Well, RTCs are all about pleasing the parents, aren't they. "Send us your free spirit and we will send you back a Stepford daughter--only $200,000."
And naturally the more you pay for something, the more valuable you perceive it to be--it's at the heart of every con game. "This can't have been an abusive place staffed by incompetents--I spent $200,000!"
An objective accounting of what it costs to provide the services of an RTC would suggest that tuition should not cost more than $700 a month, tops. So why do they charge upwards of $7,000 a month? Well, why do people pay $27,000 for a handbag, or $1,500 for a pair of shoes? Because with enough slick marketing and a good con, people will buy anything.
In the end, it is the experience of the child that is far more important than that of the parent, far more to the point. If even a fraction of the posts I read here from survivors are true, then the risk of sending one's own child to an RTC is too grave--the abuse too commonplace, the education too substandard, the irreparable damage to families too widespread.
It's a fact that with time and patience troubled teens outgrow their wild behavior, as they have for millenia. There is no need to risk a permanently ruptured relationship between parent and child.
Isolate and terrify a child, and lo and behold, he or she will profess undying gratitude and love if you will please, please, please bring them home. But do not be fooled into thinking you will have a future relationship based on on trust and love.
There are countless survivors who post here anonymously. I expect most of their parents are unaware that they are online writing about lasting effects of trauma and abuse, and continuing difficulty with relationships with parents.
Auntie Em
