I am a graduate of the WWASP program in Utah. That program saved my life when medication, church, therapy and parental love and support did not.
The program, through seminars, psychological pressure, and physical and mental abuse, convinced you that your life has been saved. That doesn't mean it actually happened.
I cannot defend Paradise Cove considering that I was never there, but I urge everyone to consider the sources. Teenagers are sent to places like that because they are rebellious, troubled, and self destructive. They are usually addicts or alcoholics who act out through substance abuse, COMPULSIVE LYING, promiscuity, violence, and criminal behavior.
That old, familiar WWASPie line... "WWASP is wonderful, and anyone who says otherwise is a liar!".
Truth is, WWASP's programs are the most abusive, harmful programs out there.
If WWASP programs were so horrible, then why do so many graduates go back to visit, speak, and even work at those same facilities. Oh, brainwashing! Riiiiight.....
I call BS.
Your comments prove that brainwashing exists and is used by WWASP. The seminars used by WWASP are, in fact, Lifespring seminars. Lifespring is a cult. The entire program is designed to break kids down, make them believe that what goes on in the program is not only legitimate, it is also needed. The program's purpose is to convince its captives that they have been saved. Your post is a good example of that.
Oh and, PS. Bad parents don't send their children to programs. They require not only too much money, but too much parental participation, education, and tranformation. A bad parent would let their child die of an overdose or live on the streets, not put them in the only place they know their child will be safe.
As Ginger put it, bullshit. Bad parents are parents who are unwilling to be parents. Bad parents are the ones who give up on their children and send them to programs, where they will be abused and held without any way of communicating with the world while their parents are being brainwashed in Lifespring seminars. Bad parents are parents who declare to the world and to their own children, "I don't want to be a parent. I'm not going to work hard and find a way to help my child. I'm just going to give up on him/her, and pay someone else to raise them and do the dirty work for me".
That's what it means to send a kid to a program. It means the child is abandoned. No matter how many times you tell yourself it is "an act of love", it is an act of betrayal, and endangerment.
Parents, don't give up on your children. Don't hand them over to abusive program (like WWASP) that only want your money. Trust yourselves and trust your instincts. Programs love to tell parents that their child will die. They love to prey on your anxieties and fears, enforce them, then promise salvation. Don't let them. Help and support your teens, especially if they're going through tough times. Handing them over for other people to raise will only make things worse.
