WHAT THE HELL IS THIS SHIT?

[Kelly1980]

Hi Janet,

Yes, I was almost 19 when I finally left Cross Creek.  My parents (under the influence of my therapist & the program as a whole) told me in no uncertain terms that if I decided to leave CCM before graduating the program (all the way through phase 6, PC1 & 2), that they would not accept me home under any circumstances.  By the time I turned 18, I had been there about 9 months, and was on phase 4, I think.  I even signed a "contract," of sorts, stating that I would remain at CCM and finish the program after my 18th.  If I chose not to do this, my option was to get $10 in my pocket and a bus ticket to Denver (not Houston, where I'm from) - this was obviously not an attractive choice (especially since I couldn't remember any of my other family/friends' phone numbers and we were not allowed to write any down).  Well, a couple of months after my 18th birthday, I had moved up to phase 5, and my family came up to Utah & took me on an off-grounds pass.  A couple of weeks after that, I had a major meltdown at St. George, and felt like I was going to lose my mind if I had to stay there another second (I think being "on the outs" broke down a couple of layers of the brainwashing), so I decided to take my "exit plan." I told the head staff at St. George that I wanted to leave, and then spent the next 4 hours or so having gut-wrenching phone calls with my therapist, case manager, parents & brothers.  My parents continued to hold firm that they would not allow me home - they were both crying, and telling me "goodbye" like it was the last time they were ever going to speak to me.  Then they put one of my younger brothers on the phone who was sobbing and begging me not to leave, because he "didn't want me to die." Finally after several hours of this I decided to stay, solely due to the fear I felt of getting off a bus in a strange city and not knowing where to go or how to survive (I grew up in the suburbs, for Christ sakes!).  Then of course, I got reamed in Group the next day by my therapist and all the other girls.  I had to go around to everyone and prove that I could be trusted, and that this time, I was serious about "working my program," etc.  After that, I completely gave in to all the brainwashing & program ideology and actually became one of its most vocal supporters (at the time).  Luckily after I graduated, my parents didn't make me stay in Utah and go to Dixie - but I knew a lot of other girls that did.  You have to understand the depth of the control that they have over your mind when you get that far into the program - its extremely hard to shake and harder still to seperate reality from fiction.  I hope this sheds a little bit of light onto your questions about your former friend's daughter.  What was the girl's name that you are referring to? When was she at Cross Creek?

[Janet]

Kelly, thank you for your informative answer.
 
The girl I am worried about entered Cross Creek the beginning of August, 2000 and finished in April, 2002 less than a month before she turned 19.  Since I moved away from my former friend and I haven't spoken to her since April, 2002, I do not know what happened to her daughter.  I tried for almost a year to convince this woman that something was very wrong with Cross Creek, but she would not hear it.

I eventually told this woman that she was lucky that her daughter was so loving and good-natured, because if she was MY mother I would never forgive her.  Your mother and father are also lucky because you want to maintain a family relationship with them.  I sincerely hope your family will see the light and understand what happened to you.  

By the way, this woman told me over and over that the staff at Cross Creek wondered why such a sweet girl with no serious adolescent problems,(She drank alcohol once and had sex with her boyfriend),was doing at the school.  You'd think her mother would get a clue, but all she cared about was imprisoning her daughter. The girl did need a talking to and some discipling, but Cross Creek was a little severe! I wonder if your parents were also told about how nice you are, because you sound very caring.

             Janet

[Kelly1980]

Dealing with parents that continue to support the program, despite everything that I've told them - is extremely difficult, to say the least.  I don't know what your friend's daughter's attitude about CCM is at this point, but it took me a good year or so after graduation for most of the brainwashing to break down (a process that, honestly, I'm still plugging away at).  I really don't place a lot of blame on my parents for sending me there in the first place, because I was doing some drugs (although not much more than plenty of other teenagers out there) & was threatening to move out - so I understand that they felt pretty desperate.  You also have to understand how adept WWASP is at manipulating the parents and preying on their fears.  I DO blame them, however, for not supporting me in speaking out against the program after the fact.  Trust me, there's quite a bit of anger there - your friend's daughter may be feeling the same thing.  I knew a lot of girls at CCM like her, that didn't really get into too much trouble before they were sent there, but maybe were beginning to head in that direction.  We had 12 yr olds there who had never drank, smoked, done drugs or had sex - most of them were just pretty hyperactive and had a lot of tantrums.  Anyhow - I've posted a link to the PURE website, where I've just added my story, if you'd like to know more about Cross Creek. I hope this helps.

http://www.helpyourteens.com/news/cross ... duate.html