Joanne S. at Second Nature Wilderness program

This testimony was found on webpage where both parents and teenagers could provide their experience of their use of the services the program offers. All rights goes to the original author known as Joanne S.

2 N C or 2nd nature cascades is a fraudulent organization based on exploiting parents fears for their children and teenagers. They charge a lot of money and hire staff with minimal amounts of training and motivation.

They supply the cheapest food possible. Teens are forced to eat oats and pita bread every day. Teens who attend this death-march based money scam, often leave with more issues than when they got there, which is the reason 2nd nature cascades ALWAYS suggests after care such as residential treatment centers. Not only does second nature pretend that they help people they have the gaul to call it a therapeutic wilderness program.

That would make sense if they had real therapists in the field, not therapists in training with sleeves of tattoos. The staff not only is undertrained they do not deserve to do what they do. Often teens will be made fun of and have their buttons pushed by the staff. The staff needs to have a better screening process and also first aid knowledge.

Sanitary conditions are abominable. Samples of MRSA and staff bacteria were found in the campsites. Not only do they keep teens malnourished so they don't have the supplies or energy to run away from the hellish camp site, they make teens march up to 11 miles at a time in the heat with heavy packs on their back and very limited sometimes no water.



Sources:

• The original testimony (Yelp.com)
• Factsheet about the program (Fornits Wiki)

Justtony at Second Nature Wilderness program

This testimony was found on a message board. All rights goes the original author.

I am not officially against psychiatry YET...key word yet, becaus I dont know all the facts and I am posting even this on pure suspicion and fear. Fear that I have been messed with beyond repair.

I was a troubled youth, i can admit that. My folks split up when I was young. I was raised by a single-mother who had alot of issues and was always bringing different ppl in the house for personal reasons. We also were not that well off financially, but my mom later got a govt. job and that changed 4 the better a little bit.

She also went from secular to devout christian in a matter of months and next thing I know my butt is stuck in christian camps and church schools learning how evil I was and how imperfect I am. I was also taught a bunch of #######4 morals that had nothing at all to do with Christianity, which ###$ me up alot honestly cause it was soo confusing.

Anyways I got kicked out of alot of schools because i couldnt tolerate verbal persecution and other injustices brought upon me so I chose to fight people. And one thing my hockey playing taught me, I was a great fighter and to this day have lost few, and have fought MANY. I also joined in with a "sub-culture" as my parents and teachers refferred to it, and began partying and drinking yadda yadda, honestly it was all typical teenage behavior blown out of proportion by a confused Christian parent with an even stricter Christian husband, who became known as my sted-father, who I suspect truly cares little about me and my siblings. And because the wilderness program I was basically kidnapped and taken to against my will was run by former military personnel, and he is a retired lt. colonel, I suspect it was his idea, not my REAL parent's.

Anyways I was out in the Utah dessert at a wilderness camp called 2nd Nature, based in Duchesne, for 4 months and did a month in "after-care" but I got kicked out. I was supposed to do 9 months but I said "###$ that" and caused a little arguement and got expelled. But while I was out there, we were over 50 miles away from ANY civilization and miles from any road. We had nothing except hiking and camping gear and ate dehydrated $#%^ the whole time except for a few special occasions, that werent too special if u ask me. They evaluated our every move, we were forced to write daily journal entrys and do psychological excercises and group therapy. We had NOTHING from the modern world, and were not kept up to date on anything, not news, not date, not even time of day.

Now that Im back, I am SOOO different. I used to have friends and do ALOT of sports and activities. I could get along fairly well with others and loved to be "nice" to other ppl. NOW, my life sucks! It already sucked but now it is living hell. I obsess about the smallest $#%^. I cant even hold a decent conversation with my own family, let alone one of my old friends. I feel brainwashed, I feel they told me a great big lie that I cant even re-call. All I know is now the world is crashing down on me, and it wasnt before I went. I have even heard ppl from my group tell me they put $#%^ in the water we drank out there, which they forced us to drink nearly a Gallon per day to "avoid dehydration." I was not depressed b4 I went out there, now I am, and was prescribed Lexapro which I took for about a month, hated it, and quit cold turkey. $#%^ is worse than it has ever been tho. Everything I say offends ppl, Im arrogant, Im provocative. I feel like $#%^, my family and friends hate me, and I feel crazy... Why all this $#%^ happen after 2nd Nature. How could my own parents do this $#%^ to me? Am I really such a failure? Did I really deserve to be put through this living hell? everyday is torture, what do I do? And can I reasonably place any blame on 2nd Nature, or is that just looking for an excuse? I dont even know anywore!!!!


