the whole ass welcome comity was there and made it looked perfect. She came home with an eating disorder, worse anxiety than she had going in, and suffers PTSD to this day from Eva. I encourage everyone who is considering sending their daughter to ECA to read these negative and exposing reviews that are buried under the many success stories that the academy advertises. Both women claim that they were punished for their attempted escapes. She heard what happened through a counselors walkie-talkie. 262 Likes, TikTok video from HausofMeow (@catlovescats95): "The High Frontier School was shut down after decades of abuse, neglect and seggsual assault on the minors that were there to be helped. There was and is a girl there that has put other people in danger over and over again wether that be throwing windex at someones head. Your readers and viewers can hear directly from some of our students and parents by visiting our Spring Ridge Academy YouTube Channel., Neither Rae nor Hubbells stories are outliers many former residents of Troubled Teen programs report similar experiences with questionable therapy techniques, some of which are reminiscent of Synanons The Game. Her therapist was speaking, breaking all confidentiality, telling her all these things that her trauma wasn't real, that she's faking everything. We are part of the mental health profession providing support for children, teens, and young adults struggling with a wide range of emotional and behavioral issues., Refinery29 also obtained a copy of a cease-and-desist notice that Eva Carlston sent Kyra, demanding that she stop posting about her experience on TikTok. ", My ridiculous plan was to jump off the balcony and injure myself so I could go to the hospital and get out of there. at eva when we went to costco (i only got to go once my whole stay), we got food with serving sizes that ranged from 10-13. we had 13 teenage girls and 3 staff at the house I was at. Eva Carlston Academy was the best thing that happened to our daughter and our family. Clean your own fuckin house, get some maids, you have the fuckin money. Usually they are busy and dont respond right away so you have to wait. She was supposed to attend for 12 months, however after 4 months spent at this facility we saw how it significantly impacted her in a negative and damaging way, so we decided to remove her from the program. going into eva, I had a very normal diet. One day a girl had asked several times to use the restroom but was denied. I got in severe trouble and was forced to sit in the basement every night for weeks writing essays about what I did wrong. There are many more examples but I hope this movement keeps happening where other girls and parents speak up about the real truth. , Hi, Im previous staff at this institution. I have seen many girls, including myself, graduate and very quickly relapse into old, or even new and more severe, behaviors. I strongly regret sending my daughter to this facility and am emotionally distraught as I watch my daughter continue to be traumatized by this center. Tara (Google Reviews), September 2020: (PARENT) Our daughter was a resident at Eva Carlston Academy. These are just a few examples of what happened to me while I was there. It is not treatment to be mocked, and berated by staff. Is there any way I can talk privately with you? My last night before my parents picked me up I went out of instructional control which means i got 50,000 negatives for not doing something they asked of me for once. so the girl got on focus because on her visit she and her dad lost each other. The information you seek constitutes protected health information, which Eva Carlston will not divulge, even if it deprives Eva Carlston of its ability to fully address, let alone deny, these specific accusations.. We were stuck in the house every single day expect for maybe a couple hours on saturday and like an hour on friday. But dont let their advertising fool you its not. also I would never ever be the person I am right now if I didnt persevere through all of that bullshit. , promiscuity, or substance abuse. well this place was a fucking nightmare from day one. If you ever disagreed with a consequence you were asked to wait 10-15 minutes to disagree appropriately. You must start with a statement like I understand, give an empathy statement, re- state what they said to you, and then accept their decision. my first out was going to a hockey game which was the most fun one I ever went to. I went to this residential treatment center for adolescent girls called Eva Carlston and if you dont want to read the rest of this post just DONT EVEN THINK ABOUT GOING THERE! I dont. Eva Carlston Academy is a #finearts based residential treatment program for girls. you earn a -2,000 points. Our daughter experienced heightened anxiety due to the intense scrutiny and struggled with the constant fear of earning negative consequences. I often cried myself to sleep at night out of fear. This program appears to be terrific but our daughter