• What we do know is the TBS community is moving away from the stigma of being experimental and is getting the visibility it deserves.
No, YOU may BELIEVE that to be true, but it doesn't make it so.
• Many programs struggle to get licensed because their students do not stay for 4 years so they are not your traditional boarding school and therefore do not fit into that category easily and many TBS’s do not limit their student population to those on an IEP (Independent Education Plan) so they don’t fully qualify as a special education school either, so licensure is a challenge in most states and they are viewed as a hybrid of sorts. So many remain unlicensed with a special certificate or nod to operate outside the normal flow of student activity, but with some oversight.
They're claiming to provide 'treatment' and 'therapy'. They goddamn well better be licensed and staffed with medical professionals that see the kids on a regular basis. Not some rubber stamp dx from some "doc" on the payroll and not some organization whose really only requirement is to pay the fee in order to become "accredited".
In parallel to this effort is the GAO investigation which will hopefully help to differentiate between the successful and unsuccessful programs, define a clear path to licensure and regulation which the states can use and adopt, at the local level, to define a TBS.
http://psychobulletin.blogspot.com/2008 ... ssion.htmlBecause of the behavior problems that often co-exist with adolescent depression, many parents are tempted to send their child to a "boot camp", "wilderness program", or "emotional growth school."
These programs often use non-medical staff, confrontational therapies, and harsh punishments. There is no scientific evidence to support such programs. In fact, there is a growing body of research which suggests that they can actually harm sensitive teens with depression.
Whether we want to believe it or not the industry is expanding and improving by leaps and bounds and mandatory regulation and licensure is just around the corner. The years of straight in the 1970’s is just a pale memory compared to what the programs of today are capable of accomplishing.
Nah, not really. They all use the basic form developed at Synanon and perpetuated by Straight/WWASPS/Aspen/HLA/ and the rest. Relying on isolation, restriction of communication with family, the whole 'peer pressure' form of 'therapy' is the same as it ever was. Dangerous.