To All Parents: This Concerns You

[along comes mary]

Many parents don't feel they can afford taking much time when facing the decision to enroll their child in a therapeutic boarding school, like HLA, or not.

I'm starting this topic to help parents make the most informed decision possible.

I'm going to try and collect as many first-hand accounts of HLA experiences, from staff, parents, and students, and post them on this thread.

I encourage former staff, parents, and students to contribute their stories as well.

As current staff stand to benefit from convincing parents to send/keep their children at HLA, I ask that they don't post here. If anyone suspects a poster to be a HLA employee with an agenda, please call them out.  

Respectively, posters are asked not to make broad value judgments about HLA. This topic is for personal testimony to  help parents get an idea of what HLA is, and hateful, hyperbolic language will only distract from that. If you make an accusatory claim as part of your story, please explain the evidence that supports your claim. There are plenty of topics for accusations and speculations, please post them there instead. If anyone suspects a poster of making patently false or libelous claims as part of an agenda, please call them out, too.
 
My hope is that the postings here will inform parents so that they may make the best choice for their family.  

~Mary

[along comes mary]

This is my personal testimony, first posted here over 3 years ago.

This issue is obviously more than a two-sided coin.
I have no personal vested interest other than empathy and concern, and as about as objective as a former student can be.

Did I gain anything from my year at HLA?

Absolutely. What didn't kill me made me stronger.
However I survived by flying under the radar.
I watched my friends' spirits broken all too frequently, in one case my friend was a victim of rape and incest from a young age. She was forced to re-live these experiences in front of our peer group at a time when we were all strangers to her, and I will never forget the way that our counselors jeered her, asking "how dirty she felt" and "wasn't she a whore" "didn't she bring it on herself?".
I understand that they didn't mean their remarks and said them in an attempt to break her down so they could "rebuild her", but I was 14 at the time. I was traumatized by having to witness her being broken and I can NOT imagine how she must have felt. But a part of her died,and not the "oppositionally defiant" part. She then began acting out sexually with fellow students. I feel like I watched the last surviving innocence she had be smothered before me and it truly haunts me to this day.

Success at HLA is dependent on sooo many variables. The reason for being there and its validity ( I ran away from a dangerous home life... for three days.) and the personal relationship the student has with his or her counselors are only 2 such factors.

My parents sent me there, as so many other parents have alleged, "to save my life."  I was a well behaved student, but I wasn't pulled for a year of good ( relatively) behavior. My parents pulled me because they accidentally were alerted to the fact that they were being manipulated and conned after one very high-up staff member referred to HLA as a source of punishment for kids, not therapy or rehabilitation. I'm sure they would be more than willing to talk to any parents. I'm not sure whether they would recommend HLA or not. You'll most likely hear that it was wrong for me, but maybe helpful for some.

I left HLA about 7 years ago, and it is STILL a huge source of tension and anger in my home, but for reasons that you might not be able to foresee.
My education has suffered.
I was scouted by Harvard after starting university at 16, but my parents spent my entire college savings on HLA, and even with help, Ivy League isn't exactly cheap.
My father resents me for being what I feel he sees me as... a bad investment.
I resent him for wasting my college fund to finance the most traumatic year of my life.
He resents me because I developed post-traumatic stress disorders, panic disorder with agorophopia, generalized anxiety disorder, and recurrent major depressive episodes and my treatment just costs him more money.
And, for the record, all of the above disorders have been diagnosed by multiple psychiatrists, and ALL of them attribute them to my experiences with HLA. I never had a panic attack before HLA, and if you've ever had one then you KNOW  they're no joke.

I guess my point here is that sending or keeping your child at HLA or any other facility is a decision that may have positive and probably equally negative consequences for your family.
DO NOT TRUST EDUCATIONAL CONSULTANTS, PLEASE.
Talk to as many child psychologists as you can. They won't recommend a program unless your child really needs one.
As bad as it might seem, "oppositional defiance disorder" is an umbrella term. Its definition is a vague general description of typical teenage rebellion.
Don't punish your kids for their hormones.

