The following essay was written with you in mind. It is the most convincing summary of my criticisms of Goddard to date, but it is far from complete. I left out issues that seemed less relevant to your current lived experience. Other issues were overlooked. My last days have been spent immersed enough in pedagogical theory that the shortcomings I've been exposed to thus far stand out as they do on a football field. Due to limitations of time, space and energy I chose to write in a direct and rambling manner over the course of a short sitting. The structure of this piece will resemble the illegitimate hybrid of a formal document and a personal letter. The operational Goddardian myth of a student-centered environment hides the ugly truth that suppression of the shadow only leads to the demonization of its projection. As an outsider to mainstream tenets within the IBA community and who has been alienated for expressing dissent, I am in a unique position to explore the ways in which attempts to escape inherited structures within traditional academia have led to a denial of oppressive hegemonies by which what was once radical has become sectarian. (freire 37) The counselor must approach his role with humility. As Freire said, “To affirm [commitment to the oppressed] but to see oneself as the holder of revolutionary wisdom – which must be given (or imposed) on the people – is to maintain the old ways.” (60-1) Authentic dialogue cannot be created by imposing on the other a value or perspective that does not arise from one's own experience. (180) Freirian rhetoric aside, caution is advised during the initial stages of packet sending and response. If you provide early in the interaction… midway through the document… disclosure and a willingness to reevaluate your approach.*1*As someone who has been misdiagnosed with bipolar disorder, I have found myself time and again in environments and relationships where I was misunderstood, where my voice was excluded from decisions about my future, and where my natural intellectual curiosity was stifled, so let it be known that I approach this situation as a member of a majority versus a minority. Rather, as an intellectual who values ​​many traditional Western ways of engaging with the source material, I am a minority within a minority created by the majority; a group presumably more dangerous because it identifies dissent with the voice of its oppressor.*2*It is good that people with different minds learn to understand the world in different ways to the extent that they are capable of doing so, but unless they also play the neurological differences.