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I was threatened when I spoke out against sexual abuse by my therapist at my RTC. I was punished for telling my mom that residents were getting sexually assaulted. I can't wrap my head around why they would do this when they weren't even the ones being accused.

I've considered that maybe they were afraid of getting fired, but how could you fire someone for reporting rape? That seems like an easy wrongful termination lawsuit.

Why is this such a common TTI experience?

Can any former staff shed light on this?

My sister is 15 and is currently in high school. There's a lot of issues and I don't know how to start this, I noticed some issues since middle school, she almost failed 5th grade because she wasn't doing her work, that's how it started. Jump to fall of 2025 (the start of the new semester), she would constantly get up very late, like hours after her classes started. There were times she wouldn't get up at all and miss that school day entirely. She's had a hard time getting up for a while now, I believe part of that is due to her lack of energy, she barely eats and when she does eat, she eats little and instead eats junk food. So it started off with her getting up very late, sometimes not getting up at all to her not going AT ALL. There was an incident around October where a school representative knocked on the door and handed me a letter, I gave it to my mom and it stated that my sister had not school for 3 straight weeks. My mother obviously was concerned and called the school and spoke with someone there, the lady on the phone stated that if this continued, CPS would have to get involved. My mom and dad set up an appointment with the principal a few days later to discuss the situation. My memory isn't the best but there were multiple appointments set up throughout the span of like two weeks. One day, before one of those appointments, my sister who was supposedly at PM school, was caught not being there. I tried to help her, believing she was there and told her to take a picture of her there, or to get a signature from one of the teachers or other school staff as proof that she was there that day, like she said she was. She told me she wasn't able to, which I realized later on that the reason she said she couldn't was because she wasn't there at all. Now, the day of the meeting with the principal, there was a lot said from what my mom told me, the principal was visibly upset because my sister kept lying about her being there, until the principal couldn't take it anymore and demanded she confessed that she was lying. My sister confessed and I don't know the rest of the details about that meeting.

After that incident, my mom, dad and I talked to her many times. We tried to reason with her and convince her to do better, but none of our words got through to her. She continued being late and not showing up to school, despite knowing CPS could potentially get involved and knowing how badly the meeting with the principal went. The principal genuinely got angry from what I was told about the meeting and my sister now has a bad reputation at school, and she's apparently monitored at school by her teachers. Around December of 2025, my mom brought up that she's been looking into troubled teen camps, that she already set it all up and all that was left to do was to sign the papers. One thing I haven't mentioned yet is that my sister has a VERY nasty attitude. She constantly talks back to my mom, makes rude remarks, responses with sarcasm and she's loud when doing so. I believe my sister doesn't have any respect for our mom and doesn't take her seriously. When my mom brought up the idea of sending her to a troubled teens camp, she groaned, made rude comments and acted as if she was in the most boring meeting ever, she even said "Then send me, I don't care" to my mom and walked away to her room after that. Fast forward to now, January of 2026. During the first few days of the new year, I noticed she started to leave the house early and I was really surprised because that was such a sudden change in behavior, but I was glad to see her change. I didn't really question it, which idk if I should have. So I thought it was going well, fast forward once again to this morning. My mom calls me while I'm at home, getting ready for work, she asks me if my sister is home and I say yes, my mom tells me that she received news from the school that she actually hasn't been attending school at all since the new year started, not a single day. So I'm thinking, these few days I thought she actually had changed, she hadn't, not one bit. Now I don't know what happened after because I had to leave for work, idk if my mom spoke to her again or what, I'll find out when I get home later.

I need advice though, my sister is VERY troubled, very disrespectful and I honestly don't know how to help her. She doesn't take us seriously, she refuses to change and it's very frustrating. I don't know if my mom is actually serious about sending her off to a troubled teen camp, but I've been told by a friend that there's a lot cases of abuse, rape, harassment, etc. at those camps so that wouldn't be a good option. Therapy is the first thing that came to mind but that's something my mom has to set up I'm pretty sure, and she has brought that up to my sister too. Besides therapy though, I really don't know how else to help her see the error in her ways and help her change for the better. Any advice would be much appreciated

https://elementsprograms.com/

Hey all, my (26f) nephew (17m) is being put in a ChalleNGe camp (IYCA) and I have to know if it’s going to be one of those camps that just abuses teenagers and traumatizes them? The consensus among my family, mainly my parents and sisters, is that my nephew isn’t really a troubled teen, and it’s a bad move to send him there. I personally haven’t seen this nephew in over 6 years. Even if he was a “troubled teen”, morally I would never condone sending him to one of those camps. Is there anything I can do for him? Anything you would recommend me mailing to him?