Once you've sent your child "away" do not rely on the program's staff for updates on his or her progress. You have to do a lot of detective work and constantly re-evaluate the necessity of keeping your child in a program, no matter how structured it sounds, no matter how important graduation from the program is touted as being.

If you're not prepared to weigh your child's descriptions of HLA at least equally as you would trust the description given to you by the staff, then you aren't responsible enough to ensure your child's safety while in HLA's care.

And finally, please learn from my family's mistakes. If you want to ensure a successful future for your teen you can't spend your savings for their college education. Consult 20 random psychologists and psychiatrists before sending your child to HLA, and perhaps most importantly, allow your child to see at least one non-program associated psychologist on EVERY visit, no matter what, and take their opinion on HLA with the utmost seriousness.

[along comes mary]

This quote is from a staff member who recently left HLA :

I have been an employee at HLA and have seen the negative side of the organization. I am very upset with their ethics and way of handling  business. As a therapist within the organization, I would never sent my child there and I hope you take my advice. There are many ethics and state ethics boards that need to need to be in accordance with regulations. I have work with many children and adolescence and I can tell you from my experience that I would not recommend sending my children to HLA. If any more questions arise just contact me.

[Anonymous]

The following is just a fictional short story about life at HLA.

Once upon a time in the North Georgia Mountains, lived the Squidbillies.

GENERAL RELEASE AND CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENT

NOW COME H.. Squidbilly, individually and L. Squidbilly, individually, (hereinafter “the Squidbillies”) and hereby agree to a General Release and Confidentiality Agreement (hereinafter the “Agreement”) in favor of HLA, Inc. (hereinafter “HLA”).  The Squidbillies and HLA may also collectively be referred to as “the Parties”.
   DEFINITIONS
(A)   Except as otherwise stated, throughout this Agreement, “the Squidbillies” means H. Squidbilly and L. Squidbilly, individually, their heirs, agents, representatives and assigns, and any and all persons or entities acting by, through, under, or in concert with any of them.
   (B)      Except as otherwise stated, throughout this Agreement, “HLA” means HLA, Inc., Hidden Lake Academy, Inc, and Ridge Creek, Inc., their agents, representatives, attorneys, parents, subsidiaries, related companies or entities, owners, directors, officers, employees, receivers, trustees, successors, assigns, and any and all persons or entities acting by, through, under, or in concert with any of them.
   PREAMBLE
WHEREAS, certain disputes and differences have arisen between the Parties with respect to amounts allegedly due for services provided by HLA and the quality of care received by L. (the squid child) while at HLA, and other disputes and differences (hereinafter “the Claims”).
WHEREAS, the Squidbillies desire to enter into this Agreement in full and final compromise and settlement of the Claims and any and all disputes, differences, claims or potential claims in favor of the Squidbillies against HLA, including, without limitation, the Claims;
WHEREAS, HLA desires that any and all past, present, or future dealings among the Squidbillies and HLA and the terms of settlement memorialized herein set forth herein be and remain strictly confidential; and
WHEREAS, the Squidbillies agree to a General Release of all Claims against HLA and to total and complete confidentiality in accordance with the terms set forth below.
   TERMS AND CONDITIONS
NOW, THEREFORE, in reliance on the representations contained herein, and in consideration of the mutual promises, covenants, and obligations set forth in this Agreement, and for good and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which are hereby acknowledged, the Squidbillies agree as follows:
1.   This agreement is not binding upon the Squidbillies until their receipt of the sum total of $15,***.00 from HLA, which represents three full months.
2.   The Squidbillies expressly agree and acknowledge that neither this Agreement nor the payment referred to herein shall be deemed an admission of any facts or liability by any Party, such facts and liability being expressly denied.

