This is the main text of Carlbrook's response to our Review of Carlbrook.   We are posting the text quickly so that it is visible on a timely basis.  We continue to make formatting adjustments to make this more reader friendly.    -- Editor. 

The purpose of this document is to respond to the recent review of Carlbrook School that was drafted by Tom Croke and posted on this website. While we obviously do not concur with several of Tom’s conclusions, we remain optimistic that with increased dialogue we will both find that our agreements vastly outnumber our disagreements and that the quality and uniqueness of the services we provide will become increasingly clear. Toward this end, the specific concerns expressed in this review revolved around six distinct topics:

1.  The issue of whether Carlbrook School was modeled after the old “emotional growth” programs such as Cascade

2.  The fact that Carlbrook does not refer to itself as a “therapeutic boarding school”

3.  A specific incident involving the dismissal of one of Tom’s clients

4.  Questions about the school’s substance abuse program (most notably with regards to a perceived bias against 12-step work)

5.  The rationale behind the school’s requirement of a wilderness experience (or equivalent evaluative program)

6.  Lack of information regarding the “workshops” conducted at Carlbrook School

So as to hopefully clarify various areas of misperception and allow for a greater understanding of the services provided by Carlbrook School, we will address each of these concerns individually.

Response to Concern #1

While we are proud of Carlbrook School’s unique history and heritage, we have long recognized the potential danger of guilt by association, i.e., that the founders’ history as former students of the now-defunct Cascade School could easily and unfortunately lead some people to draw unwarranted conclusions as to the structure and/or services provided by Carlbrook. Although it is admittedly tempting to simply assume that the schools are highly similar, a closer and more thorough examination of Carlbrook reveals that there are substantial differences between the two programs, due in large part to the fact that Carlbrook was specifically designed to be an alternative to the various “emotional growth” schools that existed at the time. Thus the primary goal in creating Carlbrook was to build upon those elements of the founders’ experience that were viewed as beneficial and productive (such as establishing an intimate, accepting and supportive campus environment, encouraging the development of close friendships and a positive peer culture, and creating a character education curriculum that focused on the cultivation of a series of specific “universal” values – including integrity, courage, compassion and respect), while modifying or eliminating those elements viewed as unnecessary or detrimental to the intellectual, social and emotional health of the school’s students.

Among the many changes to the old “emotional growth” model that were made in the creation of Carlbrook School, the following are perhaps the most pronounced (many of which have become defining characteristics of our school):

(a) Increased Academic Focus

While potential Carlbrook students may have made mistakes in the past or may have a number of personal struggles to overcome, it is our belief that most of these children are incredibly capable and have amazing intellectual and social potential; as such, the school’s founders felt strongly that families should not have to choose between their child’s academic achievement and his or her emotional well-being. Accordingly, a primary objective of the Carlbrook management team was to create a non-traditional school that provided the same quality and rigor of academics as traditional college-preparatory environments – a school designed to work with struggling adolescents that placed equal import on its academic and counseling components (an alternative that was previously unavailable). Underlying this scholastic focus has been a continuing belief that academics themselves can act as a therapeutic tool for many students, allowing them to identify personal strengths and interests and giving rise to a sense of purpose and achievement that was previously lacking. It is also based on our belief (which is enumerated as one of the school’s Core Principles) that students respond better to increased responsibility, i.e. that with adequate resources and support, the personal expectations and performance of struggling adolescents will typically rise (or fall) to whatever benchmark is established for them.

In support of these efforts, Carlbrook has also developed a proactive College Counseling Department that not only works with students to identify appropriate post-secondary environments, but that also seeks a dialogue with colleges and universities themselves to create awareness of our students’ vast academic and interpersonal potential, provide context for the various individual and familial struggles these students have faced, and encourage schools to see the value of the academic and therapeutic work that these students have completed (in terms of academic readiness, maturity level, emotional regulation, self-confidence, acceptance of others, goal-orientation and work ethic). The goal in all such actions is to hopefully allow schools to see what we see with regards to our students: that they are bright and conscientious young men and women who, despite whatever personal or social struggles prompted their residency at Carlbrook, will eventually prove (through their depth of self-understanding and impressive academic and social skills) to be assets to virtually any college or university. We feel that we do this better than any alternative or non-traditional school in the country, and it was always our hope that such efforts would become self-reinforcing as our graduates demonstrated that they could perform at a high level at a myriad of competitive colleges and universities - thus increasing the likelihood that such institutions would accept additional Carlbrook students in the future. This has certainly proven to be true, and Carlbrook School’s unmatched record of college placement has become a testament to what “troubled teens” can accomplish if given the appropriate support and resources to do so.