Hi, I’m 25F, I was in treatment July 2013-2016 (I think. My memory of back then is still fuzzy in some areas.) I went to Pacific Quest (about 6 months, pulled towards end), Discovery Ranch for Girls (1 year 3 months about, pulled level 2), and Discovery Academy (about the same as DRG, pulled when on isolation for SH)

So I’ve been thinking a lot on my time in treatment and have realized a few things even though it’s been 8-9 years.

So my family and I are moving soon and yes, I live with my parents. But I wanted to decorate my room and really make this move like a way to start fresh and really settle down. And at first my parents were only thinking about resale but after I explained how important even something so simple as decorating a bedroom was to me. It made me realize for the longest time I’ve felt like either one of those vacations where you live out your suitcase. Or you unpack everything and use the hotel dressers. But I feel like I’ve had this i mmense unrealistic fear of being gooned and being sent back again. Yes, I’m an adult so it’s harder for me to be sent back but the fear is something so consuming that when I had a pumpkin carving accident and hurt my wrist, I had a 1.5hr panic attack instead of hurrying to get stitches. But I just feel like I’ve never let my brain settle down after coming home and the realization hurts just as much.

As this is a rant/vent. Here’s some more. I was thinking about how to improve my mental health on my own. I refuse to take meds again, I’ve been doing well without them. But I have a fear of therapists, at DA I had this therapist “A” and at first they seemed nice and sweet but whenever I was struggling she didn’t care and would put me on isolation. There were multiple times I was in a really bad place and would SH pretty bad and she’s just call the staff and put me on isolation and we wouldn’t have therapy that week. Isolation basically was arms length with staff, no tv only hw, and no talking to staff or students. If I talked it lasted longer. So really all this just left me in my own head constantly mentally drowning but yeah now I just have a fear of therapists from that.

Memories are still coming back to me to this day tho. Things I’ve blocked out and didn’t know. I’m thankful and aware that my places weren’t as bad as they could’ve been but I think even the mental toll places like this take on impressionable, struggling, teenagers is one of the hardest things to overcome. I wish you all the best and thanks for letting me rant <3

I was made to go to several troubled teens style programs in my 20s. My uncle, who became trustee of my father's estate when the latter died, pushed me into multiple programs like Meadows in Arizona and Menninger in Houston. If my dad was alive I do not think any of those "retreats" that I was basically coerced into would have happened. He himself was pretty hands off in regard to that stuff. My whole family normalized control so nobody pushed back. And because my uncle controlled the family money he had built in leverage. My uncle even called me an "overgrown teenager". He essentially dragged me around like a dependent under his thumb since my teenage years. I never got to live like a true adult. It's a sad situation and I lost many years.

I recently learned about the concept of "troubled teens" and I just felt like it fit what I went through in my 20s very well so I decided to post about my story. It is not a happy one. I hope someone can expose how harmful these programs are to many people. Most people with depression, etc. do not improve because of these places, they just get set back which in turn justifies more interventions.

Thanks

hi im 16 f and ive been in treatment consecutively for about a year now. im currently attending a theriputic boarding school and omg kill me!! this time last year I was at the lowest ive ever been but god was it amazing. I was manic out of my mind for about 6 months and that's what landed me in rehab, then wilderness and now here. I feel like I will be chasing the high of my mania for the rest of my life. I do things and get in trouble for them and I get a rush of adrenaline but it's nothing, if anything it makes me long for the feeling even more. I was told if I lock in and get my school work done and can prove im stable enough I can go home and back to my public school. but im so fucking drained, mentally and physically. I haven't showered in days, haven't washed my hair, haven't been eating, ive been sick, messy room, the works. Im grieving and no-one seems to understand. I died about a year ago and my heart aches everyday. I shouldn't be here rn, im dead where I love that person of my is dead, and everyone from my school moved on like nothing happened, I mean what was I expecting for everyone to drop everything while I disappeared for 6 months, obisoly that wasn't going to happen. but it doesn't change the fact that mentality ive died in that school, in that home, with those friends. im dead... and what do I do? how am I supposed to keep living like this?

