TTI Stories

Telling Troubled teen industry stories for anyone who wants theirs heard. Submit your story: https://forms.gle/Uzv9CecqyP3wvEFN7 Discord: https://discord.gg/7pVznqcRsx

[tti-anonymousstories]

INTRO POST

Hello! I am a survivor of Bluefire Wilderness Therapy and Moonridge Academy. I too will post my stories here in the form of edited journal entries of those I recovered (Edited for comprehension, grammar, and spelling), Snitbits recovered from uncovered memories, and bits and pieces from issued consequences and other staff records. Hello! I am a survivor of Bluefire Wilderness Therapy and Moonridge Academy. I too will post my stories here in the form of edited journal entries of those I recovered (Edited for comprehension, grammar, and spelling), Snitbits recovered from uncovered memories, and bits and pieces from issued consequences and other staff records.

Submission form Discord

OPTIONAL FORMAT Program: Record form: (Journal, Memory, Staff record, etc.) Approximate date: *Trigger/Context warnings: (REQUIRED/may be provided by me)

TAGS TO SEARCH ACCOUNT BY #TTI-A Post , #TTI-A story , #TTI-A Journal entries , #TTI-A Submission #TTI-A Post-Treatment #TTI-A Image post #TTI-A Ask . (add) Add extra tags to submission if you want them, the above will be added based on the story along the normal TTI tags.

You can both submit stories on the form and ask questions for survivors in the askbox

[tti-anonymousstories]

i was also in bluefire wilderness therapy and went during COVID. one person in my group (G1) had gotten such bad heat exhaustion and i KNOW it turned to heat stroke because she couldn't keep water down. i remember hearing a staff member say her temperature was 103+. they did not take her to a hospital. they had to carry her down a hill.

i remember crawling on my hands and knees during my first expo because i couldn't move (i have chronic pain and my joints were starting to fail) and they kept making me walk because i "can't cheat the system". i was bawling in pain.

i spent my sweet 16 in G1. i got a 10 minute video call with my mom where she commented on how dirty i looked (i was) and how tan i was (it was permadirt) and how she couldn't wait for me to be home (i was sent to residential right after and wouldn't go home for another 6 months and wouldn't remain home for 14 months)

i also attended uinta academy which i am VERY surprised was not in the news considering someone who worked there is now on a national registry. he hit on me and my peers constantly and higherups brushed it off. bridget rhoten if i ever see you in the wild i will scream at you until my lungs give out. i have never been so angry as when i found out it WAS the person i thought it would never be. we were so effectively groomed it makes me sick.

i have ptsd and a dissociative disorder from the 18 months of trauma packed into a body that couldn't handle it. i went to the psych ward 7 times after leaving. it has been 5 years. i am so tired.

.

[tti-anonymousstories]

"I went to SUWS of the Carolinas, a wilderness therapy program, now shut down, in 2018, for suicidal ideation. My parents met while working there in 2002, and still knew the owner, which got them a discounted rate of $500 flat. I've seen the bill, and my PTSD had a $500 total price tag. This program would typically have cost multiple thousands of dollars per week. I was 13, which should have had me put in "seasons", the younger age range group for those 10-13. I was deemed to be 'too intelligent' for Seasons, which was heavily populated by children with intellectual disabilities, a horror unto itself. Upon intake, and before group assignment, I told the therapist I was struggling with my gender identity, though I knew I was a trans man at the time. My mother has told me that she said to them it was a phase, which has affected the way my parents treat my transness to this day. I was put in "Luna", the girls group for those 14-18. I was the youngest, with everyone else being 15-17. In my first month the group had lost tent privileges, due to an incident that happened before I was there, where 3 girls had engaged in a sexual relationship in a tent. We slept under "group tarp" for 30 days, which had the 9 of us heel to toe under a single, large tarp. We would hike everyday expect Wednesdays, where there was a supply drop. We would go anywhere from 3-10 miles through the Pisgah forest, with 30-40lbs on our backs (I was 100lbs myself), in torrential downpour and scorching heat, on vertical inclines and declines. This was in the South, so it was humid, and there were lots and lots of bugs. One time I tried to count all the big bites on my arm, and gave up at 50. the first night that we were supposed to be back in tents, one of the kids had a breakdown and they started slamming their head against a large tree until they were bleeding from the forehead. At the end of this episode they started laughing, and were removed from the group and taken about 10 feet away. They were removed from the program about a week later. At some point, a piece of my pack broke, compromising the weight distribution and putting me in excruciating pain. I thought my only option was to power through, and instructors would watch as I sobbed my way through every hike, until I decided I would fix my pack myself. Only then, after weeks of pain, did my pack get checked and replaced. This has caused me back problems in my current life nearly 8 years later. I turned 14 while I was there. I graduated after 84 days. I've forgotten a lot of what went down, due to the amount of trauma I was put through, but I still suffer flashbacks any time I leave my apartment in the morning and it's warm out. Honestly not really sure why I'm putting this out here, and I don't think this tumblr account is even still active. But it's coming up on the anniversary of me being sent to SUWS, and from April 5th-June 27th every year I can't help but remember where I was 8 years ago." -Anon