came out of the program deeply traumatized. one, DO NOT SEND YOUR CHILD HERE. all roommates must change and one must get in the shower before school for 5 or less minutes, If you have vacuum chores you must vacuum both staircases and rugs in dining rooms, If you have laundry chore then you switch laundry, If you have meal clean up you do the same chores above after breakfast however, there are more items to clean, group therapy (must participate or negative points), break, eat snack, if you do not have privileges then you need to be doing therapy work or no priv work and not talk to anyone or else consequence, If you have vacuum chores, vacuum both rugs, total up point cards (add positive and subtract negatives, if total is miscalculated you get -2000 points), journal, chores to be completed in 15-20 min where it would take a normal person around 45-60 minutes, have it checked off by time limit or else consequence, dinner (- points if napkin is not on lap, interrupting, laughing too loud, not talking enough, etc), free time (privs = go to basement if staff can take you or be in school room doing no priv work in silence), medications (must be silent or doing no priv work), family meeting in basement (legs must be flat on the couch feet must be on floor, no interrupting, no looking distracted, no inappropriate feedback or else negative points), quiet time (must be silent or -5000 points), calling for Utah CPS to investigate Eva Carlston Academy for abuse. But its so emotionally abusive. so first, -2000 points, then an additional -5000, then -10000, then -50000. it was horrible. Dont send your kid here please. Lucia (Google Reviews), 1/1/2021: (SURVIVOR) Nightmares and panic attacks are commonplace among my friends after having left. If you do not have enough points on your cards at the end of the night you are not given your night snack. They said we didnt have to eat all of our food but when we didnt we got in trouble and sat there until we did because otherwise we couldnt do anything. When I say this place was a nightmareit was a motherfucking nightmare on steroids. Press J to jump to the feed. All the girls felt in danger and the owner. a teenager doesnt want to go to a symphony or art gallery, let alone a teenager that is in a fucking treatment center. Our addictions treatment emphasizes the importance of relationships to young women and the need for both assertiveness skills and female health education. My best friend and this girl they were roommates and my best friend walked in and the girl was hanging herself by the chandelier, she says. Though many of the schools in this story are still operating and still accepting hundreds of teens into their programs each year scrutiny of them has increased dramatically, as has attendant legislation. Girls received consequences for crying or expressing their emotions. My ridiculous plan was to jump off the balcony and injure myself so I could go to the hospital and get out of there. But, copycat programs have now proliferated across the country, negatively impacting a whole new generation of teens. okay so drum roll please, the Skills Card. ah yes. Thank you for loving your daughter enough to see the harm, to believe her, and to stand up for her. When we originally researched the facility we believed the intention of the program was to give girls an intimate sense of home as well as access to the cultural resources and opportunities of a large city. Eva Carlston Academy. During a typical hot seat session at Eva Carlston, Kyra says, one person gets up in front of the entire group and we all go around and tell them what is wrong with them. When I first got there, there were groups held to basically bash a girl who was not ready to do her work. To avoid punishment, our child gave us inaccurate descriptions of how she was feeling. Sydney Haga currently works as a Therapist at Eva Carlston Academy. If its such an ineffective and emotionally damaging program, why do so many reviewers praise it? Self care resets our minds and makes us efficient, happy, and productive people. Many of these places have been closed for years now, after having faced legal battles and federal investigations; it was even determined that The Seed had used methods similar to the highly refined brainwashing techniques employed by the North Koreans, according to a study commissioned by the United States Congress in 1974, called Individual rights and the federal role in behavior modification. Once, when she was nearly faint for lack of food, she begged staff for a snack the Family Teacher on shift gave her 3 Wheat Thins to assuage her hunger. In 2005, she began working as a Therapist at Uinta Academy. work that could easily be paid for) at This is The Place (Kristi Ragsdales rich friends wedding venue.) However, the year our daughter spent at Eva Carlston Academy was significantly damaging and profoundly and negatively impactful to her. then I told my therapist I was experiencing these things and she gave me the same look everyone else was giving