TTI Glossary

Treatment Modalities

ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) #

A method of behavior modification that uses rewards and consequences to increase behaviors seen as "appropriate" and reduce those viewed as "problematic." It is most often used on autistic people, especially children. Many survivors and advocates criticize ABA for being coercive, prioritizing compliance over autonomy, and ignoring emotional and sensory needs. A trauma-informed perspective rejects approaches that pathologize natural differences and emphasizes consent, dignity, and respect for neurodiversity.

Used at Judge Rotenberg Center

Attachment therapy #

Also called rebirthing, holding therapy, the Evergreen model

A pseudoscientific mental health intervention that targets fostered or adopted children, falsely claiming their behavioral difficulties stem from "suppressed rage." Its core involves highly coercive and confrontational physical restraint, where children are firmly held or lain upon by adults, often for hours, to provoke intense rage and despair. This deliberate creation of fear and powerlessness is re-traumatizing, fostering obedience based on a trauma bond rather than genuine attachment. This harmful approach contradicts mainstream attachment theory. It has resulted in severe adverse outcomes, including at least six documented child fatalities.

Attack therapy #

A confrontational group practice where people are subjected to intense criticism, pressure, and humiliation to try to break down defenses and force emotional openness. It became popular in some therapeutic communities and large group trainings in the mid-20th century. The approach is now discredited because it often caused harm, including fear, confusion, and lasting emotional distress.

Aversion therapy #

A behavior modification method that pairs unwanted behaviors with pain, discomfort, or fear to try to stop them. Techniques have included electric shocks, nausea-inducing drugs, or other unpleasant stimuli. It has been used in conversion therapy and some residential programs. Major organizations condemn the practice as harmful, unethical, and ineffective, including the American Psychological Association (APA), American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP), Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN), and Disability Rights International (DRI).

Behavior modification #

A set of techniques that apply rewards and punishments to shape behavior. In the TTI, it is often used to control and manage young people's actions through strict point systems and level programs, typically without regard for consent or individual needs.

Behaviorism #

A theory of learning that focuses on observable behaviors, based on the idea that behavior can be shaped through rewards and punishments. In the TTI, behaviorism is often applied in rigid, simplistic ways that prioritize outward compliance over emotional well-being or deeper understanding.

Caseload group #

A small group of students assigned to the same therapist or staff member for regular meetings. Survivors have reported that these groups were often sites where staff routinely violated confidentiality, sharing private information in front of or with peers.

Character building education #

A model of schooling that combines academics with moral or behavioral training, often rooted in early 20th-century reform schools and military-style institutions. It emphasizes discipline, obedience, and conformity as signs of good character. TTI programs later adopted this framing to justify strict rules, harsh discipline, and control, often at the expense of students' safety or real education. Examples: Hyde School, Diamond Ranch Academy, Wolf Creek Academy, Sedona Sky Academy, Teen Challenge, Resolution Ranch, Pine Mountain Boys Academy, Timothy Hill Academy, John Dewey Academy

Christian Milieu Therapy #

A form of milieu therapy where daily routines, discipline, and group life are structured around Christian teachings. Used in programs like New Horizons Youth Ministries to promote obedience and conformity through prayer, scripture, and religious rules. See Discipleship program.

Culture Shock Therapy #

A method developed by Gordon C. Blossom, founder of New Horizons Youth Ministries, in the early 1970s. Teens were sent to foreign or isolated locations with unfamiliar language, customs, and harsh conditions. The goal was to break down resistance by creating disorientation and dependency on the program, not genuine cultural learning.

Used at Escuela Caribe

Equine Therapy #

A therapeutic practice involving caring for or riding horses, intended to build responsibility, trust, and emotional awareness. However, survivors from TTI programs report serious problems, including being given inadequate tools, medication, and training to care for horses. These conditions frequently result in animal injury or death and emotional distress among participants. TTI oversight failures often meant these activities were punitive, risky, and lacked genuine therapeutic support.

Feedback Group #

See Attack therapy

Gestalt therapy #

A psychotherapy approach developed in the 1940s and 1950s by Fritz Perls, Laura Perls, and Paul Goodman. From its origins, it often involved confrontational and emotionally intense methods, including public breakdowns and forced vulnerability in group settings. These practices were framed as ways to promote "authenticity" or "growth." In the Troubled Teen Industry, Gestalt techniques have frequently been used to justify humiliation, forced confessions, and other coercive tactics.

