Fornits
Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform => The Troubled Teen Industry => Topic started by: Anonymous on January 15, 2004, 10:49:00 PM
-
Troubled Teens Find Solutions in Oriental Medicine
Thompson Falls, MT, January 7, 2004 - Spring Creek Academy is a specialty boarding school for teenagers who are struggling in their home, school, or community. Most of the about 450 students are there because of problems with drugs, alcohol, negative peers, low self-esteem, poor academics and low motivation. Beside the academic program, students are participating in a variety of growth and development programs, and recently, progressive directors Cameron and Chaffin Pullan enlisted the help of Oriental Medicine.
From September to December 2003, Miami based OM Programs, founded and operated by Acupuncture Physicians Carmela and Felix Wolf conducted a four month controlled trial program to research the effects of Oriental Medicine on the emotional development of a group of Spring Creek students. The program consisted of a total of twenty acupuncture treatments, Qigong therapy, acupressure instruction, aromatherapy, and daily herbal therapy.
The treatment protocols targeted anxiety, irritability, substance abuse, and general emotional imbalances. Stress and anger management training was also provided. The students participated in daily sessions for one week every month. Every session started with approximately 30 minutes of Five Element Qigong and was followed by acupuncture, utilizing combined auricular and classical body point protocols. During acupuncture, meditation grade Japanese aloes wood incense was burned to enhance relaxation. An herbal formula, Bupleurum Dragonbone, was given twice daily for the whole four months in a conservative dosage. Progress was monitored through questionnaire feedback by faculty, participating students, and a control group.
The questionnaire asked participating students and the students in the control group if they felt stressed, tired, frustrated, unmotivated, irritated, unhappy, confused, misunderstood, unfocussed, anxious, angry, depressed, worried, or uninterested. Students could answer with never, rarely, sometimes, often, very often, or always, to each of the questions.
The same questionnaire was given to the family representative of each of the students. The family representative is the faculty member with the most regular and comprehensive contact to the individual student. The question here was if the respective student generally feels stressed, tired, etc. and the possible answers were identical to the student questionnaire: never, rarely, etc.
Each answer was given a numerical value: 0 for "never", 1 for "rarely", 2 for "sometimes", 3 for "often", 4 for "very often", and 5 for "always". There were 14 questions total, so the highest possible number per questionnaire was 14 x 5 = 70. A numerical value between 10 and 30 would be considered desirable.
The questionnaires were administered at the beginning (09/03) and end of the program (12/03) to 34 continuously participating students and 30 students in the control group. No explanations or rationale for the questionnaire was given to either group.
RESULTS:
Beginning of program (09/03):
Control group had an average numerical value of 34.85 (36.1 self assessed and 33.6 by faculty) Treatment group had an average numerical value of 38.7 (39.4 self-assessed and 38.0 by faculty)
End of program (12/03):
Control group had an average numerical value of 39.58 (40.86 self assessed and 38.3 by faculty) Treatment group had an average numerical value of 25.0 (24.3 self-assessed and 25.7 by faculty)
ANALYSIS:
As expected, both groups had a fairly high initial value, documenting emotional distress. The treatment group felt even worse reflecting the fact that particularly troubled students were selected for the program, either by their parents or by faculty.
The emotional distress worsened in the control group from September to December by 4.73 points or 13.6% which may be due to the approaching winter, holiday season away from family, etc.
The treatment group, however, improved by a very impressive 13.7 points or 35.4% from September to December. It is important to note that even the faculty assessment of the treatment group improved by 32.4% (student's self assessment improved 38.2%)
CONCLUSION:
A 13.6% worsening of emotional distress in the control group versus a 35.4% improvement in the treatment group adding up to a total difference of 49% speaks for itself.
The researchers took great care, not to influence or otherwise contaminate the evaluations by students and staff and feel therefore that the results are solid and replicable.
STUDENT TESTIMONIALS
During the 3rd round of treatments in November students were asked to give some feedback on the program. A few sample answers are below.
Matt G.:
"This has actually been one of the most amazing things I've been through. It has really stabilized my state of being and brought me to a strange sense of inner peace and joy. I feel cured in many aspects, both, mentally and physically."
Patrick R.:
"The acupuncture program here has helped me with my anger issues and how I react to things. It has also helped me to become more centered with myself and it improved my lower back pain."
