Fornits

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An open discussion about the troubled parent industry

Sure...
I'm obviously not a therapist so you need to consult a professional for how it ideally should be practiced.

There is a process of healing, one of the preliminary stages being denial. In this stage many people feel more comfortable taking a victim role and looking at the world with anger as if everyone is out to get them (which I think it is to a certain extent). The thing is many people react, as opposed to respond, when they get these feelings of being not good enough, worthless etc. and they blame other for feeling the way they do instead of being proactive. Some issues are very hard to deal with even with SA to help BUT Its even harder to deal with unless you have an avenue (like SRA).
SRA tries to help identify the issues, sometimes even labeling them for a student. I would say, for me at least, SA established more of a framework to enable me to look at the issues. They gave me ideas and passed along critical feedback in the process. Again, the process is never perfect, and again said person has to be willing to grow-up emotionally otherwise it won't work. There has to be an inner commitment and a desire for improvement, which is why wilderness programs are recommended before entering shortridge.
The blame concept is perhaps mis-phrased/misunderstood. What it means is not taking responsibility for ones reactions that are based on personal insecurities and denial of ones ownership of the issue.
Hope this clarifies...

It makes me upset to see the kinds of things people are writing about Short ridge academy as I am an alumni and graduate myself. Let me begin by saying every person/teen has their own process of healing; healing from whatever deep hurtful things happened in the past. The point where short ridge is most effective, or not, in helping teens heal, ultimately comes down to how willing said teen is to take their issues seriously. If the person cant take responsibility for themself and stop blaming others, then SRA wont work.
To clear the fog... There is absolutely no violence used to reprimand students. I was also taken in the middle of the night by strangers, who based on what I was doing at that time in my life I thought were taking me somewhere to kill me. That obviously ended up not being the case.

For all parents considering sending their children to this place, I say do it. But dont change your mind three months later. That shows a lack of commitment to the teen. However it is very important that you(as the parent)  think seriously about how your issues have impacted the baggage your child carries, AND BE WILLING TO TAKE A LOOK AT THAT while you child is at SRA. Many parents send their children to SRA thinking its going to fix them. I think we can all agree Healing is a collaborative effort. Shortridge staff will do a lot of prodding at issues and many times will get to the bottom of some very hurtful things. But for people looking to be emotionally healthy, taking these issues head on early is pivotal to being an emotionally healthy adult and not continuing to run from it. Shortridge specializes in this healing process, but again, healing is a collaborative effort, is a process and takes 100% comittment. You cant force someone to look at their issues.
Teens may say how bad the place is, how bad thier parents are for doing it, but they are teens and thats what teens say. It will make scene to them later why they went to shortride. and down the road, if they still dont agree, then said individual was lazy and didn't do any emotional work on themselves.
I want to clear-up a couple of other things too. Adam Rainer and Bruce Wilson are great individuals and personally helped me become the person I am today.
I was very troubled before I arrived at short ridge. I come from a large intercity in the US and experienced very intense, and psychologically scaring things at a young age. Shortridge turned that around for me, but more importantly gave me the tools I needed to maintain when things got tough after I graduated. I went from high school dropout to the top five percent of my graduating university class. I now have experience working for companies across the US and have worked abroad since I left shortridge. The reality is, the reason that was possible was because I, and my parents, with the help of SRA were willing to put in the work necessary to change.
Please feel free to ask any questions. I'd be glad to clear up any stigma that still exists.
AND FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE BLASTING THIS SCHOOL, go check it out (im positive they will let you) before you write anything else that compromises SRA's integrity. Thank you