Therapeutic Wilderness Schools - Any Insights?

[Anonymous]

Let me just say I stumbled onto this thread thinking it was about outdoor ed or fun wilderness retreats… wow. I googled troubled teen industry and I’m so disturbed. I understand parents are desperate but some of these “escort” businesses and such sound like they should be illegal!

[Anonymous]

Our DC is currently at a wilderness program and while it was an extremely difficult decision we were out of other viable options. We used an escort service and it went without incident.

As others have said it is easy to judge when you are not the one dealing day to day with disturbing and troubling behaviors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Residential treatment centers exist for a reason, people. Adventist and Sheppard Pratt immediately come to mind for Maryland. There have been multiple reports of sexual abuse at these wilderness programs. How much crack does a parent have to be smoking to send their child struggling with mental and behavioral problems somewhere without psychologists and psychiatrists on staff? I wonder if some of these people truly want to help their child or punish them for ruining their perfect family image.

Adventist and Sheppard Pratt are for short term psychiatric stabilization. A week at most, to get started on a different medication cocktail. IF your child can get a bed in one of the local psychiatric in patient wards, that’s all they offer. Then your child will be sent home with the advice to do PHP.
Not sure about MD but in VA there were months-long waitlists for PHPs in 2019. So mentally ill children needing intensive therapy were sitting at home for months waiting for a spot. If your child isn’t willing to go and participate, the PHP will not admit them. If your child isn’t willing to go to a therapy office and participate, the therapist won’t help you. There aren’t “therapy house calls”. Basically every available local option requires the child to be willing and able to participate. And no one will take a patient who is aggressive, violent, throws furniture, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Residential treatment centers exist for a reason, people. Adventist and Sheppard Pratt immediately come to mind for Maryland. There have been multiple reports of sexual abuse at these wilderness programs. How much crack does a parent have to be smoking to send their child struggling with mental and behavioral problems somewhere without psychologists and psychiatrists on staff? I wonder if some of these people truly want to help their child or punish them for ruining their perfect family image.

Adventist and Sheppard Pratt are for short term psychiatric stabilization. A week at most, to get started on a different medication cocktail. IF your child can get a bed in one of the local psychiatric in patient wards, that’s all they offer. Then your child will be sent home with the advice to do PHP.
Not sure about MD but in VA there were months-long waitlists for PHPs in 2019. So mentally ill children needing intensive therapy were sitting at home for months waiting for a spot. If your child isn’t willing to go and participate, the PHP will not admit them. If your child isn’t willing to go to a therapy office and participate, the therapist won’t help you. There aren’t “therapy house calls”. Basically every available local option requires the child to be willing and able to participate. And no one will take a patient who is aggressive, violent, throws furniture, etc.

Ok I get that mental health care is very difficult to access. But the answer to that is NOT a non-therepeutic setting like trails, where it’s not even clear they will do medication management, and they are not providing therapy, and force kids into pain and suffering. Unless you basically want to punish your teen and have someone else do it for you. It may be less damaging to kids with addiction or criminal justice issues. But to send a kid to a boot camp after they were just a psychiatric in patient? Nope.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Residential treatment centers exist for a reason, people. Adventist and Sheppard Pratt immediately come to mind for Maryland. There have been multiple reports of sexual abuse at these wilderness programs. How much crack does a parent have to be smoking to send their child struggling with mental and behavioral problems somewhere without psychologists and psychiatrists on staff? I wonder if some of these people truly want to help their child or punish them for ruining their perfect family image.

Adventist and Sheppard Pratt are for short term psychiatric stabilization. A week at most, to get started on a different medication cocktail. IF your child can get a bed in one of the local psychiatric in patient wards, that’s all they offer. Then your child will be sent home with the advice to do PHP.
Not sure about MD but in VA there were months-long waitlists for PHPs in 2019. So mentally ill children needing intensive therapy were sitting at home for months waiting for a spot. If your child isn’t willing to go and participate, the PHP will not admit them. If your child isn’t willing to go to a therapy office and participate, the therapist won’t help you. There aren’t “therapy house calls”. Basically every available local option requires the child to be willing and able to participate. And no one will take a patient who is aggressive, violent, throws furniture, etc.

Ok I get that mental health care is very difficult to access. But the answer to that is NOT a non-therepeutic setting like trails, where it’s not even clear they will do medication management, and they are not providing therapy, and force kids into pain and suffering. Unless you basically want to punish your teen and have someone else do it for you. It may be less damaging to kids with addiction or criminal justice issues. But to send a kid to a boot camp after they were just a psychiatric in patient? Nope.

You know nothing. Are you in the mental healthcare field?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Residential treatment centers exist for a reason, people. Adventist and Sheppard Pratt immediately come to mind for Maryland. There have been multiple reports of sexual abuse at these wilderness programs. How much crack does a parent have to be smoking to send their child struggling with mental and behavioral problems somewhere without psychologists and psychiatrists on staff? I wonder if some of these people truly want to help their child or punish them for ruining their perfect family image.

