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An open discussion about the troubled parent industry

Hi, Vagrant. I'd appreciate hearing anything you'd be willing to share. How'd you end up there? How did you leave? What made you a "success"?  Any standout experiences that really stuck with you, or have come back at you hard?

As far as getting a handle on the time you spent there, there's a lot of good folks and info to be found on here, if you can tune out the trolling and flamewars and other assorted local color.
Thanks!

Any job where you spent more that half of your life without a phone and under the amount of stress that comes with will have high turnover. Moreover if your performance was not up to standards you would be let go pretty quick this includes behavior off the mountain.

I can see how stress is an issue, and I can certainly understand the necessity to keep a close reign on the staff.  

But on the other hand, and I don't intend this derisively, it seems as though there's a bit of a discrepancy in your logic...

I really think when somebody enters the program with no expectation other than its going to be hard but they need to change and want to, its a great program.

An employee that performs poorly in this environment can be attributed to stress, but a student that performs poorly in the same environment has an attitude problem? That's certainly an oversimplification on my part, but at first glance, that's how it reads to me. To clarify my position, I'd hazard a guess that the basic situation of staff and student is more similar than it is different, under the wilderness conditions. So why is there a difference in explanation of cause (environment vs. disposition) and a correlating difference in remedial action (removal from the wilderness vs. extending the stay in the wilderness)?

Not that a double standard isn't to some degree advisable and necessary, as staff and students are there for wholly different reasons. There are plenty of folks on this forum that could tell you the results that follow from taking the equality of staff and students to the unfortunate extremes of turning students into staff, or hiring ex-felons and ex-addicts to counsel kids with problems that are nowhere near approaching that level.  But that doesn't mean turning a blind eye to the possible negative effects of the wilderness experience, in and of itself, regardless of any preexisting issues.

Thanks for the informative reply. That's clarified a couple of questions I had, but brings up some others.

This includes addressing points of concern such as run threats or conspiracy.

How common was it for a student to run, or attempt to run? What would constitute a run threat, in the opinion of the treatment team? and what is meant by conspiracy?

Student are responsible to finish all required work to complete week on their own. Staff keeps track of points (students must earn a certain amount of points throughout day to pass a day)

What activities/assignments/behaviors earn points? Can points be lost? How many points are needed to pass a day, and how often would a typical student fail to pass? What are the consequences of not completing a week or passing a day?  

After dinner there is group this is the only time which starts with questions, comments or concerns, this is a safe time where students and staff alike talk about changes they want or things the like. After that there is a group exercise this is the only time, other than individual therapy, that students may talk about drugs or drug related behaviors.

What could a student expect if they brought up an issue or concern outside of these "safe" times? Are safety/health related concerns (i.e. equipment, skills, injury, nutrition) exempt from this?  What is the rationale behind the prohibition on discussion of the issue that is being treated outside of allotted times?

What agency in Colorado has licensing authority over these places, dept. of health, education? the place sort-of-isn't a school, apparently, and where does that leave it?
Here's hoping the local gov't, at least, is on guard about this place. Even if everything is above board and by the book, I'm afraid I agree with Mr. Watt.

another satisfied customer of MHYR/AVW... http://2pacsouljah.blogspot.com/2010/03 ... r-rob.html

Ashley Valley Wilderness/MHYR: Rob Caldwell, Marty Bingham, Crooks, Liars, TRAVESTY
As I explained before, I was sent to Ashley Valley Wilderness in Colorado/Utah for about 3 months, 89 days in which I had no electricity (or ANY utilities like water gas or even housing), freedom of speech, medical treatment, drug rehabilitation, therapy, or even a PILLOW. We were up in the mountains, making fires with bow-drill sets, and eating rice, lentils, oatmeal, germade, and spam with no vitamins, freedom to choose if we could eat or not, or the ability to even share our experiences involving substances (at a "rehab"?).
Furthermore, I was NOT allowed to speak about
a)politics [i.e. "I think Obama..." "HEY! You can't talk about politics or you FAIL and you're here another week!" (AV Staff)],
b) religion (i.e. "Oh my God!/Oh my Lord!" Staff: "HEY! That's Diety! FAIL FAIL FAIL!")
c) "war stories" (i.e.) "My parents had just got divorced and I did a lot of ____ one night, I neglected my family-"NO WAR STORIES! Try it again you FAIL!
d)anything "wierd" (i.e. ghosts, ufos, samsquatch haha, pokemon, aliens, etc.
as WELL as the inability to swear at all, even with "damn" or threaten failing and staying on the mountain another week.

