Hi Folks, this one may be choppy, unfortunately I don't have the wherewithal to expand much at this time.
Let me begin with my customary thanks: Thank you, Dr. Irene, for giving me the Catbox, which taught me to recognize abuse - even when performed by the Catbox's owner, herself.
Private Messages on the Catbox are being read by its admins. So yes, they're not private at all. They are now reading and filtering PM's to prevent, as they call it, "misuse of the privilege" and also the possibility of "wooing new members away." Now any PM including a link to ANY site is prevented from being sent. PM privileges are being removed left and right. Even innocuous PM's like one member asking another how they are doing - denied. Paranoia reigns supreme. Such strict and obvious CONTROL, Doc/Admins!!! Post moderation, reading PMs, preventing private messaging, you seem so intent on making sure that nobody receives any information that you, yourselves, do not provide. That's pretty sick - pretty much along the lines of mind control. Isolating your flock from outside influence, are you? That's a common cult tactic.
Also recently come to light is that an ex-member, vindictive about being previously banned due to inappropriate behaviors (and not an abuse victim), had likely been emailing Dr Irene behind-the-scenes, stirring the pot before/during/after the implosion, telling lies, finger-pointing and calling certain members "bullies." These were the same members who were initially banned in the meltdown - coincidentally the same members instrumental in causing the vindictive ex-member's prior banning by calling him out on his behavior. This ex-member had multiple membership names and has now returned to the Catbox and pushes semi-uninformed, inaccurate, long-winded non-logic on others. Remember now, this ex-member did not experience abuse, he only seems to have some sort of weird curiousity and interest in it, spending an inordinate amount of time reading, writing, studying, following forums, trying to get back in after being banned, etc. It's more like an unhealthy obsession, and his previous bannings were due to posting that was inappropriate and perhaps even harmful to others. Very suspicious, not really to be trusted, hmmm? Yet he's back and in good graces and ready to force his non-logic on a new batch of unsuspecting newbies.
Oh yes, and this person espouses a VERY twisted version of the events of the implosion, one which minimizes the egregiously horrendious behaviors committed by Dr. Irene and the new admins, even excuses them, while blaming those who did NOT cause it.
Finally, the Catbox's New Direction includes a very specific "recipe" for how admins are to handle posters, to "lead them" into accepting responsibility for their own lives. Sometimes this seems to include the members being coerced into believing they are codependent and/or have borderline personality disorder. The New Regime seems to believe ALL abuse victims must be disordered or flawed in these ways, and is intent on thrusting these diagnoses onto the members whether they like it or not. Perhaps to make them/herself (admin) more comfortable with being disordered, the label is being applied freely to others - or perhaps sometimes just insinuated, with the members attempted to be led to draw that conclusion about themselves.
The New Regime also does not want to allow members to meander from the topic AT ALL. It's strictly VERBOTEN. The New Regime does not seem to realize the extreme benefits of meandering, nor of allowing people or thoughts to flow.
And the New Regime does not want to permit sharing of personal stories on other posters' threads. Sharing of one's own experience is not helpful to the original poster, they believe. It is straying from the topic and bringing the focus onto themselves, the Regime believes. The New Regime does not seem to realize the extreme benefits that all posters have reaped from reading other stories, the "been-there-done-that's," from people who can relate, HOW they relate, what they did, how they understand, what happened to them.
The New Regime wants to give guided advice, leading members to specific (Regime-suggested) conclusions about themselves, without input or sharing from other members.
The New Regime wants to lead members' minds and tell them what to believe. The New Regime at the Catbox wants to force people to believe what they want them to believe - whether it's the Personal Responsbility doctrine, or that they are codependent or have BPD. They are not allowed to share. They are not allowed to PM privately, if at all. They are not allowed to post freely, but are moderated. They are not allowed to receive information about other websites. They are only allowed to do what the New Regime wants, and think what the New Regime wants them to think. And the New Regime will applaud them when they "see the light" - their light. But their "light" is actually darkness. The darkness of control, mind-control, constriction, suppression, coercion, false diagnoses, harmful advice. The darkness of abuse.
