Comments from Survivors of Provo Canyon School

[darkhunterhope]

On 2004-04-30 16:03:00, Anonymous wrote:

"

On 2004-04-29 15:17:00, Anonymous wrote:


"Honey, I was there for 26months 2 years and 2 months, the only reason why they let me go is  because they gave up on me and did not think I would succeed. It is in my paperwork from them, no joke."

Sheesh, may I ask how your parents feel about that?  I mean, unless money is no object here, it sounds like they spent a minor (no pun intended) on an "unsuccessful" program.



Anyway, Anon, Kudos to you for hanging in there so long, hope you are enjoying life on the "outside" ... God knows you kids paid a big price for your freedom.



 :nworthy: "

How my mother feels about it. Hell, there is a whole lot to the story here and not enough time in the world to tell it all. Seriously. My mother never believed me, not at all. I had a buddy working at PCS, I mean I never met her until i got there. but when i did she was just one of those people that i looked at and saw her interacting with other people, staff and kids, asses and respectful, that i was easily able to say, wow, she's a really good person. so i immediately took to her. and she helped me through a lot of stuff. in the long run she has been like a mother to me in her own way, she was there for me when my mother wasn't and disowned me for the time being, when stupid crap went on and many other things, she's even been there for me after i left. well provo policy is that after a patient leaves they may write you and call you at the school but the only way they can contact you and staff contact them back is through e-mail. this policy is only for the first year. so i always called her at provo and wrote her letters and such. after being gone for over a year we called at our homes and such, well some how, after i have been out for a year, provo intercepted one of our e-mails between eachother containing support comments about how much she has helped people in provo and stuff that i gathered from a lot of folks. i've no clue how provo got a hold of this information, but they did and the next morning she went into work there they called her in the office and had a copy of the e-mail and pretty much just fired her without cause and broke they're own policy. and see she tried calling my house, which she never does, and she left a message, so i knew something was wrong right off the bat by her calling my house and the tone in her voice, i could just hear it, so when i finally got a hold of her and hearing all of this, i was livid, i couldn't believe it, cause i love her and respect her so much and it was just like whoa, and the table flipped without warning. and this is when i was starting to cause trouble with provo and my records and lawyers, and they have been looking for  a reason to fire her anyways, but that made no difference to me, they took a low blow at me and hurt someone that i care about in the process which only angered me a whole lot further and made me start seeking me revenge on them now more so than ever. i was totally calm, cool and collected when on the phone with her cause i didn't want to upset her or have her know that i was upset by this, but shit man, when i got off the phone i yelled so loud, 'i'm gonna kill those mother F*, who do they think they are, they have no right, this is about me, not her.' i mean i was so upset, i haven't been that mad in a long time, i could of literally put my head through a wall again. my mother asked me what the hell was going on and i slowed down just enough to tell her and she was just like, shit, and i told her what really goes on at provo and then for the simple reason that such a good and honest, hard working person could be fired without cause like that, she believed me, and she has been helping me fight them ever since, she drafts and types up all the letters to them for me cause she's real good at it since we both work in family law, i cc everything to the schoolboard that i had during the time of my stay at provo, the ceo of provo, the ceo of uhs, and my attorney. so now my mom believes me, she still doesn't like to hear about it though, not that i blame her, sending your kid off to some place where they are abused and you don't believe them when they tell what's going on because you yourself have been brainwashed is not a pretty sight, ya know. but i'll tell you one thing, this whole pile of stinky ass shit sure is starting to take it's toll on me, and all i gotta say to that is, thank god for summer camp.

[cherish wisdom]

This was taken from the petition to close Provo Canyon School. Ironically the program has not changed much in 17 years - it is still as abusive as it was then. So don't be fooled into thinking that these things couldn't be happening today. PCS doesn't abide by the laws enacted to protect the mentally ill.  Read on......


17 years after being released from Provo Canyon School, I still occasionally wake up with night sweats and panic attacks that I began suffering after my experiences at the school.  From 9 DAYS WITH 2 SHOWERS IN ISOLATION FOR A FAULTY URINE SAMPLE (My parents were told that I admitted to purchasing pot on a ski lift while on a visit, even though I was CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING with my father in full view!) to Dr. Gwilliam verbally attacking me when my brother and father arrived for a visit to the point my brother said "I am not going to sit hear and listen to you bash my sister."  I had no warning that "Dr." Gwilliam would turn on me.  

Both my brother and father were concerned that I was on so many medications that my hands shook and my speech was slurred.  Dr. Gwilliam indicated that I needed to be highly medicated to keep me from being violent - even though I had no history at the school of violence, only depression which I was punished for (not adjusting well on the reports – so no privileges).  When I had complained to the medical doctor, he only upped my dosage.  I was forced to take extremely large doses of medication but was punished for wanting to know what I was taking and wanting off.  Considering the issues the FDA is now reporting in such medications as Xanax and other MOI’s and SSR’s, I consider it gross negligence that my concerns were brushed aside as being trivial.

After working steadily for the hotel and school cleaning, to receive a check for only $70 after one year was an outrage. I was told that money had been taken out for outings and personal items, however my mother was paying bills for those same things.  She was also being charged quite a bit of money for items that she herself had bought me.  No one goes through 2 boxes of tampons a month if there is not a serious medical problem.  

And in the end was anything accomplished other than my mother being bilked out of her money?  No - because they never addressed any of the issues that had resulted in the total breakdown of my relationship with my parents.  No family counseling.  I carried the anger with me for another 12 years after leaving before making any changes on my own.  I even called to have my medical and psychological records sent to another counselor.  After 1 year, all Dr. Gwilliam had wrote fit onto less than 7 sheets.  Nice intensive counseling.  And after Dr. Gwilliam’s turning on me I did not trust him to tell him anything – just continued to keep it buried as I had before everything came crashing down.   No therapeutic, rape trauma, eating disorder or drug abuse counseling provided.  No program to help me develop positive and healthy ways to deal with problems.  Just intimidated into proper behavior and told that I was the problem over and over and over.  Let it be known that after my experience at Provo Canyon School, not only did I immediately revert to my prior self-destructive behavior with a vengeance, but I also began to suffer severe and debilitating panic / anxiety attacks not experienced prior to my admission.
Oh yes - and their "education" was so great that many of the classes taken at PCS had to be retaken at my next high school even though I had passed the classes.  I had to retake Algebra II with Trig (same book) because PCS lumped it under "Algebra".

This person was also tortured at PCS.

Men seldom, or rather never for a length of time, and deliberately, rebel against anything that does not deserve rebelling against.

--Thomas Carlyle