(b) Target student population that is narrow and well-defined

When creating Carlbrook School, the founding Board of Regents did not subscribe to the “one size fits all” mentality that seemed to find support with many “emotional growth” schools, including Cascade. It was believed that the school could provide better services if it had a more narrow focus, given that all students simply do not respond to the same methodologies and that different adolescent age groups, aptitudes and etiologies require varying degrees and types of support. Consistent with this belief, program design and implementation at Carlbrook School has from the outset been directed towards providing specialized services to a particular niche of students, i.e., a college preparatory program dedicated to serving the unique needs of bright students who are chronologically on the verge of college admission and struggling in the academic mainstream. For instance, the founding Board of Regents were determined to maintain maturational consistency within the milieu, as we felt that many schools were ill equipped to present effective strategies for early teens and older adolescents simultaneously. Issues facing sophomores, juniors and seniors tend to place greater emphasis on individuation, peer relationships and the challenges of college and beyond, and in response to such needs Carlbrook School has developed a considerable breadth of programming for mid to late adolescents that would be inappropriate for younger teens. The school was also designed to work with the true underachiever – in other words, students whose innate intellectual ability currently exceeds their actual performance. Although typically experiencing interpersonal or academic difficulties in their present environment, Carlbrook students must possess the intellectual maturity to handle a rigorous academic and character development curriculum. Finally, Carlbrook prides itself on possessing both the discipline and humility needed to recognize that there will always be applicants that require a level of support and/or intervention that are beyond the scope of the school’s expertise and resources. Simply put, Carlbrook is a school, not a treatment center - a distinction that carries significant limitations as to the types of students we can work with safely and effectively.

(c) More thorough and accurate assessment of potential students

The specificity of the school’s target population and the importance of appropriate placement necessitate a comprehensive assessment of each applicant - one that is much more robust than is typical at many “emotional growth” programs. Such assessment is critical to determine whether Carlbrook School is equipped to address each student’s specific needs (or whether he or she would be better served at a different school or program), to ensure the safety and stability of the school’s campus and its student body, and to identify potential challenges prior to enrollment so to compensate accordingly. As will be discussed later (see Concern #5 below), this need for an accurate assessment of applicants is one of the key reasons that the Carlbrook requires that all students enroll directly from a wilderness experience (or equivalent evaluative program).

(d) Academic/clinical substantiation of methods and practices

Many of the techniques employed by “emotional growth” schools are strangely outmoded (having originated in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s) and have not been updated for the 21^st century. While they can seem quite effective in the short term, many of these programs have been shown to have serious limitations and as such have raised significant concerns among both practitioners and referents. Carlbrook School has sought to avoid such limitations and concerns by ensuring that all methods and practices utilized in the school’s various services were academically or clinically substantiated. This is viewed as especially important with regards to the school’s advising/counseling program, and as such we believe that a few additional points should be made:

●   Advisors and counselors at Carlbrook School work with students in individual and group settings, employing proven multi-modal counseling methods and techniques to increase student awareness and understanding and to help students reconcile their external actions with their emerging personal values and beliefs.

●  Carlbrook places significant focus on both individual and family work, including family counseling sessions on campus when appropriate, as well as the construction and utilization of a multi-disciplinary team approach (which includes referral specialists, wilderness therapists, advisors, alumni counselors, and psychiatrist when applicable).

●  The school’s workshops have each been purposely designed and continually revised for the purposes of enhanced efficacy and academic and/or clinical substantiation. For a more detailed discussion of the various workshops conducted at Carlbrook School, please refer to our response to Concern #6 below.

●  All advisors and counselors at Carlbrook have relevant experience as well as master’s degrees in counseling, marriage and family therapy, or social work. The school also requires extensive training for all advisors and alumni counselors (regardless of background) before they are allowed to assume a caseload.

●  The school recruits from some of the best counseling and clinical social work programs in the country, including Case Western Reserve University, Northwestern University, Columbia University, Washington University in St. Louis, and the University of Michigan.

●  The school provides regular in-service training for all professional faculty members on a variety of relevant topics; for example, the school has conducted recent trainings on systems theory, Rational Behavior Therapy, eating disorders and motivational interviewing to name but a few.

(e) Sophisticated recovery maintenance program for applicable students

“Emotional growth” schools such as Cascade were viewed by many to be rigid and dogmatic in their counseling style and choice of methodologies. Carlbrook School was created to be just the opposite. More than any school of its kind, Carlbrook has consistently demonstrated a commitment to critical self-examination and continual improvement in program efficacy.

A particularly effective example of this institutional characteristic has been the school’s concerted efforts to combat the pernicious effects of drugs and alcohol through the development of its Recovery Maintenance program. As a result of this continuing collaboration, the school now offers a year round substance abuse curriculum that incorporates the most current academic and clinical information available to better prepare our students and families for the toxicity of college life and beyond.

This program (which will be discussed at greater length under Concern #4 below) consists of various individual, group, family and psycho-educational initiatives. Carlbrook students participate in a series of recovery maintenance groups, complete a full semester course in brain functioning and development issues related to substance abuse, and enjoy extensive family work and preparation to ensure a healthy and supportive home environment. Individual substance abuse counseling is also made available to all students identified as being at risk for such behaviors.

