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BOARDING RECOVERY is a group of accredited psychotherapists and trained
counsellors who specialize in working with 'boarding school survivors'.
These are ex-boarders whose emotional damage often lies hidden until at
some point in their adult lives it re-surfaces in the form of depression,
burn out, marital problems or alcohol/drug abuse.
They are often very competent, high-achieving individuals who may be
acutely uncomfortable about asking for help. For the most part, they are
unconscious of the fact that they are suffering from a specific, common
syndrome treatable by a variety of psychotherapeutic approaches.
Adults who were sent away to boarding school from their
family homes often learnt to endure unacceptably brutal
interpersonal practices ... When these kinds of trauma emerge
in adulthood in the form of stress related disease, inability
to sustain meaningful intimate sexual relationships, and
mental and emotional breakdowns, adults often don't even
know how to begin to acknowledge their long-hidden pain to
themselves, let alone talk to someone else (such as their
medical practitioner) about their suffering. This, as we
know from the psychological research evidence, often leads
to further psychosomatic difficulties in terms of overworking
to the point of burnout, multiple serious health problems,
and drug and alcohol misuse.
-- Petruska Clarkson BMJ, Vol. 322, 31/3/01, reviewing Duffell, N. (2000)
The Making of Them: The British Attitude to Children and the Boarding School System.
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