Must-Know Red Flags of Programs Designed to "Help" Teens

There are more than 17,000 residential treatment centers across the country. How do you find a reputable center? Liz shares what to look for when selecting a program for a troubled teen that might need help outside the home.
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[@wdtony]

When I was locked in a place like this I could have been saved if my parents just made unannounced visits and could see what they were doing to us instead of just believing them. Separating kids from parents is a HUGE red flag.

[@autumnyates8151]

Was only allowed to see my mother once a month... i was llaced in another state. And during this once a month visits i was able to leave the facility and spend time with my mother. But being separated from my mother for such long periods of time fucked me up a little.

[@alexlee6487]

Wilderness camps can help they’ll just make things worse.

[@jilliantaylor4848]

2:19 why does he ALWAYS interrupt people when they are talking? She was making a good point. It’s very rude.

[@395203502]

I've noticed that segments always seem to end shortly after he interrupts, so I think he's just the one in charge of making sure things don't run too long. That's just a guess though.

[@daysleepnightread6905]

I was severely abused at Provo Canyon School. The abuse was physical, emotional, mental, sexual and medical. The people who abused me were Lorna Hall, Robert H. Crist, Allison Beardall, Danielle Fisher, Wendy Turnbow, Kathy Hurley, Leslie Giles, as well as some people in their twenties who only went by first name such as Clara, Sandy, Joanna and Brandon.

[@daysleepnightread6905]

This is Provo Canyon School in Orem, Utah.

[@jessicariddell1976]

Yep. Typical wwasp program.

[@daysleepnightread6905]

Provo Canyon School was the prototype for all the WWASPs. Karr Farnsworth and Robert Lichfield were staff at Provo Canyon School back in the 70s or 80s, that's where they were trained. Lichfield would later go on to be the founder of the WWASPs.

[@johndurkin8201]

They threatened to send kids from the rtc I was at to Provo I knew some kids that were sent there

[@alexlee6487]

I hope they shut down!

[@jaierose9835]

3 years 8 months 12 days I was in 7 different schools I was a typical teen I had disrespect problems, but I was a good kid, after I left I am a barely functioning human being. I have seen terrible things have had terrible things happen while a student at those schools, every night I dream I am back at one of those schools, and every night when I wake up from those dreams I have a hard time realizing I'm out I survived and I am not going back.

[@yungg2fly57]

Jaie Rose Im getting ready to be sent to one.

[@vivianebb1]

hope one day you overcome this and can finally be at peace

[@tessamarie8698]

@@yungg2fly57 I hope you ran . I can relate to this comment so much these places can destroy you for life.

[@natalieleonard5876]

In college I worked at one of these. I know now there were issues but not when I was there. The cost was $5000 per month. It wasn’t accredited like they claimed and was finally shut down. When the kids make more sense than the “staff” get out.

[@alexjwash]

As someone who's been to a teen rehab with all these red flags I can definitely say how corrupt it is. Very few of the staff members even said they had experiences with any addiction. Most of them were just doing it as a college job. In my rehab i was given a therapist who was later fired after the staff discovered the only reason he did that job was to have power over the kids. He would lie and refuse to let kids speak to their parents except when you got a "phone call" which in rehab was supposed to be a treat every 2 weeks and u were supposed to be thankful that they even let u speak to them. If kids questioned him- he would get physical. He would build you up and then tear u down I still have issues from this and have lost complete trust in my parents. You were shamed if you questioned the system- you are told you are an addict and worthless until you become sober. Many of the kids I saw who originally went in for softer drugs like alcohol or weed are now on meth or heroin just to get back at their parents for taking 1-3 years of their childhood away. And the sad thing is that this is blamed on the kids u get told u didn't do the program right no matter how long you were there. Glad to say I turned out ok even tho the majority didn't. Parents please think before something like this- this can really screw up your kids trust in you. My family and life certainly haven't been the same since.

[@jessicariddell1976]

WWASP had all of these red flags in spades!

[@HeartlessSystem]

.......I wish my mom would have taken this when I was a teen... I was used and put in a room... it made me have ptsd of doctors.