(f) Experienced and well-qualified staff

One of the most important and distinctive characteristics of Carlbrook School has always been its insistence upon employing only experienced and highly qualified faculty - not only for its counseling program, but also for its academics, transition services and recovery maintenance programs as well. The qualitative benefits of this decision have been significant, and we believe that as a result we now have the most impressive faculty of any similar school in the country. This includes doctoral-level oversight of the school’s counseling and academic departments, as well as the employment of over 45 masters-level professionals (for an average student population of 125). Such purposeful utilization of relevant expertise is in direct contrast to the actions of many “emotional growth” schools and programs, which have for many years tended to place a much heavier reliance on less qualified staff.

For additional information, a complete list of school faculty (with brief biographical summaries) can be found on the Carlbrook School website.

(g) Creation of a unique and effective management structure

One of the first decisions made by the founders of Carlbrook School was to develop a group management structure that would be able to harness the vast experience and expertise of a variety of professionals rather than only one or two individuals, something that was extremely uncommon among “therapeutic” or “emotional growth” schools. Our goal in doing so was increase managerial effectiveness and accountability; to allow for shared insight and vigorous debate when necessary; to assist in the purposeful integration of various critical departments; to avoid overly narrow analysis or reliance on a single leader; to encourage faculty retention and school continuity; and to promote a long-term perspective in all managerial decisions. Toward this end, the school’s Board of Regents was created - a management structure that in many ways was designed to emulate those that have long existed in traditional academic environments (which frankly have a much longer history of stability and success than “emotional growth” or “therapeutic” schools or programs).

Serving in both general and specific roles, the nine members of the Board of Regents are responsible for developing and maintaining the overall vision for the school, as well as supervising individual departments and overseeing the delivery of the school’s services. As a result, it is our sincere belief that this management structure constitutes a critical core competency of Carlbrook School. Not only have all of the original board members remained at the school since its inception almost nine years ago (providing the continuity and stability that so many schools lack), but each team member brings to the organization a set of unique and specialized skills that have proven complementary to the effective and efficient management of a top-notch educational institution.

(h) Increased normalization of experience

Based in large part on the founders’ own experiences, the school has made and continues to make a concerted attempt to “normalize” the Carlbrook experience for its students and families (to the extent possible). What this means is that the school provides non-traditional academic and counseling services within a campus environment that is intentionally quite traditional in both appearance and feel. Our purpose in doing so has always been to enable our students to feel more comfortable upon enrollment, to allow our students to appreciate the commonality of many adolescent struggles, to highlight the non-traditional elements of the Carlbrook program in a way that encourages our students to take full advantage of such offerings, to develop our own set of traditions and heritage that can be shared with and passed on by each graduating class, and to provide our students with an alma mater of which they can be proud. We also strive to eliminate the stigma or shame that can at times be associated with attending a “special” school, as well as avoid the common problem of over-generalization (via labeling and/or compartmentalization) of student attributes or deficiencies.

As an integral part of Carlbrook School’s design and culture, this desire to achieve some level of normalization in our students’ experiences has impacted a number of organizational characteristics, including, but not limited to, our architectural aesthetics and campus design, our academic expectations, our dress code, our availability of technology for appropriate student use, and our graduation requirements. It also is one of the factors we consider (along with accuracy and scope, among others) when determining the terminology that the school employs to describe both itself and the students it works with (see Concern #2 below).

(i) Extensive transition services and alumni support

In accordance with the mission of Carlbrook School (and in direct contrast to the “sink or swim” approach traditionally employed by “emotional growth” schools), the Board of Regents decided early on to support the development of an innovative school initiative – one that would be charged with identifying and providing services designed to better assist parents and students in acclimating to post-Carlbrook life and sustaining the gains achieved during their tenure here.  As a result, the school’s Alumni and Transition Services (ATS) Department was created.

The ATS Department serves to facilitate a smooth transition for students and their families following from Carlbrook School and to provide continued support and resources to all members of the school’s alumni community. Realizing the importance of thoughtful planning and guidance to student success, transition work begins several months prior to graduation and continues for 12 months thereafter. During this critical period, specially trained faculty work with alumni, parents, professionals and secondary and post-secondary institutions to strengthen each graduate’s ability to meet the inevitable challenges that arise when negotiating transitional adjustments, existing family dynamics, powerful peer influences and important life choices. Each alumnus works with an individual Transition Counselor that provides personal support and guidance; this allows families to enjoy a continuity of care not found in other transition programs and to benefit from the existing relationships between Carlbrook faculty and students. Such efforts also provide families with opportunities for valuable insight as well as continued growth and development.

The transition program at Carlbrook School has three primary functions: preparation, education and support.

●  Preparation - With the objective of teaching future alumni how to utilize what they have learned at Carlbrook to make appropriate and responsible choices, the ATS Department works with students and their parents for several months prior to graduation to develop a comprehensive family plan that outlines academic, social and emotional goals. By allowing for the creation of appropriate boundaries and structure within the family unit, the transition plan helps to create an environment that supports and reinforces the positive changes that our students have experienced during their enrollment.