Matt M.:
"The acupuncture program has been a very good thing for me. I feel less stress and I feel calm and focused. This program has given me a positive thing to go home and get involved in. My craving for drugs has decreased and the focus in my life has increased. I look forward to the acupuncture every night."
Christopher V.:
"This acupuncture therapy has been amazing! Over the last couple of months my anger problem and my mental obsessions over drugs and alcohol have decreased. I have been sleeping much better and I have been a lot calmer and less jumpy. I am very grateful for having been enrolled in it. Thanks a lot Felix and Carmela!!!"
Source: http://www.gancao.net/ht/teen.shtml (http://www.gancao.net/ht/teen.shtml)
-
This is very very interesting.
:smokin:
-
Awesome.. So they are figuring out that abuse doesn't "cure" and there are alternatives available. They are moving from "oppressive dictators" to "benevelent dictators". It's a step!
Amazing what a little affection/touch will do.
Confirms the Dahli Lamas comments:
http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?to ... t=10#32627 (http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?topic=4154&forum=9&start=10#32627)
Humans- especially teens- are so touch deprived. There is truth to the saying that we need a minimum of 5 hugs a day.
Point being, those therapies are available outside a program. Of course, those who would prefer to warehouse their teen will argue that it only works in conjunction with BM. I say BS.
-
I agree with Deb, this could be a step in the right direction.
Here is a link to more info on Qigong:
http://en2.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qigong (http://en2.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qigong)
-
I'm wondering how WWASPS parents feel about this and whether e.g. CEDU for that matter) are also involved in the study?
-
Wow!! Felix and Carmela are an interesting pair, to say the least. Check out Carmela?s doo.
http://www.omalliance.com/About-uspage.html (http://www.omalliance.com/About-uspage.html)
http://www.readingsbyjames.com/testimonies.html (http://www.readingsbyjames.com/testimonies.html)
http://www.readingsbyjames.com/ (http://www.readingsbyjames.com/)
http://216.239.37.104/search?q=cache:V0 ... n&ie=UTF-8 (http://216.239.37.104/search?q=cache:V02nrTEqAx4J:www.lasg.org/PDF/LASG%2520ad%252010_18_01.pdf+%22carmela+wolf%22&hl=en&ie=UTF-8)
Unless there are two Carmela Wolfs, doesn?t look like she supports the ?war? / violence.
I wonder how it came to be that they hitched their wagon (as Carey would say) to W.
And I wonder if the conservative parents know who is/was/will be working with their child. No judgment here, but some may have a concern that their kid is hanging out with people who consult with psychics.
And what of all the name changing?
In 1991 it was the SC Community School
http://www.strugglingteens.com/archives ... een01.html (http://www.strugglingteens.com/archives/1991/6/seen01.html)
then SC Lodge
http://216.239.37.104/search?q=cache:V8 ... k.pdf+(406 (http://216.239.37.104/search?q=cache:V8gn6nHivEsJ:www.adolescentspecialtyschools.com/docs/manual_springcreek.pdf+(406))+827-4344&hl=en&ie=UTF-8
And Dunlop-Cawdrey??
http://www.gy.com/biz/611110/406.htm (http://www.gy.com/biz/611110/406.htm)
And now,
Spring Creek Lodge ?Academy?
The new website doesn?t mention anything about being in the W umbrella of programs, and appears to be presenting themselves as one of the more ?elite? therapeutic ?academies?. Mentions nothing about TASKS specifically. Quiet a change in marketing, if you compare it to the SC Lodge website. Does the WWASP name now have a negative stigma attached?
http://www.springcreeklodge.com/ (http://www.springcreeklodge.com/)
-
So they have gone from cutting off their circulation and pinning them down until they have pins and needles to just jabbing needles into them. Efficiency has increased. Therapy has not.
And experimenting on unwilling inmates (can a prisoner really volunteer) is hardly an improvement.
In addition any inmate who was playing the game and trying get out of there would report not only that they believed themselves mentally ill (accepting their illness) but also that the accupuncture helped. How could a person not be distressed living in a gulag. Of course they are distressed and likely the added attention to their needs, contact with people outside the cult (the practitioners) and the possibility of convincing staff they are cured was enough to boost their mood.
And if this place is so therepuetic why did the control group (supposedly recieving conventional therapy which of course is a lie) get worse. Because nearly everyone gets worse the longer they are in captivity.
