On 2006-01-23 06:10:00, Anonymous wrote:
"I'm allowed to talk to him once a week for ten minutes, but his phone calls are monitored on their end. Negative talk at the program is considered manipulation. Suicidal statements are punished with restriction...again considered manipulation. Ridgecreek is used as minor infractions mount up. They call it grounding. I call it boot camp. My child complained that he wasn't adequately clothed to keep him warm against the cold at night. I feel like my child is sometimes being punished for the symptoms of his psychological problems. I feel frustrated with the whole process. I thought I was sending him to utopia where he could work on his self esteem and get help for his underlying problems but instead it looks like a gulag. I sent him there because I wanted him to be safe, but I'm afraid I have made a terrible mistake."
You should read some stories of how they "treat" anorexia. They start by punishing the child for not eating, then make her stand out in the freezing cold rain as a "consequence" then put her on restrictions for "manipulating."
Sure sounds like some valid clinical processes to me.
Why would you think that an unlicensed residential treatment center is going to provide real therapy that gets to the root of the problem?
What they do is punish the child for exhibiting symptoms of a true psychiatric disorder as if behavior modification addresses psychopathology. Have anorexia and don't eat? Restrictions. Have "ODD" and act out? Restrictions. Have tourettes and curse at a teacher? Restrictions. Learning disabled and act out in class? Restrictions.
What
can't be fixed with a little extra punishment? Well, maybe graft. That seems to go on unceasingly at HLA.
YOU HAVE SENT YOUR KID TO UNLICENSED, UNTRAINED, BIZARRELY BEHAVING QUACKS.
GO GET YOUR KID and bring him to a professional in your community who can help treat psychiatric disorders in a proven, effective manner.