Unita Academy, Wellsville, UT

[Pile of Dead Kids]

Uinta has been on a damage-control spree recently, some of it involving the wiki.

Previous poster is likely part of this.

[ToniB]

I am touched by your defense of your Dad.  Please realize everyone of these parents is mounting a defense of their daughter as well and that every thing posted by a student or a parent is also true.  I'm sure Uinta is better than most but that doesn't mean there isn't room for improvement.  A good place to start is the facts:  review the therapy of each student, see that it is consistent, regular and often, have the residence staff have input into therapy calls, summaries, etc.  Look at the therapist notes and determine if there is a disconnect between what is told to the parents and what is actually going on.  Review interactions with the psychiatrist.  Is  there an issue medication could help alleviate?  Are "problem" students discussed more in depth with the doctor?  A common thread I see in all these posts is a lack of communication and real feedback by the staff.  That's a therapy problem, a business problem and a marketing problem.  Like it or not, you are in a business.  I also do  not necessarily view the story of the old man refusing to abandon his home in a positive light.  Aside from the fact that it has no relevance to the issues raised by the posters, my thought is that it is all well and good to be sympathetic to his situation but at the expense of your FAMILY?  What kind of message was that sending to you? The man's family could have been called to intervene or neighbors could have made some efforts.  The fact that this person was not confronted also appears to go to the lack of communication issue and hints at a possible conflict avoidance problem that also runs throughout the emails.

[CA Mom]

My daughter, M, was at Uinta Academy for about 13 months due to severe anxiety and depression that manifested in self-hurting behavior (hair pulling and picking at her gums), inability to get out of bed and regularly attend school, inability to nourish herself properly (she had lost 20 lbs. from a normal weight), and a tendency to make the focus of her life based on others (often boys) rather than her own goals. M’s dad and I had divorced 3 years earlier just before she began high school, which M took rather hard, and we shared custody every other week.

M was doing OK until the third year when her dad began a new relationship with a woman and her children in another city about 30 minutes away. Whereas his focus prior to this had been to be the best dad he could be and work with me to make M his top priority, that changed as he began to leave M alone or with her adult brother a great deal of the time she was to be with him. By the time M got to Uinta, she had mastered “splitting behavior” that allowed her to get what she wanted by pitting her parents against each other.

For the most part, Uinta did a good job of working with M to turn her around, with one exception. Although we had insisted that M’s loss of weight was not due to a traditional eating disorder, but more her anxiety and depression, Uinta insisted that she sing EVERY time she went to the bathroom to prove that she was not purging, and this went on for several months. They kept insisting it was about M’s need for control, but it felt like an unnecessarily cruel deprivation of M's privacy.

When M was nearing time to come home, it was decided that she would do better living in one home rather than bouncing back between two. M and her dad had managed to convince the Uinta staff that I had anger management issues that contributed to her anxiety. In fact, I was just stricter with her and was the only parent who set limits and expectations for her. Therefore, M chose to live with her dad because she could manipulate him easier and he would give in to most everything she wanted. Despite my pleas that this would not be a good arrangement if for no other reason than the fact that he was not around enough to supervise her, they supported M’s decision because her dad lied that he would change his life to be around more for M. The very first weekend M was home, her dad left her all day on Sunday to go with his girlfriend and her children.

Now a little over 8 months later, M has completely resumed almost ALL of her prior negative behaviors. She sleeps at odd hours and for too long, she performs poorly in jr. college and misses class despite being an extremely bright young woman, she has now lost 15 lbs. of the weight she had gained back, and she still exhibits her self-hurting behaviors, although less so than before. She still lets her social activities dictate her life rather than any goals for a future, and she spends money on eating out or on whatever extras she wants without performing any chores because she knows that her dad will subsidize it. What a waste of around $30k of her college money!

If your daughter has any issues related to a divorce, DO NOT SEND HER THERE as they will thrust her back into the very situation that contributed to her problems in the first place.

[Pile of Dead Kids]

Alternatively, if you were less of a malevolent bitch she might not have had any problems in the first place.

[DannyB II]

I am responding to the site because I was talking with my dad, Jeff Simpson, this weekend and he mentioned to me he had just recently been informed of it by a parent and after checking it out was very disappointed.  After I checked out, I wasn’t disappointed, I was angry!  Just so you know I am not some young immature woman who had to attend program after program!!!  I am a mother of three beautiful, smart, and caring girls, my oldest a teenager. I have a degree in Health Science and am now working on my BSN.

