Fornits

Fornits Home for Wayward Web Fora
An open discussion about the troubled parent industry

Quote from: "free.speech"

My problem with "cult" is that it's a severely loaded word; I've been reading Fornits for a while, and I don't think that the contributors here believe that this school has good intentions, when I believe it does.  I can't imagine posters here having a fulfilling conversation with members of the Carlbrook administration.  Something has to come from the current happenings; if they ignore us, only bad will come of it, I think.

For me it doesn't matter whether or not Tim brace the former prostitute and Grant Price his probable CEDU teen lover have "good intentions". Ted Bundy had "good intentions". At issue is that they're abusive kidnappers pretending to provide therapy, while having no license to provide therapy, to start with... A list of their abuses would be mind blowing in length and degree of evil. Cult is a pretty good word for that place, but its just a word. I agree that nothing can be fulfilling on fornits because of the anonymity problems,but also that nothing fulfilling can come about as long as all that we do is bound to the internet. It should be soon time to take the next steps, for me.

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I don't think we could really compare Tim and Grant to Ted Bundy; And, you call them evil.  They really do have good intentions.  Grant, Justin, and Jim formed the school to do it differently from Cascade.  However, they didn't ditch enough of the CEDU stuff in the process.  "prostitute" and "teen lover" won't really help.  Are you a Carlbrook grad?  I'm willing to have respectful discussion, but that stuff is a little over-the-top.  I like objective.  I like empirical.

For those of you who care about these advancements, the "Carlbrook Alumni Association" Facebook group has removed students' permission to post on the wall.  The "Carlbrook Students for Accountability and Oversight in the Troubled Teen Field" group has more members than the "Alumni Association."  There is also a former adviser asking for insight into what harmed us in the "Accountability" group.  Despite the emotions regarding what affected us negatively, I still hold the belief that the intentions are wholeheartedly good; in concordance with this belief, our privileges being revoked shows that the administration is listening to the concerns.  It will be interesting to see if there is some sort of staff response.  For those of you who don't care, please continue your day as usual.

I'm a Carlbrook graduate from within the last five years.  I'm trying to remain relatively anonymous, because--for some reason--people have been getting pretty emotional on the topic.  I've seen this thread since I graduated, and have been very hesitant to post simply based on the negativity.  It seems like several people aren't willing to listen and accept others' experiences and are trying to convince the other that Carlbrook was a) fucked up or b) not fucked up whatsoever.  There have also been a few graduates who have been very eloquent and respectful in speaking, and it is greatly appreciated.

For anything that I say, if I'm incorrect on factual things please let me know.  As far as I can tell, the goal of the fornits forums is to spread awareness.  In the spirit of this awareness, I think it would be most helpful for alumni to share experiences; it seems like several people are coming, looking for some kind of closure to a strenuous, confusing journey.  I like the anonymity of the forums as I've read the informational side to the school and staff.  I don't think any one person contributing here is completely objective nor can possibly be due to the nature of what we're discussing.  One thing I don't like (but I guess it's unavoidable) is the ability for someone who graduates tomorrow to instantly find these forums in such a sensitive time; however, that may just be my opinion and others might deem it helpful.  In the end, I think we're all here trying to figure something out about our experience--but some may be here just to rag on Carlbrook, or defend it.

I do see Carlbrook as evolving.  From what I've heard from the people who've graduated before me, Carlbrook has changed drastically.  From what I've heard from people who graduated recently, Carlbrook is still changing drastically.  Psy has posted above that he thinks the intentions could be incredible, but may still be abusive.  I know this to be true, and I feel like Carlbrook has watered-down a bit of the intense workshop moments and even group moments.  I won't say that I'm "scarred" from some of the moments, but I probably won't forget them.  What I don't see is Carlbrook moving toward individualization.  I wouldn't go far enough and call it "cookie-cutter," but I understand the metaphor.  In my experience, the relationships with advisers were highly personal, but I don't think there was enough creativity in the process.

I don't love Carlbrook.  I thought I did when I left; ironically, I also thought I hated it, too.  It was a very confusing time for me.  It's funny that I've chosen to drink after Carlbrook and people really act like it's some form of "sinner's juice" and that I'm drinking liquid death that goes against the entire fabric of what I stood for at Carlbrook.  While I've read the definition of "cult" provided, I don't like that choice of word, because it has such a loaded connotation, however I do feel like graduates can really act in a herd mentality, but only time washes away the collective soul; I hesitate to use the word "brainwashed" for the same reason.  I say this, and I really haven't been out of the program all that long.

As for Tim Brace, I've read the history of CEDU and the skeleton of the program in circulation today.  It seems like Tim has changed his mentality from some of the experiences shared before, but, as Psy has repeated often, he is still carrying around the CEDU model.  He's not without fault.  My biggest criticism would be that he tries to be everyone's friend too much--which might be quite different from the earlier complaints about him.  However, Tim directly helped me, and I think he genuinely wants to help people the full of his extent.  I think that is the weird vibe that people get.  He's so open and touchy that people don't know how to deal with him.

As for the explanation of "tools" to Psy, the word just refers to anything learned in a workshop--whether a phrase, personal word,  (truth; lie; negative statement) small activity, etc.

I'll post more later, but I haven't slept in a while.  Feel free to reply.  If you don't grace me with respect, I probably won't reply to you at all.