3.   The Squidbillies hereby release, acquit, and forever discharge HLA from any and all charges, claims, actions, causes of action, demands, complaints, liabilities, liens, obligations, promises, agreements, controversies, damages, suits, rights, costs, losses, debts, or expenses (including attorney's fees and costs actually incurred) of any kind whatsoever, whether known or unknown, suspected or unsuspected, fixed or contingent, which the Squidbillies may have had, may now have, or may hereafter have arising from or growing out of any act or omission related in any way whatsoever relating to the Claims and/or related in any way whatsoever to any and all dealings or transactions between or among the Parties.
4.   Paragraph 3 above is meant to be a General Release by the Squidbillies covering any and all claims, known or unknown, or potential claims against HLA, and should be so construed.  The Squidbillies intend their General Release to relinquish their legal rights with respect to the above-stated disputes and differences and to release, resolve, and terminate any and all disputes.  This document should be so interpreted toward that end.
5.   The Squidbillies agree that, unless specifically required to do so by law, they will not disclose, publish, disseminate, or release, in any manner whatsoever, to any third party or other entity, any information whatsoever relating to the Claims, the terms of this Agreement, or the consideration paid hereunder except to state that the matter has been settled. The Squidbillies further agree that they will hold in total, strict, and complete confidence, and not disclose to anyone or anything, by any method whatsoever, any and all information and/or facts pertaining to any disputes, differences and/or dealings with or against HLA including, but not limited to any and all terms, conditions and/or payments set forth in this Agreement.  
6.   The Squidbillies agree and acknowledge that execution and delivery of this Agreement and performance of the obligations hereunder constitutes a valid and binding obligation.
7.   The Squidbillies agree to indemnify HLA from any claims brought by Georgia Squidbilly, or her heirs, agents, representatives and assigns, and any and all persons or entities acting by, through, under, or in concert with any of them regarding the Claims.  
8.   No promises, inducements or agreements not herein expressed have been made by any Party.  This Agreement may not be altered, amended, modified or otherwise changed except by a writing duly executed by all Parties.
9.   This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between the Parties relating to the subject matter contained herein and supersedes all prior and contemporaneous agreements, understandings, negotiations, and representations, whether oral or written, of the Parties pertaining to the matters hereof.
10.   Each person who signs this Agreement warrants that said signatory has the power, authority, and legal right to execute and deliver this Agreement on behalf of the entities or persons indicated below and to perform the obligations hereunder.
11.   This Agreement shall be governed by and construed and interpreted in accordance with the laws of the State of Georgia, without regard to the principles of conflicts of laws thereof.

SO AGREED, this the                day of         , 200*.

Sworn to and subscribed
before me                  
this            day of      , 200*.

                                    
NOTARY PUBLIC            BY: H. Squidbilly, Individually and on behalf
                  of his squid child, L. Squidbilly            

Sworn to and subscribed
before me                  
this            day of      , 200*.

                                    
NOTARY PUBLIC            BY: L. Squidbilly, Individually
JF/LIT/GENERAL RELEASE/HLA.SQUIDBILLY





The moral of the story? HLA vows to seek control over the squid family, anyone they know; including dogs, angels and God ("entities"), and that they will ever know, including descendants, over what they say for the rest of their lives to anyone regarding HLA.  Furthermore, they even were given a line they must repeat whenever subject matter brought up, "It's been settled." to use the true corrupt vague statement of such corporations.  And this will protect all generations of any staff ever having worked at HLA or anyone whose affiliated or ever gone their to use their bathroom, for an unlimited number of generations to come, from having charges of any nature brought forth from any squidbilly affiliate.

The end.

[TheWho]

This quote is from a staff member who recently left HLA :

I have been an employee at HLA and have seen the negative side of the organization. I am very upset with their ethics and way of handling  business. As a therapist within the organization, I would never sent my child there and I hope you take my advice. There are many ethics and state ethics boards that need to need to be in accordance with regulations. I have work with many children and adolescence and I can tell you from my experience that I would not recommend sending my children to HLA. If any more questions arise just contact me.

Ham went on to say:

....in actuality (only) 50 to more percent of what they (kids) told their parents was true.