Guided Group Interaction #

A method from the 1950s used in juvenile and "troubled teen" programs where participants are pressured to confront and criticize one another in group settings. Though framed as therapy, it often functioned as attack-style humiliation, relying on peer pressure, forced confessions, and public shaming rather than genuine support.

Large Group Awareness Training (LGAT) #

Mass trainings that claim to promote personal growth through intense, high-pressure group exercises. These programs often use long hours, emotional manipulation, and confrontational tactics to break down participants and enforce compliance. Techniques like forced vulnerability, public confession, and group shaming are common. These trainings provided the backbone for seminars at notorious TTI chains like WWASP and CEDU. Examples of commercial LGATs include: est, Landmark, LifeSpring, PSI Seminars, and Resource Realizations. See Seminar.

Ordeal Therapy #

Listed by Trinity Teen Solutions as one of its treatment modalities: "We frequently will make something an ordeal to impact behavior." See Environment of discomfort.

Used at Trinity Teen Solutions

Positive Peer Culture (PPC) #

A group intervention model developed in the 1960s by Harry Vorrath after he interned at Highfields in New Jersey. Drawing directly from Guided Group Interaction (GGI), PPC reframed peer confrontation as "peer helping" but kept core elements like enforced vulnerability and group accountability. In the Troubled Teen Industry, PPC has often enabled coercion, forced confessions, and public shaming. See Problem vocabulary. TTI programs that promote their use of PPC have included: Minnesota Correctional Facility – Red Wing, Three Springs Inc. (including Three Springs New Beginnings and Auldern Academy), Falcon Ridge Ranch, Heartland Boys Academy, Escuela Caribe, Aurora Center for Healing

Post-induction therapy #

A model created by Pia Mellody that focuses on uncovering and treating so-called "childhood trauma" through exercises aimed at breaking down emotional defenses. It often involves guided imagery, inner-child work, and forced disclosure of painful memories. In the Troubled Teen Industry, this method has been misused to justify coercive practices like forced confessions and public emotional breakdowns. TTI programs using this "therapy" have included: The Meadows Adolescent Center, Spring Ridge Academy, Sedona Sky Academy, Copper Canyon Academy, and Academy at Sisters.

Primal Scream Therapy #

A form of psychotherapy created by Arthur Janov in the late 1960s. It claims that repressed childhood pain can be healed through intense emotional release, often by screaming. Though briefly popular, it's now widely discredited as pseudoscience, with no solid evidence of effectiveness and concerns about emotional harm.

Psychoanalysis #

A therapeutic approach founded by Sigmund Freud that explores unconscious thoughts and childhood experiences to understand behavior. Though influential, it is widely criticized as unscientific and ineffective. In the TTI, programs often force teens to link their struggles to trauma or hidden motives without consent or proper care. This warped use serves control, not healing, and is typically carried out by unqualified staff.

Reality therapy #

A method created by William Glasser in the 1960s that pushes the idea that all distress comes from making "bad choices" and failing to meet basic needs responsibly. It ignores trauma, structural harm, and systemic oppression. In the Troubled Teen Industry (TTI), reality therapy is often used as a tool for control, shaming youth into submission while masking abuse as "help."

Reportedly used at Trinity Teen Solutions Triangle Cross Ranch Stillwater Academy Clearview Girls Academy Utah Boys Ranch

Retroflexive Reformation #

A core concept in Guided Group Interaction (GGI) and Positive Peer Culture (PPC), where youth are forced to police, confront, and manage one another under the guise of "leadership" or "personal growth." In the Troubled Teen Industry, retroflexive reformation is used to create internalized control, shame, and submission. It weaponizes peer relationships, turning teens into enforcers of the program's ideology rather than supporting true healing. There is no legitimate or ethical application of this method.

Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, and Gender Expression Conversion Practices (SOGIECE) #

Coercive practices that target sexual orientation, gender identity, or expression, aiming to force youth to suppress or deny who they are. In the Troubled Teen Industry, conversion efforts are often built into broader programs without being named, using forced confessions, isolation, behavior control, or religious pressure. These practices are always abusive and discredited, regardless of how they are labeled.

Teaching Family Model #

Also called TFM

A behavioral treatment model developed in the late 1960s at the University of Kansas and used at Boys Town. It runs on staff "teaching interactions," point cards, and student "self government." See Card conference, Motivation System.

