Copper Canyon Academy , AZ & The Academy at Sisters, OR??

[Anonymous]

I think the parent doesn't realize that the trauma of being at someplace like CCA does brain damage in and of itself.

It's not as if the child is avoiding brain damage by being there and not taking some illicit drugs while she's there.

She's still taking brain damage, and brain damage of a type that's much harder to overcome than the long-term brain damage from street drugs.  Well, except for things like huffing, absinthe, and a few others.

Most street drugs do less brain damage, and in less functionally harmful areas of the brain, than the brain damage from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Many parents just don't know enough about psychiatry to understand that being there and "hating it" is an indication that the experience is doing serious, permanent brain damage to their child.

Even the survivors here who have done the best job of working their recovery from the PTSD still have significant brain damage, they've just learned coping skills to work around some of it.  For the portions of the damage that limit their ability to function in life as well as someone without that damage, the more functional survivors have just learned to accept the fact of the damage as something that can't be undone and has to be lived with.

It's tragic that the parents don't understand that they're not preventing brain damage when they send their child to a "hate it" program, they're trading damage to one area of the brain for damage to another.  And in many cases the trade is a very bad bargain, as the damage from the program is more crippling than the damage from the drugs would have been.

Timoclea

[Anonymous]

Disclaimer: My statements about relative damage are my personal opinion as a person with a bachelors degree in psychology from a really good school who has done a lot of reading to keep up with the neurobiology of psychiatric problems.  And as a person who has not only had that knowledge, but has seen a lot of cases of people who have various psychiatric problems and other brain damage problems to have some basis for comparison.

I'm a layman, but I'm an unusually well-educated layman.

Timoclea

[Anonymous]

It's Darren Prince, I'd bet.  The mormon filth that's in charge of "admissions".  All you have to do is show him a fat bank account, and regardless of what kind of help your child needs or doesn't need, he'll gladly let your child in and claim CCA is the solution to all your problems.

I've never known a more money grubbing family in my entire life.  If it's last name is Prince, you'd better believe that they are either there to convert you or cheat you.

[Anonymous]

You wrote, "what kind of parent are you, anyway". I reply, I am a mother who loves my daughter dearly and would like to see her live to eighteenth birthday.  

Unless parents have money to burn, they do not send their children to expensive therapeutic boarding schools if they don't care about them.

If they dont' care about them, they look the other direction while their children are harming themselves, hoping their child will just eventually learn through the school of hard knocks.

I really am not advocating for CCA or TBSs in general. I do not work for them and have many criticisms but I do appreciate the role they play when all other measures fail. I am about as skeptical and analytical a person as they come. I do not consider any TBS a panacea. It is a last resort.

That is why I said "DON'T send your daughter to CCA or any other therapeutic boarding school if you can realistically work through the problems ANOTHER WAY."

I don't know if you have knowledge or experience with chemical dependency. It is not uncommon for kids to die, end up in jail, or experience long term or permanent brain damage, while learning through experience.

Depending on how dangerous your child's behavior is, learning through experience may not be a reasonable option and removing a child from their environment may be necessary. This is a judgement call.

Being a parent is a not easy. I suggest we try to support each other and share our experience rather than criticizing each other.

[Anonymous]

A big part of what I'm saying is that CCA seems to have a particularly bad reputation.  There appear to be an unusual amount of former attendees who have unusually low opinions of that facility.  

Even if my daughter *was* in lethal danger from drug abuse, I don't think that particular facility is one I would trust with my daughter.

Timoclea

[Anonymous]

On 2005-07-14 10:35:00, Anonymous wrote:

"You wrote, "what kind of parent are you, anyway". I reply, I am a mother who loves my daughter dearly and would like to see her live to eighteenth birthday.  



Unless parents have money to burn, they do not send their children to expensive therapeutic boarding schools if they don't care about them.



If they dont' care about them, they look the other direction while their children are harming themselves, hoping their child will just eventually learn through the school of hard knocks.