[@shysweetieem]

here’s my experience, i’m 17 almost 18, i went into one of these facilities 100% blind beginning of december, my mom told me i was going to a therapy appointment at our capital city, though it wasn’t… she was sending me to a residential. which she told me halfway there, over 30 minutes out from my home (we considered this gooning in the facility), still claims to this day she did not lie about where i was going. i didn’t consent to even go into that building, yet a staff walked over to us and simply watched me. above anything, i would never cause a scene or commotion, i’m not that typa person, so i obliged, it was humiliating. but what really gets me is that i find out i had the right to not consent to signing that form unless court mandated, therapy, school district, etc. that wasn’t the case. maybe i could’ve gotten that time back, what little and how precious those 3 1/2 months were. what’s even worse, i asked them the first day there if it was two weeks, since thats average for psych wards, and they tell me average is 6 months. and like that i saw my graduation gone, my whole year, everything. all as a senior high school student disappear. i told them this, they just shrugged and would say “RA” which means radically accept. i didn’t even get to spend my last christmas as a kid at home. i take accountability that i did and still even do have substance abuse issues, an addiction, but i know the difference between a genuine problem that needs help and injustice. my first two weeks in there, i saw kids get restrained almost every night (for obvious reasons), a girl SH in the bed next to me, i saw a therapist get choked by a patient, that same patient the next day punched another patient, the night before i told staff i wasnt comfortable rooming with her that night, yet they refused because she wasn’t harming a patient, said they, legally couldn’t do anything. yet there it was. we were gaslighted, surrounded by strangers, and the other CDC patients were fetnyol to meth addicts. i litteraly watched a show recently where it showed jail life, the CRIMINALS had more rights than us. we had no cellphones, no contrabands, and NO PHYSICAL CONTACT WHATSOEVER. we’re talkin’ rapists, drug lords, MURDERERS, had more rights than mentally ill kids… so ofc some of us went crazy, i still feel like i’m living in that place everyday. luckily i got out 3 1/2 months, others weren’t so lucky.. i knew some girls in our house (an all girl house) that stayed there for a full year. we all were pushed to our brink almost every day. all so we can “handle being uncomfortable”. there were so many 13 year olds, what broke my heart was seeing an 11 yr old girl walk in. parents, please listen, as a victim of these places, please place your kids into the appropriate one, no matter how expensive or long the process, if you send them to the wrong one, your child will never look at you the same. ofc i dont hate my mom, though a future with her in it seems dim at this point. i am now graduated from my original high school i wanted to graduate from thanks to some very kind souls❤, yet i still struggle today if not worse. you’re constantly around people there and though it’s nice to be back the first few months, nothing prepares you for the hell after a place like that. i can’t talk to my mom anymore about suicidal thoughts or my deppresive episodes because of fear she’ll send me back, i dont think i could ever trust her with that information again. almost every week i get nightmares of being sent back to that place. idk if anyone would ready this lol. if you did thank you for hearing me out, i personally feel that this needs to be discussed more. just because it isn’t happening in your state/country doesnt mean it isnt happening.

[@open_420]

I was in heritage in provo utah. I was trapped in that hell hole for 20 months. I still have night mares once a week for the last 13 years

[@Lioness_of_Gaia]

23 years afterwards, I'm still messed up.

[@mikloskallai7870]

Or just don't send your child away at all? There are always ways to help, seperation from parents will never work. Parents who want to punish their child for their behaviour are just control freaks.

[@cecegomez3529]

I just don’t get how they justify the parents absence; like if I see my child needs big time help, I’ll make sure to stay with them throughout the whole therapy.

[@Mrcoldwarlarper]

@@cecegomez3529that’s the thing though not everybody is the same. You can grow up with a super caring set of parents but also still end up super fucked up and needing help. I struggled with opioid addiction from a very young age and my parents very much tried the best they could for me but I didn’t want their help. The best thing for me then was rehab. Sometimes a break from your parents is exactly what you need. And sorry this is late asf

[@DearRenisha]

I went to 5 different programs between the age of 11-17 . My family never called or checked on me once .

[@wasfalsehood9295]

4 years man 4 years I smoked weed barely when i was 13

[@oliviaroseink]

I was imprisoned at New Haven Residential Treatment Center in Spanish Fork, Utah, in 2002. Our human rights were violated in every possible way. Please, don’t subject your children to the inevitable abuse they will suffer in RTCs.

[@code-52]

Our family member was put on Steppen Stone in Lomestone Tennessee. He was talking to me about three self inflicted wounds to his hand, when the worker interrupted, saying change the subject. I could go on an on. Can anyone guide me to getting him out of there?

[@bentavita5234]

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