Used at Uinta Academy

Shared Terms A–Z

Terms documented or reported at more than one program, or in wide use across the industry.

Accepting the program #

Internalizing the belief system of the program, often after Learned helplessness. Programs framed it as the goal: WWASP parent materials called it the "Acceptance Phase." See Manipulation phases.

Reportedly used at Spring Ridge Academy

Area visit #

Also called vicinity visit, off-grounds visit

An off-campus pass where a student may leave with family but must stay in the local area and cannot go home.

Used at Spring Ridge Academy also as "vicinity visit" Academy at Ivy Ridge as "off-grounds visit"

Arm's reach #

A restriction requiring a student to stay within arm's length of staff at all times, usually for new arrivals, runaway risks, or safety concerns. Compare One-on-One, Supervision Levels.

Used at Gateway Academy Aurora Center for Healing Maple Lake Academy Solstice East Spring Ridge Academy on Phase Orange

Bathroom restriction #

Supervised bathroom use, where the student often had to sing, count, or talk the whole time to "prove" they weren't vomiting. Copper Canyon banned bathroom use for 30 minutes after meals. New Haven students on Safety kept the door cracked and counted out loud. Aurora students on lower supervision levels had to "count or say their ABC's out loud."

Used at Copper Canyon Academy New Haven Aurora Center for Healing

Reportedly used at Second Nature

Big Brother / Big Sister #

An older student assigned to a new arrival. At CEDU, the role lasted until the new student completed the Brother's Keeper Propheet. At Spring Ridge Academy, the big sister stayed on until she herself graduated. At Solstice East, she was expected to "cue" the new girl. Compare Buddy System, H.O.P.E. Buddy.

Used at CEDU Spring Ridge Academy Auldern Academy Escuela Caribe Solstice East

Booty Juice #

Slang for chemical restraint, an intramuscular sedative injection (often a Haldol/Ativan/Benadryl mix) given in the buttocks. See Restraint.

Reportedly used at Provo Canyon School WWASP programs

Buddy System #

Assigning a trusted student to escort another student everywhere. Programs used many names for it. Compare Escort, Shadow, Bunk Leader, Bunk Buddy, Beltlooping, PPM.

Used at Spring Ridge Academy

Bust #

A school-wide forced confession, framed as clearing consciences and starting over with "a clean slate." Hyde's 1991 glossary called it "Drano for the Hyde soul." See Taking accountability.

Used at Hyde School Spring Ridge Academy as "I Have a Secret"

Code Silence #

A punishment where a student is not allowed to speak. See On S&S, No talk.

Communication Block #

Also called Communication Restriction, Mute

An order forbidding a student to communicate with specific peers, verbally or non-verbally, including through a third person. Aurora called it "Mute." Compare Bans, On S&S.

Used at Gateway Academy Maple Lake Academy Solstice East Aurora Center for Healing

Contract (CEDU) #

A secret pact between students not to confront or report each other. See Split Contract.

Used at CEDU

Contract (WWASP) #

In seminars, a short personal statement of "who you are," created in Focus, "carved in stone," and recited daily; staff used it to confront behavior. The word also covered written agreements signed before seminars and visits. See On contract, Home Contract.

Used at WWASP programs

Cop out (CEDU) #

Confessing rule-breaking to staff, called a Cop-Out.

Used at CEDU

Cop out (Straight) #

A "copout" was a kid who left the program; parents were told to give copouts no food, shelter, or money.

Used at Straight, Inc.

Deal under the table #

Any agreement a parent made with their child outside the treatment team, like promising a visit or discharge date. Programs threatened to expel families who did it.

Used at Island View Trinity Teen Solutions

Drop #

Being demoted to a lower level or phase.

Reportedly used at Spring Ridge Academy

Escort #

A restriction where an older student accompanies another student at all times. Compare Buddy System, Beltlooping.

Used at CEDU

Essay #

A writing assignment given as punishment, scaled to the offense. Cross Creek essays ran 100 to 2,500 words, Paradise Cove's 200 to 1,000, and Falcon Ridge's up to 5,000. Until finished, students were often confined or excluded. Compare Letter of accountability, Process Paper, Level Thesis.

Used at Cross Creek Manor Paradise Cove Falcon Ridge Ranch Academy at Ivy Ridge Tranquility Bay

Family Rep #

The staff member assigned as a family's point of contact, who read the student's mail, listened in on calls, and kept parents committed. Midwest Academy's Family Rep Handbook describes the job as keeping parents "On Board."