●  Education - Recognizing that knowledge plays a critical role in the success of its families, the ATS Department facilitates a series of seminars and conferences during the final six months of a student’s enrollment, focusing primarily on various life skills, academic strategies, emotional management techniques and relevant social issues. This includes the multi-day Transition Conference, during which each family works directly with the transition team, as well as the facilitation of various regional alumni support groups.

●  Support - Anticipating the challenges that students and parents may face during the critical early months following graduation, alumni counselors provide ongoing support and guidance to families for the first post-graduate year, with the ultimate objective being to assist families in localizing their support systems and establishing effective resources separate from the school. Alumni counselors also have the ability to meet with alumni or family members in their home environment should circumstances warrant.

The services provided by the ATS Department were designed to ensure an optimal chance for student success in college and beyond, and have proven highly effective in increasing the level of support for our rapidly growing alumni base and providing feedback as to the unique challenges and needs of our graduates and their families. As such they are a critical component of our success.

In summary, while the above enumeration of differences between Carlbrook School and “emotional growth” programs such as Cascade is not intended to be comprehensive, it hopefully provides adequate examples of the distinct nature of the Carlbrook program.

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Response to Concern #2

In his recent review of Carlbrook School, Tom argues that terminology matters with regards to how the school defines itself. We could not agree more (although for very different reasons, as outlined below). While the import that the review places on such terminology is somewhat baffling to us, particularly given the fact that Carlbrook School has represented itself in a coherent and consistent manner since its inception almost nine years ago, we welcome the opportunity to address this issue and explore the reasoning behind our choice of self-description.

From the time of the school’s founding, there have existed three primary reasons that the school does not to describe itself as a “therapeutic boarding school.” These are:

(a)  To describe ourselves and the work we do in the most accurate manner possible;

(b)  To avoid unnecessary labeling or inappropriate generalization of our students; and

(c)  To provide our students and their families with a measure of privacy and discretion.

We will examine each of these in turn.

Looking broadly at the spectrum of adolescent placement, there have long been both traditional boarding schools as well as residential mental health facilities, models which have both proven to be effective with appropriate populations. However, many students fall somewhere between these two extremes - students whose needs exceed those available in traditional academic environments but that fall short of placement in a mental health facility. Carlbrook School was specifically created to work with those students that fall within this middle ground, i.e., adolescents that need a safe and structured academic environment with individual and family counseling but whose personal struggles fall far short of requiring residence in a mental health facility. Due to the inherent dangers of misrepresentation, we too believe that accuracy of self-definition for such a non-traditional educational institution is essential; however, while it is certainly true that the school promotes its counseling faculty and services - which we believe to be some of the most sophisticated and effective of any secondary institution in the country - the fact remains that Carlbrook School is not a mental health facility and as such does not (and never will) represent itself as one.

As a school that embraces a holistic model of education, we simply felt (and continue to feel) that the “therapeutic boarding school” label is unnecessarily narrow in terms of describing the work that we do. In addition to its formal counseling regimen, the school also provides a safe and accepting campus environment, individualized attention and faculty support, and robust services in the areas of academics and the arts, life skills training, character education, interpersonal communication, health and wellness, post-secondary guidance, recovery maintenance and transition assistance. The Carlbrook program is thus inadequately defined by just its counseling services. Indeed, it was our intention in founding Carlbrook School to create something MORE than a “therapeutic boarding school,” something greater, something broader, something that spoke to not only the emotional well-being of its students but their social and intellectual health as well - the kind of program that could truly deliver on the school’s mission statement of preparing bright, underachieving students for college success. In other words, we did not want to be pigeonholed into employing a term of self-description that we felt was at least partially inaccurate and certainly incomplete. This has inevitably placed some people (including many of our referents) in a difficult position when seeking to define the school, in that in many ways it simply does not conform well to existing terminology.

It should be noted that just because Carlbrook does not hold itself out as a “therapeutic boarding school” does not mean that it somehow represents itself as a purely traditional school. It does not. It should also be emphasized that in making this distinction, the school is not playing semantic games; instead, we would argue that the logic employed in the review in question with regards to this topic is faulty and overly simplistic, in that it precludes other means of accurate and effective self-description. In other words, the focus on “therapeutic school” in the review presents a classic false dilemma, thus utilizing an either/or type of analysis that we do not feel is sufficient in these circumstances. With all due respect to James Whitcomb Riley’s “duck test,” we believe that a more sophisticated analysis of the school and its services is warranted.

In fact, rather than obscuring the students that we enroll and the work that we do, anyone can see by referring to our website and literature that Carlbrook School has actually chosen to define itself with much more specificity and accuracy than would be afforded by simply calling itself a “therapeutic boarding school:”

“Utilizing an innovative and supportive educational model where intellectual exploration and character development are integrated, Carlbrook School is an academic community designed to challenge and inspire students of high aptitude and potential who have struggled in previous environments.”