_________________
"All of the darkness of the world cannot put out the light of one small candle."
[ This Message was edited by: FaceKhan on 2004-01-16 19:29 ]
[ This Message was edited by: FaceKhan on 2004-01-16 19:30 ]
-
Yeah, I wonder if the parents knew their kids were part of an experiment.
Note that they didn't say the kids were *randomized* into the control and treatment groups.
Without randomization, you can't rule out pre-existing differences between those who choose to "volunteer" for something and those who don't-- for example, motivation.
Also, not published in a journal, let alone a peer-reviewed one.
This stuff matters, because, while science is absolutely not perfect, it's way better than stuff that doesn't bother with methods.
Very interesting that the controls got worse though-- and that they let them put the results up anyway.
-
***This stuff matters, because, while science is absolutely not perfect, it's way better than stuff that doesn't bother with methods.***
I can?t make that argument. The medical and psychiatric communities do not acknowledge alternative treatments as valid. They don?t do studies with alternatives because to do so might cut their capitalist throats. Or they do studies that are slanted to discredit them. They have caused Ephedra to be banned yet continue to support the use of Ritalin and other amphetamine-like drugs, which are responsible for more deaths.
I have benefited from alternatives: herbs vs pharmaceuticals, acupuncture, dietary changes, massage, etc. I think there is benefit and don?t doubt that these teens experienced positive results.
I do wonder what will be done with the information acquired in this experiment.
Will parents be charged extra for these modalities, as they are for legitimate ?therapy? sessions? I suspect that is why they allowed the information about the control group getting worse to be put up.
With this information at hand, will they continue the harmful BM techniques? I consider knowing an alternative is more ?effective?, yet continuing to use an antiquated modality, to be neglect.
And, why would a parent pay a program to administer alternatives that they could acquire locally? Particularly if there were an extra charge.
-
You are far safer from quack treatments with science than you are with "alternative" stuff. The scientific method is what has made life expectancy go from 40 to nearly 80 in those countries that apply it. (of course, the US is not on the top of that statistic because it refuses to address income inequity). It might be flawed, but it is the only thing that can mediate disputes over what works and what doesn't.
Sure, sometimes it is slow to recognize benefits of stuff it can't profit from. However, aspirin is not hugely profitable, being generic, and yet it is massively pushed by docs for heart disease.
St. John's wort has been acknowledged helpful for mild-moderate depression, again, even though not profitable.
Everyone complains about risks from "Western" medicine-- but most of us are only around to worry about them because of it.
-
Deborah,
Maybe this is the wave of the future?
http://www.teensincrisis.net (http://www.teensincrisis.net)
http://wwwdrjudynmd.com (http://wwwdrjudynmd.com)
Both connected with Judy Hutt, NMD
Tuscon, Arizona
:???:
-
Whoopsie, here is the correct link.
http://www.drjudynmd.com (http://www.drjudynmd.com)
:silly:
-
Western medicine is great!! IN CRISIS SITUATIONS
If one is more interested in avoiding disease/ illness (prevention), western medicine is of no use. Drs receive NO training in nutrition.
We need a system like the Chinese had (may still have). If a patient dies, the doc is required to hang a lantern on his door. They value prevention and it has proven to be highly effective.
At the very least, we need Intergrative Medicine as Andrew Weil MD says. Great website:
http://www.drweil.com/app/cda/drw_cda.h ... e-pt=About (http://www.drweil.com/app/cda/drw_cda.html-command=Page-pt=About)
http://www.rense.com/politics2/doctors.htm (http://www.rense.com/politics2/doctors.htm)
Bechamp's theory placed all of the responsibility of disease prevention on the individual and his lifestyle. In a practical sense, there was no money in that and people would be empowered with the ability to resist dis-ease by taking care of themselves. Western medical science went with Pasteur's theory because it opened the door which created the world's medical and pharmaceutical industries.
http://wholesomebalance.com/Allopathic_ ... ecord.html (http://wholesomebalance.com/Allopathic_Track_Record.html)
J.A.M.A. - (Journal of the American Medical Association)finally gives statistics! 250,000 Americans killed per year from medical errors. Also take the time to read where the U.S.ranks in health care out of 13 nations.... Would you believe in some cases 13th!!!