Used at WWASP programs Midwest Academy Thayer Learning Center

Feedback #

A required way of commenting on another person, phrased as "My experience of you is..." Students were told not to "justify, explain, or deny" feedback they received. WWASP taught parents the same phrasing. See Feedback Group.

Used at Spring Ridge Academy WWASP programs Midwest Academy

Fines #

Cash penalties charged per rule violation. Spring Creek's ranged from $0.50 to $50 (for running away or "self inflicted injury"). Paradise Cove charged in Samoan currency. Montana Academy fined students from their allowance per X (see X system).

Used at Spring Creek Lodge Paradise Cove Montana Academy Spring Ridge Academy

Five Foot Rule #

Also called Distance Restriction, 10-foot rule

An order to keep a set distance from another person or group. Maple Lake used it "for girls that can't keep their hands off each other due to attraction." Montana Academy used a 10-foot rule for touching or "inappropriate hugs."

Used at New Haven Maple Lake Academy Solstice East as "Distance Restriction" Montana Academy as "10-foot rule" Three Springs New Beginnings as "10 foot boundary"

Fronting #

Putting on an act rather than being "real"; one of the labels in the Problem vocabulary.

Used at Island View Elevations RTC Three Springs New Beginnings

Functional talk #

A restriction limiting a student to speech about basic needs, like the bathroom, medical needs, or "thank you." It specifically banned asking peers academic or therapeutic questions. Compare Program Only, Unauthorized Communication.

Used at Spring Ridge Academy

General Meeting #

A public confrontation where a student sat at the center of the whole community while peers and staff screamed at them.

Reportedly used at Élan

Giver / Taker #

Labels sorting students into selfless "givers" and selfish "takers," used to shame students who resisted. "Giver vs. Taker" was a listed topic of WWASP's Focus seminar.

Used at WWASP programs

Reportedly used at Spring Ridge Academy

Gooned #

Transported to a program by hired escorts ("goons"), often in the middle of the night and without warning. Programs often recommended the services themselves.

Reportedly used at Spring Ridge Academy

Graduate #

To complete the program; completion is defined by the program, not by independent clinical judgment.

Reportedly used at Spring Ridge Academy

Group punishment #

Punishing a whole group for some members' behavior, often framed as shared responsibility for not stopping it. Examples include Island View's Team Focus, Meridell's Community Rebuild, Woodland Hills' 72-hour shutdown after any AWOL, and Robert Land's rule that "a House, class or Company receives consequences as a group." Compare Group Awards.

Used at Island View Meridell Achievement Center Woodland Hills Academy Robert Land Academy Bloom (Adult & Teen Challenge) Spring Ridge Academy room consequences

Guilt loading #

The program's name for a child's attempts to make parents feel guilty in order to get out. Parents were given lists of "tactics" to dismiss: "horror stories" like "they are not feeding me," "triangulation," "exaggeration," and even "threats" of suicide. See Manipulation phases, Broken record.

Used at Provo Canyon School Island View Aspen Institute for Behavioral Assessment Trinity Teen Solutions Uinta Academy

Home Contract #

Also called Life Contract, Family Code of Ethics, Family relationship covenant

A written contract for life after the program, carrying the program's rules into the home. Midwest Academy's Life Contracts included point systems, violation categories, friends ranked by letter grade, and clauses allowing parents to put the child out. Thayer's was framed and presented at graduation. Compare Exit Plan.

Used at Respect Camp Academy at Ivy Ridge Midwest Academy Thayer Learning Center as "Family Code of Ethics" Bloom (Adult & Teen Challenge) as "family relationship covenant" Falcon Ridge Ranch

Honeymoon period #

The program's term for a new student's first days, before they realize what's expected. Midwest Academy also used it for graduates' first two months home.

Used at Spring Creek Lodge Midwest Academy Uinta Academy

"I feel" statements #

A required speaking format students had to learn and use "consistently," and eventually teach to new students.

Used at Copper Canyon Academy Sedona Sky Academy Gateway Academy

Image / Imagey #

Also called image clothing, worldly clothing

Dress, music, or style associated with a visible subculture, which was banned. CEDU defined image as "the mask (clothing, attitude, style)." ASR banned "imagy" skateboarding and fashion magazines. Christian programs called it "worldly." Compare Subculture.