[tti-anonymousstories]

I was in the TTI for about six months last year and it scarred me for life. I wasn’t even in one of the BAD programs. I’ve heard horror stories about kids being locked outside in negative degree weather and not being allowed to eat or shower. That wasn’t the case for me. They let us shower every day and we had beds to sleep in and they usually fed us three full meals a day, plus snacks (unless you were bad like I was, I only got 1-2 small meals per day and no snacks) but like… it was still bad. Their main problem was medical abuse. They wouldn’t let you skip farm chores even if you were actively throwing up or had the flu (I should know, I experienced it. Although perhaps that was also just cause I was bad, cause they believed one of the other kids when he had the flu and he got to rest. A little bit) A girl there broke her foot and they told her she was lying and isn’t take her to a doctor for a week. Then they took away her boot early, and her foot ended up healing wrong. She has a permanent limp now. They told a little kid (a girl about 11 or 12 years old) to “stop being dramatic and just take deep breaths” when she was having an allergic reaction. And we were all convinced this was NORMAL! Because it wasn’t “one of the bad ones”. So obviously we were just being dramatic, and we were intentionally lying to ourselves, and our memories were fabricated. Cause only the bad programs abuse kids. And it wasn’t one of the bad ones.

@forever-bi-myself (the side blog where I talk about my experiences in the TTI)

.

[tti-anonymousstories]

Man- I'm always like, "What happened wasn't that bad I shouldn't call it (x) and probably shouldn't even compare it to (x) because (x) is very bad," and then I'm casually watching a John Oliver episode, and it's like "Oh this is... weirdly relatable- wait for a second" Video is about aforementioned (x) hmmm. "I shouldn't call it child labor it wasn't that bad" Episode on child labor starts feeling a little too familiar "I shouldn't call it prison it wasn't that bad" Episode on prison malpractice starts feeling a little foo familiar "I shouldn't compare it to trafficking it wasn't that bad" Episode on human trafficking starts to- you get the point this bit has gone on long enough

[tti-anonymousstories]

"i wasn’t personally in one and i don’t know if it counts, but my dad was in one of these schools for troubled kids back in the 80s. i’m grown and he only just started talking about it seriously when we watched the program on netflix. all i know is that he’s a real conservative guy now and i joke about “what happened” because he used to have a mowhawk and paint his nails and today he said they shaved his head. and i dont know if it was by force or not. earlier he said that the uniform and the forced haircuts taught him how to present himself, like it was an important value or something that he’s carried with him forever. he said one punishment was three days to a week in isolation- “just like that one”, he said when they showed one on screen- and he was down there once. didn’t say what for. but he said that one kid had severe mental health issues and had been down there for 3 months because they didn’t know how to deal with him. he said they didnt grab him in the night but a lot of kids were “kidnapped”, for lack of a better word. i’m not sure why i’m sharing this. he doesnt want it shared with my friends, but this is anonymous. not even my mom knew all this until recently. i kind of just saw this in the tag and wanted to write down what he went through, as much as i know. and that’s not much. he was there almost 3 years, had to get a ged." -Anon

[writing-prompt-s]

What are some chronic illnesses that can only occur in a fantasy setting?

[beleester]

Partial transformation - mummy rot is slowly turning you to sand, a near miss from a medusa left you with partially stoned body parts, etc.