[TheWho]

This quote is from a staff member who recently left HLA :

I have been an employee at HLA and have seen the negative side of the organization. I am very upset with their ethics and way of handling  business. As a therapist within the organization, I would never sent my child there and I hope you take my advice. There are many ethics and state ethics boards that need to need to be in accordance with regulations. I have work with many children and adolescence and I can tell you from my experience that I would not recommend sending my children to HLA. If any more questions arise just contact me.

Ham went on to say:

....in actuality (only) 50 to more percent of what they (kids) told their parents was true.

[Anonymous]

i have also developed anxiety disorders as a result of my stay at HLA. the stress of being not being in charge of your own life, being punished at anyones whim made me like a high tension wire. While there, there is no telling if after school youll be playing guitar or being yelled at whilst doing 100+ push ups in the rain. that "unknown" trained my body in a very skinnerian way to be nervous, all the time. the slightest indication of trouble (such as seeing a cop in my rearview, even when im not doing anything wrong) i get a huge adrenaline rush and my stomach starts rotting away. it's like "a clockwork orange". This is something which was developed completely as a result of hidden lake; i didnt have it before, it started at HLA and continued through now (5 years later).

more later.

[Ursus]

From Helplessness: On Depression, Development, and Death, by Martin E. P. Seligman (W.H. Freeman and Company, New York ©1975), pp. 22-23:

Laboratory evidence shows that when an organism has experienced trauma it cannot control, its motivation to respond in the face of later trauma wanes. Moreover, even if it does respond, and the response succeeds in producing relief, it has trouble learning, perceiving, and believing that the response worked. Finally, its emotional balance is disturbed: depression and anxiety, measured in various ways, predominate. The motivational deficits produced by helplessness are in many ways the most striking...[/list]

Seligman's premise is that this learned helplessness is the direct result of experiencing trauma that is out of our control (as distinct from trauma experienced within our control). (I would further postulate that trauma suffered via "Acts of God" rates far lower than trauma perpetrated by other sentient beings.). Said learned helplessness ends up "sap[ping] the motivation to initiate future responses," "disrupts the ability to learn," and "produces emotional disturbance."

[along comes mary]

This quote is from a staff member who recently left HLA :

I have been an employee at HLA and have seen the negative side of the organization. I am very upset with their ethics and way of handling  business. As a therapist within the organization, I would never sent my child there and I hope you take my advice. There are many ethics and state ethics boards that need to need to be in accordance with regulations. I have work with many children and adolescence and I can tell you from my experience that I would not recommend sending my children to HLA. If any more questions arise just contact me.

Ham went on to say:

....in actuality (only) 50 to more percent of what they (kids) told their parents was true.

That quote is out of context and misleading.

Your interjection of "(only)" into the quote doesn't make sense in the actual context of the post.
 
I can only assume you chose that sentence because it would make parents distrust their children's explanations of HLA life. You seem to have an agenda here.

The FULL and UNEDITED quote is as follows:

I have been reading through all of the forum's on this website about HLA and I agree with most of what I have seen. I am a recent employee, and only lasted a month. In the beginning and throughout the interview process, the management/administration portrayed the school as an amazing place to work with great opportunities. At the time I began, the school was trying to go through some new therapeutic changes. Unfortunately, they were not very good therapeutic changes. Within the first two weeks, they had fired the one peer counselor that had been working with one of the peer groups for about a month, and threw the group and individual work on my shoulders (only being their about 2 weeks). They had very disgruntled parents because student were acting up due to all of the sudden changes, and their words were "you deal with the parents and kids, they are your responsibility, and smother the parents with attention." Every time I tried to make decisions therapeutically which I felt were appropriate, the administration were constantly made decisions over top of me without even knowing the children or how they had been progressing through the program.

