Graduates is this Correct? -- About Pillow Pounding

[Maximus]

Got This From Researchers At http://www.talkingcure.com/archive/Stalebaloney.htm Do you guys who are graduates agree with this research on pillow pounding

Hitting pillows, using bataka bats, and venting: This technical baloney will make you angry!
For years, catharsis--in particular venting angry feelings through "safe" forms of physical expression--has been a popular and preferred strategy of many therapists.  Data has long existed calling such practices as "hitting a pillow," "punching a punching bag," or "hitting something or someone with a bataka bat" into serious question.  Now additional research shows that there is no scientific support whatsoever for the catharsis effect.  Indeed, acting out anger actually increase a person's hostility!  Here's hoping you didn't just buy stock in that bataka bat company!

Bushman, B.J., et al. (1999).  Catharsis, aggression and persuasive influence: Self-fulfilling or self-defeating prophecies?  Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76(3).
For a reprint, contact the author at: http://www.apa.org/journals/psp/psp763367.html

[chinsk]

Thats to bad, the pillow pounding was one of my favorite parts in a propheet (it was the I wanna live right?)

[Jack1963]

So glad you posted this, Max. We've known for decades that these "catharsis" myths escalate people. Not that CEDU would want to actually do the right thing...

You know, if they actually had people with REAL educations from REAL universities, this crap wouldn't be happening. I believe that there can be such a thing as a truly therapeutic boarding school. Some kids need a bilateral parentectomy. However, what I've seen so far is FAR from therapeutic.

On 2004-05-03 14:35:00, chinsk wrote:

"Thats to bad, the pillow pounding was one of my favorite parts in a propheet (it was the I wanna live right?)"

[Hell on Wheels]

I have no idea, we'd do it, get all wound up and then have a shitty sandwich in silence, so we'd be too tired to be angry. It wasn't even fun, cause I wasn't mad when we did it. Of course they start throwing issues in our faces, that was always cute. But in the I and Me, they would make us do it to each other. It was great because I was paired with Hamp most of the time, and he just could not get me fired up no matter what, he was a little too nice, and didn't know how to talk shit. So I'd just thump around or pretend I was a boxer and start in on the combos, when I really wanted to hit the propheet facilitator.

[Anonymous]

future pillow pounders, write this down..... Cedu pillows have zippers on one side. DO NOT hit the zipper. Also, get the softest pillow you can find, as some are rather rough and play hell with the backs of your hands. Also, do not use the pillow in La Mancha with the stain on it. Thank you for your time, and thank you for riding the CEDU express...next stop, Hell.

[blownawaytheidahoway]

all of this is important. I'm reading on the subject of pillow pounding. Where is Jack1963? And HELL is funny. Kicking up anger issues three times a week did me harm apparently. I'm getting that message clearly now.

[Anonymous]

who was running the place when u were there?  staff would vent and it seemed to make them more resentful.

[blownawaytheidahoway]

Dan, then tim, then doug kb, then finally rea? i think

[Anonymous]

Exactly!  If CEDU was effective at anger management then why were so many staff so out of control with it?

The most angry people I have ever known in my life were the staff at CEDU.

I saw them go off on staff, students, parents, and especially their own family members.

CEDU staff were poster children of Anger Management as well as AA.

[Anonymous]

yes this is true and now i have more anger issues from before because i cant get my anger out now i mean really hitting a pillow is not gonna work now that i am out

[try another castle]

Well, I think that any form of "catharsis" therapy is a bunch of bull puckies. Regardless of its form. The reason being is that it only deals with that moment in time, i.e. the moment you are pounding the pillow. You are able to vent some frustrations, sure, but it doesn't lead anywhere, and it doesn't make you think clearer, have more insight, be better equipped to set goals or decide a proper course of action after the fact. Despite the faculty telling you otherwise. (Remember how the staff would always say how important it was to "set direction" for yourself after a pillow pounding thing, or a good group cry or a screaming match in a propheet or reunion?)

It is only a stop-gap tactic. i.e. it may "help" in venting current or imagined frustrations, but that's it. IMO, it is no better than a temper tantrum a 5 year old would have. You scream and scream and scream until you run out of gas, but you're no better off than you were before the fact.

The other misconception which I find so funny is the myth that staff and therapists who sing the praises of this method of "therapy" believe that you need a therapist or special training in order to have your little "catharsis". What is so special about pounding a pillow and screaming that you need direction from a "qualified"  professional in order to do it properly? A friend of mine said she wanted to look into primal scream therapy and pillow pounding and I told her "If you want to scream, what's keeping you from doing it now? You already know how to do that! And if you want to pound a pillow, you can do that too. If you want help, I can show you so you don't hurt your hands, but really it's not that difficult to figure out yourself." (I refrained from telling her how much bullshit it is. There really was no point. I knew it would just make her defensive and angry.)

The other problem is that once you start doing it, you believe that this is the only way you can deal with your feelings appropriately. That was the bullshit we were taught at the CEDU schools, and once we got out, what were we supposed to do? Get a soundproofed apartment?

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[ This Message was edited by: sorry... try another castle on 2006-01-14 19:05 ]

[Anonymous]

yeah...sometimes i wonder how i got to be such a clown, and then i remember who was driving the car.

the only way to truly demonstrate emotion in it's fullest is to kill yourself or someone else.

faking feelings of catharsis it could cause long lasting damage.

see?

[try another castle]

I wasn't speaking about genuine catharsis, I was talking about the "catharsis therapy" movement. i.e. primal scream, pillow pounding, and such. The catharsis in those situations is contrived, if not forced.