I can’t respond to some of the comments made by these moms nor do I know the young woman that made the comments about Uinta and my dad, but I do know my dad and mom.  They are two of the most compassionate and giving people you will ever meet.  I need to make some comments about the 5 program woman’s statements.  They are so out of character for my dad as to be ridiculous. When the first girls came to Uinta they actually lived with my parents on our farm.  As the program expanded my parents moved out, giving the farm up to the program.  Both my dad and I have Celiac disease.  We have always been careful about what we eat and consequently, have developed some “favorite” brands.  As with most families, my parents have certain brands of food they prefer.  One is Hunts ketchup, also, Best Mayo (we weren’t a Miracle Whip family), Campbell’s soup, Lays potato chip, Jif peanut butter and so on.  My dad also likes to make jokes.  He is very quick witted and funny. I can definitely see him making a joking comment about Heinz ketchup and politics.  I can also tell you that he never tried to influence our political ideas and I know he wouldn’t do that in his program.  He has always encouraged all of us kids to form our own, well thought out and researched, opinions. I also know he was a huge supporter of Hillary Clinton in the last election and donated heavily to her campaign!  Last I checked, she is definitely NOT a Republican!  So this young woman has no clue what she’s talking about.  Also, my father would have never made the “garbage disposal” comment, she claims.  He raised 3 daughters and a son and was always very sensitive to food/eating issues! Say what she may, it’s just not true.  Lastly, he would never abuse any animal, especially one of his horses!  I have seen him cry when a horse had to be put down.  I have seen him stay up all night with a sick horse in the middle of the winter.  I’ve seen him stop on the roadside on the way to church and cross a muddy field in his best suit to free a neighbor’s horse that was tangled in barb wire.  

Just a few other things about my parents.  Some people try to portray people like them as greedy.  We didn’t buy our first home until I was 16 years old, because my parents spent most of their career, working for non-profit organizations that didn’t pay well, helping underprivileged and unwanted children and adolescents.  At one time my dad worked in a program that tried to PREVENT children from having to leave their homes by sending a “family preservation” therapist to work with the family in their home.  I remember one Christmas, early in the morning, he got a phone call from one of his families that was in a crisis.  He immediately went over to their home and didn’t return until late that evening!  They have dedicated their lives to helping children and their families; and for a few people to try and tarnish their work and their names is despicable!  

One last thing to show you the character of my father.  He always wanted a farm, so many years ago we were able to buy a small farm in Northern Utah.  The place where they eventually started Uinta.   The gentleman we bought it from was very old and when the time came for us to move in, he refused to leave.  We had to leave our home as the new residents were to move in.  It was early fall and school had just started so we moved a borrowed camp trailer under the hay barn on the property and moved into it waiting for the elderly gentleman to move out.  He kept insisting it would be a “few weeks.”  We soon realized he had no intention to move out.  Sometimes he would unhook our water hose attached to the trailer or unplug the electrical cord attached to an outside outlet.  My dad never said a word, never got mad, and never confronted this old man.  He would say, he’s old, he’s attached to the farm and it’s hard for him to leave.  My dad could have legally had him removed, but he never considered that.  Do you know how difficult it can be for a family of six to live in a small camp trailer, especially under those circumstances? Well, you get through it with a LOT of patience and love. About three months after we got there, the old man passed away and 2 days later, after his family moved his belongings, we moved in to the home!  That is the kind of compassion my father has for people.  I doubt many other people, especially those that blog on these sites would have been as understanding and compassionate.

To those who read this, that is who my parents are.  Granted I’m their daughter, but everything I’ve posted is true.  

I’ll finish with a story my dad told us as little kids.  There once was this Indian tribe and in the tribe was a woman who liked to talk about other people.  It didn’t matter if the gossip was true or not, she always had something negative to say about other people.  After years of this she was ostracized by everyone in the tribe and no one would talk to her, so she went to the wise Chief for advice, asking him how she can take back her words.  He told her that when everyone was asleep that night, he wanted her to put a feather outside each of the teepees of anyone she had ever talked negatively about.  That night she did so, placing a feather in front of every teepee in camp.  However, during the night a huge storm came in and blew the feathers to the four corners of the world. In the morning she went to the wise Chief and told him that she had placed the feathers as she was instructed, but that a storm had blown them away.  He told her to retrieve each and every one of the feathers.  She said she could not, it would be impossible.  He responded, and so shall it be to take back all the things you spoke of others!

