Fornits
Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform => The Troubled Teen Industry => Topic started by: Anonymous on January 10, 2004, 11:24:00 PM
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Does anyone have any information about Island View Residential Treatment Center in Utah?
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There is discussion at:
http://pub70.ezboard.com/fstraightincsu ... =215.topic (http://pub70.ezboard.com/fstraightincsurvivors30607frm1.showMessage?topicID=215.topic)
Cimmerian6
Registered User
Posts: 1
(6/7/03 7:01 pm)
Reply Anyone from Island View RTC in Utah it's Jenny U, gold team
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I went to Island View treatment center from 1998-2000. Over 23 months. I was there because I had abuse and abandonment/adoption issues ADD and ODD, borderline personality disorder, and promiscuity (ie monogamous at 16 but still having sex underage thus i must be a sex addict). I got taken down a lot tons of saucer size bruises and a score of broken fingers. Still it took 45 minutes on average to get me to the pink room. They even had to have all the other girls close their doors which never was done prior to my stay. My therapist was Mike Bolloch a nice guy but he stripped my idealistic sprituality away and replaced it with cynical darwinism. He did this because he suspected I was a satanist because I'm gothic. During my stay I became bulemic, picked up cutting and drug issues from the other girls. I was touched by a staff member but they made me sit at a desk and not talk to anyone for a month till I would say I lied. THey told me I would be in and out of mental hospitals the rest of my life. THey thought I was too psychotic for the program and were going to transfer me to Menningers or La AMistad luckily I caused some problems by having a friendship with a staff member. SHe was fired and I was shipped home the next day... It haunts me I wake up in the morning disconcerted from dreams of being back there. I contemplate suicide because being locked up is worse than death so maybe I should kill myself before my liberty can be stripped away from me again. My first day while I was lying face down with 4 women atop me I declared I would write a book; an expose about this hellhole. I have started the book two weeks ago and as I don't work intend to have the rough draft by 2004. Anyways any gold team members or anyone else who would like to talk to me. I was the one with blondish auburn hair and later purple hair to my waist with glasses ussually besplattered with tears. I sometimes wore black dresses or did the hunter thomson thing with khaki pants and hawaian shirts other times i was in filthy island view sweats. "We demand Greatness not complaince, " my ass. I would particularly like to talk to Laura, Emily, Jillian, Alex, or Hope.
eklipz98
Unregistered User
(9/18/03 4:01 pm)
Reply I went to Island View
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Hey whats up. I found your post by randomly searching for "Island View" in Google. I wrote you an email about everything. Email me back when you get my message. melonsauce@hotmail.com (http://mailto:melonsauce@hotmail.com)
Stephany
Unregistered User
(10/3/03 1:53 pm)
Reply Island View
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I'm so glad I found this site. I had a horrible time at Island View. My therapist was manupulative and decietful. The staff were unfair and unconcerning. I spent 10 months there on Gold Team and hated every waking minute of it. I was there from July 2001 to May 2002 and never got the chance to REALLY deal with the @#%$ that was 'wrong' with me. The ODD, OCD, adoption issues, promiscuity, drug problems - all the things I really should have gotten help with. I was more concerned with Problem Solving on Mondays to see who would get ripped a new @#%$ from Dan Stewart, to who was going on I.F. and for what reason. Please - everyone - feel free to write me. Island View was wrong, and there never really was compliance. The only greatness I can show is proving everyone there wrong in their predictions of what my future life was going to be.
http://www.strugglingteens.com/a...sit03.html (http://www.strugglingteens.com/a...sit03.html)
Do all of our parents think this is what Island View was like?
bobm666
Registered User
Posts: 1
(12/19/03 3:36 pm)
Reply Island View
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I don't know about other parents, but after visiting our daughter many times over the last four months it does reflect my views.
Before my daughter went there I read the first post in this thread. Because of it I have looked very hard at their practices and talked to my daughter about them. My daughter's reaction to PSG seems to be about the same as one of the other posts here. However, after talking with my daughter about it and with the Island View staff I feel they do have theraputic value.
My daughter also conceeds that she feels well taken care of and in no danger. She also feels that the staff is well intentioned even if she disagrees with methods or requirements.
I wish you all well
OdeToNoOne23
Unregistered User
(12/24/03 1:33 am)
Reply is it really that bad?
