Reply to Therapeutic Wilderness Schools

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Reply to "Therapeutic Wilderness Schools - Any Insights?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP, I’m sorry.  I have some experience with such programs for family members, including a 14 year old who joined a program two weeks ago.  These programs can be life-changing in a positive way, and my guess is that most of the naysayers on this thread have not been at a true crisis point with their child.  I highly recommend Dr. Joshua Cohen in Bethesda/Rockville, who currently has close to 20 kids in placements that he helped facilitate.  He has visited various programs, including wilderness, residential treatment centers and therapeutic boarding schools.  He knows the staff and will help find the best placement for your child.  He will remain part of your team for a year, interacting with placement staff and facilitating any transitions (wilderness programs are typically 8-12 weeks, and over 80% of kids transition to a treatment center or therapeutic boarding school).  Good luck![/quote]

bullsh*t. I have a family member who suffered life-long harm from being sent to a “wilderness program,” and there are countless other people who testify to the same.

an actual boardy therapeutic school that is accredited and staffed by doctors and trained mental health professionals? Possibly appropriate. For-profit “wilderness therapy” is not therapy. [/quote]

I don't think anybody is suggesting someone send their kid to just any old wilderness program, or even that this particular person send their child to one to begin with.

I suspect there are likely way more bad programs than good out there, which is why if considering one it's being suggested to get help finding a good one. And I don't think every child is a great fit for a wilderness program. That said, I sent my own child to one - after exhausting many many other avenues of treatment and carefully considering options with a team of mental health professionals. That program was run and staffed staffed by trained mental health professionals and doctors, easily as much as any therapeutic boarding school. It was well run. And if you asked my child now a couple years later, they'd tell you that (1) it wasn't abusive in the least bit, and (2) the program, along with a specific therapist there, changed their life for the better.

I'm sorry your family member was scarred by their experience, and I'm sure they could speak accurately to the specific place they were sent to. But just because you or a few other people who've posted here know one person who had a bad experience somewhere, or watched something on 60 minutes one time, doesn't make your assertion that "wilderness therapy" isn't therapy correct. You think you know everything without any first hand experience, but you only have some of the story and lack perspective.

OP and this newer poster are considering this as an option and asking for help from people who have direct experience with this. Posters are telling them to be very careful and do their homework (and giving them references to help), consider all other options including medication, therapy, hospital based programs, IOPs and PHPs, before this one. And that this is going to be very expensive. And that after all of this, it's not guaranteed to work for their own specific child.

But hey, you know everything, don't you?[/quote]

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