Adventist and Sheppard Pratt are for short term psychiatric stabilization. A week at most, to get started on a different medication cocktail. IF your child can get a bed in one of the local psychiatric in patient wards, that’s all they offer. Then your child will be sent home with the advice to do PHP.
Not sure about MD but in VA there were months-long waitlists for PHPs in 2019. So mentally ill children needing intensive therapy were sitting at home for months waiting for a spot. If your child isn’t willing to go and participate, the PHP will not admit them. If your child isn’t willing to go to a therapy office and participate, the therapist won’t help you. There aren’t “therapy house calls”. Basically every available local option requires the child to be willing and able to participate. And no one will take a patient who is aggressive, violent, throws furniture, etc.

Ok I get that mental health care is very difficult to access. But the answer to that is NOT a non-therepeutic setting like trails, where it’s not even clear they will do medication management, and they are not providing therapy, and force kids into pain and suffering. Unless you basically want to punish your teen and have someone else do it for you. It may be less damaging to kids with addiction or criminal justice issues. But to send a kid to a boot camp after they were just a psychiatric in patient? Nope.

You know nothing. Are you in the mental healthcare field?

You somebow know despite all the documented evidence that a place like Trails is appropriate for a kid with a serious mental illness? Come on. I’m not against appropriate residential treatment- obviously has its place. But many wilderness therapy programs are abusive scams.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Residential treatment centers exist for a reason, people. Adventist and Sheppard Pratt immediately come to mind for Maryland. There have been multiple reports of sexual abuse at these wilderness programs. How much crack does a parent have to be smoking to send their child struggling with mental and behavioral problems somewhere without psychologists and psychiatrists on staff? I wonder if some of these people truly want to help their child or punish them for ruining their perfect family image.

Adventist and Sheppard Pratt are for short term psychiatric stabilization. A week at most, to get started on a different medication cocktail. IF your child can get a bed in one of the local psychiatric in patient wards, that’s all they offer. Then your child will be sent home with the advice to do PHP.
Not sure about MD but in VA there were months-long waitlists for PHPs in 2019. So mentally ill children needing intensive therapy were sitting at home for months waiting for a spot. If your child isn’t willing to go and participate, the PHP will not admit them. If your child isn’t willing to go to a therapy office and participate, the therapist won’t help you. There aren’t “therapy house calls”. Basically every available local option requires the child to be willing and able to participate. And no one will take a patient who is aggressive, violent, throws furniture, etc.

+1. I love how people are so quick to say other alternatives to WT but when pressed cannot come up with any. PP is correct —Adventist and SP are short term stabilization programs. They do not provide the long term therapeutic support. Many RTCs will only take kids entering via court ordered treatment, via school district placement, or via a case manger using Medicare. If you are private pay you are out of luck. Know why—because an RTC is between $12-$18K per month and a child is there for 12-18 months . The facilities want guarantee of payment. They also don’t take private insurance because insurance determines medical necessity, not the facility. If you think getting non public placement from the school districts in this area is hard , try getting RTC. It is extremely difficult.

So—to all you parents advocating “other” alternatives, please provide them. A link to the facility would be great. Remember, they must accept people who are unwilling to participate in therapy and will not willing go on their own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

You somebow know despite all the documented evidence that a place like Trails is appropriate for a kid with a serious mental illness? Come on. I’m not against appropriate residential treatment- obviously has its place. But many wilderness therapy programs are abusive scams.

And many are not. Just like everything, you have to do your research. Talk to parents with kids that have gone through the programs, join support groups, work with an EC, use recommendations from your therapists team, talk to kids who have come out on the other side.

[Anonymous]

For the pp researching Aspiro, try joining the facebook page WTRS-wilderness therapy and residential treatment search support. there are parents on there with experience with Aspiro who will help you.

[Anonymous]

My friend has a local school district willing to pay for her son to be in a residential therapeutic school via his IEP and they can't even find a therapeutic school with openings that will take him. He has been out of school for almost two years after being discharged from a week of inpatient stabilization. No PHP would take him because he was not willing to participate.

The RTCs have long waitlists due to staffing shortages AND are very selective who they will admit. Many of them won't take kids who haven't done wilderness therapy first.

Would love to get some suggestions from that knowledgeable pp who knows all about the local therapy options that would help this family out because they are drowning.

[Anonymous]

I remember in the winter before Covid there were multiple posters on here who had kids discharged from the hospital and their kids were sitting on waitlists for the partial hospitalization and day programs at Kellar and the other place in VA for MONTHS. Kellar's capacity was only 6 or 8 kids at a time.

The local mental health resources are shockingly bad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Residential treatment centers exist for a reason, people. Adventist and Sheppard Pratt immediately come to mind for Maryland. There have been multiple reports of sexual abuse at these wilderness programs. How much crack does a parent have to be smoking to send their child struggling with mental and behavioral problems somewhere without psychologists and psychiatrists on staff? I wonder if some of these people truly want to help their child or punish them for ruining their perfect family image.