12,000 - die from unnecessary surgeries
7,000 - die from medication errors in hospitals
20,000 die from other errors in hospitals
80,000 die from infections they get in the hospital
106,000 die from adverse effects of medications
http://www.bmts.com/~ghca/Hard_facts.htm (http://www.bmts.com/~ghca/Hard_facts.htm)
Medicine is causing up to 1,000 deaths a week due to unnecessary drugs and surgery.
And if you haven't seen this one:
http://www.curezone.com/forums/m.asp?f=237&i=321 (http://www.curezone.com/forums/m.asp?f=237&i=321)
Number of physicians in the US -- 700,000
Accidental deaths caused per year -- 120,000
Accidental deaths per physician -- 0.171
Number of gun owners in the US -- 80,000,000
Number of accidental gun deaths/year (all age groups) -- 1,500
Accidental deaths per gun owner -- 0.00001875
Ratio 0.171 / 0.00001875 -- 9,120 to one
Doctors are more than 9000 times more dangerous than gun owners. (spiker@amnix.com, www)
Even if you take the total number of deaths caused by gun violence per year -- 15,000 -- doctors still kill ten times more in numbers and the ratio is 0.171 to 0.0001875 -- 912.
-
Deborah - I absolutely agree with you on this one! Only in crisis situations is a western medical doctor of any use to me at all. They are restricted by the insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies and their own tunnel vision.
-
They are moving from "oppressive dictators" to "benevelent dictators". It's a step!
Call me a cynic but I see this as a ploy by SCA and its "progressive directors" to get their names in the paper in a positive light for a change. If the kids are offered the treatment after the trial it will probably be as one of the optional extras that cost a fortune (with a high mark-up for SCA).
I cannot see many parents paying to decrease their kid's stress level. After all, the whole point of sending them there is to increase it. If they want to decrease their stress levels they only have to bring them home.
-
All those statistics don't even begin to approach the number of lives saved by antibiotics, vaccinations, sanitation and all other innovations that allowed Western medicine to get to be able to kill those people!!!!
Again, one statistic says it all: life expectancy rises where the scientific method thrives (and where economic inequality is minimized, particularly by
ACCESS TO WESTERN HEALTH CARE!!!) and doesn't where it does not.
Chinese medicine never made the advances that allowed life expectancy to double, nor did any other "traditional" culture. It is only the scientific method that allows treatment to get better over time.
Ironically, as a result of the triumph of the scientific method, we have become more afraid of the risks from Western medicine than we are of the risks of not using it-- which are dramatically greater. Don't even get me started on lives saved by eradicating smallpox, polio vaccination, etc. -- compared to the 1 in a million chance of harm from those. And yes, when you vaccinate a 100 million, you'll get those 1 in a million deaths and disabilities and those are a tragedy, but they don't change the fact that you prevented thousands of others.
And in terms of using diet and exercise for preventions-- that's very nice, but human beings have a seriously hard time changing their behavior and the idea that we'd all live forever if only we'd eat right and exercise has truth to it-- but so does the fact that we, nonetheless, for a variety of reasons, won't do it!!! Those "preventable" deaths look preventable on paper-- if only all those smokers would just quit, if only everyone would use condoms, if only kids wouldn't take dumb risks-- but in reality, people's behavior is far harder to change than "just stop" or "just do it" Not to say we shouldn't try-- but
alternative medicine isn't going to work if people (and this clearly is the majority) don't want to change their lifestyles.
It looks nice on paper, but in reality, crisis medicine is more effective because it deals with how people actually behave, not how we think they should.
And if we want to learn better about changing people's behavior-- ie, helping kids make better and healthier choices-- we're going to have to use the scientific method to sort the wheat from the chaff of all these harmful methods.
Ignore it, and you are simply putting your anecdotes of pain up against their tales of success-- and you can't tell anything real about which are more common. Use it, and you can rapidly find out what harm is being done and what stuff might help.
Sure, it's not perfect, but it's a damn sight better than "I had a wonderful time" "I had a terrible time" ad infinitum
-
On 2004-01-19 02:11:00, Kiwi wrote:
"They are moving from "oppressive dictators" to "benevelent dictators". It's a step!
Call me a cynic but I see this as a ploy by SCA and its "progressive directors" to get their names in the paper in a positive light for a change. If the kids are offered the treatment after the trial it will probably be as one of the optional extras that cost a fortune (with a high mark-up for SCA).