Interestingly, one of the bloggers on this site named their first child after my father; another made ridiculous and untrue claims.  Maybe blogging on this site says more about the people who blog here than it says about who they are blogging about!

Jeesh, did everyone notice that Ursus and Che had nothing, I mean absolutely nothing to say to this poster.
Ursus and Che, this is why you two lack in the credibility department.
You don't even have the common decency to acknowledge a post that was written with intelligence and conviction.
Say something, act like you have some balance.
Both of you should not even bother to try and interact with the public here, just copy and post. It compliments your estranged personalities.

[DannyB II]

Alternatively, if you were less of a malevolent bitch she might not have had any problems in the first place.

 

Here is are Poster Child, Pile, abusing another mother. Please do tell this mother and the community here, just what is your problem, today. Well lets say you did.

"C A Mom", I would not take what this disturbed poster has said, seriously. This particular poster enjoys bouncing from post to post that mothers have written and antagonizing them. Just let his berating roll off your back.

Thank you for posting and please find the time to come back. We would like to hear more.

[DannyB II]

I am responding to the site because I was talking with my dad, Jeff Simpson, this weekend and he mentioned to me he had just recently been informed of it by a parent and after checking it out was very disappointed.  After I checked out, I wasn’t disappointed, I was angry!  Just so you know I am not some young immature woman who had to attend program after program!!!  I am a mother of three beautiful, smart, and caring girls, my oldest a teenager. I have a degree in Health Science and am now working on my BSN.

I can’t respond to some of the comments made by these moms nor do I know the young woman that made the comments about Uinta and my dad, but I do know my dad and mom.  They are two of the most compassionate and giving people you will ever meet.  I need to make some comments about the 5 program woman’s statements.  They are so out of character for my dad as to be ridiculous. When the first girls came to Uinta they actually lived with my parents on our farm.  As the program expanded my parents moved out, giving the farm up to the program.  Both my dad and I have Celiac disease.  We have always been careful about what we eat and consequently, have developed some “favorite” brands.  As with most families, my parents have certain brands of food they prefer.  One is Hunts ketchup, also, Best Mayo (we weren’t a Miracle Whip family), Campbell’s soup, Lays potato chip, Jif peanut butter and so on.  My dad also likes to make jokes.  He is very quick witted and funny. I can definitely see him making a joking comment about Heinz ketchup and politics.  I can also tell you that he never tried to influence our political ideas and I know he wouldn’t do that in his program.  He has always encouraged all of us kids to form our own, well thought out and researched, opinions. I also know he was a huge supporter of Hillary Clinton in the last election and donated heavily to her campaign!  Last I checked, she is definitely NOT a Republican!  So this young woman has no clue what she’s talking about.  Also, my father would have never made the “garbage disposal” comment, she claims.  He raised 3 daughters and a son and was always very sensitive to food/eating issues! Say what she may, it’s just not true.  Lastly, he would never abuse any animal, especially one of his horses!  I have seen him cry when a horse had to be put down.  I have seen him stay up all night with a sick horse in the middle of the winter.  I’ve seen him stop on the roadside on the way to church and cross a muddy field in his best suit to free a neighbor’s horse that was tangled in barb wire.  

Just a few other things about my parents.  Some people try to portray people like them as greedy.  We didn’t buy our first home until I was 16 years old, because my parents spent most of their career, working for non-profit organizations that didn’t pay well, helping underprivileged and unwanted children and adolescents.  At one time my dad worked in a program that tried to PREVENT children from having to leave their homes by sending a “family preservation” therapist to work with the family in their home.  I remember one Christmas, early in the morning, he got a phone call from one of his families that was in a crisis.  He immediately went over to their home and didn’t return until late that evening!  They have dedicated their lives to helping children and their families; and for a few people to try and tarnish their work and their names is despicable!  

One last thing to show you the character of my father.  He always wanted a farm, so many years ago we were able to buy a small farm in Northern Utah.  The place where they eventually started Uinta.   The gentleman we bought it from was very old and when the time came for us to move in, he refused to leave.  We had to leave our home as the new residents were to move in.  It was early fall and school had just started so we moved a borrowed camp trailer under the hay barn on the property and moved into it waiting for the elderly gentleman to move out.  He kept insisting it would be a “few weeks.”  We soon realized he had no intention to move out.  Sometimes he would unhook our water hose attached to the trailer or unplug the electrical cord attached to an outside outlet.  My dad never said a word, never got mad, and never confronted this old man.  He would say, he’s old, he’s attached to the farm and it’s hard for him to leave.  My dad could have legally had him removed, but he never considered that.  Do you know how difficult it can be for a family of six to live in a small camp trailer, especially under those circumstances? Well, you get through it with a LOT of patience and love. About three months after we got there, the old man passed away and 2 days later, after his family moved his belongings, we moved in to the home!  That is the kind of compassion my father has for people.  I doubt many other people, especially those that blog on these sites would have been as understanding and compassionate.