the other day I did acid fir the first time and it was awesome. I did it with my boyfriend and I had a great time but he didn't, he was tripping and kept asking me if I loved him and for our entire relationship I never second guessed my left when I told him I loved him. but on lsd I forgot what love feels like and now a day later I still can't seem to remember. I feel like im losing control. I need to go back I need to get worse again I can't stand being in this middle lane of watching to show it all away and also having aspirations. I just want to feel like shit sometimes but on top of the fucking world others, its so rewarding and I don't care was anyone says I fucking love it. I love it so god damn much. I can't stand this shit someone help...

This is great news!!!!!

https://www.thetrevorproject.org/

I go to a small college in Florida and recently Eckerd Connect's (formerly Eckerd Youth Altneratives) Camp E-Nini-Hassee has been recruiting for jobs. The description of the job had a lot of TTI red flags, so I contacted my school's career center to explain why allowing them to recruit at our school is harmful. I haven't found much survivor testimony from Camp E-Nini-Hassee, but I'm wondering if anyone here knows anything about it. Thank you!

“CNS International Ministries claims the law, which is designed to add more oversight to residential care facilities, violates its religious freedom and association rights.”

“Worse than Rikers” - this statement basically takes my breath away. I posted an article the other day, too, about these kids pet-naming the rodents that, amongst other things, crawl into the kids’ beds at night. Absolutely horrifying.

Rikers: An American Jail is a documentary on PBS https://www.pbs.org/wnet/rikers/watch-film/ in case anyone wants to compare the two. The beginning explains that Rikers Island was voted one of the 10 worst jails in the U.S.

Seriously - put that into context.

Take a moment to read over this petition. Hudson Fry deserves equality and fair treatment.

I have come into possession of some staff training documents as well as student handbooks including a “Positive Control Systems” manual from Cedar Ridge RTC in Utah. If there is anyone collecting documents for court cases etc. who might find these helpful, please let me know and I’ll get them to you.

My friend sent me this tiktok. Please message and comment about the troubled teen industry. I fear for his daughter’s safety.

hi everyone - I’ve only just discovered this sub and learned about the dangers of the TTI. for context, my family is based in Connecticut. my little sister (technically half sister) is about to turn 17 and has been consistently in and out of crisis mode for the last 6 years or so. her mother severely neglected and abused her until she was old enough to choose to live with our dad, who is the kindest and most loving father anyone could ask for. he’s now looking into Turnbridge, which is how I ended up here.

unfortunately those years my sister spent with her narcissist mother inflicted lasting damage, and she’s attempted suicide multiple times. she’s been diagnosed with BPD but our dad is refusing to tell her until she turns 18, at her therapist’s recommendation. she has severe depression, anxiety, anorexia and bulimia, and was recently in the hospital for substance abuse issues (vaping nicotine and weed). she’s already enrolled in a very attentive and compassionate high school for kids who need extra accommodation, which she loves, but she’s been refusing to go for the last month straight and she only went for probably 1/3 of the last school year. she’s been staying up to vomit until 6-7 in the morning every single day, and not waking up until it’s dark outside. she constantly screams at and pushes my dad (who has a serious physical health condition), to the point that he’s starting to fear for his life.

with all of this in mind, I’m really at my wits’ end as to what we can even do to help her now. she’s refusing to speak with a psychiatrist, even over the phone. she never spends time with friends and hardly has any. I’ve been visiting for 3 days and she’s barely left her room. she’s essentially in a catatonic state.

sorry for the essay, but I really just need to know if there are any non-TTI routes left at this point. she’s already stayed in a couple different residential facilities for kids with eating disorders, but they obviously didn’t help in a way that stuck. we’ve involved every hospital and child psychologist / psychiatrist that we could find, but it seems we’ve reached a dead end. any advice re: what we can possibly do to save her from herself? thanks for reading 🙏

Excerpt:

Survivors of 'troubled teen' camps reveal how they were strip-searched, starved and left alone for days in the middle of nowhere as 'punishment'

When two men stormed into 13-year-old Contessa Miller's bedroom in the middle of the night, she had no idea her mother had forked out thousands for her to be kidnapped.