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It it really that horrible? Dear gods, I thought it MIGHT be better than turnabout ranch. What are the teams? What do they signify? Which is the worst?
allisonm
Unregistered User
(1/2/04 9:43 pm)
Reply island view
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to each his own i guess. what a shame you all had such a horrible time ay island view. i spent ten months there on gold team in 1999. Frankly, i credit island view with saving my life. maybe i never would have killed myself but i certainly would have continued to be miserable if it was not for blake taylor and some of the house parents there.
-allison m
Bear
Unregistered User
(1/3/04 7:57 pm)
Reply Props for Island View
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I was upset to see that some of you felt so strongly against the program at Island View. None of you took responsibility for your own actions and behaviors that were viewed as grounds for being sent to Island View. Island View staff didn't kidnap you to their program. Your parents or guardians placed you there. And Island View has guidelines for people who get accepted into the program, obviously you fit the guidelines. So stop whining and suck it up and move on. There are worse things happening in the world to have nightmares about. If you don't think I have the credentials to be talking about this, here's my list:
I was in two mental hospitals for 10 days (total) the summer before I was sent away. I was sent to Island View after two unproductive weeks in wilderness when I was 14. I was there Nov. 1998 through Jan. 2000. I was desperately unhappy and angry at nothing specific at all. I was drinking and messing around with many different people. I was also cutting myself and my classes; I hated myself and my family. My parents felt that they had no other choice in order to keep me alive. I don't necessarily agree with that, but I love who I am today and I wouldn't be who I am today without the people at Island View.
I was there when Jenny U. (from the above response) was there. People just don't get "taken down" for any old reason. If you were taken down it was because you were a threat to yourself or others. It was frightening to watch, but never in all the take downs I witnessed, was anyone hurt. One girl was taken down because she was a compulsive cutter and would use just about anything. Take downs were a measure to keep people safe; that is what they're paid to do. Staff memebers were trained in ways to prevent injury during take downs and they were only performed when absolutely every other route of prevention had been taken.
I had a wonderful therapist who worked closely with my parents and me to bring me to a better understanding of why I felt the way I did and why I did some of the things that I did. I started taking medication and with therapy was eventually ready to move on to a less restrictive environment. I am currently in college, majoring in Business and Design with a minor in Psychology. I am engaged to be married and love life. I am no longer on medication and am not in therapy, but because of the treatment I recieved in Island View, I can tackle problems and issues without losing my sense of self. I am sorry so many of you have been unsuccessful in seeing the positive in what this program offered you. They gave you a chance to start over and you saw it as a nightmare. Good luck to you all, J
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Hello to all who read this entry. My name is Megan M. and i graduated silver team from Island View. From most of the articles i read from previous residents, i saw a pitiful, pathetic, and irrational side of people. That i cannot judge because only 1 1/2 years ago, i was just as sick. i have been out for 1 1/2 and i was there ten months. i got reamed in problem solving, i had CD with Jack, i had intense therapy with Chris Isaakson, other counselors, and house parents. the harshest reality was that i had to constantly learn more about myself each day, which i didn't like. I was learning the truths of how i hurt my family, my loved ones, and myself. i feel sorry for whom ever resents Island View and blames them from their animosity towards the world in general. I learned who i was there, and i learned how to be happy. i learned how to be sober. i am now sober, in school, on my own, still close with my family, and i own it to Island View. It is available to anyone who goes there and if you leave there with less that the rewards that i received, then you have robbed yourself and should beg to get back in. if there are any staff that read this, know that i love each and everyone of you. i am alive and have a desire to wake up in the morning because of the principles that you all instilled in me. you loved me until i could love myself and then i was set free. for that i am forever grateful.
truly, megan macejko
cincycheeks@yahoo.com
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email me if you are interested
cincycheeks@yahoo.com
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Talk to us after you have been out five to ten years.
Usually people in your situation---just out for a little while---are still operating under the superimposed artificial personality that you had to adopt just to get through and get out.
For anyone inclined to listen to this young lady and take her at face value, look up the original Stockholm incident that the Stockholm Syndrome took its name from.
A lot of the hostages from Stockholm talked about their criminal captors just like she's talking about the counselors and staff.
*Maybe* what she's saying really is how she'll feel in five years and maybe it really is her real personality talking. On the other hand, maybe it's just the Stockholm Syndrome talking.
There's really no way to tell until after she's been out long enough for Stockholm Syndrome, if she had it, to wear off.
