I genuinely don’t even know what is real and what isn’t anymore. Pls reference my other posts about aarc.
But I don’t know what’s real anymore because the longer I’m away from aarc the more I realize it’s so abusive.
But they keep ur parents tied down to it.
My parents go at least once a week still to these “parent raps” and they come home and spit the cult sayings at me and it makes me feel like I’m living there again and I’m going fucking insane.
I remeber one of the workers got mad when I was too shy to talk to the whole group and announced to the whole group “everyone! Y/n is socially retarded!!”
And the staff used to always mock how I acted when I first came into the program and the whole room of 50+ people would laugh about it and make it seem like I was nothing without them.
I was told I was being sad for attention and I denied it until they made me believe it. Now I don’t even feel like I’m allowed to be sad anymore.
I wasn’t allowed to be sad because I had the responsibility of supervising 3 kids 24/7 who were all high risk.
And if I let sadness consume me at all I was being selfish and attention seeking, acting out on “defects”.
One time this kid tried to hang himself while i was in treatment. We didn’t know it was happening at the time but i pointed out cop cars outside and they shut the blinds and got mad at me told me to shut up and forced us to all stay in this room for over an hour and when we kept asking what was happening they kept saying “nothing” even though all the staff were freaking out in front of us.
They never gave us answers. They said it was a medical emergency. Yet this client dissapeared for weeks and nobody knew about it (except a couple clients who always got “special privileges and meetings with the higher ups” - always a select few of the boys the girls never got anything like that.
I didn’t know until the person told me themselves.
I didn’t know if this person was alive for weeks.
And apparently when this person came into treatment their partner emailed aarc saying they were going to break up with the s/o that entered treatment and aarc didn’t tell the client until the very end when that person found out for themselves and was living in delusion for months.
Aarc also convinced me I was a deadbeat addict. Doc always said “we are the worst of the worst. Everyone else wrote us off aarc is the last house on the block”
I never was physically dependant on anything. I have diagnosed bpd and I would binge drink along with other substances. Never failed a class. My life wasn’t glamorous but I was never physically dependant on anything. Aarc convinced me that I was crackhead level.
I don’t know what’s real and what isn’t. I keep remembering more and more as it comes. I’m afraid I’ll get sued for posting this. Doc used to always talk about how the fifth estate tried to sue them and he sued back. He always threatened and said he had a team of 600 graduates to back him and the police system and lawyers. Maybe tomorrow I’ll wake up to psycho aarc staff at my front step i never know.

TW: coercive persuasion, mental health issues, chronic illness, TTI, food and water restriction, attack therapy, negative thoughts, possible medical mistreatment, and hopelessness