Their was many other issues that I had felt were on the fence of being unethical. When monitoring student phone calls, we had to watch for what they called "manipulation." They always believed that when children told the parents negative things or about when negative things were happening at the school that the parents should be told the kids were lying. So it was always the responsibility of someone to call the parents back to tell those parents that their children were lying about what they had just told their parents and the school is great. The children were just lying to try and come home, which is normal; when in actuality 50 to more percent of what they told their parents was true. Also, the school has many of the counselors in dual-roles, which crosses a therapeutic line. When providing group and individual therapy, many of these students are working on and talking about difficult and emotional issues. They would have counselors many times work in different departments, most usually recreation department. One responsibility of the rec. dept. when student come back from breaks is to strip search the students, which I found highly unethical. It would be hard to imagine any student being searched by their therapist in that way, then coming into their office to talk openly about difficult subjects knowing that therapist saw them naked. There is much more I could talk about, but for now this is what I am posting. I am going back and forth in my head about what I can do to report some of what I feel are ethical violations and violations against the students. Also, when the parents of the students I had been working with knew I left, they asked why and inquired about if their was something they needed to know about HLA to pull their son. I am wondering if I have the authority to tell them. Any advice would help.

In the future, "Guest," please don't manipulate other people's words. It makes you look dishonest.

Thanks,
Mary

[Anonymous]

Mary thank you for pointing out that individuals are trying to use my quotes to a dishonest level. I am opening up and stating these things about HLA because I started in the field of Psychology to better individuals' lives and do everything I can. I left HLA because I knew that I was not able to do my job to the fullest degree that I felt was adequate and appropriate of someone in my position. I did not accept multiple degrees from prestigious schools to rob parents and children/adolescents of the rightful treatment they deserve.

[along comes mary]

From a former student:

i too never had a nervous breakdown until hla, there was a period where i barely ate, spoke, and participated socially with other students. basically i just stared into space, sulked my way into class. it took the encouraging words of a teacher to "snap me out of it". i couldn't talk to my mom about the root of this depression, because the staff would tell me to quit manipulating, which made it even worse. i then told my family in a letter that if the realaionship between us was going to be dictated with no allowance of real conversation, then i had nothing to say."how's school?" -fine. "how are your friends?" -fine. i wouldn't refuse the calls, cause kids got on restrictions for that. glad that's over now!

[along comes mary]

A former staff member:

I worked there in 2003 and the administration of the school was fishy then. I was hired to do a job and I did it--when I started noticing things amiss--I was sent packing. I got out in time, though...before these law suits started popping up. They offered me severance pay to never speak to anyone about HLA but I declined to sign the agreement. Nice, eh? Teachers and counselors and rec staff were great and always will be. Admin/mgmt who live on campus(nice benefit!) seemed more interested in money.I read through the most recent lawsuit and all of their claims seem like truth to me--at least from how things worked when I was there.(Toiletries, for instance!Talk about markup!!!) The aim of the school is great but it's been polluted by greed it seems.

[along comes mary]

If you are a parent looking at HLA, chances are you've heard the term Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) thrown around. This is an old post of mine on the topic. I hope it is clarifying.

First of all, isn't it true that HLA claims that all the children they accept must meet certain criteria, including being diagnosed with Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD)?

Secondly, if so, why was I admitted? The Ed Con who referred me to HLA never met me, but decided I was ODD based on my mother's description of my behavior. Is an Ed Con (or the Admission Staff at HLA for that matter) licensed to diagnose a disorder in a child, much less one they've never met?

If you read the definition of ODD I posted below, a few things might stand out to you, as they did to me.

1. the definition is ridiculously vague. all of those behaviors are typical of teenagers to some degree, and the criteria that the child present the behaviors "more frequently than is typically observed in individuals of comparable age and developmental level" is ENTIRELY subjective.

2. the criterion that these "behaviors do not occur exclusively during the course of a Psychotic or Mood Disorder."
Mood disorders include depression and bipolar disorder. So someone would have to rule out that the child was bipolar or depressed before diagnosing them with ODD...OR if they WERE depressed or bipolar, they would have to be monitored over a period of at least several months to determine if the ODD type behaviors exhibited themselves while the child was not in a depressive or bipolar episode.

