moongoddess, as I understand it until you post 20 messages all your posts must be screened in advance by rrmoderator. This prevents loons and nutbags from infesting the site. Soon you will be able to post and see your post put on site instantly.

Toxbox vs est/Landmark

The Leader:

Charismatic leader who lays down the rules and uses public humiliation to keep the group in order. There is "no talking" within the group in order to keep the message enforced. Monitors in the back of the room spot and report any whispering going on among participants who are called to task. Or, your private messages are read and you are warned, banned or humiliated, or your posts might be deleted or edited by the leader.

Lovebombing - Praising participants for being different and special, for participating, which gives a false sense of security.

Adorable kittens and language *giggle*, puts participants at ease.

Borrows spiritual concepts like Zen and mindfulness and twists them to manipulate people. These leaders can look great on paper or a screen but be manipulative, horrible people in person, who never practice what they preach.

The Message:

Personal responsibility. No matter what the situation or experience, you are responsible. This can provide a temporary feeling of empowerment, ie. you can control how you feel. Little insight is gained, however, but there can also be a lot of dissociation, which can feel good for a while, too. Then a crash or depression follows, which, again, is because you weren't following the program. Emotional support of the person suffering is not allowed, as their suffering is because they didn't take responsibility.

Rackets are ways of behaving that make you look good or make others wrong. Even illness is considered a racket, because it keeps you from taking responsibility for your own life. Likewise, codependency is a meme that keeps you from living a happy life, and that puts the blame on others. There are no exceptions to the codependency or racket messages.

There is nothing good nor bad, just what you make it. An abuser is not bad; that is just a label you gave that person.

Punishment:

Questioning the leader is not allowed. Expulsion from the program or banning from the board is typical, with those banished set up as examples to the others, who quickly toe the line.

Hi Hope,

What you describe above definitely fits the catbox. How closely does that follow EST/Landmark?

Also.. Doctor Irene doesn't claim that she is currently part of Landmark. I know many people who were in EST, though, and none of those people would've listed it as a positive in a profile. The fact that she did cite it means that she believes it is an important part of her experience.

I wonder whether the two male posters who don't have experience with abuse (and who both seem to be close to the doctor) know the doctor through Landmark.

Both have been asked numerous times why they have come to participate in a board dedicated to being abused when they in fact hadn't been abused and their answers always seemed to be evasive, in my view anyway.

Quote
WM
Hi Hope,

What you describe above definitely fits the catbox. How closely does that follow EST/Landmark?

Very closely. After I thought about it and wrote it out, it is difficult to separate est/EL from Dr. I approach to running the box.

It does seem very odd that someone would put est on their bio. Graduates have the option of attending seminars at a reduced cost, so it could be something she is still involved with. I wondered a while back if that was why she picked on a member (she changed her name to Dingbat) whose abusive ex was deeply involved in Landmark.

You made a good point about the two male posters. Someone on another forum did find via the Wayback Machine the different times one was banned for his preachy way of posting. He was allowed to come back under different names. The second male poster recently called out "Coach" for breaking the rules by coming back under a different name to post to the Rebuilding the Catbox thread. As I found with Landmark, they definitely have double standards.

R.I.P.
Updated October 19, 2014
CatBox Memorial
The CatBox crashed for good in October of 2014 and no amount of effort could restore this old database. Rest in peace beloved Box.
Many thanks to all of you who made it the success it was, to all our Boxers and all those admins who made the Box a safe place.

moongoddess:

"CatBox"?

What was that?

Is it related to comments about LGATs, Landmark and.or est?

Hi moderator
it has been mentioned throughout this thread.

moongoddess:

Thanks.

Sorry that a Web resource is gone.

On this forum over the years, some made references to Catbox.

[forum.culteducation.com]

Have a look at Anticult's post. Offers some ideas on how to search cached
material--just in case something can still be salvaged.