Hypnotic suggestions from being mind controlled persist after the controller’s death, causing the victim to occasionally take actions to support the cause of a mind flayer cult that no longer exists.

Repeated demonic possession has left the patient with permanent gaps in their soul’s defenses, causing them to immediately get re-possessed if they go outside a consecrated area.

Post-resurrection trauma as the revived soul remembers an unpleasant afterlife.

Magical healing can get very weird if something is stuck in the wound. It’ll get you back on your feet, but you can get outcomes like “there’s a chunk of wood fused into your chest because the magic couldn’t figure out how to get the arrow out of your chest and just healed it in place,” and this can cause mobility issues or infection vectors down the line.

[ihasafandom]

SHealth tied to something else - the health of a tree, the amount of frost on the ground, the inverse of another person’s, the political power of whoever cursed you

Curse of bad luck - makes any small illness or injury potentially fatal if not treated with anti-curse in addition to anti-infection procedures

Magical reliance on a magical or nonmagical substance - can have any number of side effects

Repeatedly being drunk by vampires can cause an increase in blood production and therefore high blood pressure and related ailments. Can be treated by blood letting.

There’s a lot of hybridization happening in a lot of fantasy settings, and that’s just asking for a lot of people with weird half-dragon genetic disorders. Works out fine for some people, not so much for others.

Parasitized by (insert creature here). If you don’t take the correct precautions to keep it dormant it will continue to spread and eventually hatch out/transform you.

Repeated contact with the undead has left you open to their influence - leading to hearing or seeing things that other mortals can’t, which can distort or distract from more mundane concerns.

Alternately to being more vulnerable to intrusion, one’s soul can form a scar that makes helpful magic more difficult to take in.

Sleep disorders that make one fall into an impenetrable sleep at a specific trigger, or to do so for years at a time.

Out of phase with 4D space, one’s body not connected to itself or anchored in place/time in the usual way. There could be a consistent two hour gap between the things you hear and what has happened, you might clip into the floor as if it was in a different place for you, or you might slide through the material plane in cross section.

Intermittent intangibility.

Split into two people, each with only half your traits.

Stuck in a mirror.

[ihasafandom]

Sensitivity to ambient magic - like the thing where peoples’ joints ache before a storm but for being near ley lines or people with a lot of magic built up or other magic reservoirs. - The potential for magic, but where the magic has not yet begun.

[knives-in-the-dishwater]

Heal spell dependency: years of repeated serious injuries being healed by magic causes the body to stop healing naturally. seen often in professional fighters and those with a long career in hazardous occupations.

the forgotten dread: memory modification magic has caused the subject’s conscious mind to forget some past trauma, but their subconscious still remembers, causing them emotions that they cannot explain or justify ranging from mild discomfort to blind panic when presented with triggers related to the aforementioned trauma. often encountered in cases where the subject has paid an unscrupulous mage to make them forget their past as an ill-advised alternative to therapy.

Psychically Transmitted Memories: the subject’s mind has been linked to another person’s and, although the bond has since been severed, they have retained memories or thought patterns from the other person that are difficult to distinguish from their own.

Negative Life Syndrome (previously “False Life Syndrome”): seen most often in cases when the subject is exposed to dark magic while in the womb, Negative Life Syndrome leaves the subject’s life energies tainted by undeath without making them truly undead. common symptoms include intolerance of radiant magic, aversion to sunlight, and the inability to set foot on hallowed ground; rare symptoms include healing from negative energies, sudden necrosis, and the desire to eat flesh or drink blood of living beings.

lycanthropy

Early Life Possessions: the subject was possessed by a spirit or demon during early childhood or infancy, and the possessing presence was in control of them when they learned important milestones, such as how to walk or speak. The subject is now dependant upon the possessing presence to help them perform these tasks or, in cases where the presence has since been exorcised, performs the relevant tasks at a level appropriate for an infant or small child.

