I really appreciate it! It has been, whew, demoralizing.

I can’t believe how much dumber I am for reading through the replies to your thoughtful and nuanced comment. Thank you for your patience in the face of people being completely out of pocket not only about your personal experience but clinical expertise. You made a very clear distinction in your original comment about…

Dunno why Utah, probably historical legal differences? The one I went to was primarily based out of Georgia though, with multiple settings. My boarding school was in New Hampshire, and the other places I’ve worked have all been New York and the northeast. Shrug.

Do you mean what Hilton experienced? No question, horrible abuse and we should listen to her about it.

Truly, thank you.

a lot of people agreed with what I had to say

However, when people say something “saved their life” I’m always a bit dubious.

The way of knowing, is them telling you. This is what saved my life.

There is no way to measure what didn’t happen.

It may not have been your intention to invalidate Veit’s experiences by saying that we don’t know what would have happened, but that’s absolutely how it comes off. Of course, none of us can see the future, but we all use language like that all the time. Pointing out that other outcomes were possible is either…

I read most of this thread and I appreciate your insight, experience, and sharing of some deeply personal issues.

It was frustrating watching others jump on you, ignore the majority of the points you were trying to make, take others out of context, and just generally trying to steamroll your experiences.

Know that…

I do plenty of that, somewhat downthread. I mean, talking about strategies that work but don’t enable abuse and trauma is pretty much as straightforward as “a wide variety of evidence-based practices that don’t hurt, frighten or unnecessarily restrict the child.”

When someone says “it saved their life” they probably mean it.

There is a LOT going on here that is incorrect. I was not sent away from all independent oversight. I had my educational consultant keeping an eye, and I spoke regularly with my parents, and they visited me there every eight-ish weeks until I could start earning visits home. Otherwise, it was like school and therapy.…

I’ve only been to and worked in six different residential settings so I can only speak to the people I’ve known in those six settings, but I’ve never known someone in residential treatment, whether they be direct care, clinical, administrative, who would ever apply to be a prison guard. There are definitely abusive…

I so appreciate you sharing your story. Thank you. I'm glad it saved your life. 💗

I just want to say as an outsider that has never been in any kind of therapeutic treatment, you’ve been very rude and inappropriate in this conversation. All Veit has said from the beginning is that residential treatment can be done well and isn’t always abusive and that they know from personal experience. You’ve…

Good question! I can only speak to my personal experiences and my understanding of the theory, but feel free to ask any questions you have. Probe away, if you’re curious!

Well, for one thing, I don’t know of any setting that hires even metaphorical “guards.” These places have more in common with hospitals and boarding schools than jails. The school I went to didn’t even have walls or fences or locks, except on bathrooms and staff personal areas. When someone elopes from every…

I think you are making your points nicely. Your personal experience was an ultimately positive one but you recognize that is not universal. However, you are concerned that people will throw the baby out with the bathwater and that the solution is better regulation and oversight of all such sites rather than a complete…