To those who read this, that is who my parents are.  Granted I’m their daughter, but everything I’ve posted is true.  

I’ll finish with a story my dad told us as little kids.  There once was this Indian tribe and in the tribe was a woman who liked to talk about other people.  It didn’t matter if the gossip was true or not, she always had something negative to say about other people.  After years of this she was ostracized by everyone in the tribe and no one would talk to her, so she went to the wise Chief for advice, asking him how she can take back her words.  He told her that when everyone was asleep that night, he wanted her to put a feather outside each of the teepees of anyone she had ever talked negatively about.  That night she did so, placing a feather in front of every teepee in camp.  However, during the night a huge storm came in and blew the feathers to the four corners of the world. In the morning she went to the wise Chief and told him that she had placed the feathers as she was instructed, but that a storm had blown them away.  He told her to retrieve each and every one of the feathers.  She said she could not, it would be impossible.  He responded, and so shall it be to take back all the things you spoke of others!

Interestingly, one of the bloggers on this site named their first child after my father; another made ridiculous and untrue claims.  Maybe blogging on this site says more about the people who blog here than it says about who they are blogging about!

Thank you very much for this testimony concerning your Dad. It was received well here.

[DannyB II]

Bear with me on this one, this is going to be a long one.  My reasons for posting this are varied.  Probably the biggest one is that I hope this might be an avenue to let other parents out there know about our experience with Uinta Academy of Wellsville, Utah.  

As a background our youngest has suffered from extreme panic/anxiety disorder for 5+ years.  After exhausting every available option, we made the difficult decision to place her at Uinta.  The center was recommended to us by an educational consultant.  We did not insurance to cover any of it.  While we had some positive outcome from her time at Uinta, we also endured a lot of frustration and heartbreak at how we were treated by staff.  Bottom line, L.’s therapist, looking for a reason for L.’s issues, decided that I must have anger management issues and therefore was the reason for L.’s disorder.  I should disclose that L., in an attempt to be able to come home, fabricated to her therapist that she needed to leave treatment so that I could get treatment for anger issues.  L. later told her therapist that she had made it all up in a mis-guided attempt to make us pull her out of treatment.  It was too late, the ink had been set.  Sue’s (Sue Hoffman–L.’s primary therapist at Uinta) mind was made up, ‘bad kid-bad mom’.  I should say that I am like most moms, I advocate for my children.  And, when I feel that someone is trying to prevent me from seeing/having contact with my child, I am going to question it and be tenacious in my quest to protect my child.  Our perception was that this was interpreted as a bad thing by Sue and the staff at Uinta–they felt we were too controlling.  I should also say that during the almost 9 months L. was in Utah, we were granted permission to see her 3 times, she was 12 years old!  Incidentally, after she came home from Uinta, she has received a diagnosis of Panic/Anxiety Disorder--Separation Anxiety, meaning that she never went thru separation anxiety as a toddler, therefore it came on at a later time and was that much more severe....Uinta's approach to cut off almost all contact with our daughter, was the worst thing for her.  Live and learn.

A difficult part for me has been that someone who didn’t know me (nor took anytime to get to know who I was) decided who they thought I was and it was a very ugly depiction. In an ‘exit interview’ with one of our local providers, Sue even went so far as to tell him that she felt I was a ‘potential barrier to L.’s treatment’ and that I appeared to have issues that needed to be investigated.  I was devastated.  I’m still trying to get over that one.

After L. came home, we felt we needed to send a letter to Jeff Simpson.  Jeff and his wife Becky, established Uinta.  The following is excerpts from that letter which described some of our experience with Uinta.  While we know that he received the letter, we never received a response from Jeff, Becky, or Sue.  Here goes....

Dear Jeff:

We wanted to thank you and Becky for establishing Uinta and offering a spot for L. to be there.  In all of our interactions with you, we have always walked away feeling your desire to help make a real difference in the lives of the girls that find their way to Uinta .  It’s very apparent that it isn’t just a job for you, it’s a passion.  L., and our family have benefitted greatly from her time at Uinta.  
...