me. Do NOT send her here. In fact, if you refuse to eat or take too much food, you can be punished. Apply to Mentor and more! they were ridiculous with their cleaning standards white glove test, cleaning the whole house with bleach every day, even multiple times a day, plus a deep clean once a week. If a girl is underweight, they dont allow her to eat more food, they force her to drink ensures while shes crying. I am 25 now and this place still causes me extreme emotional distress. You must accept it even if you strongly disagree. Having the staff members look over your shoulder and either give you consequences or shame you for having slightly too much rice on your plate, or forcing you to eat something that makes you sick was not, um, pleasant, she says. It occurred, Rayburn says, in the basement of Eva Carlston. no Privs for you! Believe it or not there was a lot I couldnt even cover because Im typing on an LG tablet and the autocorrect is driving me too crazy to go back and edit and add more for now . All residents are fed a highly low-fat diet with strict portion control. They know that there's proof on these cards and on these staff notes of abuse, Rayburn says. We got phone calls with our parents for 15 minutes and if we went over they would grab the phone from our hands wether or not we said goodbye. I have gotten in trouble for having a panic attack when I should have been doing chores. This led to severe emotional harm as I was restricted in telling my parents what I was experiencing and was manipulated to hold it in. They are given a very short amount of time to eat the food given, which often times causes them to vomit due to this added stress; again this results in another negative consequence. The description of the petition reads, Girls under 18 and younger are signed away to Eva Carlston Academy, a residential treatment center that supposedly helps girls with addiction, eating disorders, depression, mood disorders and other mental health or behavioral issues. ECA states that they treat girls with a history of the following: Depression, Anxiety, Defiance & behavioral issues, ADHD, Learning issues, Emerging personality disorders, Self-harm, Addictions, Eating disorders, Suicidal ideation, Substance abuse, Autism spectrum disorder, Bipolar Disorder, Trauma, Low self esteem, Adoption and attachment issues, Emotional, physical, and sexual abuse, among others. Save your daughter the trauma of going here. Points are deducted for the smallest, most minor transgressions like leaving a pair of shoes out or having a corner of your bed spread poking out. Constant anxiety. The girls who spoke out against the program regretted doing so because it lengthened their stay and lead to shaming and being ostracized, while girls who cooperated felt like they lost themselves because they werent speaking their truth. But staff wouldnt let me have it. Specific clinical approaches and modalities are described below. I wasn't allowed to go to the bathroom and I peed my pants and then was punished with 50,000 negative points with NO POSITIVE CORRECTION. They were so desperate for food, and part of punishment involved not receiving snacks/additional food. When I was there, there were several suicide attempts, she says. I encourage everyone who is considering sending their daughter to ECA to read these negative and exposing reviews that are buried under the many success stories that the academy advertises. We were told to just say Okay and sit there like a fucking dog. Nothing from our visit with the students alerted us to the possibility of harm coming to our child. Eva Carlston treats mental health like a gardener treats a dandelion/weed. Indicators of Abuse; Safe TTI Facilities; Advocacy Organizations; FOR PROFESSIONALS. The only part of this program that was helpful was the individual therapy. The staff make girls work out every day, yet dont feed us enough food. . It's so important that these reviews are seen by parents and caregivers who are considering residential treatment and are willing to do the research, I hope you also leave reviews elsewhere, this issue needs as much attention as possible to prevent further harm. As someone who actually lived here, ECA is NOT the haven these reviews paint it to be. Apply to Mental Health Therapist, Family Service Counselor, Nurse Practitioner and more! This system has been used in many confirmedly abusive programs, including the notoriously abusive. All incoming and outgoing mail is reportedly monitored and censored by staff. It wasnt until she heard other peoples testimonies about their experiences that she realized what shed endured was abuse. After a year of learning to ignore hunger signals, our daughter, once a healthy eater of normal weight, left the program with disordered eating. The only time we can speak up is in a group but if we speak up to much then we would probably get in way more trouble and if we spoke up about a certain staff in a group that was it, you were in serious shit. All of the contact that girls