Innercept (Coeur d'alene, ID)
This information is based on my brief time in the program as well as the experience of others.To start off, Innercept is a spin-off of the CEDU programs founded by Mel Wasserman which got it's influence from the Synanon drug cult. The founder of Innercept is George Ullrich who formally worked at an abusive CEDU school called "Rocky Mountain Academy". Nowhere is this established on their website, even though I was able to find this information below.
What they claim to specialize in are as follows:
- Mood Disorder, Depression, and Bipolar Disorder
- Anxiety Disorder, OCD, Panic Disorder, and Social Anxiety
- Adoption and Attachment Issues
- Autism Spectrum Disorders and/or related diagnosis
- Trauma/PTSD
- Strained relationships with parents and authority figures
- Decline in academic performance
- ADD/ADHD issues
- Anger Management
- Eating Disorders
- Thought Disorders
- Executive Functioning Issues
- Personality Disorders
- Negative peer Relationships
- Somatoform Disorders
- Gaming Addictions
- Technology Addictions
As you can see, they are a catch-all with what they can deal with. This looks too good to be true, that's because their approach is "one size fits all" for any kid in their program. This is almost universal in the industry of Therapeutic Boarding Schools for troubled teens.
First off, the vast majority of the above specialties can be effectively dealt with at home or in school settings given the proper structure. Many will benefit with help of the right medication along with it. The main issue is that a lot of parents and schools are refusing to deal with them or lack the skills necessary. The parent needs to get right with the schools and services in the community. However, the difficult part is finding resources that are NOT backed by a conflict of interest (this would mean that they endorse these facilities). It's reasons like this why many are homeschooling for the time being.
Second, learning disorders, ADD/ADHD, ASD, and issues with executive functioning don't necessarily require a restrictive environment. This is obviously NOT structure (which is really guidence) it's total control to break the child's will. These are often NOT very high needs individuals, there needs to be different instruction in classrooms. Speaking of which, their special school "Innercept Academy" has none. You may see pictures of students sitting at their desks or walking in graduation robes, none of which happen at all (they were obviously doctored for marketing purposes). They don't follow a traditional academic schedule, an obvious red flag. In fact during weekdays, school is only 2-3 hours, some days of the week will not have school at all (excluding weekends). They claim to be accredited by AdvancedEd and NAAS, both agencies that have no standards whatsoever. This explains why most teens that transfer to their adult program are forced to take the GED since they were retained a year or two in school by the time they turn 18. Thus they are unable to complete the credits for a diploma at their old school (or their just given a diploma that's bogus).
The later two, gaming and technology addictions are not serious issues at all! That pretty much fits the profile of any normal teenager you see today. It comes to show you how desperate they are to make money.
Second, learning disorders, ADD/ADHD, ASD, and issues with executive functioning don't necessarily require a restrictive environment. This is obviously NOT structure (which is really guidence) it's total control to break the child's will. These are often NOT very high needs individuals, there needs to be different instruction in classrooms. Speaking of which, their special school "Innercept Academy" has none. You may see pictures of students sitting at their desks or walking in graduation robes, none of which happen at all (they were obviously doctored for marketing purposes). They don't follow a traditional academic schedule, an obvious red flag. In fact during weekdays, school is only 2-3 hours, some days of the week will not have school at all (excluding weekends). They claim to be accredited by AdvancedEd and NAAS, both agencies that have no standards whatsoever. This explains why most teens that transfer to their adult program are forced to take the GED since they were retained a year or two in school by the time they turn 18. Thus they are unable to complete the credits for a diploma at their old school (or their just given a diploma that's bogus).
The later two, gaming and technology addictions are not serious issues at all! That pretty much fits the profile of any normal teenager you see today. It comes to show you how desperate they are to make money.
Their method of therapy is also questionable. Here is the list of what they use on ALL residents:
- Individual Psychotherapy twice a day
- Dialectical Behavioral Therapy
- Various Psycho-Educational Group Therapies
- Health/Nutrition and Fitness Plans
- Medication distributed/monitored by a Registered Nurse
What they won't tell you is that the therapy is based off brainwashing, scare tactics, and total control over it's residents. This is a CEDU spin-off after all, so they try to keep anyone from leaving the program. They even have an adult program to for teens who fail the program. Here they can detain them until their 25 by either granting extended custody or forcing them to sign their rights away.