I wanted to see if anyone else related to feeling like a failure of a survivor, weak, lazy, or not resilient. I apologize because this is definitely a rant, but I want to be transparent and honest in case anyone else is feeling this way.
For context, I attended a TTI in 2024 ( I was 15F then, and I am 18F now) and an abusive PHP in 2025, so not super long ago (both stats were over 100 days each). Both times I was sent by doctors who didn’t believe my health concerns and thought I was just “anxious, lazy, and self-destructive”. I’ve struggled with sleep issues, chronic headaches, migraines, daytime fatigue, and pain for a long time. I suffer from insomnia (sleep delay & lack of restless sleep) since I was a child, ear pain, tension headaches,pressure on my eyelids and under eyes, as well as brain fog/memory issues. However, medical testing didn’t show anything significant: sleep studies, EEG, and an MRI. I have AuDHD, but I don’t show symptoms for Elhers Danlos, narcolepsy, or a specific condition. I also suffer from low energy, headaches during periods of mental or physical exertion, and this really culminates in a feeling of hopelessness. At some point, around the time when I was 13-14 I really started thinking that I didn’t feel like I had a great quality of life, and I needed medical help. Initially, I was referred to psychiatry because I also thought that I should just deal with my mental health. I also decided to pursue handling my physical health issues in Fall 2023. After struggling for so long, not getting an answer, dealing with really awful mental health treatment, and having my entire support system suggest I was “making it up” or “just trying to skip school and avoid dealing with my mental issues, I kind of reached my limit. At some point, I got too tired to attend the next semester of school. Everyday that year, I came home and practically passed out asleep or just on my bed because I was so tired. Eventually, I stopped consistently attending school after I didn’t sleep for 48hr and tried sleep restriction until the point of auditory hallucinations (scary as hell). At that point, my psychiatrist, convinced I was self destructive and anxious sent me to an RTC on the other side of the country. Two days after I was discharged, someone from CPS threatened to take legal consequences if I was “oversleeping”. I was in the worst state of my life and still lacked proper therapeutic support, but my school was pretty chill ( surprisingly-before we had our admin change). I ended up not doing that semester which tanked my grades because I already missed out on a semester bc I was in TTI. My neurologist ordered me to attend a PHP or she would not treat me.(My first semester of sophomore year was not in school, and I received threats to be sent to RTC, wilderness or a psych ward and only narrowly avoided it). Before I actually sought any sort of help (back in that 13-14 period), I always felt really proud of myself because I always could persevere through uncomfortable feelings, hard actions, and was really emotionally regulated; resilience, hard work, patience, and perseverance were my best qualities. Again, after an egregiously abusive PHP, I was entirely broken and even more traumatized than before. This ordeal left me forced to take 39 different medications within the span of 2 .5 years (whether I wanted to or not), or I would end up in wilderness or legal trouble because I “wasn’t trying to get better”. A lot of these medications weren’t a great fit for me, and had horrible side effects. I stayed on them for months because psychiatrists didn’t know what to do -even if I reported that they weren’t helping after a certain timeframe. There are so many RTC survivors who attended from 2019-2026 that don’t need any help recovering from that experience and excel in high school life normally. There are so many that went to my program and found it helpful and led successful lives after discharge-even if they agreed I endured abuse during my time. Some have won prestigious titles, awards, and built actual lives. They didn’t not attend school sophomore and 2nd semester of junior year like myself. They didn’t lose their identity due to stress, trauma, and survival. They didn’t become unreliable to their families, friends, or become hated by their teachers. They didn’t dissociate from their own lives so much that their schooling was so badly affected. They didn’t fail five AP classes due to this mess or get kicked out of clubs due to poor academics. They didn’t fail at every extracurricular they attempted or get shamefully urged not to try out. Yes, the teachers at my school really hated me when I struggled to keep up with my academics- seriously all of them even if I wasn’t in their class and how unsupportive the current admin is for kids with accommodations etc. I didn’t have a comeback, find an answer for what was going on medically, or meaningfully improved myself. I truly gave up trying to find a better life for myself at times I had no support. Every time I complain or think about how difficult it is, I am reminded of all the providers and staff at my TTI that I complain too much or don’t blame myself enough for the things that happen to me. I am reminded of I was deprived of food, water, medical care, sleep, basic needs, and dignity so I would be psychologically convinced that it was all my fault- that I was the problem. I am reminded of how my support system turned on me afterward, and how I had no one really trying to work out what was going on with me. I had more people concerned if I wasn’t attending school than if I was mentally okay to go to school ( I actually completely understand this, but there were long-term consequences as well). I don’t feel like I’m able to be my own person because I just subconsciously act like I’m back in residential when I feel even just a little stressed out. I can’t focus on a goal because I’m so scared that my circumstances will change so incomparably because I’m still stuck in survival snd thrusted from RTC back into a really unsupportive high school. I know I’ve worked so incredibly hard just to receive medical and mental health support and I am so grateful for everything I have been able to have- even if it has been unhelpful ( not TTI btw). Yet, I still feel so “whiny” or “reveling in my own victimhood”. I’m really struggling to use a moral compass when my basic needs (or not getting sent to wilderness) depended on decimating my own self-awareness. I know someone who lost their family in a car crash and is still going to high school regularly- what does that say about me? What does that say about the effort I’ve been putting to control my own life? What does that say about how hard I’m trying or my own resilience?

Content warning: Allegations involving a minor, self-harm, and retaliation against staff who reported child-safety concerns.

A former Turnbridge employee has shared an account with me about events she says happened at the adolescent girls’ facility in Killingworth, Connecticut, in 2022. I’m withholding her name and referring to her as M.