[kiragecko]

Body requires nutrients not found in human food, and you must eat rocks, or gems, or some other alternative. You may or may not have the ability to actually digest these without magical assistance

Awareness of too many dimensions makes it difficult to interact with just this one - either to keep track of conversations, or walk to specific locations without ending up on another planet instead

Telekinetic psychosis - delusions tend to physically affect those around you (but HIGH chance for ableism in this one!)

you have flare-ups where your skin tends to slough off and be replaced by some other substance

After sharing life energy with a dying loved one, you’re now both trying to survive off one person’s supply. Like chronic fatigue, but if your loved one gets too big of a bruise you won’t have the energy to get up until it heals

living in reverse

stuck at a certain age

supersenses lead to constant overstimulation

you’re a changeling, and if you don’t have someone who loves you close by, you’ll turn back into sticks and mud

[toasttheinkling]

Reblog once for reblogs sake reblog again for ramble: The above-mentioned ‘Forgotten dread’ is in fact something we normal, non-magical humans can experience (Unfortunately). often in cases of severe trauma (hi!) large chunks of memories will be repressed but you can still feel whatever was attached to them and be triggered by the same triggers that would appear if the memory was still there. but the memory wipe was done by our own silly, silly mind and not an 'unscrupulous mage’.

[tti-anonymousstories]

I have a google doc of the entire 'Stages of Change Manual' that every student at Moonridge Academy had to read and sign before we were allowed off safety when we got there.

[rose-color-boy]

tw // death

I just found out that a child died under the care of teen challenge, the same organization that I attended a program at (different location). She died as a direct result of their carelessness and lack of medical attention. It could have been so easily avoided.

Teen challenge has a consistent habit and history of not treating medical problems. I’ve admin’d two teen challenge groups on Facebook, and one of the consistent problems with every tc program I’ve noticed from people talking about their experiences is the lack of medical attention.

She didn’t deserve to die. This didn’t have to happen. But it did because teen challenge just doesn’t give a fuck. May the directors of the program that did this and the staff that’s arched it happen rot in fucking hell. I hope the rest of their days they have to live with the heaviest, most crippling guilt for what they’ve done, not only for this but every other child they’ve abused to make a profit.

[tti-anonymousstories]

-Not a story I'm curious about other people's experiences with treatment dreams, mine vary widely but the most common are: -Time travel, I have my memories but I've been sent back in time- I always ask what day it is, sometimes I'm able to stop it, or ask questions but usually I can't do anything because it would cause a time paradox. -Sent back, Usually, it starts with that I'm going there for school but not to stay, until they start forgetting me, saying they need a few nights and that I'll stay there for a bit, I know I graduated in the past and I can't be punished for what I do because I'm not technically 'enrolled' there but they will try, there's all new students usually. -Totally absurd shit- Ive had dreams where we all died to this glob creature and the only person that could see us were the dogs and the equine director and she didn't like it when we pet the dogs- and another where a student nuked the town. -Normal PTSD dreams... you know the run of the mill trauma stuff Edit: I also have trained myself to lucid dream so sometimes i just realise its a dream and start fucking things up (The best honestly would recommend) Probs more but im real eepy right now

[unsightlyoddity]

Hello everyone, this is spinch.

i know most of what i post is lighthearted and not serious, but please listen, as this is something that is very personal and important to me.

A close friend of mine created an account on here to highlight the stories and experiences of survivors of the troubled teen industry. If you don't know what that is, I recommend that you do some research.

@tti-anonymousstories is the account.

If you would like to support survivors and help programs like these face heavier regulations or get shut down, consider reading these stories and reblogging.

Being a survivor myself, I think it's incredibly important we bring the disturbing nature of this industry to light.

[tti-anonymousstories]

Program: Bluefire Wilderness Therapy

Record form: Edited journal entry (Edited for clarity, grammar, and spelling)

Approx Date: Feb 9th, 2020

Tw/Cw: Talk of ED, Physical intimidation, Restraint, Me being kind of an ass about ED (Only in the entry never said to her.) [Note written in for story context.] This will be a thread because this story spans multiple days and even weeks. These will be broken up by one post per day/entry.

DAY ONE

‘Today has been eventful, I didn't get out of bed at first and now AX is using it against me, placing blame and- anyway’ 

 [This is how I wrote it when I was 11.]

  ‘EL was stand-in chef but when I came out she said that I had to get the spread stick even though she has been stand-in because the ‘real’ chef was back, so that's my job now. The van got stuck in the mud and we had to push it until the tow truck got here to get it out and we had to walk down the road at Pano with our packs’ 

 [Panorama was one of the sites at Bluefire, it was very flat and spread out with a long path to the dirt road we were going to]

  ‘Once I got there I was the last ‘student’ to get in (Back row, far right seat.) I planned to work on my testing.’