3. the definition doesn't take drug use into consideration. An otherwise well-adjusted kid might start experimenting with drugs with his/her friends ( NOT "more frequently" than them) and their behavior while under the influence might fit the ODD definition, even though while sober it would not. Drug use is pretty high among teenagers, and acting "ODD" while high just makes you belligerent on that drug, not necessarily truly ODD. Drug use is NOT a symptom of ODD. And for those that would argue that using drugs IS defiant because it is illegal, let me remind you that the child would have to use/abuse drugs MORE frequently than other kids their age (or other kids at their development level).

Here are some stats from http://www.teendrugabuse.us/:

"- Illicit teen drug use as of 2003.
  * 8th grade -- 30.3%
  * 10th grade -- 44.9%
  * 12th grade -- 52.8%

- In the last thirty days 50% of teenagers report drinking with 32% being drunk at least on one occasion."

So, you can see that as of four years ago it was actually more likely, and more normal, for a high school senior to use drugs. Doesn't fit the definition, does it?

4. the definition doesn't take PRESCRIPTION drugs into consideration. The side effects of many Rx drugs (especially those to treat ADD/ADHD) are well known to cause changes in a child's mood or behavior. For example, Anti-depressants are now known to cause suicidal tendencies in some children and medications such as Ritalin (and it's ilk) are amphetamines for god's sake!

My parents jumped on the ADD bandwagon and made me take meds to treat my alleged ADD. They decided I had ADD because of my low math grades... (turns out I have a learning disability in mathematics called dyscalculia and was never ADD after all (':-?')... hahaha...ha..) So these meds just got me super-jacked for a while at school and by the time I got home I was coming down from my amphetamine high, leaving me irritable, short-tempered, mean, and pretty much all the ODD symptoms when I was around my parents! Did they, my Ed Con, or HLA ever take the fact that I was being unwillingly dosed with uppers into consideration when deciding I was ODD??!

Lastly, I want to know how many of you or your children were told by HLA or an Ed Con that you (or your child) was ODD? Did a psychiatrist diagnose any of you, or at least confirm what you were told?

Does anyone know of a child who was rejected from HLA?

Did HLA EVER tell ANY family that their child WASN'T ODD?

And to all Staff... can you shed any light on this?
Do you have the candor, integrity, or veracity to?

I'd like to hear everyone's thoughts and opinions about ODD and HLA's credentials/ lack thereof for declaring a child ODD, and therefore fit for admission...  


The DSM-IV (the psychiatry/psychology "bible" for diagnosis and treatment of mental heath issues) definition is below.

(From http://www.behavenet.com/capsules/disorders/odd.htm)


Diagnostic criteria for 313.81 Oppositional Defiant Disorder:

A. A pattern of negativistic, hostile, and defiant behavior lasting at least 6 months, during which four (or more) of the following are present:
(1) often loses temper
(2) often argues with adults
(3) often actively defies or refuses to comply with adults' requests or rules
(4) often deliberately annoys people
(5) often blames others for his or her mistakes or misbehavior
(6) is often touchy or easily annoyed by others
(7) is often angry and resentful
( is often spiteful or vindictive
Note: Consider a criterion met only if the behavior occurs more frequently than is typically observed in individuals of comparable age and developmental level.

B. The disturbance in behavior causes clinically significant impairment in social, academic, or occupational functioning.

C. The behaviors do not occur exclusively during the course of a Psychotic or Mood Disorder.

D. Criteria are not met for Conduct Disorder, and, if the individual is age 18 years or older, criteria are not met for Antisocial Personality Disorder.

Parents might be interested to hear from former staff about the use of "ODD" as a criterion for acceptance to HLA. Any takers?

[along comes mary]

This is a former parent commenting on HLA and the use of Educational Consultants.