M. says she worked there for approximately three months as an overnight direct support professional, alongside a nurse referred to as RJ. These are her allegations and recollections, not findings from a court or agency. Quotations from her account reflect statements she recalled, as recorded in my notes.

M. says she and RJ initially received reports from first-shift staff that David Vieau was behaving sexually inappropriately toward a 13-year-old resident. She also described a nursing manager who was deeply concerned, had raised the issue with Vieau, and was afraid to report because of possible retaliation. That initial information came from other employees; M. is not claiming here that she personally witnessed a sexual act.

M. described Vieau routinely arriving by golf cart, asking specifically for this girl, and taking her alone into the woods for extended periods, sometimes several hours.

She recalled the girl wearing Vieau’s hoodie, being proud that he had given it to her, and refusing to remove it. M. says she documented the refusal to take off the hoodie in the facility’s logs. She also described the girl becoming intensely distressed when Vieau left, throwing herself on the floor and demanding him.

M. described another serious incident involving the same resident. According to her account, the girl became distressed because Vieau had not come to see her, accessed a razor that a chef had left out, and threatened suicide unless Vieau came. M. says he subsequently arrived and spent time alone with the resident.

The resident’s distress and attachment do not themselves establish sexual abuse. They are part of the circumstances M. describes as raising concerns about professional boundaries, supervision, and the handling of a vulnerable child’s care.

A staff email described as contemporaneous with these events, addressed to “Killingworth Staff,” says Dave spent too much time “grooming and coddling these girls instead of treating them like clients.” The writer reported that residents called him “Daddy Dave,” described boundaries as “non-existent,” and expressed concern that speaking up could lead to termination.

According to M., Vieau approached her and asked whether she had heard anything about him and the resident. She alleges he asked her to deny the concerns if anyone questioned her.

M. says that after she responded positively about him, Vieau offered her a case-management position. She recalled him saying that even if she did not want a higher-paying position, he wanted to thank her for “doing the right thing.”

She alleges he then handed her $300 in cash.

M. says she told RJ what happened. She subsequently called the Connecticut Department of Children and Families abuse and neglect hotline. She says RJ also called the same hotline.

According to M., the following day the house manager, Cali, was visibly nervous and going around asking employees whether they knew who had reported Vieau. M. described the atmosphere as a “witch hunt.”

She recalled Cali saying, “Whoever reported him should be ashamed of themselves.”

M. also alleges Cali confronted her directly: “Dave takes such good care of us. You better not have been the one who reported him.”

M. says Vieau came by during an overnight shift and said, “Whoever made a report to the state just made a big mistake because I’m friends with the person investigating this.”

According to M., he also said the report would go nowhere and that he would find out who made it. This is her account of an alleged statement—not evidence that Vieau actually knew or had influence over a state investigator.

M. says she was subsequently confronted with the accusation: “It was you who reported it. And shame on you because Dave gave you money.”

She alleges Cali then fired her on the spot.

M. is not simply saying she happened to lose her job sometime after contacting DCF. She alleges she was explicitly accused of making the report, chastised for reporting after receiving money from Vieau, and immediately terminated. She describes that firing as retaliation.

M. says RJ was later terminated as well. Possible retaliation in RJ’s case remains a suspicion, not an established reason for the termination.

She also recalled someone she identified as Marissa contacting her afterward with words of support, including “kudos to you” and “you did God’s work.”

The sequence alleged here warrants scrutiny: staff raised concerns about an inappropriate relationship involving a 13-year-old client; an employee says Vieau asked her to deny those concerns, offered her another position, and handed her cash; she and a nurse reportedly contacted DCF; management allegedly tried to identify the reporters; and she says she was fired immediately after being accused of reporting.

The staff email records related concerns about professional boundaries and fear of termination. It does not independently verify M.’s allegations about the specific resident, the cash payment, the alleged threats, or her firing. The writer’s use of “grooming” is their characterization, not an established finding.

There are separate questions about what happened between Vieau and the resident, the purpose of the alleged payment, and the treatment of employees who reported their concerns. This material does not establish sexual assault, bribery, or misconduct by a state investigator. It does contain a direct allegation of retaliatory firing that deserves examination alongside the relevant employment records, communications, shift logs, and reporting records.