Adventist and Sheppard Pratt are for short term psychiatric stabilization. A week at most, to get started on a different medication cocktail. IF your child can get a bed in one of the local psychiatric in patient wards, that’s all they offer. Then your child will be sent home with the advice to do PHP.
Not sure about MD but in VA there were months-long waitlists for PHPs in 2019. So mentally ill children needing intensive therapy were sitting at home for months waiting for a spot. If your child isn’t willing to go and participate, the PHP will not admit them. If your child isn’t willing to go to a therapy office and participate, the therapist won’t help you. There aren’t “therapy house calls”. Basically every available local option requires the child to be willing and able to participate. And no one will take a patient who is aggressive, violent, throws furniture, etc.

+1. I love how people are so quick to say other alternatives to WT but when pressed cannot come up with any. PP is correct —Adventist and SP are short term stabilization programs. They do not provide the long term therapeutic support. Many RTCs will only take kids entering via court ordered treatment, via school district placement, or via a case manger using Medicare. If you are private pay you are out of luck. Know why—because an RTC is between $12-$18K per month and a child is there for 12-18 months . The facilities want guarantee of payment. They also don’t take private insurance because insurance determines medical necessity, not the facility. If you think getting non public placement from the school districts in this area is hard , try getting RTC. It is extremely difficult.

So—to all you parents advocating “other” alternatives, please provide them. A link to the facility would be great. Remember, they must accept people who are unwilling to participate in therapy and will not willing go on their own.

The people who are bashing wilderness treatment have no idea how bad things can get and how few resources exist. Early on I didn’t either. I figured that between health insurance and living in the DMV where medical care is state of the art, we’d be able to get the help we needed. But after the sixth inpatient and more intervention from law enforcement than I can even recall, I discovered that even insurance wasn’t enough and there was nothing in the DMV.

Anyway, because of WT both my family and my child are alive. Those of us who live this life understand that nothing is all good or bad. No one condones abuse but virtually everywhere we send our kids has people who abuse kids - even school. And we know that people don’t send their kids to WT unless there aren’t options. I mean, really, who has that kind of money laying around and the energy and head space to actually pull the trigger on this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Residential treatment centers exist for a reason, people. Adventist and Sheppard Pratt immediately come to mind for Maryland. There have been multiple reports of sexual abuse at these wilderness programs. How much crack does a parent have to be smoking to send their child struggling with mental and behavioral problems somewhere without psychologists and psychiatrists on staff? I wonder if some of these people truly want to help their child or punish them for ruining their perfect family image.

Adventist and Sheppard Pratt are for short term psychiatric stabilization. A week at most, to get started on a different medication cocktail. IF your child can get a bed in one of the local psychiatric in patient wards, that’s all they offer. Then your child will be sent home with the advice to do PHP.
Not sure about MD but in VA there were months-long waitlists for PHPs in 2019. So mentally ill children needing intensive therapy were sitting at home for months waiting for a spot. If your child isn’t willing to go and participate, the PHP will not admit them. If your child isn’t willing to go to a therapy office and participate, the therapist won’t help you. There aren’t “therapy house calls”. Basically every available local option requires the child to be willing and able to participate. And no one will take a patient who is aggressive, violent, throws furniture, etc.

+1. I love how people are so quick to say other alternatives to WT but when pressed cannot come up with any. PP is correct —Adventist and SP are short term stabilization programs. They do not provide the long term therapeutic support. Many RTCs will only take kids entering via court ordered treatment, via school district placement, or via a case manger using Medicare. If you are private pay you are out of luck. Know why—because an RTC is between $12-$18K per month and a child is there for 12-18 months . The facilities want guarantee of payment. They also don’t take private insurance because insurance determines medical necessity, not the facility. If you think getting non public placement from the school districts in this area is hard , try getting RTC. It is extremely difficult.

So—to all you parents advocating “other” alternatives, please provide them. A link to the facility would be great. Remember, they must accept people who are unwilling to participate in therapy and will not willing go on their own.

My kid was in an RTC for several months that was $30,000/month. The criteria to get in was very limited and there was a long waitlist.

[Anonymous]

There are many WT success stories and there are also abusive programs preying on desperate parents. There are kids who need close clinical supervision, and there are kids who have transformative experiences in WT. Can those of you who don’t have relevant, recent experience stop responding so that the people who do can actually provide OP with the information that may help make a useful decision for their child. Most of the people on this thread have not been in OP’s shoes and had to consider these options.

[Anonymous]

Amen. May you never have to be in the shoes I wear. There are so many amazing programs that have saved many lives. Open Sky, Blue Ridge, Second Nature, SUWS, Outback, True North just to name a few. And yes, Trails. It stinks to have to consider these. I live a daily hell because of my child's mental illness. The residential programs around here are AWFUL. And that includes Children's and Sheppard Pratt.