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

i was at the whitmore

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schacherer:
Hi my name is Leah, and I was at the Whitmore Academy. I arrived there on April 29, 2003 and stayed there until July 15, 2004. When i got out I wanted to go to college so I emrolled at Utah Valley State College. I went there for one semester and now I go to a Hairstyling College. I live in Utah stilll and I am doing very well and am very happy. I no longer do drugs or drink and my family and I have a great relationship. The Whitemore Academy seems like a gret place to send your child, right? Well it has it's good as well as it's bad. You may think that just because I was there and may not have liked it that I am just trying to talk bad about it, well, that's not what I'm trying to do at all.

When I first got there they were on a trip in LaJolla, California and when I got off of the plane Cheryl, along with a few of the other kids came to pick me up in a suburban that my mother had to rent for them. When we arrived at the place they were staying at, the first thing I thought when I saw the kids was, "when was the last time any of them took a shower or changed their clothes?" At the Whitmore Academy the schedule is a very good schedule except the fact that while I was there we had to get up at 5:00 in the morning and if we wanted to shower we had to do it on our own time, either before that or not at all. After a while you get used to getting up early so it doesn't seem so bad but when we have "group" until 2:00 and 3:00 the next morning it's extremely hard to get up and stay focused.
I was recently reading about brainwashing and one of the things it talked about was all the many ways to do it, one of them being depriving someone of sleep. It talked about how  police officers sometimes do it to the people they arrest. This was very interesting to me, because most of the kids at the Whitmore talk badly about the program and how they wish that they could go home, also about how they know someone there who is doing something that they aren't supposed to. Well when we all come together in group you know when your sitting in there that the kids don't think that you should be in trouble, yet once Cherly begins talking (after a few of hours) the kids all change their minds to what she is saying.
One time we were in group and Cheryl and all of the kids who don't believe in God to raise their hands, well I raised mine because I don't believe in him, I just wasn't raised like that. Anyway, after group I had asked her if I could call my boyfriend (who was 22 and not in the program) and see if he could come over, she told me that I could call him when I knew who I truly was. Then she hounded me about believing in God, she told me that I had said to her before that I did believe in him. Later that day I talked with my best friend Hannah about it she said that she knew that I would never say anything about that to her. I wanted to tell my mother about this but i couldn't. The phone conversations I had with my mom were great, except for the fact that I had to be fake, which is something Cheryl scolds you for in the program. Another thing about religion, I had never once been to church, as I said earlier my family isn't religous. And every Sunday I was forced to go to the Mormon Church. I hated going there because I felt like it was a cult nad like someone was trying to make me become Mormon. It didn't feel right at all. Cheryl always tells the parents that if the kids don't want to go to church they don't have to but that's not true at all, if you choose not to go you don't get the same freedoms or things as the other kids. It's like you get in trouble if you don't go. Well there is a lot more I have to say but I've been at school all day and I am really tired. If anyone has any questions or anything please e-mail me @  leahschacherer@yahoo.com.

Anonymous:
Welcome Leah. Sounds like you have a busy life and are working hard to make the best of it. Good for you.

Anonymous:
Hi Leah!  Check your Yahoo mail! Great to hear you are doing well.  I looked for you at parent's weekend because we were told you were working weekends at the Whitmore.  Did you ever "work there after "Graduation?"  I know during my last visit that was your plan.  Just curious... take care.  I look forward to hearing from you.

Alumni Mom

Anonymous:
leah...
im sorry that all the life changing lessons of emotional honesty are so dormant in you that you have to twist the truth like you always have...
a perfect example:
you say cheryl gave you pills, you went home, came back to utah and suddenly you came back to the whitmore to take the pills to give to your mom? they werent yours either! it just doesnt make sense. you lie about this you lie about other things fact of life sweetheart.
gypsy

Anonymous:
gypsy, you manipulate.  you want control

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