My son just finished a nine week stay in the Catherine Freer Wilderness Camp in Albany Oregon. It was referred to us by a therapist in Florida, the state where we live. Since my son is now finished with this camp I'm happy to say that it was a very good experience for him. There was absolutally no abuse (mental or physical) I do believe letters from home and extra goodies (peanut butter)were withheld if he was not following the rules. I went to Oregon for family meetings where the kids came into the main camp to see there parents and talk about what they had learned about themselves on three different occasions. It took almost the entire nine weeks that my son was there to make some very impressive changes but he did take little steps over most of the 9 weeks. I'm sure alot of these horror stories are true and some are not. I know that this experience helped my son in many ways. The boy that went into camp was not the same boy that came out and it was all positive changes. So there are programs out there that are good and do help. We had a professional therapist whose specialty is researching these types of programs and schools refer us to Catherine Freer Wilderness Camp. The only requirement we insisted on was that under no circumstances was he to be sent to any camp with the "BOOT CAMP" mantality, and that the staff be made up of professional therapists. It is my understanding the purpose of these places is to "air out" the childs heart, mind, soul and body. If this is not done in the proper way I can't imagine how much damage could be done to a child who already is in trouble. I saw not only how helpful it was for my son but for the kids in his group because when they come in for meetings you all sit in a big circle and you listen to every families story. It is a tough environment being out in the wilderness but my son never mentioned being mistreated. He was taught healthy skills to help him figure out why he was angry and what triggers caused that, and learned constructive ways to control negative emotions. I don't know what more I could have asked for. I saw big changes in every child in my sons group and all for the positive. If any parent is considering this step get professional help to find the right atmosphere.
