There's NO ONE around???

[Deborah]

Yeh, I was getting a sense of that too with the 'subliminals', etc.

That is risky business. Definitely sounds like new-agey affirmationy stuff. Ya need to be careful with that stuff. I've read that in order to be useful at all, the subliminals need to be carefully constructed. The use of one wrong word could be detrimental. Was this woman certified? Self taught?
 
Also, considered 'evil' and of the 'devil' by most religious people. I'm curious... did any of you christian/religious parents understand that your child would be doing affirmations and subjected to subliminals? Or was it not a concern?

[Anonymous]

As a parent I did not know anything about subliminals until I read the first weekly reports on the Whitmore weblogs written by the students. I emailed and emailed asking what are subliminals? This question was only answered in a vague way--BUT I knew from the reports that the kids MUST DO THEM, and were PUNISHED if they didn't do them, and lost privileges for not doing them. SO, I knew it wasn't some take-it-or-leave it exercise. From postings on this forum, I now understand what subliminals might be. Why does Cheryl Sudweeks find them so important? What HER is real purpose? Does SHE have any formal training in subliminals? Is this a good or bad idea? What are the subliminals based on? I do not know the answer to any of these questions.

[HOWBIZARRE]

You guys are reading too much into this subliminal stuff.

THEY ARE MOTIVATIONAL CASSETTES RECORDED BY KAROL TRUMAN. Look her up on Amazon.com. "I FEEL HAPPY" "I AM HAPPY" over 'soothing' music. I don't think you need to get "certified" in order to hand cassettes out to kids so they can play them in the morning. I was at my mom's house and I looked in my step dad's CD player and he had "THE POWER OF NOW" in it. Maybe I should've confiscated the CD because as far as I know, he doesn't have any formal training in subliminals. The tapes don't have any religious overtones and if you played them backwards you didn't hear the Sudweeks telling you to abandon your family and join their "cult". They are harmless. I didn't like hearing some old lady telling me I was happy in the morning so I put my pillow over my head. Problem solved.

And I wasn't aware the churches of this world condemn those who listen to motivational tapes and tell themselves to be positve.

And to that skeptic who thinks Cheryl is the one behind all the former students posting you are MISTAKEN. When I walk out my front door and look at the liscene plate on my car I don't see Utah plates. I haven't been in Nephi for almost a year.

I'm not trying to be a dick. I'm trying to set this shit straight.

[Anonymous]

Thank you. Now we know what to buy and listen to for ourselves, IF this was exactly what you students were required to listen to upon awakening each moring at Whitmore. Wonder why parents couldn't simply be told what you just relayed to us? It's the element of "secrecy" that causes parents to worry, you know.
I surely was impressed with your answer, right up until the "dick" and "shit" ending. Guess I'm just old-fashioned that way, and expect more out of today's young people.

Don't think anyone said you were not posting for YOURSELF....just that most of us do not believe the posting "from students at the Whitmore..and a couple of the other postings are anyone other than Cheryl Sudweeks."  Your postings always seem sincere and gunine.

Could you explain "scripting?"

[HOWBIZARRE]

I don't mean to come off as edgy or harsh, I apologize if I have.

Maybe I replied in the wrong thread but someone is going around claiming Cheryl is posting under various names and whatnot.

Scripting is kind of hard to explain. It wasn't a part of the "curriculum", if you wanted to try it one of the former students was all about it. It's basically a paragraph with a blank where you fill in with a negative emotion you are feeling and what to get rid of.

Ex.
"I want to know the source of my depression. I want my depression to go away." etc. etc.

It's basically a non religious prayer to get rid of bad feelings. You can do it yourself, you just read the thing out loud.

When first heard about it I thought..."Wow, that is insanely stupid." I wasn't down with it from day one and I have never been scripted.

[Antigen]

On 2005-03-21 18:02:00, HOWBIZARRE wrote:

I don't think you need to get "certified" in order to hand cassettes out to kids so they can play them in the morning.

No, but I think you might be certifiable if you force kids to listen to them every morning in the wee hours for months and years at a stretch and never let them catch up on their sleep the whole time.

Seriously, though. Glad you're still around, glad you're still posting. Now that the hostility and bullshit has died down to a dull roar, please let me take this oportunity to say my peace.

I don't hate you just because you support the Whitmore. I'm interested in just what the Whitmore is and how it works because I'm interested in the troubled parent industry and Whitmore is a part of it. I apreciate your input here, even when we disagree. But please don't paint us all w/ a broad brush. Some ppl on the other side of the issue from you behave badly sometimes (some of them do most of the time) It's not your imagination. But it's also not all of us.

Thanks for coming back.

With soap, baptism is a good thing.
--Robert G. Ingersoll, American politician and lecturer

_________________
Ginger Warbis ~ Antigen
Seed sibling `71 - `80
Straight South (Sarasota, FL)
   10/80 - 10/82
Anonymity Anonymous
Some days, it's just not worth chewing through the leather straps.

[Antigen]

Woops! I was responding to your previous post, howbizarre. Sorry for any confusion. I'll shut up and read now.

The college idealists who fill the ranks of the environmental movement seem willing to do absolutely anything to save the biosphere, except take science courses and learn something about it.