One of the main objectives of Carlbrook School is to give kids that many have written off or marginalized one last chance. These are exceptionally talented students - adolescents that have made mistakes and that have issues to work through but who do not deserve to be limited or stigmatized by their means of acquiring the assistance that they need. Many of these kids have been labeled and/or compartmentalized for years, often with negative impact despite the best of intentions by those professionals with which they have worked. We are passionate in our belief that it is our responsibility to be advocates for these children, and one of the ways that we attempt to do this is by reintroducing them into the mainstream. In doing so, we must recognize that (whether right or wrong) labels do matter.

As Tom himself points out, Carlbrook School was founded by two former students of Cascade, which was a self-described “emotional growth” or “therapeutic” boarding school; as such, these individuals are intimately aware of the potential stigma that can result from such terminology. Thus one of the more salient objectives in creating Carlbrook was to finds ways to allow our students to avoid the “scarlet letter” that often comes with enrollment at “therapeutic” schools. Simply put, we came to believe that the use of the term “therapeutic boarding school” often comes with significant costs – such as negative connotations (due primarily to irresponsible behavior by previous schools and programs), narrowing and limiting effects on self-perception, unwarranted bias and misunderstanding by outside parties, etc. - which we feel are bourn disproportionately by the students and families of such schools.

It is also important to realize that every Carlbrook student is different and exceptional in his or her own way; as such, to define them with general descriptions such as “students with emotional and behavioral problems” – such as is often occurs with therapeutic boarding schools - is dangerously simplistic, as adolescents are enrolled at Carlbrook School for a wide variety of personal and familial reasons. For instance, while many Carlbrook students have engaged in substance abuse, this is certainly not an accurate characteristic of all of our students; this also holds true for disciplinary problems, oppositional behavior, social withdrawal, etc., as only certain percentage of students at any given time have a history of such behaviors. The point is that the reasons for enrollment at Carlbrook School are as varied as its individual students, and thus any generalizations as to our student body stemming from the school’s means of self-description are inherently flawed and potentially damaging. To ignore this reality allows for the possibility of individual or institutional fear affecting such students’ future opportunities, which is exactly what has happened at many other schools and programs. Put another way, we feel that by labeling ourselves we allow for the labeling of those in our charge.

Therefore, when Tom mentions that Carlbrook wants to “have it both ways” he is correct, just not in the way that he indicates. We want our students to be able to get the counseling help that they need but not have to sacrifice any intellectual growth or future academic opportunities to do so. We want to provide them with a campus environment that feels as “traditional” as possible but which is safe (physically and emotionally) and supportive, with a faculty and student body that are inclusive, accepting and non-judgmental. While these things may seem to be just a matter of semantics, most of the students and families we have worked with over the past eight years have appreciated the distinction.

Typically, any student or family that wants or needs counseling services in their home environment can obtain such services while enjoying a strict level of confidence from the professionals with which they work; however, in the case of students and families receiving counseling in a residential school setting, we believe that such confidentiality is often compromised once a school is formally labeled as a therapeutic boarding school, due primarily to the explicit description and visibility of these institutions. For instance, when seeking out-patient counseling families can and should be able to expect a reasonable level of privacy. This is similarly true at most short-term rehabilitation facilities or treatment centers. Yet when enrolling one’s child in a school that actively markets itself as a therapeutic environment, such privacy often becomes virtually impossible (through something as simple and purportedly benign as the child’s transcript or diploma, which becomes a part of his or her permanent academic record), thus effectively preempting what should be the family’s decision as to how to disclose and/or discuss their personal issues with others. As such, Carlbrook School feels that a critical part of its responsibility to both students and families is discretion, thus providing an additional rationale to avoid the “therapeutic boarding school” label. The feedback that we have received over the years from our alumni families on this issue has only solidified this position.

We also believe strongly in allowing our students to draft their own personal narratives rather than usurping this right for ourselves for purposes of marketing or self-promotion. In other words, to the extent possible we want to give each student and each family the choice as to whether they wish to discuss their personal struggles with outside parties, rather than having this forced upon them by the school’s choice of self-description. Most of them decide to openly embrace and discuss their prior struggles (we actually encourage this), in that these experiences are powerful and transformative events that demonstrate an impressive level of personal growth, self-awareness and maturity. This is particularly true with regards to college admissions, in that such experiences can serve to distinguish our students from those attending more traditional schools. Indeed, as mentioned earlier, the life challenges that our students have faced and the personal struggles they have overcome are typically seen as positive qualities – particularly by the colleges and universities to which they are applying - often making our students more attractive and compelling applicants.