I hope your experience really was as idyllic as you present it, but if it wasn't it's okay for you to be saying what you are. If you have Stockholm Syndrome, it isn't your fault, it's the fault of the people who induced it.
If you don't have it and you're just peachy-keen fine, I'm happy for you, but that still wouldn't put you in a position to judge what did or didn't happen to other people. You weren't with them 24/7 and you can't know for sure one way or the other. You can only speak to what *you* saw or didn't see---not to what did or didn't happen when you weren't in the same room.
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Stockholm Syndrome,your full of crap!
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On 2004-02-17 13:46:00, Anonymous wrote:
"Stockholm Syndrome,your full of crap!"
Lovely program-speak.
There is a proper place for residential treatment, done right. There are problems that justify residential treatment or incarceration, done right.
Everything I've seen leads me to conclude that in many cases residential treatment is being done for trivial reasons, and, even when done for proper reasons, is being done in ways that do more harm that good.
Residential treatment won't be provided to only the right people, and provided safely, without external oversight.
Dirt collects in dark corners.
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External oversight? You fail to mention parents, gardians, state laws, professional organizations, insurance companies. Trivial reasons for placement? How about Herion addiction, Meth addiction, cutting oneself, suicidal ideations. These are the trivial reasons a child ends up at Island View.For your nonesense about Stockholm Syndrome, it needs an element of stark terror to manifest itself and meet the definition, i.e. a gun to your head by a criminal. Island View hardly qualifies in that category.
With our local community still reeling from the death of a 20 year old to Herion last week, had his distraught parents known about Island View when his addiction first presented itself, he might still be alive today.
Is Island View perfect? Nothing is. But, for parents that have reached the bitter end with their child and have come to the realization that the very real possibliity exits of death for that child, if certain behavior are not delt with, Island View is an outstanding choice.
While granted, there are many poor choices when it comes to an RTC placement, Island View is not in that category.
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[ This Message was edited by: kmessina on 2006-01-01 14:37 ]
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Island View was started by former workers of Provo Canyon School, and it is modeled after PCS. That's enough of a reason for suspicion.
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Silver team did save my life.
Really? When were you scheduled to die? How was it going to happen?
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Island View was recently bought out and became an Aspen Education Group program. Another school mention in this thread, The Oakley School, was also acquired at the same time.
http://http://www.strugglingteens.com/news/aspenacquiresoakley-islandview.html
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On 2004-01-11 19:35:00, Deborah wrote:
"
There is discussion at:
http://pub70.ezboard.com/fstraightincsu ... =215.topic (http://pub70.ezboard.com/fstraightincsurvivors30607frm1.showMessage?topicID=215.topic)
Cimmerian6
Registered User
Posts: 1
(6/7/03 7:01 pm)
Reply Anyone from Island View RTC in Utah it's Jenny U, gold team
-------------------------------------------------
I went to Island View treatment center from 1998-2000. Over 23 months. I was there because I had abuse and abandonment/adoption issues ADD and ODD, borderline personality disorder, and promiscuity (ie monogamous at 16 but still having sex underage thus i must be a sex addict). I got taken down a lot tons of saucer size bruises and a score of broken fingers. Still it took 45 minutes on average to get me to the pink room. They even had to have all the other girls close their doors which never was done prior to my stay. My therapist was Mike Bolloch a nice guy but he stripped my idealistic sprituality away and replaced it with cynical darwinism. He did this because he suspected I was a satanist because I'm gothic. During my stay I became bulemic, picked up cutting and drug issues from the other girls. I was touched by a staff member but they made me sit at a desk and not talk to anyone for a month till I would say I lied. THey told me I would be in and out of mental hospitals the rest of my life. THey thought I was too psychotic for the program and were going to transfer me to Menningers or La AMistad luckily I caused some problems by having a friendship with a staff member. SHe was fired and I was shipped home the next day... It haunts me I wake up in the morning disconcerted from dreams of being back there. I contemplate suicide because being locked up is worse than death so maybe I should kill myself before my liberty can be stripped away from me again. My first day while I was lying face down with 4 women atop me I declared I would write a book; an expose about this hellhole. I have started the book two weeks ago and as I don't work intend to have the rough draft by 2004. Anyways any gold team members or anyone else who would like to talk to me. I was the one with blondish auburn hair and later purple hair to my waist with glasses ussually besplattered with tears. I sometimes wore black dresses or did the hunter thomson thing with khaki pants and hawaian shirts other times i was in filthy island view sweats. "We demand Greatness not complaince, " my ass. I would particularly like to talk to Laura, Emily, Jillian, Alex, or Hope.