--P.J. O'Rourke

[HOWBIZARRE]

I can respect that.

I'm trying not to generalize too much, but with the unbelievable amount of anonymous postings, it's a bit hard. Please don't take anything I say too serious or persoanlly.

[Antigen]

Yeah, I don't think scripting is particularly dangerous. I'm creeping up on the conclusion that a lot of what Whitmore has to offer is just snake oil. It's only dangerous if you 1) actually need some kind of psyche help and take that instead or 2) if you put so much stock in it that you let it take over your life.

Most of you guys coming out seem a good deal less scrambled and traumatized that from some other places. That's a good thing. I'm relieved to hear it. There are some aspects of the whole story that are rather troubling, and I'm glad those are coming out too.

Here's a question. W/o going into detail, is it fair to say that you did come out early on really hostile toward some of the kids who were complainging about the Whitmore or about specific incidents that happen there? If not, my apologies. I really haven't checked and there's just SO much of that.

If so, why? Is it mainly fidelity to the Suds and the "family" or was it personal stuff to do w/ those individuals? (I don't want to know the details if it was personal)

Our Bible reveals to us the character of our god with minute and remorseless exactness... It is perhaps the most damnatory biography that exists in print anywhere. It makes Nero an angel of light and leading by contrast.
--Samuel Clemens "Mark Twain", American author and humorist

[HOWBIZARRE]

Nah, I didn't harbor any grudges against anyone when I left. If some of the other kids want to make statements against the Whitmore, that's fine with me. I didn't like some of the kids, but that was just personality conflicts.

Walking away from the program and getting on the plane I definately was a lot more motivated and optimistic about the future. I did, and to a certain degree still feel like I'm playing catch up with my peers. I basically bombed my first semester of college. It's been up and down since I got home but that's life. Being there, defiantely helped me see the brighter side of things in life.

[Antigen]

Wow, you're drawing quite a crowd! Since you've been posting tonight, there have been 6 - 10 ppl looking at this forum every time I look.

There's no biochemical test to distinguish the so-called manic-depressive person from the elated or despondent football fan. Nor is there any resan to assume the manic-depressive's inner experience is driven by twisted molecules while the football fan's is driven, at worst, by twisted values
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0312113668/circlofmiamithem' target='_new'> Dr. Peter Breggin, Toxic Psychiatry

[Anonymous]

Howbizarre,
Why do you think you "bombed your first semester of college?"
Did it have anything to do with the structure of classes at Whitmore? being more or less self-taught...lack of formal classrooms/teachers.

Whitmore is presented as a PRIVATE SCHOOL--most kids with this type education usually do extremely well upon entering college--have an "edge" over public school kids.

What do you mean by "playing catch up with your peers?"--emotionally, socially and WHY?

We parents see this with our kids at home now, and they won't talk to us about it...and we don't understand WHY. Maybe you have been home long enough, and seem more "together" and can help us.
Thanks.

[Cayo Hueso]

On 2005-03-21 19:33:00, HOWBIZARRE wrote:

 Being there, defiantely helped me see the brighter side of things in life."

How did it do this?  I'm not trying to be antagonistic, I just really would like to know...from your perspective, exactly HOW this was accomplished.

The prestige of government has undoubtedly been lowered considerably by the Prohibition law. For nothing is more destructive of respect for the government and the law of the land than passing laws which cannot be enforced. It is an open secret that the dangerous increase of crime in this country is closely connected with this.
--Albert Einstein, My First Impression of the U.S.A., 1921

[HOWBIZARRE]

When I went to the Whitmore it was more behavior modification than private school or so it seemed...I dunno what was presented to my parents but behavior modification seems likely because, honestly, my parents didn't seem too concerned with my schooling while I was there. The whole private school thing started after I left so I don't know too much about that.

When I think about why I bombed my first semester I think it was a combination of not being in a formal classroom for so long and a lack of motivation on my part. Getting back on the grind in the classroom was  tough. I managed to pick my grades up this semester though, I just look at my first semester as my trasitional period. :lol:

When I said I felt like I was playing catch up...
I feel senior year is a very important time, you're supposed to have your driver's liscene, a job, some money in the bank, and kind of start learning to get things done on your own. When I got home I didn't have any of those things and it was frustrating. I felt like I was 16 years old again, depending on my parents for everything. When I got home I had to move again so I basically had to start from stratch and it sucked.

As for Cayo, just being there, away from everything I was used to was definately an eye opener. I just realized all the things I had back home and whatnot. I realized how fast time flies and if you don't make an attempt to enjoy life it'll be gone before you know it. I didn't really get a lot out of group, I always thought it was kind of redundant and I just zoned out a lot during it. As cheesy as it sounds I guess reading some of the self help books they had helped me a lot. I guess the whole experience kind of shaped me.

[Anonymous]

Did you "graduate" from Whitmore and go straight into college?  If you really weren't doing school there...how did you complete your senior year of academic work to get into college? How did you earn the required "credits" for your senior year?

If you more-or-less "zoned out in group" and didn't get much from that---did you have individual therapy with a therapist?

Who led you group therapy?

Seems like you could have told your parents, you could just come home and learn from self-help books and have saved them a lot of money.