If a resident did not earn at least 10,000 points in a day, they were forbidden from speaking to anybody and were forced to complete worksheets and write essays. However, the year our daughter spent at Eva Carlston Academy was significantly damaging and profoundly and negatively impactful to her. 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. If you have laundry chore then you start laundry. yay!! There was no follow up with our parents after therapy appointments so they had no clue about our medical/mental health. All Eva Carlston families participate with their daughter in weekly family-therapy sessions. there were several times I came back from a homevisit with money and they said they would send it back to my parents and when i asked my parents if it got back to them they said no it was never sent. I hope other members might be able to suggest something that may help your daughter. As someone who actually lived here, ECA is NOT the haven these reviews paint it to be. it seems that ECA only exacerbated, or created those issues for many students. Catherine (Google Reviews), April 2020: (SURVIVOR) I find it fitting that all the 5 star ratings are from parents. When I say this place was a nightmareit was a motherfucking nightmare on steroids. After I got my parents to come visit me for 3 days after not seeing them for 5 months. I am very interested in arts and culture in Salt Lake City, and work . Read the violation reports and inspections for Utah's 'troubled-teen The girls are punished for complaining and rewarded for reporting other students' infractions. The students you spoke to were the 'good' students (i.e. Makes sense that parents would appreciate the company that relieved them of 12-18 months of parenting responsibilities. Eva Carlston Academy does not accept transgender residents. well this place was a fucking nightmare from day one. I was taking a longer time that was normal for me and the girl said let me see and snatched my paper and then our interaction ended in -2,000 points because I was taking too long. However, I doubt anyone there currently will tell you the truth because you get in trouble for doing so. Eventually she ran to the restroom and urinated in her pants on the way because she had to go so badly. 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. for all chores we had every single room white glove tested and if it wasnt clean goes what!!! 338. A handful of family teachers were abusive and used shame and humiliation in addition to an extreme focus on negative consequences. There was a significant focus on negative consequences where punishment was the cornerstone; this is not the type of program a depressed and anxious child should be subjected to. They suffer from severe PTSD, drug use, depression and eating disorders from the abuse at the hands of Eva Carlston. As survivors of these institutions continue to speak out, the movement toward reforming them is growing ever stronger. this place is psychotic. also with girls there with severe eating disorders, they need the proper food intake. They are underfed or sometimes force fed to the point of nausea. it was never an appropriate time to express any emotion that wasnt submissive obedience., Residents are given 20 minutes to wake up, make their bed, have all 4 roommates get dressed, get cleaning supplies to Windex mirror, Clorox toilet, sweep/mop floor, Clorox spray sinks, take out trash, have someone check it off to make sure it is acceptable, Residents are given 10 minutes to eat breakfast. I speak from my own experience and as someone in college studying psychology. The Parent Coaches are highly trained and experienced treatment providers that develop customized parenting plans. They will lie to you until your daughter is there, youve signed over her rights and then you cannot do anything. We are to young to be doing all of this. This process helps them develop and maintain healthy relational skills that will transfer to life after treatment. 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. I also had to do that with my other sexual assaults, and that was not therapeutic in any sense, she says. A handful of family teachers were abusive and used shame and humiliation in addition to an extreme focus on negative consequences. 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. Girls are not allowed to speak about anything relating to struggles or injustices ever. Based on our family's experience, our educational consultant says she will no longer refer families to this . so I have severe ADHD. 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. going into eva, I had a very normal diet. It is not treatment to be mocked, and berated by staff. Whether or not the Troubled Teen Industry can be reformed and remodeled to get to a good place, is a different question. Eva Carlston Academy - Home | Facebook is the Founder and Executive Director of Eva Carlston Academy. Our dedicated staff ensures our urban-living spaces are safe, secure, and supportive. She also alleged that she had to partake in intense manual labor, and at one point was required to sit up for three days no lying down was allowed. The nutritional habits they instill are extreme and even opposite of what nutritionists advise. It also helps that some claim to be religion-based, and a lot of states do not require religious programs to be licensed, which means theres no documentation of them at all, says Jenna Bulis, an activist and survivor of the Troubled Teen Industry. I actually continue to have nightmares and anxiety specifically from my experience at Eva Carlston. Our daughter lost 15 pounds in the first four months of her time there and she reported feeling extreme hunger every day. The staff are inconsistent