I really am not advocating for CCA or TBSs in general. I do not work for them and have many criticisms but I do appreciate the role they play when all other measures fail. I am about as skeptical and analytical a person as they come. I do not consider any TBS a panacea. It is a last resort.



That is why I said "DON'T send your daughter to CCA or any other therapeutic boarding school if you can realistically work through the problems ANOTHER WAY."



I don't know if you have knowledge or experience with chemical dependency. It is not uncommon for kids to die, end up in jail, or experience long term or permanent brain damage, while learning through experience.



Depending on how dangerous your child's behavior is, learning through experience may not be a reasonable option and removing a child from their environment may be necessary. This is a judgement call.



Being a parent is a not easy. I suggest we try to support each other and share our experience rather than criticizing each other.



"

You use all the regular excuses. "She's be dead without the program". "Only good parents send their kids to TBS's". etc, etc.

The truth is, you're too lazy/desperate to work things out on your own. So you paid someone else to do your work for you, while you comfortably ignore the extremely high chance that your daughter will be abused at CCA. Way to go, mom.

Parents who send their kids to TBS's, despite all the evidence and testimonies about the abuse endured by the children incarcerated in these places, are not caring/loving parents. They are simply lazy, careless people who are doing anything in their power to throw the problem at someone else.

You are putting your daughter at risk. A far greater risk than her behaviors put her in. Judging by what former students have to say, it is highly likely that your daughter will be physically and emotionally abused at CCA. But you don't give a damn, of course. As long as you can pay someone else to get that brat out of your hair.

[Anonymous]

I have a daughter at CCA, and was starting to feel unsure because I miss her so much.(My daughter has been involved in drugs, promiscuous sex, alcohol, fraud,and has beat me up. The licensed psycho-therapist shes seen while at home believes she has borderline sociopathic tendancies). I know you can talk to the girls there about how they like it and some of the parents are available. But in my mind, if there was any type of abuse they certainly weren't going to point me in the direction of those cases. I decided to try to get in touch with some of the girls who had already graduated through an unbiased source- so I did a school check on myspace ( by the way you have to search it CCA on myspace and then sort through as other schools use those initials also)
Anyway- I wrote a letter to many of the girls, basically asking how there expereince was and if they felt like it made things worse or better.
Overwhelmingly these girls, who have been out of CCA for minimum of 1 year, said they are glad they graduated from CCA. 1 said she now as 2 children and would send her kids with no problems. 2 girls said they didn't think it made a difference on way or the other, and of those 2 one was pulled early.
2 more girls told me that they were pulled, both also said they wished they'd finished the program, and one said she actually begged her parent to let her stay until she graduated. Before I wrote to hem I looked at the myspace groups for CCA and noticed that the only negative remarks are from girls who DID NOT finish the program.
For me this was more important testimonial than any parents, because the parents are only involved from the outside.
I would suggest doing a school alumni search and ask the graduates yourself, with out any interferance from CCA. if you use myspce you'll have to create an account I think.
Good luck to you and your family, my prayers will be with you.

[Anonymous]

If you are sending a sociopath to a place like CCA all you will succeed in doing is turning them into a better sociopath.
They will learn how to effectively project false emotions and beliefs, how to lie effectively and how to avoid consequences.

[Anonymous]

Anon- you stated:
"I did a school check on my space..."
Then you state:
"If you use my space, you'll have to create an account, I THINK."

This are contradictory statements!
SO, did you, or are did you not actually conduct this little search on MY SPACE?
I doubt it.

[Anonymous]

How do you know those emails were really from "girls" who went there?  As for "being glad they graduated" sounds like they were happy to get the hell out!  I would be careful of testimonials online because they are usually from people who have a vested interest in continuing the programs (like $$$ in their pockets) and you are wrong about all parents; some really do just want to send the "problem" away to get fixed and not be bothered.  Also I totally agree that the Post Traumatic Stress is much much worse than drugs.  Many kids do more drugs after being inone of those places and some start their "relationship with drugs" after getting out.
As for dying because of drugs:  the three main caused cited for teen deaths are: accidents, homicide and suicide; not drug use.  And suicide is often a response to the kind of treatment kids receive in these programs.