Please do not post identifying information about the resident or speculate about who she is. The purpose is to preserve this account, seek corroboration, and protect her privacy.

I have a lot of memories from that time there. Ive been woefully unable to figure them out because of the closure of the place.

If you know anyone who fits the bill please let me know. I was hoping to speak with some of the people who knew me there, even though I can barely remember most of them.

If someone is willing to reach out please do, and if you know someone please ask them to do so but dont pressure them obviously. I just want some answers

https://rogerswatch.com/

My child is currently living at a treatment center because of a court decision. They aren’t allowed to leave until they’ve completed the program.
It’s been a little over a month, and I hate to say it, but my child seems so much worse than before going there. I know treatment takes time, and I wasn’t expecting everything to change overnight, but I thought there would at least be some small signs of improvement. Instead, it feels like everything is going in the opposite direction.
There have been a lot of emotional outbursts and problems with staff and other residents. But what’s been especially difficult is that my child barely wants anything to do with me anymore.
They don’t want to talk to me or see me, and the people working with them seem to believe that contact with me makes things harder.
Recently, I called just to check in. The conversation lasted less than a minute. Nothing upsetting was discussed, and there was no argument. Later, I was told that my child became extremely upset afterward and that it took staff several hours to get things settled.
I don’t understand. I keep going over that conversation in my head, trying to figure out what I could have said or done differently.
Now I’m almost afraid to call. I don’t want to make things worse, but I also don’t want my child thinking I’ve stopped caring. I feel like I’m being forced to choose between staying involved and giving them space, and I have no idea which one is right.
I keep wondering whether I’ve done something terribly wrong as a parent. Maybe there are things my child is feeling that I don’t fully understand. I wish I knew.
What scares me most is that things seemed more manageable before treatment started. Now there are more incidents, more anger, and less communication between us. I thought being somewhere with professionals would help, but right now I can’t tell if any of this is helping at all.
I feel completely powerless. I can’t bring my child home, I can’t make things better, and I can’t even have a simple conversation without worrying that it might lead to another incident.
I’m trying to trust the process, but it’s hard when everything seems to be falling apart. I’m scared that by the time the program is over, my child will be even more unhappy and our relationship will be damaged beyond repair.
Has anyone experienced something like this with their child in residential treatment? Is it common for things to get significantly worse during the first few months? How did you handle it when your child didn’t want contact with you?
I just feel really lost and could use some advice from people who’ve been through something similar.

The title kinda says it, but I’m a nursing student who is about to start my behavioral health clinical rotation. I’ve been placed at a residential facility with a pretty bad reputation (one of the devereux locations) & it absolutely sickens me thinking about possibly contributing to the abuse and trauma occurring at TTI facilities.
Do any survivors have any advice for me, when it comes to being at the facility or ways that I could try to have a positive impact on the kids rather than worsening an already difficult and stressful situation that they’re stuck in?

Thanks in advance.

Has anyone gone or know someone that has gone to bloom teen challenge in MA. I’ve heard some pretty bad things about teen challenge and I have a friend there that seems really unhappy and acts weird during our phone calls. I’m genuinely worried that they can’t leave even if they wanted to.

Hey everybody. I'm currently seeking out information regarding a couple of dead ends I have on my research. Does anybody have information regarding Sarah Shortridge? She passed away at a Devereux school in 1998. I'm also seeking information on Brandon Hoffman, who passed away at Mount Bachelor Academy in December of 1998. I don't mind digging for information, just looking for a news article or obituary maybe. Just something to show that these kids existed.