It should further be understood that even with the school’s desire to provide families with a measure of discretion, we have always been and continue to be clear and straightforward with all outside parties - including any secondary and post-secondary institutions to which our students apply - regarding the school’s unique mission and the type of students with whom we work (focusing specifically on those particular attributes that our students share). Such information is, in fact, readily available on the school’s website. We also maintain personal contact with a number of colleges (as do the referents with whom we work) and many of them have visited and toured the Carlbrook campus over the last five years. At the same time we should again emphasize that we view the principles of privacy and confidentiality as sacrosanct and as such do not offer or provide any specific information to outside persons or institutions that is not already in the public domain without the explicit approval of the affected family.

As a final note on this topic, we would also contest Tom’s assertion that the “therapeutic boarding school” label (or any similar means of self-description) leads to greater accountability, as evidenced by the questionable practices and techniques of several schools and programs that have wholeheartedly adopted this term; in fact, many of the abuses that have occurred within this field have been perpetrated by organizations that held themselves out as “therapeutic” or “emotional growth” in nature. As noted previously, while Carlbrook School has certainly been designed to work with a specific population of students and to provide such students with the guidance and support necessary for the cessation of negative and self-defeating behaviors and the promotion of intellectual and personal well-being, the fact remains that we are a school and not a mental health facility. To claim otherwise would be both inaccurate and irresponsible. Nevertheless, under no circumstances should this be used as an indictment of the school’s professional quality and standards, as the size and expertise of our counseling faculty is unassailable. Although we have chosen not to adopt the “therapeutic boarding school” label, it should be emphasized that our policies and practices exceed those delineated by NATSAP’s Standards of Good Practice, and our advisors and other counseling professionals operate at all times under the ethical guidelines of the APA, NASW and/or AAMFT as applicable. We are fully accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) and operate under the guidelines of the Virginia Department of Education. We are also in full support of H.R. 911 (or any other similar legislation that seeks to protect student rights) as we are already in compliance with the primary requirements outlined in this proposed bill.

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Response to Concern #3

With regards to Tom’s concerns about his client that was dismissed from Carlbrook, it appears that we simply disagree on the particulars of the case in question.  While we were each faced with an exceptionally challenging situation, we continue to feel that our actions were in the best interest of both his client and the school as a whole.  Our decision(s) regarding his client were not intended to be punitive (although we recognize how they could have been perceived this way), but rather were largely in response to feedback tendered from outside professionals working with the family at the time - which both Tom and the parents were aware of – that brought into question whether Carlbrook was the best environment for this person. We also had to take into account the safety of our other students as well. As a result of these considerations, the family was asked to move their child to a more structured facility and declined to follow that counsel. At that point we felt as though our hands were tied and dismissed the student.

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Response to Concern #4

The path that culminates in attendance at Carlbrook School is different for each student and each family; over the years, however, we have observed a growing number of students arriving with a history of alcohol, tobacco or drug use/abuse, which reflects national trends. Getting back on track after substance abuse not only requires a commitment to abstinence, it also requires learning about the underlying triggers for substance use and learning new strategies for living substance free.

Carlbrook School is committed to helping students and families heal from the deep wounds caused by adolescent substance abuse and to helping students learn to live substance free lives. While Carlbrook remains an alcohol, tobacco and drug free environment, our experience indicates that students who have a history of substance use/abuse encounter greater difficulty as they transition to secondary schools or colleges. We thus began collaborating in 2007 with the renowned Georgi Educational and Counseling Services (GECS) group in a determined effort to help students address problems with substance use and reclaim control over their health and well-being.

Although we have been exceptionally pleased with the results of these efforts (as we have been able to document both a measured improvement in student and parent satisfaction with our services as well as a significant reduction in substance abuse following graduation), there appears to remain a lack of understanding among some professionals as to the type and scope of services we provide. In the interest of addressing any misperceptions, please consider the following points:

●  Carlbrook is not a treatment center or mental health facility. It is a highly competitive boarding school helping to prepare intellectually gifted students, who have temporarily been derailed by a variety of life challenges, for a college education. When necessary, Carlbrook School has direct links to Duke University Medical Center and Carolinas Medical Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Through these two institutions, Carlbrook can provide access to the highest quality of medical care addressing both physical and mental concerns. Specialty services are made available from these institutions on a continuing basis in the areas of substance abuse treatment and eating disorders treatment both of which are programs nationally recognized for their excellence in research.

●  Following the available science Carlbrook School believes that academic excellence must be anchored by emotional/limbic development. Carlbrook utilizes a holistic approach to foster academic advancement and emotional development by taking into consideration the most current information about the developing adolescent brain as presented by Dr. Aaron White, one of the country's leading scientists in this area.

●  Carlbrook School utilizes nationally recognized experts in the field of substance abuse treatment to train their faculty and be available for advising and transition services (ATS) faculty on a consultant basis. Through this collaboration, Carlbrook is gradually developing a national network of therapists who are highly trained in both family systems and substance abuse issues.

