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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]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. [/quote]

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. [/quote]

+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.  [/quote]

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. [/quote]

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