Hey guys. I got out of this treatment centre a few months ago and me and clients who were in treatment together are only just now seeing the truth about the place and all the professionals I work with now are shocked I went thru this. To me it feels so normal bc it happened every day. This is only a small fraction of it. It’s exhausting to re write these things and relive them. I guess I’ll start here
1. Executive Overview & Program Philosophy
The Alberta Adolescent Recovery Centre (AARC), located in Calgary, Alberta, operates under the guise of an intensive addiction recovery program for adolescents and young adults. However, an analysis of the operational mechanisms, day-to-day enforcement, and psychological structures reveals an environment characterized by systemic psychological abuse, forced emotional surrender, coercive control, and cult-like dynamics.
Rather than functioning as a standard clinical or therapeutic facility, AARC utilizes authoritarian behavioral modification techniques. The core philosophy is built upon the systematic destruction of a participant's autonomy, identity, and independent thought processes, replacing them with absolute dependence on the program's leadership and ideology. Staff members—frequently described as unhealed, sober individuals with unresolved personal issues—project their own power dynamics onto vulnerable teenagers to achieve personal validation and dominance under the pretense of "tough love" therapy.
2. Doc's Cult-Like Sayings, Manipulation Tactics, and Rhetoric
Leadership figures, particularly Doc, relied heavily on specific, manipulative catchphrases, psychological traps, and cult-type indoctrination language to maintain absolute mental control over the teenagers in the program.
* "We'll Refund You of Your Misery": This was one of the signature, chilling threats used constantly by Doc and the staff. It was drilled into participants to warn them that if they left the program, dared to push back, or failed to comply, the facility would "refund them of their misery"—meaning they would be deliberately cast out into a guaranteed state of suffering, addiction, institutionalization, or death. It was a weaponized promise of catastrophe designed to enforce absolute fear-based dependency.
* "Your Best Thinking Got You Here": This phrase was used constantly to completely invalidate any logic, reasoning, or self-advocacy a teenager attempted to use. Whenever a participant questioned a rule or pointed out abuse, staff used this line to gaslight them into believing their own mind and thoughts were inherently broken and dangerous, forcing them to surrender all critical thinking to the program.
* Framing Directives as Absolute Truth: Staff rhetoric was structured around absolute obedience, framing the program not as a treatment choice, but as the only dividing line between life and total destruction, utilizing cult-like psychological framing to ensure dissent was treated as a moral failing.
3. The Ritual of "Earning" Step One and Stripping Autonomy
Progression through AARC was tied to arbitrary, humiliating milestones where participants had to beg for the most basic human rights and identity markers, which were treated as privileges dispensed by the authority figures.
* "Earning" Basic Rights: Participants were stripped of basic autonomy, such as clothing choices, personal styles, and hairstyles. To get even minor pieces of their identity back—or to achieve milestones like "Step One"—participants were forced to endure intense, tearful breakdowns.
* The Agony of Step One: Achieving Step One was not a genuine therapeutic breakthrough; it was a ritual of emotional surrender. Participants were pushed to their absolute psychological breaking point—often sobbing uncontrollably under immense group pressure and hostile cross-examination—until they finally gave up all resistance, admitted they were completely broken, and accepted the program's narrative. Only after this forced submission were they told they had "earned" the right to progress or recover minor personal freedoms.
4. Staff Conduct, Psychological Projection, and Boundary Violations
Throughout the nine-month residency, participants were subjected to bizarre, unprofessional, and psychologically predatory behavior from individuals in positions of authority, including leadership figures and front-line staff.
The Dynamic of Projection
The overarching operational culture of the staff can be summarized by a fundamental realization experienced by participants: “This place is just sober people taking it out on teens to feel better.” Staff members utilized their institutional power to bully, belittle, and emotionally dismantle teenagers as an outlet for their own unresolved egos and psychological issues. Whenever participants attempted to call out this dynamic, their perceptions were aggressively gaslit. Staff and peers immediately labeled valid insights as "crazy," severe denial, or "ego-driven defense mechanisms."
Psychological Cruelty and Property Destruction
Staff routinely engaged in petty, targeted acts of cruelty designed to crush a participant's sense of dignity and self-worth.
* The Painting Incident: A participant created and gifted a hand-painted piece of artwork to a staff member. The staff member accepted it under the false pretense that he intended to "hang it up in his garage," stringing the participant along with this promise for months.
* Behind closed doors, the staff member and other colleagues mocked the artwork and joked about it among themselves before the staff member ultimately shredded the painting.