Other factors for bringing L. home, were our increasing unease with what we felt was lack of access to L. as well as our perceived direction of where L.’s treatment might be going.  We understand that our perceptions might be mis-perceptions, but they were our perceptions that we simply could not ‘shake’.  Finally, we could not ignore our parental instinct and we made the difficult decision to bring her home.

For the last several weeks we have struggled with whether to voice our concerns to you, and we finally decided to share with you some things that we experienced while L. was at Uinta.  To preface all of this, we want to state that we feel Sue worked extremely well with L. and so we repeatedly tried to set our own misgivings and concerns aside in the interest of our daughter’s treatment.

From the very beginning, we had an undefined uneasiness about our interactions with Sue.  We felt like she was constantly trying to ‘put us in our place’ and establish that she was in control of our daughter and that she didn’t really need or want our input.  Again, we will readily admit that this is our perception and that it might be a mis-perception, but we are relaying how we felt, not just once, but repeatedly.  Reasons why we felt this way?  The examples are varied.  One simple one was Sue not turning her cell phone off (or even turning it to vibrate) during our family therapy sessions.  We often felt that she was distracted by her cell phone, checking e-mail, etc. during our family therapy sessions.  We want to be clear that this was not just once, it went off almost every session.  One session we could even tell that she was texting during our session.  Incidentally this was a very important session where we were telling L. she was coming home–L. when hearing the news, stated ‘oh you all think I’m good enough to go home?’  Because Sue was busy texting someone else, she made no response to this statement.  We ended up explaining to L. that we felt she had worked very hard and that she would need to continue treatment when she was at home.  Sue never responded to this, and as her therapist, we certainly could have used her direction and at least assistance in this conversation with L..  In our years of working with therapists, we had never experienced this and we felt that it showed a lack of respect to our limited family therapy time.  Again, please understand that we are not completely dense and selfish to not realize that there are emergencies that may come up from time to time.   However, we also know that Uinta has a wonderfully trained staff of family teachers that are always available.  We were just frustrated at our perceived lack of her respect to L. and our family therapy time by the fact that her cell phone was not silenced during our sessions.  After bringing L. home, she told us that it bothered her that Sue would take phone calls from her daughter during their sessions, or that she would check e-mail, etc., during their therapy time.  We wonder how it would have been perceived if we had our cell phones going off and were texting others during our family therapy sessions.  My guess is that Sue would not have looked on it too favorably and that she might have felt we weren’t fully engaged in our family therapy.

Another ongoing issue was trying to schedule visits with L..  One of our main concerns when we made the decision to send L. to Uinta was whether or not we would be able to have regular visits with L..  Looking back at our notes of our initial phone conversation with you and Becky,  we noted that you said we would be able to see her approximately every 6-7 weeks.  We always understood that any of these visits were subject to last minute cancellation if L. had not earned the privilege.  Our frustration was getting even the ok to plan a visit.  

We don’t know how it works with other parents and therapists, but we (perhaps wrongly) expected that after 1 visit was complete, the therapist would say, ok that visit went well, next visit could be <date>, why don’t you plan for that, and we will decide the week of if your daughter has earned it.  That never happened.  Without going into the he said/she said scenarios of how each visit was scheduled, suffice it to say that we were always left feeling like we had no say in when we could and could not see our daughter.  Better communication on this issue would have greatly relieved a lot of our family’s stress. Instead, we often used valuable family therapy time discussing logistics of visits.  If a clearer level of written communication had existed in this area, we could have better used that time with L. on actual therapy issues.
 
That brings us to another nagging concern that we could never shake.  E-mail communication, and our perception (or again readily admitted possible mis-perception) that Sue never completely read our e-mails.  Please understand that we tried to keep e-mail to a minimum.  We understood Sue’s time constraints, and we didn’t want to be parents that filled the in-box.  However, from the beginning we were told (at parent weekend) that e-mail was the best way to communicate–if we had questions or concerns we should send an e-mail.  For example as to why we felt they weren’t fully read, when we would send an e-mail with 3 questions, we might receive an answer back to 1 of them.  We would re-send and this would go back and forth.  We also had it more than once that we would send something, have no response, and then the following week in family therapy we would bring the concern up and to us it always felt like she hadn’t read it, or at the most skimmed it and put it aside.  Sometimes it wasn’t questions, it might have been input and observations that we felt important to L.’s ongoing therapy–we don’t think these type of e-mails ever received a response, or even a one line acknowledgment to the extent of ‘thanks for the information’.  Sometimes we wondered if she had even received our e-mail (maybe a simple setting on the e-mail system that sends out auto receipt acknowledgments??)  