have with the outside world, including with their families, are monitored by staff and therapists, so the girls do not have the opportunity to be honest with parents about what is really happening to them at ECA until after theyve been discharged. Eva Carlston is committed to maintaining an environment of respect and inclusion as our students work through their own understanding, identity, and self-advocacy. They didnt allow me to take any pain meds or even Advil! We ate like fucking rabbits because if you overdid your portion sizes you would get a big fat CONSEQUENCE. Every day I counted my card every 5 minutes and brainstormed constantly about how I was going to make enough points for the day so I could eat an extra 100 calories or so after dinner and chat nervously with my friends. Ive also spoken to licensed therapists and they all agreed that the system they use is ineffective. Snacks are given based upon your daily score card results and often leads to girls going to bed hungry and being malnourished due to the lack of food. I have seen girls ask staff for emotional support and be rejected, being told that there were more important things for the student to do. The only time we can speak up is in a group but if we speak up to much then we would probably get in way more trouble and if we spoke up about a certain staff in a group that was it, you were in serious shit. We recognize that problems dont occur in a bubble, and the family is critical to the long-term success of our students. I only lasted about a month because of how absolutely awful it was. We are to young to be doing all of this. going into eva, I had a very normal diet. A handful of family teachers were abusive and used shame and humiliation in addition to an extreme focus on negative consequences. If we did not eat everything on our plates we were given a severe negative consequence. They suffer from severe PTSD, drug use, depression and eating disorders from the abuse at the hands of Eva Carlston. SODAs stand for situation, options, disadvantages, advantages. so when you get there, youre on the daily level, its the first level of four. the first night at Eva I started having persecutory delusions. so I went into Eva with depression, anxiety, ptsd and a tiny bit of substance abuse. Utah's Office of Licensing inspects and regulates each facility, and sometimes finds neglect, child abuse or sexual misconduct. My skin was ruined and bloody and scarred. The school Rae attended is called Spring Ridge Academy and was founded by a woman named Jeannie Courtney, who had reportedly previously worked in some capacity with Cross Creek Manor, a since-shuttered behavior modification program in St. George, UT that has faced a number of lawsuits (some of which are still ongoing) over its alleged mistreatment of students. But, the program used various problematic tactics, such as isolation, sleep deprivation, and manual labor. They will lie to you until your daughter is there, youve signed over her rights and then you cannot do anything. At her last school, we struggled with even getting her to attend and she was not passing most of her classes. The therapists are not good and they dont really know what they are talking about. Eva Carlston Academy Survivors. The substance abuse group provides accurate, fact-based information about the short-term and long-term health effects of substance abuse. We were required to calculate every serving of food we ate and were very restricted with regards to how much we could have and when. Something was just gnawing away at me for years and I could not put my finger on it. I am not against treatment and it is a great tool but ECA drove me further into my mental health issues. experienced mental illness since she was a young girl. This approach requires that all staffespecially the house staff or Youth Mentorsare trained to support a coordinated effort to teach and reinforce positive behaviors and social interactions. After a while I just plugged my ears and tried to sleep and this one staff started singing right next to me and tapping her foot on the wall to try and get a rise out of me so I put a pillow over my head and she left me a lone. One staff member took a picture of my back. and i was sent there for depression and anxiety. Like other behavior-modification programs, Eva Carlston Academy uses a level-system. Please reach out to us at 801-449-0089 . After months of begging, they finally said they would take a picture and send it to my mom. You might wonder why there are so many positive reviews of this place readily available on the Academys website and other places on the internet. But regardless of her struggles, every Eva Carlston student is capable of healing and thriving with the right support. If you accept the attack, its seen as a good thing. if you started crying when they gave you negative points, they would progressively increase the number you got. When deemed appropriate by the treatment team, families are referred to the CORE Parenting Program where