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« on: December 24, 2007, 05:33:50 AM »
Gateway survivor here... I can basically confirm everything being said. 'Staff' at Gateway have pretty much no training whatsoever, my therapist, one Jeff Hintze, was fired for reasons unknown to me (but.. Fired. From a job as a program therapist. You have to try pretty hard for that), et al. It was standard program fare, more or less. They were VERY heavy on the 1984 aspects - largely in turning 'students' against each other.. the only way to advance was to 'hold boundaries', which was a not-so-nice way of saying play Thought Police.
A major note I think might be worth pointing out, though, is that they were also very much offenders of the program tendency to take people with completely unrelated problems (or none at all) and put them in the same mold. The bit about 'specialized groups' is bullshit. Their groups basically consisted of daily indoctrination (or, if there was any dirt they could use, bringing up private problems to be attacked by the more thoroughly brainwashed kids, another characteristic tactic). But getting to the point... all the references to the 'young men' in their very Newspeak descriptor?
I'm a transitioning MtF transsexual.
Part of the plan as prescribed by my none too supportive parents seemed to be to use this as an opportunity to shit on me whenever possible. I was, as if being there wasn't alienating enough, forced to go by my birth name, threatened upon trying to even note that hey-there's-a-mistake-here and then accused of 'isolating' when I got more depressed than I'd already been as a result. Of course, it was my fault for being transsexual in the first place.
I'd prefer not to dredge up too much more.. I'm still trying to block out the memories. But in the hopes that I can be of some help... I noticed the reference to a kid from Canada. He was a friend of mine, the other least-brainwashed there... I remember that he was trying to get in touch with an embassy, as under Canadian law he was of age and couldn't be held there - not that they cared, of course. I don't know if what I remember about him would be enough to help if someone's trying to find him, but drop me a line if so. I'll do whatever I can.
Anyway, um.. yeah, that's Gateway in a nutshell. Standard NATSAP torture facility with a flair for dragging stays out to milk more money and incompetent staffers with control issues. Any other questions, i'll try to answer them as they come.
Cheers,
Lain