The Ashley Valley / Mountain Homes Youth Ranch (Youth Program) says Dr. Phil endorsed them in an episode, and has his face on their website. In actuality, they don't even mention the name Ashley Valley or MHYR in the episode, and Dr. Phil probably hasn't even approved of their front/fraudulant bullshit website. DR PHIL YOU COULD BE GETTING A HEFTY HUNK OF CHANGE!

I met Rob Caldwell (owner) and Marty Bingham (Program Director) and both live luxurious lives of fly-fishing, driving over-sized vehicles, lying to thousands of suffering parents of addicted teens/adults, and ROBBING THOUSANDS OF KIDS AGES 12-26 of 3-7 MONTHS OF THEIR LIFE.

I will never get my 89 days of life back. Those bastards broke me down, made fun of my musical preference, my tattoos, my name, and I wasn't even allowed to stand up for myself, or I'd risk staying on a SHIThole mountain for another week. I could NOT leave because I was over 60 miles from any gas station, with no electronics, no money, and no ID (all confiscated at the airport by AV staff).

I need to warn parents and children of this place. I am absolutely forever traumatized by my experiences from this place. Hives, headaches, sleep troubles, frost-bite, diarrhea, vomiting, rashes, anxiety attacks, depression, suicidal thoughts, violent tendencies, and a pessimistic decision-making attitude are all attributed to the fact that I was robbed of my freedoms by these scammers, my family bought into it, and I lived through 3 months of what is worse than Jail- yes, Jail is NICER than AV/MHYR. I know this through tesimonials by my fellow "pupils" and from MY OWN EXPERIENCE.

Rob Caldwell- keep buying a new fully loaded Chevy each year, and puttin down-payments on extra fishing lodges, but I see through you're bullshit you spit to these suffering families.You fuckin bastad ;P

Marty Bingham, by the way Ladies and Gentleman, is a very obese, Okley and expensive cowboy boot/hat-wearin mothafucka who's addicted to money, FOOD, big trucks, and probably pornograph. Fake-ass lying crook.

Anyway, I'm off that mountain, but I pray from my apartment in Portland, every single day for my colleagues who get sent up there to live through such a blasphemy.

I PRAY that this saves at least ONE person from one of the most F'd up experiences a person can endure (the "Therapists" talk to your parents and you have VERY little contact (write monitored letters that take weeks to get delivered to ONLY the parent who paid or bi-weekly MONITORED phone calls with the therapists. Their Bastards

Link is dead on the Moonridge thread. Ursus, do you still have a copy? PM me for my email, if you do. I did notice, however, on the Moonridge testimonials page, that a parent had mentioned that family therapy was twice a week. That seems pretty out of the ordinary for most programs, and was a detail that stood out from my conversation with my friend's mother. Grasping at  straws, of course.
As for more details, program language, no, unfortunately they (her parents) were playing it pretty close to the vest. I got a not-so-friendly call from the police after the last time I spoke with them, and I very much doubt they'll be seeking me out to volunteer any info. what I've got is what I've got.

Thanks, Ursus. I had requested, but not yet received, that information. 18 pages of more heat than light. Seems to me that some basics shine through, though: All blame is placed on the kid. Importance is placed first on written self-criticism and confession, second, on what looks like mostly time-wasting activites (day hikes, watered-down academics and... beadwork? seriously?) and third, on therapy.  
The concept of "natural consequences" rubs me the wrong way, as well. The laundry example given seems fairly benign, but how far is that taken? It seems applying that philosophy across the board would endanger the guarantee of adequate food and shelter, if say a kid lost their meal into a fire or soaked their gear. Philosophically, as well, as I can't really conceive of natural consequences existing, period, in that sort of manufactured and regulated social environment.