The twice-a-day individual therapy might sound good on paper, but the problem is the length and method used by the therapist. The therapist they hire are disregarding their own training and education by using whatever deemed fit by Innercept. They confront and manipulate the child and their parents, thus this adds more stress. DBT is really a type of cognitive-based approach to treat personality disorders and they have been rarely shown to be effective with certain patients. In regards to medication, they use it in a very unsafe and reckless manor. First they take new arrivals off all medications they are currently on and placed on whatever psychotropic drugs they want WITHOUT A DOCTORS PRESCRIPTION! This can be VERY DANGEROUS as they tend to abuse these meds or constantly switch meds day by day depending on the mood of the resident regardless of their diagnosis. These RN's are not licensed to diagnose or prescribe medication, that is the responsibility of a medical doctor or psychiatrist. Not all psychotropic drugs are the same, thus they all can't "magically" fix or cure all mental disorders. This must be approached with caution!
Example: Anti-psychotic medication would be inappropriate for someone with depression or anxiety. That's because it's make-up is designed to subside psychosis/schizophrenia.
Also, health and nutrition are handled completely wrong. They assume everyone that comes into the program is either over-weight or has an eating disorder. Their idea of a balanced diet is also skewed, they prefer a variety of different types of entrees in pre-planned meal slots on their menu each day ignoring the nutritional value and make-up they might have. The low-fat diet with limited calories is preferred. This also includes the preferred use of artificial sweeteners. Both are factors that can seriously impact neurological functioning and help worsen mental disorders.
This of course is only done to make as much money as possible. Tuition is said to be as much as $15,000/month with a minimum stay of 3 months! This gives you an idea of how much money they make in a single year for a total capacity of 35 residents. Put all that together and you can get an idea of George Ullrich's total networth.
Here is what people say on Yelp! Notice that 10 reviews are not recommended and 2 have been removed? This is because Innercept is a VERY shady business, they seem to hire people for the sole purpose of reputation management to delete negative comments and post positive review as sockpuppets.
Judge Rotenberg Center (Canton, MA)
As many of you know, this "school" is unique in using electric shock aversion therapy. This method of control was experienced at Harvard University by B.F. Skinner in the 1950's using rats and pigeons. The founder of JRC Matthew Israel was a pupil of Skinner and was inspired by this experimentation. However what Israel didn't realize is that the experiment was only meant for rational reasoning. So Skinner had no intention to use this on humans as a form of mental health treatment. So Israel ignored his Ph.D education and went against Skinner's wishes.
JRC was opened in 1971 as the Behavioral Research Institute. Israel developed an electrode device called the Graduated Electronic Decelerator (GED), he also seemed to be inspired by the anti-psychiatry group to use it as a substitute for medication (which makes sense since it's only praised by parents who prefer non-medication methods). Over the years, Israel wanted a stronger GED to be more effective on punishing aggressive behaviors that mentally ill and autistic children cannot control. The FDA would not approve a stronger GED so Israel made one himself. He went to court over evading the FDA order and Massachusetts State Judge Rotenberg okay'd it to be used in the state. The facility was renamed in honor of the judge who made it legal.
This facility has gotten the most exposure on mainstream media, which is extremely rare. However since they are controlled, they only scratch the surface of the many horrors going on. There is going to be more information gathered from the experience of other students.
Below is a video archive that explains it. It shows a recording from October 2002 of then 18-year-old Andre McCullins being shocked 31 times while tied on a restraint board. He has never recovered from the shocks, both physically and mentally. Because of this, he'll be forever under the care a nursing home in his catatonic state.
It seems that the parents defending this place have also bought into the anti-psychiatry philosophy hook-line and sinker. They only make up a small minority of the parents, you'll also notice that JCR cherry-picks students who have developed Stockholm Syndrome to cover-up their reputation. They do this on their website and YouTube channel.
Below is a radio archive that aired a year before the shock video surfaced. You will noticed the select group of people defending the place have a lot of political power.
Below is a radio archive that aired a year before the shock video surfaced. You will noticed the select group of people defending the place have a lot of political power.