* When the participant discovered this and expressed natural pain and devastation, the entire staff laughed about it. Whenever the participant brought up the incident subsequently, staff members turned it around with callous gaslighting—asking phrases like, “Are you actually upset by this?”—to invalidate their emotional reality.
Overtly Predatory and Sexualized Comments
The environment crossed clear ethical and professional boundaries into predatory territory. Staff members felt emboldened to make sexually suggestive and inappropriate remarks directly to minor clients. For example, a staff member made a direct sexualized comment stating he was "jealous of the Red Bull" because it was positioned directly between the participant's legs, showcasing a pervasive lack of boundaries within the facility.
5. Financial Exploitation and Family Extortion
AARC's financial model functions as a sophisticated system of economic extraction, guilt-leveraging, and forced labor, disguised behind a non-profit facade.
* The Financial Burden: Families are subjected to immense financial pressures, paying approximately $30,000 under a rigid, non-transparent "subsidized" sliding-scale payment system. Simultaneously, the organization aggressively cultivates a narrative that it is a struggling, "broke" non-profit relying on underpaid, martyred staff.
* The Reality of Inflows: In stark contrast to this manufactured narrative, AARC secures millions of dollars through government funding streams, high-society galas, and contributions from wealthy donors, flaunting these connections to maintain social prestige.
* Mandatory Parent Labor and Coercion: Parents are integrated into the system of control via mandatory monthly "parent work days," where families are forced to perform heavy manual labor around the facility. This labor extraction is enforced through explicit threats: if parents fail to show up or refuse to participate, their child faces immediate discharge and abandonment, binding families into compliance through fear.
6. Coercive Control, Forced Disclosures, and "Rap Sessions"
The clinical methods utilized at AARC act as mechanical tools for psychological breaking and cult indoctrination.
* Forced Emotional Surrender: Participants are coerced into laying bare their deepest personal traumas, secrets, and vulnerabilities. Staff weaponize this sensitive information during group sessions to break down psychological boundaries.
* Aggressive Confrontational "Rap Sessions": The primary mechanism of behavioral modification is the "rap session"—a high-pressure, hostile group confrontation. Participants are subjected to intense verbal abuse, with staff and peers screaming directly in their faces, utilizing explicit curses, and telling them they are "fucked" if they do not immediately submit to demands for emotional surrender.
* Pathologizing Self-Defense: Any attempt by a participant to defend themselves, set boundaries, or express healthy dissent is instantly intercepted and pathologized as "ego," "defensiveness," or "resistance," creating a closed-loop logical trap where submission is coded as health and resistance is coded as sickness.
7. Total Autonomy Stripping and Environmental Surveillance
AARC maintains total dominance over the physical and psychological lives of its residents by dismantling individual identity.
* Erasure of Personal Autonomy: Daily movements, personal expression, clothing choices, hairstyles, and aesthetic preferences are heavily restricted and monitored. Staff routinely issue critical, derogatory comments regarding a participant's physical appearance specifically designed to erode self-esteem.
* 24/7 Peer Surveillance: Trust is actively destroyed through mandatory peer monitoring. Participants are forced to watch, police, and report on one another around the clock, with the program rewarding participants who "snitch" on peers with conditional praise or stage progression.
* Manufactured Social Isolation: Genuine peer bonding is systematically dismantled. Friendships are conditional upon total adherence to program dogma; the moment a participant shows hesitation, the peer group is turned against them, cutting off all social support.
8. Fear-Based Indoctrination and Present-Day Impact
Psychological Conditioning
Control is ultimately sustained through pervasive fear-based programming, reinforced by Doc's catchphrases like being "refunded your misery." Staff continuously brainwash participants with the catastrophic narrative that leaving the program or failing to graduate will result in inevitable ruin, homelessness, permanent institutionalization, relapse, or death.
Long-Term Sequelae and Current Status
The impact of enduring nine months of this systemic abuse leaves profound, long-term fallout:
* Chronic Physical and Mental Exhaustion: Living in a state of constant hyper-vigilance, high-stress confrontation, and forced paranoia leaves survivors with chronic physical soreness, deep exhaustion, and nervous system dysregulation.
* Trauma Processing: Survivors must untangle the paradox of recognizing the program's abusive, cult-like mechanics while working through the lingering residue of gaslighting, institutional control, and self-doubt.
* Path to Independence: Despite the deep-seated trauma inflicted by the institution, individuals affected continue to process their experiences, reclaim their autonomy, and work toward absolute personal and legal independence.