Sources:

• Wilderness Therapy? (A thread the message board Psychforums containing the original testimony)
• Factsheet about the program (Fornits Wiki)

Petition: Outlaw the use of private "escorts" to transport minors to residential treatment centers

Text from the petition page:

Before dawn when I was 14 years old, three large men burst into my room while I was sleeping. As my parents watched, they pulled me from my bed, forced me to get dressed, handcuffed me, and dragged me from my house.

I had committed no crime; these men were not law enforcement agents. Nor was this a kidnapping. My parents had hired these men at the suggestion of a private residential treatment center for the purpose of transporting me to the facility by surprise. These men were professional "escorts", making a living legally abducting minors at their parents request, often transporting them across state lines, as happened to me. I was taken from my home in Florida by plane to Georgia, and then to Texas, on to Nevada, and finally by car to a facility in Utah, where I stayed temporarily before then being transported out of the United States altogether to a facility in another country. This traumatic and dangerous practice continues today, and untold thousands of children are transported in this way every year to facilities across the U.S. and in other countries.

The U.S. Congress has the power and a moral obligation to outlaw this practice. The Commerce Clause of the U. S. Constitution grants Congress the power to outlaw the use of "escorts" specifically and the interstate transportation of minors for psychiatric or behavioral treatment generally, and Congress ought to do so. This practice is dangerous. In many cases, children are tasered, pepper-sprayed, or "restrained" during transport, which can and often does result in broken bones or other serious injuries. Even in cases where children are not physically harmed, this kind of trauma often causes psychiatric issues such as PTSD- issues that can affect these kids for the rest of their lives and hamper the abilities to be healthy and contributing members of society. If parents need help getting noncompliant children into treatment facilities, this function ought to be carried out by trained law enforcement professionals who will be accountable for injuries or mistreatment, and the facility the children are taken to should be located in their own home state.

A society can be fairly judged by how well it protects its most vulnerable members. Our children are our most important and greatest national resource, and ought to be treated as such. Protect our children. Outlaw private "escorts" and the interstate transportation of minors NOW.


Source:
The original petition (Change.org)

destinypersonified at Wingate Wilderness program

I voluntarily chose to attend Wingate in Utah at the age of 17, under the impression that it was some sort of academic program. I did not know anything about Wingate's true nature. We were forced to live in the desert, drinking rationed water and rationed food. No extra food was given if food went missing, was stolen, or went bad. Almost every day we were made to awake just before dawn and go on forced marches for most of the day, sometimes even hours past sundown.

If any resisted, they were incapacitated and medicated by the staff. If anyone attempted to leave the group without permission, they were similarly prevented. In order to defecate, we were forced walk a designated distance away from camp in order to dig a hole. If we stopped yelling our name, they would assume that we had begun to run away, and would immediately begin searching for us, subdue us, and transport us back to camp.

We were exposed to all sorts of cultish, pseudo-religious moralizing propaganda and brainwashing, forced to read insipid packets and books, made to participate in absurd and childish games and activities, all with an underlying strange mysticism about need for change and repentance. All contact to the outside world was through letters. One is not allowed to receive a letter for one week. One is not allowed to send a letter for two weeks. By the time the opportunity arrives, most are already broken. Even if one tried to communicate the situation to their parents, they would be disciplined, and the letter censored, if necessary. The 'therapists' who met with us once a week were our parents' only source of information. Part of the efficacy of the brainwashing was that one had to convince their therapist of their commitment to the 'program', which would (putatively) expedite their graduation from the 'program' and return home.

Most of the victims I was grouped with had been forcibly transported there by people called "Transporters", or "goons". "Goons" were large muscular thugs who would, with the parents' consent, overpower the victim, bind him, and force him into a van, where he would be driven across state lines into Utah.

I met another graduate later who had managed to escape Wingate by running during the night to a country road, and hitchhiking to Los Angeles. The goons managed to track him down a month later and returned him to the camp.

Wingate broke me down and destroyed me. I have never felt more paranoid, more anxious, and more powerless than I have during those endless parched marches through the Utah desert. I am currently taking antidepressants, and took to using alcohol and cannabis to cope emotionally. I sympathize with your position and wish you the best in life.


Sources:

• Webpage with testimony (Reddit)
• Factsheet about the program (Fornits Wiki)

McNuggies thoughts about the future after a stay in SUWS

This testimony was made by a former client of SUWS. All rights goes to the original author.

It's been 6 months since I came back from my experience at SUWS of the Carolina's. A hard 6 months to be exact. While there are far worse camps and schools to be sent to, SUWS was able to break me and attempt to "rebuild" me as how they think a human should be. Most of the members of the group I was with are now in TBS, which I luckily worked my way out of.