Diamond Ranch Academy (Hurricane, UT)
This Facility has been noticed by several education consultants as it has featured at several IECA conferences for special needs placements. Particularly troubled children to be specific since most IECA members believe that traditional prep schools are inappropriate for someone who has issues school. We in the survivor community strongly disagree with that. They are obviously catering to the needs of parents since homeschooling is a lot of work. Isolation in therapeutic placements away from home seem to make it worse, and Diamond Ranch Academy is no exception.
Don't get fooled into their fancy website because it's not what you think. The claims of a "prestigious therapeutic boarding school" with rigorous academics, nurturing environment, and interscholastic sports completely contradict what most alumni are claiming (those without stockholm syndrome). In fact the truth is the exact opposite goes on in this so-called "Premiere" residential treatment center. Students and parents who've come to terms of what really happened posted their testimonies at http://drasurvivors.com/.Even though 90% sent to DRA involuntarily (taken by escorts) the remaining 10% willingly came interested in attending DRA after it's website and videos pulled at their heartstrings. Little did they know they were in for a nasty surprise. This just pulls pushes my buttons really, really bad as I got into this industry under similar circumstances.
When I first posted about DRA, I thought the fine arts and sports they played against other schools were a hoax done for marketing purposes. As I digged in deeper I found out that only half of this was true, however it's not what you'd expect. Let's face it, the environment of DRA doesn't make this possible. If DRA isolates children in the middle of nowhere and doesn't allow them to leave the campus, how would they be able to compete against other schools in southern Utah?
It just so happens the sports they claim to offer are mere intramural teams, the jerseys offered by DRA is to make them look legit. Contrary to what they claim on their website, none of the sports they offer are open to everyone. According to a public group on Facebook I survived Diamond Ranch Academy, students were assigned to different teams sort of like a draft. In other words, if you were favored by staff you would be placed on either the football team, volleyball team, or cheer squad. By the looks of it only happened to a handful of students while the rest got nothing, and instead used to football field for grueling exercises in blazing desert heat. Based on some of the difficulties that they went through prior to DRA, it's sounds sick.
What's really sad, is that education consultants are still handing out referrals to this facility ignoring the danger it poses to children because they bought into it hook line and sinker. In fact ASTART has found that education consultants intentionally ignore all the warning signs since many of them have previously worked in similar programs or currently own other facilities.
Don't get fooled into their fancy website because it's not what you think. The claims of a "prestigious therapeutic boarding school" with rigorous academics, nurturing environment, and interscholastic sports completely contradict what most alumni are claiming (those without stockholm syndrome). In fact the truth is the exact opposite goes on in this so-called "Premiere" residential treatment center. Students and parents who've come to terms of what really happened posted their testimonies at http://drasurvivors.com/.Even though 90% sent to DRA involuntarily (taken by escorts) the remaining 10% willingly came interested in attending DRA after it's website and videos pulled at their heartstrings. Little did they know they were in for a nasty surprise. This just pulls pushes my buttons really, really bad as I got into this industry under similar circumstances.
When I first posted about DRA, I thought the fine arts and sports they played against other schools were a hoax done for marketing purposes. As I digged in deeper I found out that only half of this was true, however it's not what you'd expect. Let's face it, the environment of DRA doesn't make this possible. If DRA isolates children in the middle of nowhere and doesn't allow them to leave the campus, how would they be able to compete against other schools in southern Utah?
It just so happens the sports they claim to offer are mere intramural teams, the jerseys offered by DRA is to make them look legit. Contrary to what they claim on their website, none of the sports they offer are open to everyone. According to a public group on Facebook I survived Diamond Ranch Academy, students were assigned to different teams sort of like a draft. In other words, if you were favored by staff you would be placed on either the football team, volleyball team, or cheer squad. By the looks of it only happened to a handful of students while the rest got nothing, and instead used to football field for grueling exercises in blazing desert heat. Based on some of the difficulties that they went through prior to DRA, it's sounds sick.
What's really sad, is that education consultants are still handing out referrals to this facility ignoring the danger it poses to children because they bought into it hook line and sinker. In fact ASTART has found that education consultants intentionally ignore all the warning signs since many of them have previously worked in similar programs or currently own other facilities.
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