Used at CEDU WWASP programs Academy at Swift River Pillars of Hope Agapé Boarding School as "worldly clothing"

Reportedly used at Spring Ridge Academy Élan

Impact letter #

A letter from parents listing ways the child's behavior hurt the family, which the child was usually made to read or hear in group or therapy. Each family member might write their own.

Used at Solstice East Re-Creation Retreat

Reportedly used at Second Nature

Iso #

Isolation, confinement alone in a room as punishment. Programs had many names for it. Compare Observation Placement, Quiet room, Seclusion Room, Time Out, MPR.

Reportedly used at Spring Ridge Academy

Junior Staff #

Also called Staff Assistant, Jr. Staff

Upper-level students given staff duties, expected to "stand up to and confront their peers." At Thayer, students had to apply with a résumé, cover letter, and staff recommendations. See Retroflexive Reformation.

Used at Spring Creek Lodge Tranquility Bay Academy at Ivy Ridge Service status Thayer Learning Center

Learning Experience #

Also called LE

An assigned consequence tied to the student's "issues." Elevations' example: a student with low self-esteem had to ask 10 people what they liked about her. At Solstice East, written assignments up to three pages.

Used at Elevations RTC Solstice East

Letter of accountability #

Also called Accountability Letter

A letter to parents taking responsibility for past behavior, required to move out of the first phase. RCR told girls to treat it "as though it is your trash can" and expect to rewrite it several times. Compare Confession letter, Personal inventory.

Used at Sedona Sky Academy Copper Canyon Academy Gateway Academy Solstice East Re-Creation Retreat Meridell Achievement Center

LOA (Leave of Absence) #

A home visit.

Used at Island View Elevations RTC

LOA (Loss of Activity) #

Barred from a fun activity like movie night, doing homework instead, unable to move up.

Used at Spring Ridge Academy

Magical Child #

An inner-child figure students were told to address every night, telling it "who you are" and writing it letters about their lessons.

Used at WWASP programs Spring Ridge Academy

Manipulation phases #

A framework teaching parents that a child's complaints (being starved, treated like a prisoner, seeing rats) were stages of manipulation: Denial, Guilt Trip, Anger, and Negotiation. The goal was the "Acceptance Phase," when the child stops trying to get out. The same director's letter appears nearly word for word across WWASP programs and Thayer. Compare Stages of Student Progress, Guilt loading.

Used at Cross Creek Manor Academy at Ivy Ridge Spring Creek Lodge Academy at Dundee Ranch Paradise Cove Thayer Learning Center

Manipulation Tactics #

Lists given to parents framing ordinary teen behavior, including crying, repeating a request, saying "please," and "demanding reasons for boundaries," as manipulation.

Used at Gateway Academy

Moral inventory #

Also called M.I., Personal inventory, Harms List

A required written self-assessment in 12-step style. Straight's had four parts (Challenge, Good Points, Goals, Blessing) and was reviewed nightly by oldcomers. Sedona Sky and Copper Canyon required a list of "all harm done to self and others" to leave the first phase.

Used at Straight, Inc. Kids Helping Kids (KHK) Sedona Sky Academy Copper Canyon Academy

Motivating #

Frantic arm-waving and bouncing in group to be called on to speak; students who didn't show enough enthusiasm were seen as resisting.

Reportedly used at The Seed

Move up #

To advance to a higher level or phase.

Reportedly used at Spring Ridge Academy

No talk #

A rule banning conversation, such as in the van whenever music was playing. Compare Code Silence.

Used at Moonridge Academy

Norms #

A program's rules, framed as community standards. Respect Camp said rejecting norms meant "rejecting Respect Camp." Three Springs New Beginnings said norms were "not rules" because residents enforced them.

Used at Respect Camp Three Springs New Beginnings

Observation Placement #

Also called Observation Status, Observation Level

Isolation in an "observation room" away from other students. At Spring Creek, staff were told not to discuss "weather, stories, sports"; students ate without utensils, got one five-minute break an hour, and were watched in the bathroom. At Woodland Hills, a level for runaways and self-harm, spent in staff sight at all times. See Iso.

Used at Cross Creek Manor Spring Creek Lodge Paradise Cove Tranquility Bay Woodland Hills Academy

On contract #

Behaving in line with one's "best self" as the program defines it. WWASP students repeated their personal Contract (WWASP) daily, and staff used it "in confronting behavior."