When I went to SUWS I weighed 155 lbs at 5'11. Currently I weigh 130 lbs at 5'11. That doesnt seem healthy of course but I cant even force my self to eat at this point. Thats only one issue SUWS has left me with. I picked up bad habits that I didn't have beforehand; such as cutting (before SUWS I had never attempted self harm in that manner) ,smoking (which I was able to stop), and binge drinking.

Other side effects of SUWS include what I think is PTSD where I have night terrors of being sent away again or waking up in the woods. It used to be every night and now its about 5/7 days a week. Since I get these dreams that wake and keep me up I am constantly tired. Sometimes I can't even stay away from home because my anxiety will go up about not being in my zone, which didn't happen before. And again with my eating, I can't eat certain foods such as peanut butter anymore because it gets me thinking of what happened over the summer which makes me sick and agitated.

One of the worse post-SUWS side effects is my constant apathetic attitude to literally everything. I'm a senior in high school who wanted to go to college right after high school. Those dreams have disappered because I can't get myself to care about my future. I only ever want to lay in bed. The lack of motivation doesn't stop there either, my school grades are falling and any activity I enjoyed pre-SUWS is impossible to start.

I've been to a therapist for the past 5 months after the one who sent me to SUWS said that I couldn't be her client considering the fact I wasn't going to boarding school. Therapy is not working it seems. I am way more depressed than ever before yet not suicidal. Yet I could care less what happens to me.
My parents have blamed my lack of motivation, tiredness, and lack of appetite on me 100%. If I try to bring what they sent me to over the summer up in a conversation they automatically say "We did it to save your life." But was it to save my life for my sake, or extend my suffering so they wouldn't feel guilty if something did happen? In all honesty I want to take legal action against anyone I can about the traumatic experience I went through and the side effects of that. Any advice on that (or anything) would be nice.

TL;DR: SUWS has made my life collapse in on itself harder than before, my parents won't hear me out, I'm blamed for every mistake

How can you comfort the author. To let the client know that the clients life wasn't lost like two teenagers who died in the program?

Sources:

• Update on My Current Situation (Reddit - the original testimony)
• Gregory Owens Jones (Today a child died memorial blog)
• Rocco D. Magliozzi (Today a child died memorial blog)
• Factsheet about the program (Fornits Wiki)

An Industry in Need of Legal and Regulatory Oversight

The Michigan Child Welfare Law Journal published an article covering wilderness therapy and boarding schools focusing on behavior modification. The article - well documented - pictures the industry as an industry in huge need of both regulation and oversight.

Children die in wilderness programs. Others return home traumatized as result of their forcefully removal from their home. While few return home better suited for the harsh nature of life in general most return home with additional issues to struggle with.

Regulation and oversight has never been more needed. The politicians need to take action and ownership to spare the families and teenagers from further tragedies.


Source:
Wilderness Therapy Settings:
An Industry in Need of Legal and Regulatory Oversight (The Michigan Child Welfare Law Journal, by Daniel Pollack, Khaya Eisenberg, and Katie M. Shipp)

XOJane has an article about the lessons learned in wilderness programs

On the webpage of XOJane - a website where women go when they are being selfish, and where their selfishness is applauded - Julia Beatty tells her story about the lessons learned from a stay in wilderness therapy program in Montana when she was a young teenager.

Now years later she had time to reflect about the lessons learned. Her statement is that there are few lessons to take back into real life. The evaluation she received before entering the program failed to set a goal with her stay at the program. As result the stay in the program did only bring a time-out for her and her family.

It is an important lesson she gives to parents to a teenager suffering from emotional problems during the rite of passage towards adulthood.

Without a proper examination of the teenager before making the decision to send the teenager it is almost certain that the program would not benefit the teenager but rather make the rebellion harder.

Parents also have to take into consideration that most educational consultants and even employees of some of the wilderness program receive money from advising and referring clients to residential treatment programs or special boarding schools. Can they as parents be sure that they are given advices which are in the best interest of the teenager?

In no way!! Money is always more important than anything else. Most such special schools are run for profit. Living as an educational consultant is of course for profit so the idea that they receive money from both parents and program is common.

Julia Beatty was most finished struggling during adolescence when she returned home from the wilderness program. She had to meet ups and downs for years before she found her way of living an adult life. Life became very much the same as if she hadn't gone to the program. Her parent’s money was wasted.



Source:
IT HAPPENED TO ME: MY PARENTS SENT ME AWAY TO A WILDERNESS SURVIVAL CAMP (XO-Jane)