Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform > The Troubled Teen Industry

Positive Impact??

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Anonymous:
I am also a former resident of positive impact.  I was in the program for about 17 months, then stayed on working as a volunteer and later as a paid employeed.  Sorry if that compromises my credibility with some of you guys.

To validate some of the negatives that have been brought up, when I finally left PI in December of 2002 I was disillusioned with the program.  A significant part of my desire to stay and work was a desire to give back to the program, but working as a staff member enabled me to see a world which had been left more or less hidden from me as a resident, and I was disturbed by priorities which often seemed more business-oriented then people-oriented.  But that does not change the fact that Positive Impact, at least from what I saw both as a resident and as an employee during the time I was there, was never anything like Casa by the Sea or similar programs, and it also does not change the fact that many young men, including myself, benefited greatly from having been part of the program.  

There is one staff member I remember who restrained a resident on highly questionable grounds in Oceanography house.  He was fired shortly thereafter.  Stuff like that, to my knowledge, almost never happened.  More common staff problems were related to communication, inadequate training in the methodology of Positive Peer Culture, the Vorrath and Brendtro philosophy off of which the program was largely based, inadequate training in GGIs, lack of good interpersonal skills, etc.  Let me say that again: staff who were verbally or physically abusive were, to my knowledge, rarely an issue, and certainly not program policy.

It is possible that things changed after I left.  I do remember, when I returned to Kino for a brief stint about a year leater, being disturbed by the seeming lack of a positive peer culture and of staff and students who understood it.  Yes, Positive Impact was a business, and yes, it had problems symptomatic of organizations where you try to mix money and humanitarianism.  But once again, there are a number of young men, myself included, who benefited greatly from their stay there and who would defend the lasting positive impact that the program's intervention has had in our lives.

That's all I have to say.  There is much more I could say about the program if you have further questions, but given the hostile climate on this board I will not be checking it for responses.  If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me at elvenado2006@yahoo.com.mx

Cordially,
Ryder T.

Anonymous:
My son attended PI for 18 months.  Although it was a great plan, the program was a total failure because of one person - Jon Anderson.  During my son's stay, Jon began having an affair with his secretary from California (although his ex-wife also worked in the same office), paraded her around in front of the kids and parents, shacked up with her in an oceanfront mansion, and ultimately DISAPPEARED with her for SIX MONTHS leaving the entire place in shambles.   THAT is why it shut down.

The premise of the program was good.  The execution of it was a bumbling, commercial failure.

popo:
Hi I attended positive impact aka P.I. I left a year or so before it closed and the best way i could describe the program is surreal. When i left it was almost like i had never been there, like time had just skipped over about a year. Thankfully I was sent to another program "high frontier" before i turned 18 which i still resented of course but at least it wasn't abusive and they seemed to have good intentions. Positive impacts on the other hand was a HELLHOLE and anyone who tells you different is a TOOL. At times it seemed like that place was actually intended to cause psychological damage. Which kind of fits with their slogan "balance through imbalance" or something like that i don't recall exactly. Someone mentioned Scientology earlier in the discussion and from what I've read about it the tactics used by both organizations they have a lot in common. there was a lot of emphasis on confessing and wallowing in your "shame" as they called it but this was delved into most deeply in the 4 different workshops which i never attended and oddly enough never even learned much about, despite my being there for nearly a year. No one ever wanted too discuss them and i never really pressed the issue. I did glean secondhand that food/sleep deprivation and confrontational tactics were used but i believe that you could quit if you wanted too. Although it would set you back at least 2 or three months in your schedule. In an earlier post the user named Brandon mentioned living your truth. Finding your truth was a big thing but i wont go into it because I never did the workshop but your truth is basically a slogan like "I am lovable or I am powerful" there were 5 or six variations of "I am something good."  By the way, I remember Brandon I lived with him in oceanography house when i first came to PI and I recall that he was just about the biggest dork i ever met. Not a bad kid, just a weak person. If i remember correctly he once went through the twelve steps for "Loser-ism"... I kid you not. People like Brandon seemed to do well in the program and honestly, I hope hes still doing well. The whole point of the program was kind of like boot camp or a cult in that they tried their best to break you down psychologically mostly through "positive peer pressure" which is not a bad concept, but was completely perverted by the program. Anyways they try to break you down psychologically and then build you back up into a more acceptable person. This may have been a positive experience for some people as it seems to have been for Brandon. The problem is that some people don't break down so easily so they just keep leaning on you a little more and a little more until you bend or break. My personal experience was that they leaned on me pretty damn hard until they started doing things that were supposedly against their principles. Such as making me sleep outside (More uncomfortable than dangerous), not letting you speak to anyone, I recall once i was put on rations of water and a few tortillas a meal for about a week(once again it was uncomfortable but i was in no danger of starving to death or even becoming severely nutrient deficient). By far the most common form of punitive pressure was being sent to the "solutions room" which residents universally referred to as the "box". This was either a closet or, in the house i resided in most often, a concrete square maybe 5' by 5' with 4 concrete walls no ceiling and a entrance that did not have a door. In their literature (which they insist you read) the solutions room is supposed to be room where you are placed if you are being violent, aggressive, or just want some time alone. In reality it amounted to indefinite solitary confinement at the staff or the therapists whim. I was never once violent or anywise aggressive, i consistently complied with every request/order. I followed the rules as well as anyone else yet I still managed to spend at least a third, probably more like half, of my ten or so months sitting in the concrete box often for a week or more at a time (I think my personal record was about twenty days in a stretch). The reason for this being that i declined to participate in the step structure or discuss things of a personal nature. In my time there i basically did the same things that everyone else did i just kind of refused the "treatment" because i didn't appreciate the psychological manipulation. Thankfully I arrived there with 14 months till my 18th birthday so I knew it was just a matter of waiting it out and since no-one graduates before a year anyways they really had no leverage over me. Actually they got frustrated and John Anderson personally discharged me 4 months early which as far as i know is the only time that had ever happened. My parents lined up another, more civilized, school (The High Frontier) for the remaining four months. Altogether I think my Experience there was extremely unhealthy for me psychologically. I definitely left more damaged than when I came in. I don't think that the therapists had bad intentions and some of the local staff were great people; but there was no accountability, almost no contact with the outside world, and the whole program was based upon a loose amalgamation of pseudo-psychology and second rate philosophy. From what I've heard, this was not the worst program out there. Nevertheless they did things that were psychologically damaging, not to mention morally wrong.

P.S. I'm not mad anymore. But on the off chance that I run into John Anderson, I will not hesitate to beat him severely.

P.P.S. My names bobby Id love to hear from anyone who went to P.I. with me. Yeah even you Brandon, you little weasel.

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