Used at WWASP programs

Reportedly used at Spring Ridge Academy

On S&S (Silence and Separation) #

A punishment used when students were deemed "not using relationships to support one another." A student could be cut off from specific peers, a phase, or the whole community, limited to Functional talk. See Code Silence.

Used at Spring Ridge Academy

One-on-One #

Also called Orange shirt

A safety watch. At Spring Ridge Academy, the student wore an orange shirt, stayed within arm's length of staff, was watched in the shower and bathroom, and could be made to sleep on the floor with hands outside the covers. At Falcon Ridge, it meant a "secured area" with staff at arm's length, used for danger to self or for "failure to comply with set consequences."

Used at Spring Ridge Academy Falcon Ridge Ranch Spring Creek Lodge

Points sheet #

Also called point card

A sheet dividing every part of the day into scored blocks, with points for waking up, making the bed, hygiene, meals, clean-up, classes, group, therapy, and bedtime. Daily totals decided privileges and level. Vista's 2009 "Girls' Point Sheet" scored each block from 5 to 50 points, for 295 to 365 possible points a day, with a +10 incentive for journals and goals. Compare Card conference, Merits / Demerits, TLC dollars. See Behavior modification.

Used at Vista Uinta Academy as "point card" Midwest Academy on Life Contracts

Precautions #

Safety statuses (suicide, self-harm, "elopement," aggression, AWOL) that confine a student to the unit under close supervision. At Meridell, patients stayed on precautions until they had "appropriately processed with the group."

Used at Meridell Achievement Center Allendale

Problem vocabulary #

Also called Terminology of Problems

A fixed set of labels residents had to use about themselves and each other, adapted from Positive Peer Culture: "Low Self-Image," "Inconsiderate of Others," "Authority Problem," "Misleads Others," "Easily Misled," "Aggravates Others," "Easily Angered," "Lying," "Fronting." Elevations left family problems off the list so students couldn't "hide behind" them. Escuela Caribe punished these labels with Units of Concern.

Used at Island View Elevations RTC Escuela Caribe

Quiet room #

A room for isolating a student. Compare Iso, Seclusion Room.

Used at Family Foundation School Shodair Children's Hospital Escuela Caribe as "Q.R."

Reflections (Shortridge) #

A "clinical intervention" restriction. See Review.

Used at Shortridge Academy

Reflections (Swift River) #

The lightest of three restriction levels.

Used at Academy at Swift River

Reflections (WWASP) #

A nightly written report on the day's motivational tapes and group, worth up to two-thirds of daily merits.

Used at Academy at Ivy Ridge Spring Creek Lodge Tranquility Bay

Rescuing #

A parent or peer protecting a child from consequences. Falcon Ridge made it a Category II violation. Wingate told parents to "resist the urge to rescue." Compare Red-crossing, Enabling.

Used at Falcon Ridge Ranch Wingate Wilderness Therapy

Restriction #

Confinement to an area or loss of privileges, often with writing or work. At CEDU, a student stayed in one area unless escorted. At Academy at Swift River, color-coded folders: Reflections (blue), Challenges (red), and Self Studies (black, with no free time and "many bans"). Aurora used Mute, Peer, Staff, and Activity Restrictions.

Used at CEDU Academy at Swift River Aurora Center for Healing

Room Leader #

Also called Room Mentor

A student put in charge of a dorm room. At SRA, if she missed a roommate's violation, she got the consequence. At Montana Academy, she gave roommates Xs (see X system).

Used at Spring Ridge Academy Montana Academy

Run plans #

Actual plans to run away, usually with another student; knowing about them without telling staff was itself punishable. At Midwest Academy, saying numbers out loud during a headcount counted. At RCR, storing shoes outside the shoe area counted. See Split Contract.

Used at Midwest Academy Re-Creation Retreat Elevations RTC Academy at Ivy Ridge

Reportedly used at Spring Ridge Academy

Safety #

The most restrictive status, usually for new arrivals or after a safety violation. At Moonridge, no calls or visits. At New Haven, staying within 5 feet of staff, counting aloud in the bathroom, no shoes. Solstice East's Safety Phase could mean sleeping on a mattress in the hall. Compare Community Break, Run Risk.

Used at Moonridge Academy New Haven Solstice East

Seclusion Room #

Also called Time Out Room, Seclusion

A locked room for isolating a student. Provo Canyon's was 10 by 10 feet and empty, used up to 24 hours. Compare Iso, Quiet room.