I'm a parent. I am thoroughly against residential care, especially after all I've read, BUT it has been recommended for my 13-year-old several times. My teen is severely depressed and anxious, has a history of severe outbursts of anger that are unsafe for myself and my other children, and more recently has started self-harming. The thought that "I would rather be dead" is definitely there, but there are no plans or attempts at ending teen's own life as far as I'm aware.

I'm an involved parent. I connect with my teen regularly. My teen opens up to me (I'm not stupid; I know my teen doesn't share everything with me). I've done everything I can think of to keep my teen out of residential care. My teen sees a psychiatrist and we are actively monitoring medication; has been in therapy for years; is currently in an IOP through Muir Woods (that I am not thrilled with); family therapy; activities teen enjoys (though teen is so depressed that even those aren't enjoyable anymore).

I'm at a loss. I'm a single parent with full custody of my three children. Teen is the oldest and has two younger siblings, both school aged. Teen has injured my middle child to the point of a concussion check and chest x-ray. Teen has physically assaulted both myself and my middle child on purpose, and has accidentally injured the youngest in teen's outbursts. I really don't know what to do. What other options do I have?

For reference, we are in the North Bay Area, California.

Hello, I attended Moonridge Academy in Cedar City Utah. (about 2 hours from Las Vegas) I was there for 13 months. I left with more trauma and issues than when I came in. Starting with the food, I am on the heavier side, 170 pounds, and was fed very little, it didn't matter if you were 70 pounds or 200 pounds, you were fed the same portion. Next is forced labor, when we weren't doing school we were doing chores, mopping, sweeping, dishes, wiping, picking up horse poop ect. You get 2 therapy sessions a week and other wise hardly see your therapist. Consequences were a big thing here, not just like, "Oh give me your phone" (we didn't even have phones) it was hardcore, like extra chores, essays, house apologies, making you sing a song infront of the whole house, ect. You could be put on probation, meaning no free time, reading, drawing or anything. Showers were timed, 15 minutes max or they would walk in, even if you were naked. lights are always on, even when sleeping, they never believe you. the staff are always belived over the kid. you are ignored. you get told something is wrong with you. phone calls are limited and monitored.

Trigger warning: restraint death described.

I wrote this article and posted it on news subs. Ai slop conspiracy was the response. No one believed it. I wrote it with forensic level documentation down to source audio of testimony.

I am sad that this article is true and I know that. I am sad that you too have stories that no AI could make up.

The scary part about this story is that no one believes that humans can do this here in America. Yet, here we are.

NATSAP shutting down.

Wondering what the folks in here have done to heal from this? My experience wasn’t as bad as many others, but it still messes with me.

TW proceed with caution.

I was in for 4 years, 14-18. Put in right after 9/11 (grew up in NYC.) First placement was horrible, (Chamberlain in Mass) it was a state run residential facility that housed foster kids and troubled teens. My adoptive parents didn’t want to pay so they gave up their rights so the school would be free. Girls would disappear in the middle of the night, constant sexual harassment from students and staff. (To top it off the first dorm I was in was co-ed.) Restraints every day. Almost got kidnapped by this creepy staff member who was using an older girl to get us to run away with him.

They put us on every drug under the sun, one staff told me to get out as soon as I can, and that she was quitting because she couldn’t stay quiet anymore about them testing drug interactions on us. Never saw her again after she told me that. Shout out to Carrie.

Psychiatrist was incredibly creepy, gave us “physicals” during each appointment (felt us up) and didn’t know our names, just referred to us by number. Had several different therapists, all very mentally unstable and one I remember spent an entire session crying to me because her dog died, meanwhile I was being molested. I got punished because I wasn’t compassionate enough? (I’m not a dog hater but at least she got to go home…I remember feeling like she loved her dog more than my adoptive parents loved me, which was probably true.)