  [It was psych testing- but here I go into a long elaboration of where everyone sat- all you need to know is that AL sat in front of me in a middle seat.] 

 ‘AL was complaining about being in the middle seat because “I do not want to elbow anyone.” Meanwhile, JL is drawing right next to her, not elbowing anyone. She asked me to move over, likely hoping I was zoned out (this would put me in the middle seat and her on the edge) I said no! At this point I was done with her shit- thankfully seniority benefits were gone because she used it to rig the pot schedule so even when she cut her food in half she wouldn't have to clear big pot.’

 [When you didn't eat your food you cleaned big pot.]

 ‘That happened about a week ago and it was just the straw that broke the camel's back apparently because I noticed it and it opened up the conversation in group, that combined with the carrot incident and other stuff it was enough for them to stop doing seniority benefits at all. Anyhow she gets upset enough we all have to get out of the van to re-arrange seating and have a ‘Standing group’ to share ‘I feel statements’ AL was guilt-tripping some shit and ended her statement by saying “And, I'm feeling suicidal.” But after that, we did enie-meanie-miney-moe to pick who got to sit where and she got a window seat but she still wasn't happy and refused to get in the van, while everyone else sat in the van she threw a temper tantrum changing the subject to big pot from the night before and talking shit about JL, she never said her name but she was making eye contact with her through the car door the whole time. A good old tantrum if you ask me. Also during standing group, she said that we were all putting the blame on her and that it was actually my fault, and that if I had gotten out of bed on time we would be on the road right now (even though I didn't set us back at all, and she would still be throwing a tantrum on the side of the road right now.) When we finally got her in the van I was writing (not elbowing anyone mind you.) She ‘Thanked’ us for not being able to call her brother for his birthday (not that we had any say in that.) Because she “Can’t” work on her accountability letter (She was actively writing). Bull. Shit. The only good part was the drive, there was a group of cattle that crossed the road with people on horses and dogs. [Apparently this is normal in Idaho??] 

When we got to the campsite we set up our tents, but banging the poles into the ground was fun. Then we got in the van and went to some dunes and you know what she does? She acts all buddy-buddy with me! “Isn't this fun?” “We should roll down it!” I ignored her. 

‘When we got back we needed to talk about the pot schedule, so we went to this pavilion at the campsite and- Shit. Went. Down. The first question was ‘Does the chef have to clean pots if it's burnt?’ -The answer was no, no big deal there. But the next question was ‘What if multiple people don’t finish their food?’ This is where it starts to go downhill. It starts with the punishment for both food waste and not eating minimum [8oz of the given food] to clean big pot and AL says “Well, I’m cleaning big pot every night because I can’t eat three meals a day” We came to the idea of five-minute increments. She said that since she would be cleaning big pot every night she didn't want help so it was amended to ‘Five-minute increments unless one person says they don't want help’ The next question was who was to clean a utensil if they used it to clean- but AL kept going back to “I will clean big pot every night.” And EL gets fed up and tells her that it isn't relevant and AL insists that it is. EL mocks her about it and gets up to walk towards her, “No the fuck is isn't relevant.” She starts getting up in her face. “I WILL FUCK YOU UP- I WILL FUCKING FUCK YOU UP!” She gets detained and says “I'm not gonna touch her.” they let her go and she storms off.

[katruna]

[tti-anonymousstories]

you misspelled anonymous in your url btw. also, moonridge! I went to kolob, moonridge’s sister school for older teens. mind if I ask when you were there? I might know you. if you don’t want to say, no worries, i get it. and if you’d prefer, I could DM you and we could talk there. hope you’re doing alright <3

Ah, thank you for letting me know- i don't know if I can correct that though :( I was at mra April 2020 to May 2022! i remember about once a year we would go to Kolob for an activity of come kind.

[exposingtroubledteenindustry]

🚨 Raise Your Voice! Stand Against the Troubled Teen Industry! 🎗️💔

Hey, Tumblr fam! We need your help to expose the truth about the troubled teen industry and protect vulnerable youth. Check out this powerful video that unveils the harsh reality of these programs and the urgent need for change. Spread the word, raise awareness, and let's make a difference together! 💪

🎥 Watch the video here: the last stop

The troubled teen industry has been under scrutiny for its questionable practices and potential harm to young individuals. It's time to take a stand and ensure the well-being and rights of our fellow teenagers.