When L. hit her 6 month mark we sent a detailed e-mail asking if it was possible to have a phone conference with the entire treatment team and we listed the things we wanted to discuss.  We also listed several things that we would like input from the academic team on.   The following week when we finally discussed the e-mail, it came across to us repeatedly during our conversation that it was very possible Sue had not fully read the e-mail.  For instance, she asked us what information we wanted from the academic team–this had been detailed in the e-mail.  At one point she said to us, it sounds like maybe it would be a good idea to have a phone conference with the treatment team, would you be ok with doing that?  To this we responded yes, we would be in to that, that is why we asked for it in our original e-mail.  It was during this conversation that we were told our level of reaction to receiving no response from her was excessive.  Sue told us she was very busy working with girls and that she often didn’t have time to respond to parents, and finally that we needed to understand that Uinta was better at communication than other facilities so we should be glad that there was the level of communication that there was.   More than once we expressed to Sue that at times we felt like we had no idea what was going on with L. and her treatment.  Sue always defensively responded ‘that’s not true, you know what is going on with her’, invalidating our feelings.  

When Sue told us she often didn’t have time to respond to parents and that essentially that is just how it was, we were disheartened and walked away with the perception (again our possible mis-perception) that Sue did not really need or want us involved in L.’s treatment.  This was very concerning to us. We did not want L. to perceive that we didn’t want to be involved in her treatment, or that we had asked to have limited contact with her.  We realize that some might view this as a control issue, we view it as wanting to be involved in our 12 year old’s life and treatment and our desire to continue to build a healthy relationship with her as she grows up.  Finally, it was sad when Jane went to bring L. home and Sue had nothing to say, not even good-bye.  Jane had told her and Kristi ahead of time when she would be arriving.  When Jane arrived, no one was available (which is understandable–it was the middle of the day).  When Sue later arrived at the house, she walked into the room, made one statement, handed Jane L.’s transcript and walked away.  They never saw her again.  The discharge summary that we had asked be prepared and ready to go wasn’t ready, nor did Sue explain when it would be ready or even acknowledge that it wasn’t ready to go with L..  Before she and L. left, Jane ended up asking Kristi when it would be ready.  We received it a few days later, luckily in time before our first scheduled appointment with L.’s local treatment providers.

We don’t know how you will interpret or take this letter.  We hope that you will see it for what it is intended to be, a relaying of parents’ observations and concerns and how maybe things can be improved for others.  It is not intended as criticism. Again, we appreciate all that was done for L. while at Uinta.  After several years of therapy, L. had given up and nothing we could do would get her to engage in therapy and trying again.  Now, she knows that she can feel good and is willing to work at it.  That is a blessing.

Thank you again,

 

Thanks momof4, I also believe that conditions at programs for children can always improve. I can only hope that the poster "oldest" daughter of the owner of Uinta, took into consideration your thoughts and observations.

[Pile of Dead Kids]

Congratulations. You've all received support from a guy whose most famous exploit on this board is dragging a teenage girl behind his car.

[DannyB II]

Congratulations. You've all received support from a guy whose most famous exploit on this board is dragging a teenage girl behind his car.

Problem is Pile, every time you mention this crazy made up act, you reinforce what all of us think about you. You can't be trusted, you abuse mothers and children and quite frankly we would be very happy if you would work on a attitude adjustment or leave. Which ever comes first. You have managed in a few short weeks to lose whatever credibility you had here.

[shaggys]

DannyBII is an admitted alcoholic, drug addict and very proud child abuser. My question to readers here is this: Does someone like that have an opinion that matters to anyone but himself? Danny go back to what you know best: blowin truckers for dope money.

[amyy.michele]

So I read through this thread and had a really interesting time reading everyone's opinions, very interesting.

In March 07 I was sent by my parents against my will to a wilderness program, in June 07 I left that program and followed it up at Uinta.

I'm pretty sure I managed to butt heads with every staff member, as well as several therapists and most of the other girls while I was there, I didn't accept the program easily and I left shortly before my 18th birthday with no graduation and a lot of hard feelings. While I made a little progress in some areas I was not "cured" and would absolutely say I've relapsed and undone 98% of the progress I did make there, but this isn't about me, its about the program.

Uinta is really what each girl makes of it. I was headstrong, angry at my parents and the program as well as everyone in it, and I had no desire to change myself or accept anyone's help so I did not enjoy Uinta, other girls who were more willing had much more helpful and enlightening experiences. I believe that the program is flawed but that's why Jeff and Becky are almost constantly making changes.

