and how to share and express his feelings in a positive way.?

Parents who visited the Whitmore prior to placing their children shared they immediately recognized the love, warmth, and caring that emanated from the Sudweeks and the children in their care. Former students of the Whitmore Academy shared with me that their lives truly were changed by their experiences there. They shared that Mark and Cheryl helped them see the love and caring that was missing from their lives. They saw the light at the end of the tunnel; they learned to hope again, something they had not felt in a long time. They learned they could control their own destiny and saw that through love, kindness, understanding, and therapy, they could be happy and they could thrive. The students were encouraged to look inward and evaluate themselves, make goals, and work towards their goals.

Wherever they were, the students had chores to do, they had to get up on time and go to bed on time. The program was tailored to each individual child. They had to go to school if they were enrolled in the public schools or do their schoolwork at home if they were enrolled in alternative coursework.

According to the Sudweeks? lawyer, the students were not allowed to mistreat each other, and were certainly never directed by Cheryl or Mark to mistreat each other. Discipline was administered by the giving of privileges and/or taking away of privileges. The students were made to be accountable for their actions in ways that worked, when all other methods tried by their parents and former therapists/counselors/supervisors had been largely unsuccessful.
Former parent, Mary Gentile, stated ?It was never about the money for Mark and Cheryl. Cheryl gets very attached to the kids and makes sure they do not go down the wrong path. Though some of these troubled teens have turned their backs on her, she has never turned her back on any of them.?

Mary Gentile went on to say that during group therapy sessions, which consisted of a licensed therapist, the children, and Cheryl, ?Cheryl was a liaison ? she was there for the children. She made sure they were at peace with one another and resolved their differences. She was always there for these kids.?

Throughout their stay children benefited from emotional growth education through their equine program and the outstanding recreation afforded them at their unique locations in British Columbia, Canada, Nephi and Levan, Utah, and in Baja California, SUR, Mexico. Because of these extraordinary locations, the rewards were endless - canoeing, mountain biking, fishing, hiking, floatplane fly-outs, rodeo, kayaking, scuba diving, snorkeling, water skiing, horseback riding, beach activities, swimming, and more.

When I asked former student, Brandon, if he went on trips he laughed and said, "Lady, I don't have enough fingers to count the number of trips we went on. We went to the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Lake Powell - and that was just my first month. The trips were very fun, you got to know everyone in the group very well. I got to learn about the people and form close friendships with others that I had never had before."

After talking to parents and students it has become apparent that Mark and Cheryl are truly special people with a gift for helping children and troubled youth. Parent Sheila Willis said she is saddened that the Whitmore has been shut down. She said that Mark and Cheryl taught the kids morals and taught them that they did not have to resort to drugs or alcohol to bring happiness; how to give back to their community and how being of service can bring personal growth and satisfaction; how to have fun. Some of these children came from such severe backgrounds that they really didn?t know how to have fun. They learned life was worth living, people were worth loving.

Mark and Cheryl taught children life skills and correct principles as they prepared the kids to take accountability and govern their own lives, which, in my opinion, was truly the success of their program. They provided a safe environment with structure and used follow-through and consequences as effective deterrents. Their program was not a lock-down facility but rather the doors were open so children could learn to set their own limits so they would have the tools necessary to move on in their lives when they left the Whitmore.

Part II: "Voices from the Whitmore" coming soon

Posted by Isabelle Zehnder at 3:25 PM 0 comments


--- End quote ---

Anonymous:
Mary Gentile is reporting that a "licensed therapist" conducted the group sessions?  COME ON Mary. Who told you that?  That was Cheryl's job.  Remember the ole yell?
GROUP!  GROUP!  GROUP!

All hours of the day and night?

Anonymous:
How strange.  This looks just like Isabelle's blog.

http://suescheff.blogspot.com/

Anonymous:
http://isabellezehnder.blogspot.com/

Isabelle encourages parents who are considering placing their child or teen in a program or facility away from home to contact her at [email protected]. She provides a free, one-hour consultation to help parents make an informed decision for their child. As mentioned above, this industry is not regulated. There is no Federal oversight and there is no governing body monitoring what goes on behind closed doors. This leaves the door wide open for abuse and neglect to occur. Isabelle believes it is vital that parents seeking residential placement for the child or teen be well informed. This is one of the biggest decisions parents will make, so making it in haste, out of fear, and without doing research can be disasterous, as we have too often seen.

----------------

Yup.  There is no oversight.  ANYONE can call themselves a parent advocate or consultant.  

Wonder what happens if the "consultation" goes over one hour?  And what "options" (programs??) does Isabelle recommend?

 :roll:

BuzzKill:
I wonder what prompted this glowing recommendation of Whitmore by Izzahell? Why now Izzy? Interesting - sort of.

I wonder if she would be willing to talk with some pro-program parents and grads from, say, Dundee Ranch, or Casa by the Sea, or Paradise Cove - and explain how wonderful and helpful the program was for them; and what a shame it is that they have been closed down?

How about it Izzy - you want to be fair, and present all Points of View don't you?

After all, There are Lots of families that will testify for you how great all these programs are, and have always been; how kind and supportive the staff are; how they teach the kids "correct principles" and so on and so fourth.

In fact, I feel it is safe to say that these families would outnumber those who say these programs are abusive and negligent hell holes by a wide margin. That being so - surely you can over look the fact that they have shut down by the various governments where they were located. And unlike Whitmore, no charges were ever brought - or if they were - they were dismissed, or the charged party won an acquittal.

So surely, if you can laud Whitmore and the Sudwicks, despite them being chased out of two countries; with convictions in one for gross and extreme animal abuse; and closed down in Utah (of all places) pleading no contest to charges of child abuse and hazing - If you are comfortable with all this, then surely you can give proper acknowledgement and support to the various WWASP programs, that are clearly even more deserving.

Or is it simply that kudos to WWASPS doesn't pay?

 :o

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