Peninsula Village Q/A thread

[nimdA]

Would you care to elaborate on a typical individual counseling session?

With that do you feel that the psychiatrist was respecting your privacy and not divulging information revealed in an individual session?

[milkblood]

not every girl in the cabin had individual therapy. i guess the treatment team would decide who would benefit the most from it. it lasted an hour in the admissions building.

when we saw the psychiatrist, we all met him together in a group. we talked about our medications and our issues briefly in front of the other patients. you weren't ever "alone" with the dr. or in his office. in STU you meet with the psychiatrist upon admission to be evaluated. I was tested on STU with inkblots and some other test. not every girl had that done either.

the treatment team consisted of the day to day staff, the psychiatrist, the psychologist, addiction specialist, family therapist and individual therapist if you had one. they were the deciding factor in everything about your treatment.

[nimdA]

So anything you said in an individual session wasn't privileged information between you and your psychiatrist?

[milkblood]

the individual sessions were private... the groups where we met with our psychiatrists were with the whole group of girls and staff

[Che Gookin]

where are we with this interview?

[milkblood]

wherever
i might be gonef or a few days
im not sure

[Che Gookin]

The group therapy sessions at Three Springs, where I worked, were conducted using a routine format. The person who was doing the topic would speak for a period of time, the group would give him feedback, and then the counselor would give feedback.

At PV what was the group therapy session routine?

What role did the counselor/youth worker play in these sessions?

What role did the therapist play in these sessions?

[stoodoodog]

At PV what was the group therapy session routine?

What role did the counselor/youth worker play in these sessions?

What role did the therapist play in these sessions?

If one can sift through the postings on the PV thread in TT, I think this question has mostly been answered between Free and some of the other posters here and there.

[Anonymous]

this is from 1999-really creepy back then and even worse now. A cauldron of change?

Treatment begins in a locked unit, the Special Treatment Unit, or STU. This period of treatment typically lasts six to eight weeks and is an extremely intense therapeutic experience. STU is unlike most other locked unit programs and is specifically designed to address resistance and introduce patients to our group-oriented treatment approach, which uses peer pressure to create positive change. Upon completion of the STU phase, patients move to cabins, living in groups of eight to ten. Each cabin is a self-contained treatment unit with its own staff where patients live and work together for the duratio of treatment. As each cabin works to become a therapeutic community, it serves as a cauldron of change, forcing patients to face and work through the problems that led them to the Village.

Peninsula Village is frequently able to reach patients no one else has been able to help. The chief reason Peninsula Village is successful with hard-to-reach patients is its reliance on a group oriented treatment approach. Most Peninsula Village patients have trouble dealing with adult authority figures, but they are quite responsive to peer pressure. Peninsula Village uses this to the advantage of treatment of the adolescent. From the moment of admission patients are members of a group, and it is the other group members -- the patient's peers -- who pressure e patient to work and grow. Peninsula Village staff are trained to create a therapeutic atmosphere so that group members can bring peer pressure to bear on any individual patient's problems.

Treatment is guided by a team that includes psychiatrists, psychologists, licensed clinical social workers, nurses teachers and each unit's staff. All team members work to create strategies that will maximize the group's chances of making a positive impact on the patient. The success of the Peninsula Village programs shows the effectiveness of this approach.

[Anonymous]

so what strange brew is being stirred up  in the cauldron of change these days?

[act.da]

I'd be more than willing to answer any questions anyone might have about PV. Either post a question for me here or send me a PM.
 Here's a few timeline points for me:
- 10+ months at PV
- 13+ months total (including other facilities)
- Out of "treatment" little over 1 year ago

[Che Gookin]

Go back through the thread and answer the questions that seem to catch your attention. Once you get rolling I'll jump in and ask some if I get a hankering to ask a specific question.

[act.da]

What sort of social interactions where you allowed in the STU?

There was a group meeting once sometimes twice a day, but that was just "shame games" and false confessions. During these, if you expressed disapproval, spoke out of turn, didn't pay attention, anything - you'd get sent back to your bed. No talking, gesturing, or sometimes even looking at other patients. Interactions with staff were very limited, mostly to them tormenting or ordering patients around.

Did you have, or see, any acting out due to boredom in the STU?

Oh yes. Of course there were "attention restraints" and things of that nature, but there were also more subtle clues that everyone was slowly going insane. Repetitive motions such as rocking back and forth, shaking your head, biting fingernails, picking at clothing, these sort of things were common. The walls were in deperate need of a new coat of paint, people would pick flakes of it off just for something to do. It probably could be a safety issue, there were quite a few layers of paint on it already and some of the older ones probably have lead in them.

Describe the showering and bathing situation. What would happen if you took to long in the shower?

There were only showers. Staff time you in the shower, and they give a VERY small amount of time to shower. Staff will actually start your time before you even make it into the bathroom, so patients sometimes wouldn't even bother trying to take a shower. Staff had no problem pulling patients out of the shower with a full head of shampoo, this caused severe dandruff and occasionally lice.

When you first arrived were you searched? If yes what did that process entail? How did that process make you feel?

When you first arrive, staff strip and cavity search you. They will also do this whenever they think someone has an item they aren't allowed to have. This could be food, a screw from a wall, a piece of an eating utensil, almost anything staff can come up with. I suspect that a few times this happened, it was done just to humiliate the patients - or possibly even to give some sort of sick gratification to the staff.



If anyone has questions they would like to be answered, ask and I'll try my best to answer in detail.

[Anne Bonney]

And people wonder why we lump them all in together.  I could have written that post about my time in Straight.

They sprang (have sprung?) from the same loins.  They use the same techniques, levels systems, confessions, peer culture, compliance/comformity, break 'em down to build 'em up, etc. etc.  

And the band played on.....


 ::noway::  ::noway:: :flame:

[Che Gookin]

And people wonder why we lump them all in together.  I could have written that post about my time in Straight.

They sprang (have sprung?) from the same loins.  They use the same techniques, levels systems, confessions, peer culture, compliance/comformity, break 'em down to build 'em up, etc. etc.  

And the band played on.....


 ::noway::  ::noway:: :flame:

If you are gonna post in my forum at least show us your ass.

























































lols.. just kidding.. good point in your post.. Same old shit different wrapper.