And seriously? Some of you, especially girls who attended the program, are trying to make Jeff and Becky seem like bad people?  :roflmao:

Jeff and Becky are two of the nicest, most compassionate people I have met in my entire life.

I lived on the East campus which is home to Jeff's office and when he'd walk into work doling out hugs and high fives to girls as he made his way to his office it was the highlight of my day, he'd always stop and say hi and discuss with you whatever issues were bothering you whether it be with your schoolwork, a peer, your therapy or maybe your horse just did something particularly adorable and you want to brag. He had stopped doing therapy by the time I'd found my way into the program but despite that, when I was there he took time out of his personal life once or twice a week to come in on weekends or in the evenings and meet one on one to do therapy with a girl who has struggling especially hard. A girl tried to run once after feeding the horses at night and when we went to bed a few staff members were sitting in a field with her trying to convince her to come back. She was my room mate at the time and at 3am we woke up to Jeff arriving. He woke up in the middle of the night to voluntarily come out to the campus and bring the girl back inside and talk to her. He was not asked to do that, its what he pays the staff to do, but because he actually CARES, he personally went to help resolve the situation.

Becky is, if possible, even more caring than her husband. When I arrived she let me pick my horse after meeting the available ones and helped me form an incredibly strong bond with my horse, Sugar. That december, right around christmas time Jeff was forced to sell my horse due to her roughness. She was a handful and with so many girls having little to no experience with horses she was too high strung and almost a danger in that environment. Becky woke up early on a cold snowy Sunday morning before it was even light out so she could be there with me when the new owner came to take her away. She cried with me as I loaded my horse into the trailer and watched it drive away and sat with me until I was ready to go back inside with everyone else. She saw how much it hurt me to have to say goodbye to Sugar and went above and beyond to make it up to me, even offering to let me work with one of her family's personal horses, tonto, who she knew I was extremely fond of. She became very sick towards the end of my stay, so much so that she was unable to accompany us on trips or attend graduation ceremonies. It broke her heart not being able to see and work with us, especially when it came to graduations and not being able to say goodbye. Jeff never failed to tear up when he passed on messages from her or updated us on how she was doing and on our Tuscon trip where we first found out she was sick, you could see in every single concerned face in the room that she'd touched everyone's life in some way.

Jeff and Becky's program may not be perfect, it may not be the most effective, and it may not be right for you or your daughter, but I have never seen anyone try harder to make people's lives just a little bit better. They aren't in it for the money, they aren't in it for glory, and they aren't in it because its a job. They built Uinta out of nothing purely because they wanted to help kids who were struggling.

I'm not sure which of their children entered the post previously, but I've met most of their kids and one of their grandkids and I can take a guess. You may say her opinion is biased because she doesn't want people bad mouthing her family over the internet but I read what she wrote and even though the examples she provided came from her personal home life which I was not a part of, there is no doubt in my mind that shes telling the truth.

No one understands better than me what its like to have a bad Uinta experience, but you cant put that all on their shoulders, its not fair. They are providing you with an opportunity. you may or may not appreciate and take advantage of that opportunity but if you choose to ignore and/or abuse it, its not their fault. Even though I disliked being there, Uinta was a once in a lifetime experience that I wouldnt trade for the world. It may not have resolved my rebellious and defiant behavioral issues but it absolutely broadened my horizons and benefited me in other ways. While at Uinta I found myself with a 3.0 GPA, by far the highest it had been since grade school, I went white water rafting and learned German, something I never thought I'd do, and it allowed me an opportunity to get healthy again, to get into shape and learn how to be self reliant.

[Pile of Dead Kids]

You gave the game away right here:

doling out hugs and high fives to girls

Any actual females who went to a place like that wouldn't be able to write this no matter how badly their minds were broken. Too creepy.

Odds are you're the same UtahRoper fuck who's been vandalizing the wiki.

[Shadyacres]

So I read through this thread and had a really interesting time reading everyone's opinions, very interesting.

In March 07 I was sent by my parents against my will to a wilderness program, in June 07 I left that program and followed it up at Uinta.

I'm pretty sure I managed to butt heads with every staff member, as well as several therapists and most of the other girls while I was there, I didn't accept the program easily and I left shortly before my 18th birthday with no graduation and a lot of hard feelings. While I made a little progress in some areas I was not "cured" and would absolutely say I've relapsed and undone 98% of the progress I did make there, but this isn't about me, its about the program.