●  Carlbrook School takes the history of substance use/abuse in its student population seriously and has in recent years instituted a series of substance-abuse specific interventions as part of its Recovery Maintenance program. As a result, we now believe that Carlbrook offers one of the most extensive substance abuse programs of any school in the country. *NOTE: For a more detailed overview of the school’s comprehensive substance abuse program, please see the attached description of services entitled “Molding Healthy Teen Brains at Carlbrook School.”

●  While Carlbrook does not offer institutional AA or NA meetings, the school has practiced 12-step facilitation as part of its recovery maintenance program since it was first introduced in 2006, thus integrating the concepts of 12-step work in its treatment approach. This not only "facilitates" the student’s broader understanding of 12-step programs but also "facilitates" their potential involvement in those programs after they leave Carlbrook. Such facilitation is considered a best practice guideline by the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment in Washington, DC. However, any 12-step facilitation groups that are offered at Carlbrook School are not considered official AA or NA meetings because they are not run by one of their members.

●  As Tom correctly notes, many modern substance abuse experts recognize that the 12-step approach is not for everyone. While Carlbrook School utilizes 12-step facilitation it is sensitive to this understanding, and as such places its primary emphasis on a variety of other treatment interventions, most notably Motivational Enhancement Therapy. Carlbrook also utilizes the trans-theoretical model of change (Stages of Change) to help both family and students understand their experience and prepare themselves for the probable "bumps in the road" that are inherent in the change process.

Although we hope that this information serves to clarify the scope and quality of substance abuse related work we are doing at Carlbrook, the various members of our recovery maintenance team certainly welcome any feedback or additional questions that may arise.

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Response to Concern #5

The successful completion of an initial wilderness experience (or equivalent evaluative program) is a prerequisite for admission to Carlbrook School. The purpose of this requirement has always been threefold: to properly evaluate all applicants; to provide affected students with a sense of personal accomplishment; and to ensure the safety of any students in crisis (when necessary).

As mentioned earlier, we believe that an accurate assessment is essential to identifying the most appropriate placement for a child, which in turn is critical to maximizing his or her chances of eventual success. When possible, such an evaluation should be comprehensive in nature (with both psychological/psycho-educational and behavioral/observational components) with input from multiple sources. The opportunity for such evaluation is thus one of the primary benefits of the school’s wilderness requirement, as such programs provide for observational assessment and behavioral evaluation independent of psychological and intellectual testing, allowing an opportunity to evaluate a student’s readiness to handle the collective and personal expectations that are to ensue. Indeed, one of the most salient features of this requirement is that we can state with confidence that every student on campus has been carefully evaluated by a qualified independent professional team prior to matriculation.

By taking advantage of heightened student receptivity and placing them in an unfamiliar environment, replete with demonstrable cause and effect relationships, wilderness programs are highly effective in laying the foundation for enhanced self-esteem, increased student optimism, and energetic participation in subsequent personal development curricula. While short-term in scope, the advantages provided to families during this initial component can be significant. It affords Carlbrook and each family an opportunity to develop an understanding of the issues that may have been interfering with a student’s performance and to shape shared expectations for the scope and nature of the work ahead. Furthermore, Carlbrook is often able to utilize the wilderness therapist’s familiarity with a particular student and family to help determine a more effective course of action at the critical early stages of enrollment.

While we would disagree as to the existence at Carlbrook of an institutional “mind-set that is focused on oppositional behavior”, or the conclusions that such a “mind-set” would seem to imply, it would certainly be accurate to state that a reasonable percentage of our entering students have previously exhibited behavior that could be viewed in some way as “oppositional.” While such external manifestations of internal turmoil vary quite significantly, and can be as mild as increased family conflict or personal disengagement or as severe as regular substance use or disciplinary problems at school, it should be noted that such determination is not always readily apparent and that student safety is paramount in all instances.

Just as importantly, it should be emphasized that Carlbrook School has worked with literally hundreds of adolescents who did not present as oppositional, including many older students who personally chose to enroll at the school. As such, it is simply inaccurate to classify Carlbrook as being an inappropriate placement for non-oppositional adolescents, particularly when based on nothing more than the school’s wilderness experience requirement. It should further be noted that in addition to wilderness programs, Carlbrook will also accept students from other primary evaluative environments (such as residential treatment centers, short-term inpatient facilities, etc.) and has done so on several occasions.

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Response to Concern #6

The final issue raised in the review involved the school’s use of “workshops” as a counseling forum. As a professional organization that works with and advocates for struggling adolescents, Carlbrook shares Tom’s concerns as to some of the practices and techniques that have been (and likely continue to be) employed by unscrupulous and/or less sophisticated schools and programs. Thus we feel it is critical that we are explicit in differentiating our work from that of others.

Workshops at Carlbrook School are multiple-day thematic conferences based on the school’s ten core values – honesty, integrity, friendship, compassion, courage, vivacity, understanding, perseverance, respect and honor. Serving as milestones for each student’s personal development, they are designed to offer students the potential for personal growth and awareness through careful and thoughtful inquiry of key aspects of individual character. Each of the workshops is associated with a particular phase of the program, and each represents a logical extension of prior accomplishments, with extensive preparation and follow-up conducted in a series of traditional group therapy sessions.