yet girls are punished if they dont adhere to all the staffs expectations. Corrie Norman is the current Academic Director of Eva Carlston. The staff treats the girls abusively with extreme amounts of intimidation. We've waited too long to take action, and now is the time.. Certain staff were very disrespectful but we couldnt speak up about it because we would get in trouble if we did. I remember I had terrible eczema while I was there (due to high stress). Some staff would threaten us with the causes of getting in trouble if we didnt do something they wanted us too. Her anxiety was exacerbated by the negativity and shaming messages inherent to the ECA program. L.M. We are now college students and are working on an article about how platforms like this subreddit and #BreakingCodeSilence are impacting how survivors, their parents, program staff, and the general public understands the TTI. Voice Acting Jobs, Employment in Sheridan, UT | Indeed.com 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. Find your place. All residents are fed a highly low-fat diet with strict portion control. When I say this place was a nightmareit was a motherfucking nightmare on steroids. Girls are not allowed to leave the house unless they are awarded to, which happens rarely, and they are never allowed to be without the abusive staff. I am 25 now and this place still causes me extreme emotional distress. This place will steal your soul. , Eva Carlston Academys website has been carefully designed to depict their residential treatment center as a caring and nurturing environment where teenage girls can feel physically and emotionally safe enough to process and recover from trauma and mental illness. I am now almost 22 and still dealing with the after effects of this program. to earn your privileges, (dessert, listening to music, socialize, watch tv, having free time) so if you didnt have your privs, you have to do SODAs. I was in extreme pain for a week or two. The only part of this program that was helpful was the individual therapy. Rayburn claims that during one of these interventions she was forced to drink a 33-gram protein shake every few hours during the day, and then three more at night. They locked it in a closet and never let me use it. Eva Carlston Academy Reviews in Salt Lake City, UT | Glassdoor Our psychosocial and therapeutic groups are designed specifically for the needs of adolescent girls, and cover the following topics: Traditionally, adolescent females have been placed in addiction programs designed for delinquent boys. Basically they said we only had to eat 3 meals but then made us eat 6. We are committed to helping girls . Eva Carlston Academy Reviews Warning Signs That Your Teen is Struggling 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. The staffs job is to keep us safe, and emotional safety is just as important as physical safety, especially in a mental health program. All family members are encouraged to take responsibility for their role in familial problems as well as their resolution. Eva Carlston Academy | LinkedIn Eva Carlston Academy is a provider established in Salt Lake City, Utah operating as a Residential Treatment Facility, Emotionally Disturbed Children. We utilize a wide-range of clinically validated interventions to help students try new activities, develop new skills, get involved in their community, and increase problem-solving skills and independence. Recently, Danielle Bregoli, better known as rapper Bhad Bhabie, spoke about the abusive treatment she says she received at Turn-About Ranch in Escalante, UT, where she was sent following her viral Dr. Phil appearance. The program is located at 4943 Wasatch Blvd, Salt Lake City, UT 84124. only I truly know my way of learning. Rae*, 21, attended a behavioral health residential facility in Spring Valley, AZ from 2016 to 2017, and says she had been brainwashed to think the program had saved her. No matter how girls who were there behaved, they left with regrets. If you are thinking of sending your child to a residential treatment facility, please head to BreakingCodeSilence.org/professional-resource-links for a comprehensive list of evidence-based therapy programs and warning signs you should be on the lookout for as you search for treatment. so yeah. Each year, its estimated that 50,000 kids are forced into residential treatment programs against their will, either placed there through foster care, the Department of Education, mental health services, or by their own parents, according to Breaking Code Silence, an initiative organized by survivors and activists to raise awareness of the Troubled Teen Industry. 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. When I would sleep, I would scratch my skin to the point where it was bleeding and I had scars on my back. okay. However, as of 2021, it appears that ECA is no longer a member of this organization. They suffer from severe PTSD, drug use, depression and eating disorders from the abuse at the hands of Eva Carlston. I tried to refuse to take away points or participate in the discipline, but they made it a necessary part of the job. Rick Jackson worked as a Psychiatrist at Eva Carlston. 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. mental health!!! My stomach was constantly grumbling and I lost maybe 15 pounds while I was there. Eva Carlston tells Refinery29 that they are a fully licensed facility that actively cooperates with state licensing and regulatory boards to ensure its compliance with best practices. Spring Ridge Academy did not respond to Refinery29s request for comment about their accreditations, although on their website they say, We address issues through the utilization of a thorough, multi-faceted therapeutic program.