Uinta is really what each girl makes of it. I was headstrong, angry at my parents and the program as well as everyone in it, and I had no desire to change myself or accept anyone's help so I did not enjoy Uinta, other girls who were more willing had much more helpful and enlightening experiences. I believe that the program is flawed but that's why Jeff and Becky are almost constantly making changes.

And seriously? Some of you, especially girls who attended the program, are trying to make Jeff and Becky seem like bad people?  :roflmao:

Jeff and Becky are two of the nicest, most compassionate people I have met in my entire life.

I lived on the East campus which is home to Jeff's office and when he'd walk into work doling out hugs and high fives to girls as he made his way to his office it was the highlight of my day, he'd always stop and say hi and discuss with you whatever issues were bothering you whether it be with your schoolwork, a peer, your therapy or maybe your horse just did something particularly adorable and you want to brag. He had stopped doing therapy by the time I'd found my way into the program but despite that, when I was there he took time out of his personal life once or twice a week to come in on weekends or in the evenings and meet one on one to do therapy with a girl who has struggling especially hard. A girl tried to run once after feeding the horses at night and when we went to bed a few staff members were sitting in a field with her trying to convince her to come back. She was my room mate at the time and at 3am we woke up to Jeff arriving. He woke up in the middle of the night to voluntarily come out to the campus and bring the girl back inside and talk to her. He was not asked to do that, its what he pays the staff to do, but because he actually CARES, he personally went to help resolve the situation.

Becky is, if possible, even more caring than her husband. When I arrived she let me pick my horse after meeting the available ones and helped me form an incredibly strong bond with my horse, Sugar. That december, right around christmas time Jeff was forced to sell my horse due to her roughness. She was a handful and with so many girls having little to no experience with horses she was too high strung and almost a danger in that environment. Becky woke up early on a cold snowy Sunday morning before it was even light out so she could be there with me when the new owner came to take her away. She cried with me as I loaded my horse into the trailer and watched it drive away and sat with me until I was ready to go back inside with everyone else. She saw how much it hurt me to have to say goodbye to Sugar and went above and beyond to make it up to me, even offering to let me work with one of her family's personal horses, tonto, who she knew I was extremely fond of. She became very sick towards the end of my stay, so much so that she was unable to accompany us on trips or attend graduation ceremonies. It broke her heart not being able to see and work with us, especially when it came to graduations and not being able to say goodbye. Jeff never failed to tear up when he passed on messages from her or updated us on how she was doing and on our Tuscon trip where we first found out she was sick, you could see in every single concerned face in the room that she'd touched everyone's life in some way.

Jeff and Becky's program may not be perfect, it may not be the most effective, and it may not be right for you or your daughter, but I have never seen anyone try harder to make people's lives just a little bit better. They aren't in it for the money, they aren't in it for glory, and they aren't in it because its a job. They built Uinta out of nothing purely because they wanted to help kids who were struggling.

I'm not sure which of their children entered the post previously, but I've met most of their kids and one of their grandkids and I can take a guess. You may say her opinion is biased because she doesn't want people bad mouthing her family over the internet but I read what she wrote and even though the examples she provided came from her personal home life which I was not a part of, there is no doubt in my mind that shes telling the truth.

No one understands better than me what its like to have a bad Uinta experience, but you cant put that all on their shoulders, its not fair. They are providing you with an opportunity. you may or may not appreciate and take advantage of that opportunity but if you choose to ignore and/or abuse it, its not their fault. Even though I disliked being there, Uinta was a once in a lifetime experience that I wouldnt trade for the world. It may not have resolved my rebellious and defiant behavioral issues but it absolutely broadened my horizons and benefited me in other ways. While at Uinta I found myself with a 3.0 GPA, by far the highest it had been since grade school, I went white water rafting and learned German, something I never thought I'd do, and it allowed me an opportunity to get healthy again, to get into shape and learn how to be self reliant.

If my mom were to fabricate a post, pretending to be me, it would sound very much like this.  All about the missed "opportunity", no mention of the abuse, humiliation and degradation that is inherent in "behavior modification".

[amyy.michele]

you guys are hilarious. its really cute how you have to accuse me of trolling to feel right and better about yourselves.

im not here to stoop to your level or argue with you so dont waste your time comparing me to your mother or whoever the fuck you think i really am. jeff and becky wouldnt waste their time with your games sop you can feel content im neither of them nor would they bother sending anyone out here to "damage control"

people defend them because they're good people, get the fuck over it.