💡 Educate Yourself: Learn about the warning signs of abusive programs and know your rights as a teenager. Knowledge is power, and it can help protect yourself and others.

✊ Raise Awareness: Share this video with your friends, classmates, and followers. Use the hashtag #EndTroubledTeenIndustry to join the conversation and spread the message far and wide.

🤝 Support Safe Alternatives: Let's advocate for therapeutic approaches that prioritize compassion, respect, and evidence-based practices. Together, we can demand change and promote safer alternatives for struggling teens.

Remember, your voice matters! Join the movement, share this video, and help us raise awareness about the troubled teen industry. Let's work towards a future where every teenager receives the support they need in a safe and nurturing environment.

[tti-anonymousstories]

Hmm

[growing-home]

what changes do you want to see in your child?

let’s eliminate your teen’s health and help your child get new fears and eating disorders.

at newport academy, we abuse teens for money.

you can trust us.

we’re a top rated treatment center.

we know best for your teen.

[kimberlyborelli]

My Story:

As a child I experienced already a lot.

September 2014: I started to visit a different school. I struggled with learning, my chronical sickness and bullying.

Winter 2014: I started to visit the social worker & counsler at school because my problems turned out worse. But sadly these counseling sessions weren't helpful at all. I had to visit a psychiatrist for further treatment. It was tried to fix my problems but sadly it wasn't helpful. I developed suicidal thoughts because I was that frustrated. The psychiatrist decided to try some medications. The psychiatrist explained. The first two weeks it could show some side effects. But two weeks after I took the first pill: I developed a serious rare side effect. My parents asked the psychiatrist but she just said: It will pass by soon. But the issue didn't passed by...It got worse.

Autumn 2015: I had a mental breakdown on my way to school. I was sent to a hospital by the ambulance and received tranquelizers to be more compliant. In the hospital I was in a strong delirium. A psychiatrist was talking to me and said: I should be sent to a therapeutic facility.

At the facility (third floor, the secluded ward): The bathrooms were locked. Everytime when someone had to use the bathroom we had to ask for permission and wait til it's unlocked. But often there were times where the staff refused to unlock the door. No makeup was allowed. Also there were some patients who were treated better. I wasn't allowed to have hair ties in my room. In both floors where I was spent my time there was the rule of Silence Time (stay in your room and remain silent). Also books were controlled. I spent the first days in solitary confinement (I was allowed to leave my room and talk to others after the isolation. But it was monitored about topics. When you critized the staff you got punished.) Shaving wasn't allowed. Deodorants weren't allowed. Questions/Suggestions were ignored by the staff. Once I had a short anxiety episode some of the staff made fun of me. The only right ting what they did: To stop my medications. At the third floor I didn't received any therapy (They told my parents I'm attending a program). The only situation where I had something therapy-related I'd got a questionaire. I also was told being too fat for having an ED. Well, I was underweight. I was once allowed to attend a group activity at the third floor. It was about crafting. After I left the room, one of the staff teared my crafting work apart and threw it away.

First floor, ward with "less stricter" rules: After over one week where I tried to behave. I was shifted to the first floor. I shared my room with a girl (and we became friends). Also the staff noticed that and weren't happy about that. We both were in seperate classes in school. The classes were more like: Just do something school related and try to look busy. We both had seperate therapy programs. In the "silence time" we were in our room together. But we just talked and didn't cared about the rule. One hour before bedtime you have to be in your room and remain silent to get ready for bed. We both had different bedtimes. But mostly I went with her in our room and we still chatted together during she got ready for bed. During bedtime we weren't allowed to talk. But we still talked to each other and we got scolded and punished once. The bathroom got locked next time. I was shifted to another room and I was forced to sleep on the floor. She was shifted to a single room and was in solitary confinement. At the first floor I received some therapy. The group therapy was very strange. We received a behavior diagram and it was used for behavior modification.

The Ending: At the end my parents got me out finally. The staff tried to sent me to another facility. My therapist told me and my parents were too overwhelmed and want to send me away. And to my parents he told: I don't want to see my parents anymore.