they learn strategies and receive support from a personal parenting coach. It was signed into law in April. she then put me on arms because I told her I was a harm to myself and she thought I needed the extra support. The description of the petition reads, Girls under 18 and younger are signed away to Eva Carlston Academy, a residential treatment center that supposedly helps girls with addiction, eating disorders, depression, mood disorders and other mental health or behavioral issues. ECA bases its campus culture, or "milieu", on the "Family Teaching Model" made popular by Boys Town. There was no follow up with our parents after therapy appointments so they had no clue about our medical/mental health. However, this particular implementation of the model is punitive and had a corrosive effect on our daughter. This program appears to be terrific but our daughter came out of the program deeply traumatized. Our bathroom breaks were monitored and you were not allowed to use the restroom until at least one hour after a meal. Eva Carlston Academy is licensed a residential treatment center specializing in helping adolescent girls between the ages of 12-18 who are struggling with difficulties such as trauma, anxiety, and depression. I would never send my child here. They were sneaky with our money too. Girls can be restricted from contacting parents or anyone outside of Eva for months, and cannot talk in private to their parents, so they are not able to disclose their abuse till they have left the facility. This program left our child with deep scars, and she is currently undergoing specialized trauma-focused therapy to process and heal from her experience. Group members will learn to identify their addictive behaviors and thinking errors, and will master techniques to manage triggers. This was horrifying to say the least. There were some therapeutic benefits, but they were by far outweighed by the emotional abuse, intimidation, and extreme conditions. (which was caused by my rape but sparked by large amount of intense anxiety) I experienced them the whole 82 days I was there experienced them and the intensity increased. It was one of the hardest things I've ever had to experience., Another technique Rayburn recalls being used during group therapy sessions at Eva Carlston Academy was called sculpting. A person would get up and they would take several people in the audience to act out certain things in their life, Rayburn says. I continually experience a nightmare where two men come into my room in the middle of the night and kidnap me, Hilton recalls. My name is . Our students may have experienced devastating trauma, clinical depression, loss, anxiety, or personality disorders. I really wonder if any of those teachers have college degrees in the classes they were teaching us let alone college degrees at all. The level system consists of four levels, the first of which is called Daily. When I say this place was a nightmareit was a motherfucking nightmare on steroids. If you are a former resident of such facility in need of support, please head to BreakingCodeSilence.org to check out their survivor resources and advocacy pages. Im an adult now in my mid 20s, doing well in life, and happy, thanks to the years of therapy Ive been through to resolve the trauma and PTSD I gained while at ECA. 878 posts. Once enrolled, girls can expect to . It is not treatment to be penalized for having chipped nail polish. okay. She also spoke at length about her experience in her 2020 documentary, This Is Paris, detailing the ways she says she was emotionally and physically abused by staff members, completely cut off from the outside world, and force-fed mystery medication; when she refused to take it, she would be put into isolation for 20 hours at a time, without clothing and freezing cold. Constantly living in fear. Based on our family's experience, our educational consultant says she will no longer refer families to this program. On face value, this may seem satisfactory, she says. This type of cruel punishment made my anxiety triple. But youre usually about a week or two from graduating at this point anyway so who gives a shit? They also didn't tell me why., When Refinery29 reached out for comment on this matter, Eva Carlston said: Providing the best possible care for teens and families who are struggling is the priority for Eva Carlston, and the vast majority of our clients have a positive experience. That information should be easy to get. The dietary restrictions at ECA are incomprehensible. To avoid punishment, our child gave us inaccurate descriptions of how she was feeling. Based on our family's experience, our educational consultant says she will no longer refer families to this program. You would actually have to have a certification, and anything that's outside the bounds of that will be found as child abuse. The goal for this specific bill and many others is not only for it to pass, but also for other states to be able to replicate it. They said we didnt have to eat