Wilderness Therapy? 
Uh, would that be something along the lines of taking violent offenders and/or the criminally insane and dropping their asses off in the middle of a remote wilderness area butt-ass naked with zero tools or supplies? Transport them by helicopter, blindfolded, in the middle of winter. If they make it back to civilization, they are free. ā¦ I like it. Sounds fair to me. Or, uh, am I way off base with that guess?
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I would be fine if someone did that to me even if Iām not a criminal.
As Iāve gotten older, I have really started to dislike people in general. I am more comfortable in the boondocks than I am around crowds. I often go on minimalist excursions just to get away from people.
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Safe to say weāre not talking about the same thing. The ones Iām talking about are part of the poorly regulated and huge troubled teen industry. Utah in particular has embraced it. They have the ābreak you down to build you back upā mind set. The goal is to break you. The people who run them have few qualifications to do so. Thereās often little to no medical care, including for mental health. Everyone is considered a liar who is faking any medical problems. Survivors have formed a lobby trying to at least get them to have more oversight. It appears to be an uphill battle.
That does pretty much describe some of the programs. Only picture scared troubled and/or mentally ill young teens with sadistic ācounselorsā who can do what they want because theyāre 100 miles from anywhere.
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Eekā¦ Yeah, Iāve heard of those. Have to say Iām not a fan of that for troubled teens. Big difference, in my opinion, between troubled teens and hardened violent criminals/pedophiles. Although, it sounds like some of those ācounsellorsā you described could be potential candidates for MY variety of Wilderness Training. 
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Actually, Iām with you on that. Iām not much of a social person either. Other than my close family and friends, people in general annoy the piss out of me most of the time. Wouldnāt bother me at all to live away from the general public. Although, I would personally have to object to being dropped off naked in the middle of winter, blindfolded with no provisions. 
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They wouldnāt have wanted to do that to me when I was a kid. I would have set up booby traps, LOL
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I put one of my kids through a 21 day Outward Bound trip when she was about 13. It made a big difference in her lifeā¦for the better.
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Uh, how about naked in the middle of summer,
wearing Foster Grants, and packing beef jerky and a couple of Butterfingers?
.
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Edit (itās just my nature)
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From your tin lips to godās non existent ear.
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I agree. There is a difference between an outward bound trip for a kid . . . and using the wilderness for isolation and psychological torture to break a child psychologically.
The ābreak you down to build you back upā routine has more to do with Stockholm Syndrome than honest discipline.
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I referred several kids to that program, with positive responses. I also used a program in Big Bear, CA. I donāt remember its name. It was really expensive and used by rich families in Newport Beach, CA. Kids were constantly running away. Big Bear City was only three miles away. The highway was just a half mile away. Regardless of the program, keeping angry and oppositional kids on the site was not an easy goal.
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Actually sounds pretty good. But, of course, it depends on what type of beef jerky.
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Actually, that ābreak down/build upā is a (necessary) routine more for grown adults who VOLUNTEER for the military. It is NOT the best way to handle disturbed and mentally challenged teens. (Again, just my opinion.)
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Agree 100%. Itās difficult for me to even discuss such things without getting angry.
My parents always threatened to have me āput awayā in a home because of my autism. The belief is that if Iām smart enough to graduate school, then Iām smart enough to know how to not be autistic, so Iām autistic on purpose.
They were angry because they sent me to things like this, and when my autism wasnāt fixed, itās because I didnāt try harder to get better.
Like an addict who keeps relapsing after being sent to rehab a bunch of times.
The courts found that Jeffrey Dahmer was sane; after that I assume everyone will be.
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Geez, what a horrible thing to say to a kid. If itās any consultation at all, they likely just didnāt understand you werenāt deliberately trying to thwart them and were frustrated. The ignorance defense.
The 7 year old son JJ that Lori murdered was autistic. Another fine example of parenting. He was probably just in the way of her āmissionā to lead godās chosen during the end times. Her daughter Tylee was 16 and likely just knew too much.
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Thank you for the validation, and I agree with you that the 16 year old probably knew too much.
Iāve started to become more and more disgusted with people as Iāve gotten older.
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Hahahaā¦sorry, but that was like you had strolled through my head for a secondā¦
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The problem is, the older you get, the more intelligent you become. You are one of the rare breed who had continued learning. Evidenced by the fact that you have joined us here. Remember 50% of the population think they are smarter than the average. LOL
Thatās a bell-shaped curve joke.
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