To have trusted an Ed Consultant making promises about all the help your kid will get at HLA was the first mistake. None of the many promises made to us by our Ed Consultant were met. All we experienced at HLA was constant negativity. All that negativity makes the kids there feel horrible about themselves. Also, they learn not to trust adults when they can be searched at any time and have other kids watching and telling on everything they do and say. I think the only families who come out happy with HLA are the ones whose kids learn to be silent and just work through the program and are meek and mild.  Also, the academic piece of our experience was not good. For the price of the tuition at that school, one would have expected a great education. I think some parents stick their heads in the sand because they do not know what else to do with their children. The reality can set in after you have forked out all that money and you get your kid back home with more problems than they had starting out.  That is what happened with my child and with many others that I have discussed this with. If I had only known then what I know now, I would have not made the same choice.

Many HLA parents used Ed-Cons (like Martha Kolbe) to find a suitable place for their child.

Parents need to know who they can and cannot trust.

Your experiences with Educational Consultants are welcomed here.

[along comes mary]

Here is one former student's response to a poster claiming to be a parent thinking about sending her daughter to HLA:

Parent in Crisis: I hope you are joking.  Because the sad fact of many of these facilities are that the "professionals" who have "many years" of experience dealing with teens in crisis have "many years of experience" as staff members with no credentials or real licenses.  Some supposed schools are really classified as a "group home" with no teachers (if you ever get around to reading the fine print--which won't be in the brochure.)  Staff who show you a license should not  be taken at face value because often these degrees come from degree mills, or bogus colleges with no real accreditation.  You should also hope that these "compassionate, caring" staff don't have a history of perverse, illegal behavior because one of the things I and others quickly learned, was that they loved telling war stories of their early days in the gutter of drugs, rape, and other inappropriate things for a "THERAPIST" to be discussing with a client who should, if nothing else, feel safe.

Finally, it's not "tough love" meaning  discipline and structure. It's isolation and insularity, coersion, hours on end verbal, emotional, and psychological abuse which your kid will never make the mistake of telling you about after any initial complaint, because their lives will be made miserable, and the staff will do a fine job of telling you that you were manipulated and conned.   Eventually, your kid will also believe the script they wrote her, including exaggerrations of real events, along with  false events.And he or she will confess to you in shame, and you will all be so glad the facility "saved" him or her.  

For awhile after she gets out, she will knock you dead with her straight edged life only to have it all slowly seep out in subconscious ways.   Ways that are more convoluted and difficult to untangle than before, because they still have the baseline issues that made you want to cmmmit her to a program compounded by the royal mind fuck she received at the school.  (She drank the KoolAid to survive the place, and even though it didn't turn out to be fatal, it was still malignant.)

She may still look good on paper, but she will wonder why am I so fucked up inside? Why don't I trust anyone? Why do I have nightmares? Why am I depressed and anxious?   She may or may not fall like a house of cards... but she won't be the solid deck you hoped for.  Just wait 5 or ten years.

I've been out of the program that I was in (which coincidentally had one of our "star" staff at Hill) for 18 years. I have nothing to gain by bashing the place.  I am a teacher, a mother, and a graduate student, and live a boringly clean life, so its not like I'm some drugged out prostitute complaining about my former TBS (no offense to drugged out prostitutes--they make a much more honest living than the scam artists operating these schools).  I am telling you now to be very careful with your choices.  Because these schools tend to weave into your psyche in a way that is almost impossible to detangle. (That won't be your job--because liek most parents, you'll still be clinging to the belief that the school "saved" her, even when she's on 20 different anti depressants.

The funny thing about these "schools"--is that I felt like a dirty, drugged out whore for years and years inside afterward, and I wasn't even on drugs when I went to the program, and I was never remotely promiscous. That is what the school does. That is their "emotional growth" program.  

Shanlea

PS If I seem pissed, it's because I am. I am a teacher and I've seen parents ship off their kids to be emotionally lobotomized.  My favorite reason? The hard working, honest, good student who was sent away for not being pure enough in his Christian expression.  Interestingly, this same place boasted an ability to turn a gay youth straight.   (Not the reason this kid was placed.)