Used at Provo Canyon School Milwaukee Academy Colorado Division of Youth Services

Seminar #

Also called Training, Propheet, Lifestep, Emotional Growth Seminar

A multi-day emotional intensive built on LGAT techniques like forced disclosure and group breakdowns. See Large Group Awareness Training, Staffing.

Used at CEDU as "Propheet" WWASP programs Academy at Swift River as "Lifestep" Thayer Learning Center Midwest Academy as "Elements"

Reportedly used at Spring Ridge Academy as "Training"

Shadow #

Also called Double Shadow

One or two peers or staff assigned to stay with a student at all times. Compare Buddy System.

Used at Family Foundation School Moonridge Academy

Staff shopping #

Asking a second staff member for a different answer after one said no; a punishable offense.

Used at Falcon Ridge Ranch Woodland Hills Academy Sorenson's Ranch School as "Staff Manipulation" Re-Creation Retreat

Staffing #

Students helping run seminars for newer students; a privilege of higher status.

Used at WWASP programs Midwest Academy Spring Ridge Academy

Stretch #

A required risk outside one's comfort zone, built from a word in the student's personal Contract (WWASP), then reported to the group. "Power of stretching" was a listed Focus seminar topic. Used at: WWASP programs, Spring Ridge Academy

Suicide Watch #

A status where the student slept in front of the night staff and stayed with a supervisor at all times. Maple Lake added scrubs, body searches twice a shift, and a supervisor in the bathroom, and let therapists end it early if it met "secondary gains."

Used at New Haven Maple Lake Academy

Taking accountability #

Admitting wrongdoing in program-approved language, often required whether or not the accusation is true. Compare Accountability Formula, Owning It.

Reportedly used at Spring Ridge Academy

Thinking Errors #

Also called Stinking Thinking, Cover-Ups

Labels used to classify a student's thoughts as distorted, such as "Victim Playing," "Uniqueness," "Being Compliant," "Poor Me," and "Power Play."

Used at Gateway Academy Meridell Achievement Center Three Springs New Beginnings Academy at Swift River as "Cover-Ups"

Time Out #

Separating a student from everyone, sometimes in a corner or a special chair. At Family Foundation School, it could last several days. Compare Mindful Processing, Thinking chair.

Used at Family Foundation School Maple Lake Academy Colorado Division of Youth Services

Transition home #

An on-campus or nearby home where upper-phase students lived before going home, supervised by staff who reported back.

Used at Sedona Sky Academy Paradise Cove

Trend violation #

A consequence for repeating a behavior or piling up minor violations, such as three in seven days at Copper Canyon or 10 demerits in a week at Spring Creek.

Used at Cross Creek Manor Copper Canyon Academy Spring Creek Lodge Paradise Cove Falcon Ridge Ranch

Triangulation (Gateway) #

Talking about someone who isn't present, which was banned.

Used at Gateway Academy

Triangulation (Island View, Trinity, Uinta) #

A form of Guilt loading where a child tells one person something about another ("My therapist told me it's your fault I'm here").

Used at Island View Trinity Teen Solutions Uinta Academy

Upper phase / Lower phase #

Also called Strength / Non-strength

The student hierarchy where upper-phase students earn privileges and authority to monitor and report on lower-phase peers. See Retroflexive Reformation, Lower Status / Upper Status.

Reportedly used at Spring Ridge Academy Élan as "Strength / Non-strength"

Vote up #

Advancing a level by peer vote. At Midwest Academy, peers stood to show support, 75% had to stand, and staff signatures followed.

Used at Academy at Ivy Ridge Midwest Academy Tranquility Bay Escuela Caribe house votes

War Story #

Also called war-storying

Talking about life before the program, especially drugs, sex, or crime; banned as "glorifying" the past.

Used at Academy at Swift River Spring Creek Lodge Academy at Dundee Ranch Midwest Academy Elevations RTC Uinta Academy Re-Creation Retreat Bloom (Adult & Teen Challenge)

Reportedly used at Spring Ridge Academy Second Nature

Warranty #

Also called guarantee, re-admission

A promise to take a graduate back if they struggled at home, often conditioned on the family completing seminars or aftercare. WWASP required Parent-Child workshops "to obtain the WWASP warranty." Thayer offered free return to Basic Training within a year. DRA offered 30 free days.

Used at WWASP programs Midwest Academy Thayer Learning Center Diamond Ranch Academy Whetstone Academy as paid "Alumni Services"

Work Hours #

Also called Work Duty, Work Day, Drudgery, Community Contributions

Assigned manual labor as punishment. See 2-4, Drudgery.