eklipz98
Unregistered User
(9/18/03 4:01 pm)
Reply I went to Island View
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Hey whats up. I found your post by randomly searching for "Island View" in Google. I wrote you an email about everything. Email me back when you get my message. melonsauce@hotmail.com (http://mailto:melonsauce@hotmail.com)
Stephany
Unregistered User
(10/3/03 1:53 pm)
Reply Island View
you must have been picked on at lot growing up
having a girl name. or did you have a sex change after leaving island view. because they do not accept girls on orange team. you are full of it.
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I'm so glad I found this site. I had a horrible time at Island View. My therapist was manupulative and decietful. The staff were unfair and unconcerning. I spent 10 months there on Gold Team and hated every waking minute of it. I was there from July 2001 to May 2002 and never got the chance to REALLY deal with the @#%$ that was 'wrong' with me. The ODD, OCD, adoption issues, promiscuity, drug problems - all the things I really should have gotten help with. I was more concerned with Problem Solving on Mondays to see who would get ripped a new @#%$ from Dan Stewart, to who was going on I.F. and for what reason. Please - everyone - feel free to write me. Island View was wrong, and there never really was compliance. The only greatness I can show is proving everyone there wrong in their predictions of what my future life was going to be.
http://www.strugglingteens.com/a...sit03.html (http://www.strugglingteens.com/a...sit03.html)
Do all of our parents think this is what Island View was like?
bobm666
Registered User
Posts: 1
(12/19/03 3:36 pm)
Reply Island View
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I don't know about other parents, but after visiting our daughter many times over the last four months it does reflect my views.
Before my daughter went there I read the first post in this thread. Because of it I have looked very hard at their practices and talked to my daughter about them. My daughter's reaction to PSG seems to be about the same as one of the other posts here. However, after talking with my daughter about it and with the Island View staff I feel they do have theraputic value.
My daughter also conceeds that she feels well taken care of and in no danger. She also feels that the staff is well intentioned even if she disagrees with methods or requirements.
I wish you all well
OdeToNoOne23
Unregistered User
(12/24/03 1:33 am)
Reply is it really that bad?
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It it really that horrible? Dear gods, I thought it MIGHT be better than turnabout ranch. What are the teams? What do they signify? Which is the worst?
allisonm
Unregistered User
(1/2/04 9:43 pm)
Reply island view
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to each his own i guess. what a shame you all had such a horrible time ay island view. i spent ten months there on gold team in 1999. Frankly, i credit island view with saving my life. maybe i never would have killed myself but i certainly would have continued to be miserable if it was not for blake taylor and some of the house parents there.
-allison m
Bear
Unregistered User
(1/3/04 7:57 pm)
Reply Props for Island View
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I was upset to see that some of you felt so strongly against the program at Island View. None of you took responsibility for your own actions and behaviors that were viewed as grounds for being sent to Island View. Island View staff didn't kidnap you to their program. Your parents or guardians placed you there. And Island View has guidelines for people who get accepted into the program, obviously you fit the guidelines. So stop whining and suck it up and move on. There are worse things happening in the world to have nightmares about. If you don't think I have the credentials to be talking about this, here's my list:
I was in two mental hospitals for 10 days (total) the summer before I was sent away. I was sent to Island View after two unproductive weeks in wilderness when I was 14. I was there Nov. 1998 through Jan. 2000. I was desperately unhappy and angry at nothing specific at all. I was drinking and messing around with many different people. I was also cutting myself and my classes; I hated myself and my family. My parents felt that they had no other choice in order to keep me alive. I don't necessarily agree with that, but I love who I am today and I wouldn't be who I am today without the people at Island View.
I was there when Jenny U. (from the above response) was there. People just don't get "taken down" for any old reason. If you were taken down it was because you were a threat to yourself or others. It was frightening to watch, but never in all the take downs I witnessed, was anyone hurt. One girl was taken down because she was a compulsive cutter and would use just about anything. Take downs were a measure to keep people safe; that is what they're paid to do. Staff memebers were trained in ways to prevent injury during take downs and they were only performed when absolutely every other route of prevention had been taken.