While the workshops at Carlbrook certainly have some similarities to workshops or seminars being conducted at other schools and programs (particularly with regards to the terminology employed and the various themes being explored), it should be emphasized that our workshops were purposely designed at the outset to address areas of deficiency and/or concern in prior models – in other words, to retain the positive and productive elements of such experiences while eliminating any practice that was of questionable value or that was not validated by current research. As such, it can be stated unequivocally that Carlbrook School does not and has never engaged in any of the workshop-related actions that have raised concerns at other schools and programs – including marathon sessions, sleep deprivation, abusive or humiliating techniques, etc. In fact, such dubious and potentially harmful activities are some of the many things that Carlbrook was founded in reaction to and has always sought to combat.

Furthermore, unlike the workshops currently being conducted at other schools and programs, the workshops at Carlbrook enjoy design and staff oversight by not only our own counseling team but also a psychiatrist and other mental health specialists from Duke University Medical Center. All material and modalities employed in such workshops are substantiated academically and/or clinically and are continually refined as new research emerges. Our workshops take place during regular campus hours and do not interfere with normal sleeping, eating, or personal hygiene patterns. All participants are given frequent breaks between group sessions as well as detailed explanations as to the purpose and objectives of each discussion or exercise. Every Carlbrook parent is also provided with such information, and components of the school’s workshops that are particularly relevant to family dynamics are incorporated into our quarterly parent conferences. Lastly, as with all counseling activities at Carlbrook School, workshop facilitators are experienced and specially-trained master’s level counselors.

*NOTE: With the goal of providing a more detailed discussion of the various benefits derived from the workshop model employed by Carlbrook, a document recently drafted by the school’s clinical team has been attached to this response.

As a final note regarding workshops, we must admit that we were a bit disappointed as to how this concern was raised in the initial review. While we remain confident that Tom intended no bias or negative connotation, we feel strongly that the mention of or reference to a disgraced program such as Mt. Bachelor Academy in a review of an unaffiliated school such as ours is potentially prejudicial and inflammatory, particularly to the casual or less observant reader. Any assumptions of similarity between the quality of services provided by these two very different schools are simply unwarranted and unjustified. Indeed, it could be argued that the very fact that our workshops would be automatically equated (or even compared) with those being conducted by less reputable and/or experienced programs, based on nothing other than what we call them, is yet another example of how terminology does matter (see our response above to Concern #2).

In summary, we hope that this response addresses Tom’s enumerated concerns in a way that he feels is specific and sufficient; if not, we would be more than willing to elaborate further. We will be the first to admit that Carlbrook is certainly not perfect, and we must continue to be vigilant in our organizational efforts toward consistent evaluation and continual improvement. Nevertheless, at the risk of sounding immodest, we are exceptionally proud of the school’s faculty and the work that they have done with more than 600 families over the past nine years. We at Carlbrook have always measured our performance by our students’ accomplishments, both in college and beyond, and we never cease to be amazed by the breadth of their intellect and the depth of their compassion.

As neither Tom nor any of his associates have visited Carlbrook School in the last eight years, we would encourage them to do so sometime the near future, as we believe that seeing the school first-hand would likely help alleviate many of the concerns outlined in Tom’s recent review. In the final analysis, however, we feel that it is likely that some of Tom’s concerns may simply be situations in which we “agree to disagree” - something that is exceptionally common among conscientious professionals in the fields of education and human services. Nevertheless, as is the case with all of our current and past referents, we respect his views and appreciate his feedback.

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Return to Carlbrook Review

Official web site of Carlbrook School

Letter from Dr. Gillan Smith of April 28, 2010 (published by request from Carlbrook)

Carlbrook Brain Development Supplement (published by request from Carlbrook)

Return to Individual Schools and Programs Index

Review of Carlbrook by Loi Eberle, Woodbury Reports, 2003

Profile by Private School Review

Feedback is invited. We will publish feedback in good taste, consistent with our standards.  Email FamilyLightResponse@yahoo.com

Disclaimer: No  program review, no matter how positive, is a blanket endorsement. No criticism is a blanket condemnation.  When we express our level of confidence in a school or program, that is our subjective opinion with which others might reasonably disagree.  When we assert something as fact, we have done our best to be accurate, but we cannot guarantee that all of our information is accurate and up to date. When we address compliance with our guidelines, you need to remember that these are only OUR guidelines -- not guidelines from an official source.  We have also set the bar very high, and do not expect any school or program to be in total compliance.  It is not appropriate to draw a conclusion of impropriety (or even failure to live up to conventional wisdom) from our lack of confidence in a school or program or from less than perfect conformity to our guidelines.  Some will say we expect too much. Readers are responsible for verifying accuracy of information supplied here prior to acting upon it. We are not responsible for inaccuracies.

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 Last updated 9-3-2010