Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform > The Troubled Teen Industry

The Source, the WWASP In-House Magazine

<< < (3/3)

lynn:
Yesterday we received the July issue of The Source.  It was my intention to copy and paste an article contained in it on this forum, but I was unable to get my computer to perform that function.
The article purports to be the words of a May graduate of Dundee Ranch/Carolina Springs Academy-- the 2 Narvin Litchfield properties.  I was struck by the accompanying photo of the child, head on her mom's shoulder, face devoid of expression. She is standing with her smiling parents and a younger brother. She is not smiling. She appears to be completely without affect or animation.
I will quote from the article.  Anyone interested in reading it in its entirety can go to http://www.wwasps.com, select The Source, July.  It appears on page 15 under the title "Experience...the Best Teacher."

"I have met some awesome people who I know are going to stand for my greatness and who will stand for who I am. I was able to have the experience of going to another Program for three months.  I went to Costa Rico and had many different experiences that I would not have had at CSA.
"When I left for Costa Rico, it was the day before my birthday.  I wanted to spend it with people I knew, and with my family.  However, I had a great experience on my birthday.  I was able to spend it with people I did not know.  I think that it was unique and know I may never experience anything like that again."
She goes on to discuss being on "probation" twice at Dundee-- and how that made her a "stronger" person.
I will limit myself to simply commenting that given what the world now knows about what went on at that time and that place--Dundee after Amberlee Knight left-- the fact that this child survived at all is testimony to her "strength".
But to read her words and see her face is to get punch-in-the-gut sense of what it must have cost her.
This is one article that I really believe was written by a kid.  I have no trouble imagining her speaking those words--head down, voice a dull monotone-- all the life and animation completely sucked out of her...
I was reminded of the words of British journalist Decca Aikenhead, at the close of her "Last Resort" article on Tranquility Bay: "...she looked like the saddest girl in the world."
I can't even speculate as to WWASPS' motive for printing an article of this nature. Is it supposed to SUPPORT the Program??  Maybe Anon could enlighten me.  I feel like I've stumbled into Bizarro World, where everything is reversed.  Also, maybe someone could be more successful in copying the entire (1-page) thing and posting it here?  

[ This Message was edited by: lynn on 2003-07-31 18:05 ]

[ This Message was edited by: lynn on 2003-07-31 18:51 ]

Deborah:
Well, out of curiousity, I had to do some research. I will also share that I attended an 8-day workshop once. I discovered later that the facilitator had taken est/lifespring and incorporated this into the workshop. I won't go into the full details of the experience, but I will say that I think they have good intentions, and I agree with many of their contentions on how humans become distorted based on their life conditioning, but are way off base in the techniques used to facilitate personal growth.

The facilitator required everyone to tell their life story, an hour, which was video taped. After my story, he vicously attacked me for being a "victim". It just so happened that I know some of his past. It took some time after the experience to sort it out, but my conclusion was that my "victim" story was similar to his and had rekindled some old resentments toward a mother who could not protect him from a violent step-father. I got the brunt of that resentment he held toward his mother. Who was the "therapist" here. I felt like I was. I hadn't expected to listen to him vent (unawarely) about his own atrocities.

I went there expecting the facilitator to have done enough work cleaning up his own past to be able to help me with mine. Not vicously attack me because I couldn't tell a story of atrocities, joyfully and humerously. I think that is an admirable goal, but not to be expected of a new participant. And I don't believe that further abusive treatment and humiliation are effective ways to assist. Ultimately, he wasn't responsible for what I felt, and I was able to put things in perspective, but a weaker person may not have.

I could write a few pages on the experience. The bottom line is that I learned alot, but it had little to do with the facilitator's ability. It was more about me learning to trust my own thinking, which is not always rational or accurate. But I have found other, more effective ways of ferreting out wrong beliefs and patterns (habitual actions and reactions).

I do not feel this technique which employed at many programs is beneficial at all for teens, and from what I read, never was intended for "developing egos".

Now to the research. Get this:
EST (now The Forum)/ Lifespring
"I am responsible for the results in my life."

http://perso.wanadoo.fr/eldon.braun/awareness/mind.htm
Alexander Everett- Mind Dynamics
Mind Dynamics, founded by Alexander Everett, was the major forerunnner of the Large Group Awareness Trainings. Although it was only in existence for a few years, it has certainly sparked an entire industry of similar trainings.
Alexander Everett was from England and arrived in America in 1962 and went to Missouri. "Deciding that the Unity ministry was not his calling, he (Alexander Everett) left Missouri in 1963 and went to Fort Worth, Texas, where he had been invited to help establish a PRIVATE BOARDING SCHOOL.  :eek:  He remained in Texas for seven years. In Texas, he not only helped set up the Fort Worth Country Day School but more importantly, completed the work that led to the founding in 1968 of Mind Dynamics, the experiential human potential training organization that was to become the forerunner of est, Lifespring, Actualizations, and several other human potential training organizations that flourished in the 1970s and continue to do so in the 80s.


When Leadership Dynamics and Mind Dynamics shut down, some of the instructors went out on their own.
·Four of them [Bob White, Randy Revell, Charlene Afremow, John Hanley] founded Lifespring in 1974.
·Another, Werner Erhard, founded est in 1971 which evolved into The Forum.
·Bob White left Lifespring, went to Japan, and started a training organization there called Life Dynamics.
·Randy Revell left Lifespring and founded the Context Trainings.
·Charlene Afremow joined Erhard's organization as a trainer. She later left in a dispute and is now back at Lifespring.
·Howard Nease founded Personal Dynamics.
·Jim Quinn founded Lifestream
·Thomas Willhite founded PSI World Seminars
·Stewart Emery worked for est and later founded Actualizations
·William Penn Patrick's training organization recovered and is known today as Leadership Dynamics.

A few other interesting links:
http://www.caic.org.au/psyther/lifespring/pathology.htm
Pathology as ?Personal Growth?: A Participant-Observation Study of Lifespring Training

http://skepdic.com/landmark.html
The Skeptic?s Dictionary

Anonymous:

--- Quote ---
On 2003-07-30 23:12:00, Anonymous wrote:

"

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[*] Previous page