I had a wonderful therapist who worked closely with my parents and me to bring me to a better understanding of why I felt the way I did and why I did some of the things that I did. I started taking medication and with therapy was eventually ready to move on to a less restrictive environment. I am currently in college, majoring in Business and Design with a minor in Psychology. I am engaged to be married and love life. I am no longer on medication and am not in therapy, but because of the treatment I recieved in Island View, I can tackle problems and issues without losing my sense of self. I am sorry so many of you have been unsuccessful in seeing the positive in what this program offered you. They gave you a chance to start over and you saw it as a nightmare. Good luck to you all, J
"
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I just got back from Island View RTC a few months ago, and although it did help me very much, I am finding out now that the program was very easy to "fake". I am coming out now and finding other past residents of the program and finding that many of them have gone back to old habits such as drugs. I ask them why, and they tell me the same old bullshit about how they brainwashed me at Island View, and how I was incarcerated for a while. But looking back, Island View was a great experience. Sometimes I don't feel that way, and frankly sometimes I am mad that I was sent there. But I am reassured in the way my life is running now as opposed to the way it was running then. One of the best pieces of advice, however, was to "take what applies to you, forget the rest." For example, if I was the girl whose therapist thought I was a Satanist, I would have done the best I could to ignore whatever he had to say about my "Satanism," and get what good I can from what he says. I gained very much self esteem at Island View, but like they always told me, it is only the beginning of the journey. It continues as you go, and you realize what truly applies and what is complete crap. Also, I am somewhat angry over the way some of the former staff treated me; they cracked racist jokes, but yelled at me when I did the same; they pushed their political agendas on us...other stuff...but eventually they left, and I could continue with my treatment. The best advice I could possibly give for faulty staff is the Serenity Prayer...accept what you cannot change, change what you cannot accept...something like that...but there was a system of grievances, and had the program not worked out for me, I eventually would have realized that I needed to accept the situation as it was and deal with it. But lucky for me, I gained a lot from this program, and I recommend it to any parent who is having trouble with their child's harmful behavior. But, while it is not perfect, I have been thinking about taking action against some of the corrupt ideals that were at Island View...for example, if this girl really claims she was "touched" by one of the staff, that is totally unacceptable. But rest assured, staff there HAVE been fired for unnacceptable conduct. As far as I am concerned, the program worked for me, and there was usually a system of checks and balances amongst the staff. But still, sometimes I feel like it was dangerous to have no control over what happened to me. The truth is, I am still trying to figure all this out.
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"Stockhold Syndrome...crap!"
Uh, no. Actually, it's been *scientifically proven*. Unlike "oppositional defiant disorder", which has been scientificaly disproven and unfounded and not accepted by the medical community (though it seems to fly at PCS).
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My daughter was at Island View for most of last year. After she "graduated" in the test phase, it took her all of two weeks to go back to her old behaviors. Nothing anyone can tell me will make me believe that this place does any good for the kids who go there. Her therapist never responded when I asked for help after she left. I guess since I wasn't paying them, no one cared any more. Anyone who wants to email me personally about her experience there and mine may do so. No one should send their child there, it is all a lie. They prey on desperate parents.
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This might sound sardonic, but I'm glad she returned to her old behaviors.
Why? It means she was not broken or brainwashed! It means shes a lot better off inside than a lot of children locked up in these places.
If you want advice from a PARENT whose dealt with this without a program, and FYI has been in a program as a teen, send a PM to "Antigen".
As far as your daughter goes, tell her youre sorry for Island View and give her some support and offer her therapy. Dont push pills or therapists. Something antigen learned and tries to tell us is that kids tend to do better if they do things of their own free will.
Why did you send her off anyway? What are her 'behaviors'? Could she stop by the forum and say something about Island View herself?Any Irishman who doubts the reality of selective enforcement ought to take just a moment to comtemplate the etymology of the term "paddy waggon".
--Antigen
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On 2005-02-28 14:19:00, Anonymous wrote:
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"Silver team did save my life."
Really? When were you scheduled to die? How was it going to happen? "
FIRST LAUGH O' THE DAY!!!
Thanks anon! I really hope you don't mind if I steal that from time to time!