I cannot see many parents paying to decrease their kid's stress level. After all, the whole point of sending them there is to increase it. If they want to decrease their stress levels they only have to bring them home."
:nworthy:
-
On 2004-01-18 16:21:00, Anonymous wrote:
"Deborah,
Maybe this is the wave of the future?
http://www.teensincrisis.net (http://www.teensincrisis.net)
http://wwwdrjudynmd.com (http://wwwdrjudynmd.com)
Both connected with Judy Hutt, NMD
Tuscon, Arizona
:???: "
Anybody know how this lady got involved in the teen help industry?
-
Deborah, some of your information is old. Accidental gun deaths per year in the US have decreased steadily since 1900. Last I checked, they had broken 1,000/yr. on the way down.
I don't know offhand about your medical information.
-
I'm going to assume the stats were accurate for both--in the year the thing was written. If you have anything contrary, post it up.
I didn't do the research and write that revealing piece. Not sure who the credit goes to.
-
On 2004-01-19 15:36:00, Anonymous wrote:
"
On 2004-01-18 16:21:00, Anonymous wrote:
"Deborah,
Maybe this is the wave of the future?
http://www.teensincrisis.net (http://www.teensincrisis.net)
http://wwwdrjudynmd.com (http://wwwdrjudynmd.com)
Both connected with Judy Hutt, NMD
Tuscon, Arizona
:???: "
Anybody know how this lady got involved in the teen help industry?
"
This lady apparantly has/had a child in a wwasp program. The statement "please mention code # when calling" on her teensincrisis website is her teen help referral code. That's how she got involved.
-
This is true. Judy Hutt is a naturopathic physician and saw the positive aspects of this program for her family.
Many people find that mainstream therapy doesn't work. Medication may cover the symptoms, but this program helps the families find a way to heal without medication. It's certainly much harder to do it yourself and not rely on meds, but the results last a lifetime, not just a temporary fix. Good for you Judy!
-
Judy is obviously not a holistic practicioner. The overt BM techniques admitted by parents and the manuals are not conducive to a person's well-being. The covert (allegations) are definitely harmful. She is seriously misguided, perhaps desperate herself at one point, and perhaps now swayed by the potential of earning money by refering other parents.
-
I wonder where her kids are and how/what they're doing while she's busy "doctoring" others and collecting referral fees for sending other families' troubled teens to rehab boot camps.....
-
Spring Creek Community School was created and run by Steve and Nancy Cawdrey from the earlier 1980's until it was sold to Bob Litchfield and Teen Help in 1997.
I was a graduate from SCCS in 1985 and, while rugged and very different, nothing like what I've heard of these other places.
I might start a topic on SCCS to see if any other alumni are lurking about.
-
I did a short internship at Spring Creek Community School in 1987 -- I was essentially a jr. staffer from January til around August.
It was a very different place than the current accounts of "Spring Creek Lodge." There were maybe 50-60 students (hard to remember exactly), with a generous staff/student ratio. The focus was on experiential/adventure education and community. There were lots and lots of group therapy type sessions and a regular school curriculum. All the kids went on a 3 week "survival" trip that was a sort of detox/system shock, followed by a 3 week "challenger" trip where they kayaked, hiked, and rock climbed, with lots of "group" along the way. I participated in both and it was a remarkable experience. The Cawdreys were kind people who cared deeply about the kids. The staff was a funky assortment of teachers, counselors, therapists, an older British couple (the husband had flown Spitfires in WWII), a nurse, a few ex-hippie types, a few creeps. The food was obnoxiously healthy, but plentiful. The kids were, well, troubled kids with widely varying backgrounds and problems. Some reacted well to the program and made great progress, some had gone through such horrible things prior to coming there I didn't think they had much hope. While I did hear a few stories about kids being "escorted" to the school, they had a lot more freedom than it sounds like the kids in these schools today have. They wandered the woods, worked in the scraggly garden, played frisbee and volleyball. The "Hobbit" hut currently described as a detention facility was, in those days, cramped but cozy staff housing. A lanky guy named Randy who taught drafting (and I think math) lived in it.
Anyway, while I can't speak to the long-term effectiveness of the program because of the extremity of the problems some of the kids had and what happens when people go from productive, caring, therapeutic environments back to the people and places where they were at their worst, I can attest that SCCS was a good place. It makes me sad and angry to see what is happening on that land under the new name and new management.