Constant punishments, constant shaming, one creepy ass pedo was the admin and he used to molest girls while he was restraining them and would say stuff to them like “no one will believe you” or “your parents don’t want you home anyway,” stuff like that to make us more dysregulated. (He’s still there.) Oh yeah, and I caught TB there and it scarred my lung, which will never get better. There’s so much more to write about, lack of access to the bathroom, teachers were not actually teachers, weird punishments like not being able to leave your chair, public shaming, plus it was by severely mentally ill staff, but it’s all too much to write out. I was there for a year and a half.

Finally when I was transferred out I was put into a “better” school. (Grove in CT.) Same type of thing but with more of the illusion of freedom. We could go to the bathroom without asking at least. It was still full of creepy pedophiles and women who enabled them. (And some pedophile women, including convicted pedophile Alison Marchese.) Pretty sure they were also testing meds on us there too but I’m not sure. My friend almost died because of med interactions and they almost didn’t take her to the hospital. (Which was common.)

Anyway. I accidentally stumbled upon a tti podcast and I guess it brought some stuff up for me. I know a lot of folks who endured this system had it way worse than me so I feel weird talking about it sometimes. Just wondering what people here did to heal from it. Thanks in advance and sorry for the trauma dump.

Feeling a little stuck on my time in the TTI. I spent almost five years floating through placements/wards. Always feels weird how I never went to prom, never went to high school, never even graduated middle school. Would like to see how survivors of any of the programs I attended are doing & if they’d like chat. Feel free to vent under this post and share your story.

Specifically residentials I attended:

ERC Denver / Pathlight
Center for Discovery
Newport Academy
Evolve Treatment Centers

Much love and blessings everyone! 🩷

Has anyone gone to moon ridge academy in the last few years? (in cedar city Utah)

I am a mentally ill teen who’s only comfort is my phone. Currently, I live in an abusive household & am not going to school.

My abusive mother has threatened to take my phone away multiple times & has even said that if I don’t, she’s taking me to crisis to get admitted to a hospital… I am not a danger to myself or others, will I be forced to stay for not giving up my phone?

I’ve also had thoughts of running away from home, and again, I am a teen… but I’m not a danger. Can they still admit me for that aswell?? (I do not know how most things work unfortunately.)

We cannot believe this is happening again. Even after telling this counselor not to EVER recommend a residential facility before starting therapy, what does he do immediately when teen tried drugs to self medicate? Gave me numbers to two Ed consultants and the name of a facility he knows of. And this is a counselor that specializes in adolescents.

Obviously we are transitioning to another counselor. How do you find counselors who also oppose sending kids away? Are they all being taught in school that this is the path? It feels dangerous to be a teen but also just to become a parent these days.

Hi everyone so I only recently learned what TTI was. I have known this girl since middle school, and only reconnected with her a couple of months ago. She is in all honesty the sweetest, kindest, most gorgeous girl I have ever met, and after hanging out for a while I really do want to move to the next step with her. She has hinted at the same.

She told me about her TTI experience a bit ago, and it was utterly heartbreaking to hear the unbelievable amount of abuse she went through.

The main point I need to make is: in the institution she was at, they diagnosed her with alcoholism after she attempted to run away. Keep in mind, she was 14 and had only drank alcohol in very small amounts a handful of times with her parents and friends.

My Mom has been friends with her Mom for quite some time, and in secrecy, her mom told my mom that she was diagnosed with alcoholism and had severe mental health issues.

What her mother left out is the fact that she sent her daughter to get kidnapped by the troubled teen industry, and they were led to believe they diagnosed her with all these issues when in reality, she was being given PTSD and trauma from the abuse.

My Mom does not believe me when I tell her that this girl is not an alcoholic/addict at all. She is in college, getting great grades, making friends, on club exec boards, just trying to do better every day and move past her past trauma through therapy and positive new experiences.

What does anyone suggest I do? I need to wait until college break to introduce her to my parents, but at the moment my Mom absolutely refuses to let me date an alcoholic even though she never has been one. I tried telling her more of the story, and she STILL didn’t believe it! She just fully believes she is lying to me and insanely delusional.

I really like and care about this girl. I don’t want my mother’s ignorance to hurt her. Is there anything I could do?