:grin:
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I went to island view from march 19th 04 to nov 19 05, and all u guys can sit there and talk shit but that place saved my life adn the lives of so many people i no .. and if it was THAT bad for u then that sez a lot about who u are. only the weak look back and say it was bad. im a better person today adn to sit back adn talk shit would be a waste of time and obviously a waste of yours. so stop being ignorant assholes and own up to teh experience and accept aht its probably what you needed and if in truth it did nothing for you then grow up adn drop it, you dont need to sit there years later adn continue to bitch... hello? and im also at the oakley school rite now and for those of you that say thats shit then thats ur issue too.. becuase like i said only the strong get something out of it and the pathetic ones that sit on their ass and dont do shit are teh ones that are really at a loss... u people are soo pathetic...
katie -copper team
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I want to know how Island View saved anyone's life. How would you have died if you didn't go to Island View?
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Why don't you girls go on and "get a life" of your OWN, and get back to us in about 10 years.
Sure, after 5 years you may be feeling like something wasn't quite right about the program. But after 10 years + that "minor in psychology", you should be able to offer us an informed and well-rounded synopsis of your program experience, based on facts rather than your shell-shocked perspective.
You may think what I'm saying is nonsense or "bullshit", but really, I was once in your shoes! When you start getting nightmares and feeling anxious all the time (which will be within a few years), come back to this forum and read about PTSD.
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Drug overdose. Suicide. AIDS...
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On 2005-07-31 17:51:00, Anonymous wrote:
"I went to island view from march 19th 04 to nov 19 05, and all u guys can sit there and talk shit but that place saved my life adn the lives of so many people i no .. and if it was THAT bad for u then that sez a lot about who u are. only the weak look back and say it was bad. im a better person today adn to sit back adn talk shit would be a waste of time and obviously a waste of yours. so stop being ignorant assholes and own up to teh experience and accept aht its probably what you needed and if in truth it did nothing for you then grow up adn drop it, you dont need to sit there years later adn continue to bitch... hello? and im also at the oakley school rite now and for those of you that say thats shit then thats ur issue too.. becuase like i said only the strong get something out of it and the pathetic ones that sit on their ass and dont do shit are teh ones that are really at a loss... u people are soo pathetic...
katie -copper team"
You must be REALLY "shell shocked." You say you were there thru Nov./05, and that hasn't even happened yet.
Sounds like you're thinking clearly...not.
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Or maybe it's a clue? Take a look at The Oakley School
http://www.oakley-school.com/home.html (http://www.oakley-school.com/home.html)
Poor kid can't say, and might not even know herself, what she really thinks. I'm glad some people have that faith. I don't have that faith. If there is a God, a caring God, then we have to figure he's done an extraordinary job of making a very cruel world.
--Dave Matthews, South African rock musician
_________________
Ginger Warbis ~ Antigen
Drug war POW
Seed Chicklett `71 - `80
Straight, Sarasota
10/80 - 10/82
Anonymity Anonymous
return undef() if /coercion/i;
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On 2005-07-31 17:51:00, Anonymous wrote:
"I went to island view from march 19th 04 to nov 19 05, and all u guys can sit there and talk shit but that place saved my life adn the lives of so many people i no .. and if it was THAT bad for u then that sez a lot about who u are. only the weak look back and say it was bad. im a better person today adn to sit back adn talk shit would be a waste of time and obviously a waste of yours. so stop being ignorant assholes and own up to teh experience and accept aht its probably what you needed and if in truth it did nothing for you then grow up adn drop it, you dont need to sit there years later adn continue to bitch... hello? and im also at the oakley school rite now and for those of you that say thats shit then thats ur issue too.. becuase like i said only the strong get something out of it and the pathetic ones that sit on their ass and dont do shit are teh ones that are really at a loss... u people are soo pathetic...
katie -copper team"
Perhaps you would be more comfortable posting on the Struggling Teens discussion board? Seems to me there are some parents who sent their kids to Oakley and Island View posting ad nauseum about their "success" in raising their kid in a therapeutic community.
:silly:
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How do you know who sent their kids to Oakley and/or Island View? No program names are mentioned.
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Back in the days before ST adoped their self-censorship policy ... parents talked freely about their kid's progress (or not) in various (gasp) named programs.