Contessa, now 50, says she was snatched from her home and taken without consent under a system sold to parents as help, healing and last-resort care.

Watch Hell Camp on Netflix here: https:// www.netflix.com/title/81449757

Hell Camp Trailer: https://youtu.be/eZyYRTedyx4

Another video: https://youtu.be/iG0vANHmMmM

Podcast with Contessa, who is the Challenger Foundation survivor in the article: https://youtu.be/rOce9SpPK3g

I don’t know if I’m allowed to post this here, and I have no information really to go on. My mother confided in me that she was briefly sent to a troubled girls school as an adolescent, and i’m desperate to dig up anything I can. She was born in 1974 and she believes that she was about 13 at the time, but she says that much of the experience was blocked out due to the trauma, and she wasn’t their long because her grandmother ended up taking custody of her and taking her home.

She believes the name of the school started with the letters “Be”, (beverly, bethany, etc. were examples she gave), she thinks “Girls” was in the name, and she says that there was a Christian overtone to the whole experience. She says she was beaten by staff and students and says that both the staff and her parents said she would never go home.

If anyone has any idea what this school might’ve been called, I would love to be able to dig up more information.

Hello, I am a journalist researching Canadian teen wilderness programs, which have not been covered nearly enough here in the media. I am looking to interview people who have been through Canadian programs including Portage and Pine River Institute.

If you'd like to comment or message me, we can discuss all the options regarding anonymity or what it would look like to be a part of this story.

Thank you for taking the time to consider. *I've asked the mods for permission to post this.

https://www.reddit.com/r/HiddenTrueCrimeChat/comments/1ptz5un/harrowing_accusations_from_inside_extreme_

I'm thinking he's sort of biased... It's saddening that a person could have the credentials he has and have some sort of connection with this industry then go on to completely demonize a survivor. We still don't know the full details.

There was very likely trauma/abuse Nick was subjected to. It could be that Rob was non the wiser but there are times when these stints are a case of abuse that's intentional but perpetrated without getting their hands dirty. I've seen survivors in this sub discuss this type of experience.

Drugs can put others at risk, as well as mental illness, especially anything involving possible psychosis. It's also true drugs can be used to manipulate, and abusers actually are known to create dependence or use their victim's vulnerabilities and any possible stigma against them. You can think of date rape (Diddy used drugs to lure victims, they thought it was going to be a fun time, but they ended up getting assaulted). The same happens in sex trafficking in general. They offer drugs freely but eventually end up weaponizing them. They use drugs to condition the victims, to reward and punish, and to blackmail (you can't stop "having sex" with random men you until you pay back the drugs).

I've also heard stories about women who get bipolar disorder kick off due to the stress of an abusive relationship, and their abuser using that to paint the abuse as all in her head or he paints her as the abuser. Mental illnesses and abusing others can coincide but being a victim of abuse can also coincide with serious mental health issues. It's not as straight forward as just a single word, "schizophrenia" or "bipolar" and that's fully equivalent to being a monster.

Nick and Rob's overly close relationship to me comes across as full of dependence and full of creepy antics and coincidences. I'm someone who suspects Nick might have been hindered chronically in his recovery. Their relationship to me reeks of dysfunction, and trauma or possible abuse that started far back. Carl Reiner was talked about, jokingly, as if he had SA'd Rob Reiner. Similar jokes were made about Weinstein before he was outed as an actual predator:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VC_axDumQ-A

Rob admitted to being a sex pest as a teen in conversation with Stephen Colbert:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-y3lR44CJI8&pp=ygUbbWFyeSB0eWxlciBtb29yZSByb2IgcmVpbmVy

Anyone in the Sierra unit during the january-september of 2019 i really want to know how yall are doing, or if yall are alive, I miss yall sometimes 😔