all of our food but when we didnt we got in trouble and sat there until we did because otherwise we couldnt do anything. Many of our girls have limited or restricted their involvement in activities because of negative life experiences or emotional and social difficulties. arms is when a staff is key word= SUPPOSED to be arms length away from you at all times. Except Eva Carlston Academy punishes the gardener for months and brainwashes them into thinking the dandelion is a flower instead of a weed. However if no emotion is shown after therapy you are rewarded with positive points. These are just a few examples of what happened to me while I was there. Theyre using their voices and their platforms no matter the size to speak about their experiences past and present. They are given a very short amount of time to eat the food given, which often times causes them to vomit due to this added stress; again this results in another negative consequence. Hi, we are two TTI survivors who were sent to Eva Carlston Academy in Utah and True North wilderness program in Vermont. She was often lightheaded from hunger and unable to focus in class. Together we can make a difference! It is worth noting that many of the positive reviews are from parents, written shortly after their daughters discharge from the program. Its admissions process is highly selective and structured to guarantee that it's the right program for every incoming student. Except Eva Carlston Academy punishes the gardener for months and brainwashes them into thinking the dandelion is a flower instead of a weed. I feel so sad that there are girls who are stuck there for years because they are still considered minors. #fyp. I just want to get this out there because I dont really hear anything bad about ECA on the internet and people need to know the truth before losing months and years of their lives to this traumatizing facility called treatment. But many of our girls have failed to find their place socially and have resorted, instead, to withdrawal or to self-destructive and inauthentic ways of gaining peer approval. What the fuck? u/qwerty1357910 (Reddit), 11/18/2018: (SURVIVOR) if you didnt make enough points in one day (generally either 10,000 or 5,000 depending on level in the program), you had to sit in a silent room working on essays such as the importance of managing anxiety and the importance of accepting no or making what were essential pro and cons lists on dealing with inane situations. It broke my heart to see what you all went through. They only show five-star reviews on the website, and only positive reviews are highlighted in the blurb you see upon searching Eva Carlston Academy. They are punished regularly. If you do this please post about it. She previously worked for various treatment programs. Ill post a shorter version of it again because I think its crucial that people who care about their children know that this place is traumatic, abusive, and does nothing for the well-being of children. my first out was going to a hockey game which was the most fun one I ever went to. I have since learned that the Eva Carlston model was created for treating manipulative, lying girls and I do not know the efficacy of the program for that population. all the doors were locked with codes and the windows had alarms that would go off if ever opened, and more beyond that. She currently still works as the Executive Director of Eva Carlston. I have gotten in trouble for having a panic attack when I should have been doing chores. Teens can struggle with a variety of addictive behaviors including self-harm, disordered eating, over exercising, internet misuse, gambling, unhealthy relationships, etc. Every student is assigned to a licensed psychotherapist who serves as that girls case manager and dedicated therapist. The only part of this program that was helpful was the individual therapy. I started to understand that there was something very wrong with what had happened. (led by survivors/volunteers) #unsilenced #breakingcodesilence. Girls received consequences for crying or expressing their emotions. It was verbally attacking your peers, and if you were doing the attacking you were getting rewarded for it, Rae claims. Being told every single day that doing your best isnt enough and you will never be enough takes a toll. This was supposed to be a safe place, a therapeutic environment. Despite the fact that the program was created to help adolescents with behavioral issues, I was forced to stay for an entire year. Mine is not the only complaint that they have received about ECA. The girls are even given rules about when they are allowed to use the restroom as if they can control when their body needs to be relieved. It broke my heart to see what you all went through. Apply to Mental Health Therapist, Clinical Therapist and more! Some therapists were good but the milieu was profoundly harmful and deeply negative. Many of us would simply go to bed as soon as we were allowed in order to avoid staff confrontation.