:wave:
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HI everyone,
I was a resident at Island View RTC for thirteen months between 2000 and 2001. I was sent there for skipping school, experimenting with drugs, and sneaking out of the house- normal teenage stuff, right? It all started when I was woke up in the middle of the night by teo "escorts" who explained that they were taking me to s special school for a while. I was too sleepy at the time to put up a fight, but in retrospect I should have run away from them right then- I had no idea the hell I was about to be put through. When I arrived at Island view I was placed on the green team. My therapist was Seth Geisler, and our team director was Jennifer VanBuskirk.I felt that their purpose was to use whatever means necessary (seclusion, sensory deprivation) to brainwash me into subscribing to their golden way of life. I had many takedowns, sometimes for just making rude comments. I was hummiliated, strip searched, locked in the "time out room" (one of three prison cells they had at the time, before I left they built yet another one!). I was also made to sit at my desk staring at a white wall all day everyday for weeks. At this point I had no hope. I dreampt up elaborate "escape plans" of how to get out of Island View and live my life on the run. I wished for god to kill mr everynight as I lay in bead waiting for the heavy tranquilizers to send me to a better place, untill the rooster came around to yell and flip on the bright flouresent lights at 6 in the morning. Since arriving at Island View my behavior and grades reached an all time low. They transfered me to purple team near the end of my stay because I had become a "negetive peer".I felt imprisoned and hopeless and didn't even try in school. I tried to daydream the days away to briefly escape from that terrible place. To this day I have nightmares that I'm still locked up in that place, in the tiny, cold timeout room wigth the door locked. I remember being tackled by huge clean cut mormon "houseparents". Their primary purpose was to serve as guards so that no one could escape. I could go on forever about what a terrible place that is but there isnt space or time. I would be interested in communicating from anyone else on green team or any other former residents with similar experiences.
Dustin- Green/purple team
AIM: Skyyyhigh420
Email: Dvm6bb63@email.cpcc.edu
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On 2005-10-15 13:32:00, Skyyhigh wrote:
"HI everyone,
I was a resident at Island View RTC for thirteen months between 2000 and 2001. I was sent there for skipping school, experimenting with drugs, and sneaking out of the house- normal teenage stuff, right? It all started when I was woke up in the middle of the night by teo "escorts" who explained that they were taking me to s special school for a while. I was too sleepy at the time to put up a fight, but in retrospect I should have run away from them right then- I had no idea the hell I was about to be put through. When I arrived at Island view I was placed on the green team. My therapist was Seth Geisler, and our team director was Jennifer VanBuskirk.I felt that their purpose was to use whatever means necessary (seclusion, sensory deprivation) to brainwash me into subscribing to their golden way of life. I had many takedowns, sometimes for just making rude comments. I was hummiliated, strip searched, locked in the "time out room" (one of three prison cells they had at the time, before I left they built yet another one!). I was also made to sit at my desk staring at a white wall all day everyday for weeks. At this point I had no hope. I dreampt up elaborate "escape plans" of how to get out of Island View and live my life on the run. I wished for god to kill mr everynight as I lay in bead waiting for the heavy tranquilizers to send me to a better place, untill the rooster came around to yell and flip on the bright flouresent lights at 6 in the morning. Since arriving at Island View my behavior and grades reached an all time low. They transfered me to purple team near the end of my stay because I had become a "negetive peer".I felt imprisoned and hopeless and didn't even try in school. I tried to daydream the days away to briefly escape from that terrible place. To this day I have nightmares that I'm still locked up in that place, in the tiny, cold timeout room wigth the door locked. I remember being tackled by huge clean cut mormon "houseparents". Their primary purpose was to serve as guards so that no one could escape. I could go on forever about what a terrible place that is but there isnt space or time. I would be interested in communicating from anyone else on green team or any other former residents with similar experiences.
Dustin- Green/purple team
AIM: Skyyyhigh420
Email: www.isaccorp.org (http://www.isaccorp.org))-- they're an organization that investigates abusive treatment centers/schools for teens.
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Thanks, I'm going to send them an email. I have nothing to gain by exposing Island View for what it really is, not how it is portrayed on the rosy website or the brochure, but what happens behind it's closed (and locked) doors. The consequences of places like this live on in the minds of the victims who were traumatized, and still are by these "treatment facilities". Another thing Island View charged $6,000 a month for these services when I was there, anyone who thinks that these people do what they do for anything other than money is fooling themself.
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Funny thing. I went to Island View back in 1998, Feb to June. I was on orange team with this other kid who all the staff said was such a model resident. They would tell us to act more like him. Well I was reading the paper and looks like Mr Model just went back to prison on his 3rd strike. (gotta love the 3 strike law). Soooo I guess he wasnt as perfect as they claimes hahah
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Interesting that I found this site. Anyways, I was at Island View for 13 months from Aug 99- Sep 00. Though I hated my stay there it did do some good for me, Iâ??m graduating from college this year and attending a graduate program in Psych oddly enough. Despite the positives I received from this program I still have nightmares almost every night where I wake up in that fucking building. For spring break in 2004 I drove from Colorado to southern California and decided to make a quick pit stop in good ole Syracuse UT. Upon arriving in the parking lot I had to get out and puke. Fuck that place, I never wish anyone to have the experiences that I had in attendance. If any of yall remember Tony I am still in contact with him, he abandoned IV soon after I left the program to start up his own.
Speaking of which...
I managed to get in contact with a few of the people
Lets see....
Blake: killed him self 6 months after graduation
Sean: Jail
Mike: Jail
Greg: Jail
Porter: went home for a visit on halloween of 99, did an Extacy binge at a halloween rave.
(all of the above were considered model residents)
Great Program guys, real high success rate.
I also remember that they had me on so many psychotropic that I couldnâ??t think half of the time. It was like I was stuck in a shell of a body and was unable to feel anything. Upon graduation I got off of those drugs ASAP and have been doing fine ever since.
Out of all of the people in the program I would have to say fuck the staff the most, Fuck Kendall, fuck Sherry. I remember once Kenall threw me in that room because we were on 'unit arrest' or what ever it was called because I thanked him for the food he brought me. His justification was that I spoke when we were told to not speak. I got pretty angry about that and asked him "Why are you being so fucking rude?" he picked me up and threw me into wall and told the staff the reason why my head was bleeding was because I did it to myself. ( I was admitted for drugs mostly, but no self mutalation) As a result of this more staff was called in. They held me down and gave me a injection of thorezine and I woke up the next day with bruises on my head. I told my therapist at the time, but he didnt belive me.
Despite the EXTREME negative experiance I had in Utah, I will admitt that there was some good to it. My grades did improve, I got into a good undergrad program and a good grad program, and for the most part I cut down on drugs (I only drink now but Im 22 and that aint illegal). The folks in charge of the IV program seriously because it does have some great potential.
PS
another thing that pissed me off is when my parents tried to convince me that what they did was harder on them that it was on me, that is bull shit. To any parent reading this thread: I understand it is difficult to send your child away, belive me I do (I currently work for a non-prof at risk adolecent program, and I see parents send thier children away quite frequently). You cannot possibly imagine what your child goes through in these programs. For the most part I think everyone whom has attened one of these programs will tell you that it did in fact scar them in some way for the rest of their life. for me, it is the nightmares, I can deal with that. Some people however cannot, my friend Blake for example, have you ever been to a funeral for a 17 year old kid who committed suicide by eating a bottle of the very drug that was prescribed to him by IV? Im willing to bet not. Also to any kid that just got out of that program and is spouting out the usuall RTC high that people tend to get post graduation, wait a year when the nightmares of returning dont go away and then tell me that IV had no adverse side effects.[ This Message was edited by: JFriedlander on 2006-04-12 03:55 ]
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July 2004
Sixteen year old boy hangs himself at Island View
http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?p= ... 6db#228443 (http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?p=228443&sid=95eb3909c52911d793273619609076db#228443)
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I have read these posts about Islandview and how horrible you were treated, but Islandview is one of the best treatment places around. There are places that actually abuse children, such as Tranquility Bay in Jamaica. Although I admit Islandview was filled with some of the lowest times in my life, I learned a lot from there. You can't expect this one place you are at for a year or less to completely change your thought. If you went to this program, only half invested, then that is all you will get out of it. I had the hardest time getting over the fact that my "freedom" was taken away, but what "freedom" did I reall have? Before Islandview I was trapped within my negative self, that I couldn't talk myself out of. Would I ever want to go to Islandview Again? No!! Did I hate being there? Yes!! But I can't deny that the program didn't help me, because It truly did. I am a more mature person and I now have the chance to give myself the future I deserve.
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I dont dispute what you say. But i would like to ask if Island view or some other similar place was not available to your family what do you think would have helped you overcome your problems?
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15 year old runs from Island View Nov 07
http://wwf.fornits.com/viewtopic.php?p=294330#294330 (http://wwf.fornits.com/viewtopic.php?p=294330#294330)