Used at Copper Canyon Academy Sorenson's Ranch School Auldern Academy Shortridge Academy as "Community Contributions" Montana Academy as "Drudgery"

Reportedly used at Spring Ridge Academy

Working / Non-working #

Program shorthand for "healthy" or "unhealthy," applied to students, family members, music, and more. Anything labeled non-working was off-limits. Tranquility Bay warned parents against "non-working patterns where parents rescue their child."

Used at WWASP programs

Reportedly used at Spring Ridge Academy

About the Industry

ACE / PACEs (Accelerated Christian Education / School of Tomorrow) #

A workbook curriculum used by many Christian programs. Students worked alone at partitioned desks through booklets called PACEs, set daily goals on a "goal card," raised a flag for help, and graded their own work at a "score station." ACE's distance arm, Lighthouse Christian Academy, issued diplomas to students at these programs.

Used at Agapé Boarding School Academy at Ivy Ridge as Switched-On Schoolhouse

Adjudicated program #

A TTI facility that only accepts court-ordered clients through the juvenile justice system.

Adult & Teen Challenge (formerly Teen Challenge) #

A national Christian "discipleship" network running residential programs for teens and adults, affiliated with the Assemblies of God. See Discipleship program, Religious exemption.

Confidentiality clause #

A contract term binding the child and parents to keep the program's "Confidential Information" secret, including "details of training methods," with the family paying the program's legal fees to enforce it. Compare Protection of Community Image.

Used at Diamond Ranch Academy

Covenant school #

WWASP's name for a partner US program where a student had to qualify before transferring abroad, and where they were sent if they "chose out."

Used at WWASP programs Carolina Springs Academy, Pillars of Hope

EdCon (Educational Consultant) #

A privately paid consultant who recommends programs to families. The field is unregulated, and consultants often have close professional or financial ties to the programs they refer to. Some program founders also ran transport and referral businesses; Thayer's founders ran 2B Enterprises (teen transport) and Parent Help (referrals). See Gooned.

Emotional Growth Boarding School #

A model created by CEDU combining academics with a mandatory "emotional growth" curriculum, sometimes for academic credit (Academy at Swift River's "Human Ecology").

ICPC (Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children) #

The agreement governing placements of children across state lines. Some private programs included ICPC forms in admissions packets, while others relied on parental placements that fall outside it.

Used at Diamond Ranch Academy

Learned helplessness #

When repeated exposure to uncontrollable punishment trains someone to stop trying to escape, even when escape becomes possible later.

Line staff #

Frontline direct-care workers who supervise youth day to day, often low-paid, with high turnover and minimal training.

Liquidated damages #

A fixed penalty parents owed if their child left before graduating, whether the parents withdrew the child or the program terminated them. Diamond Ranch Academy's was $4,000. Similar terms include Auldern's $10,000 deposit refunded only after nine months.

Used at Diamond Ranch Academy Auldern Academy

Parent companies #

Several programs in this glossary belonged to larger operators, visible in their own documents: Universal Health Services (Meridell Achievement Center), InnerChange (New Haven), CRC Health and Aspen Education Group (Aspen Institute, Copper Canyon Academy, Academy at Swift River), Three Springs (Auldern Academy, Three Springs New Beginnings), and Clinicare (Milwaukee Academy).

Privilege #

In the TTI, basic needs and rights such as family contact, mail, clothing, or outdoor time, reframed as rewards the child must earn.

Protection of Community Image #

A contract clause barring a former student from living or attending school within 50 miles of the facility after leaving.

Used at Cross Creek Manor

PRTF (Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facility) #

A non-hospital facility that provides inpatient psychiatric care to people under 21 and can bill Medicaid for it. PRTFs must be accredited and follow federal rules on restraint and seclusion, including reporting deaths and serious injuries. They are one of the main ways public money flows into the TTI, especially for youth in foster care or the juvenile justice system.

QRTP (Qualified Residential Treatment Program) #

A designation created by the Family First Prevention Services Act of 2018 that lets states use federal foster care funds for group residential placements beyond two weeks. To qualify, a facility must be accredited, use a "trauma-informed" treatment model, have nursing and clinical staff available around the clock, involve families, and provide six months of aftercare. Each placement also requires an outside assessment and court review. Critics note that accreditation and "trauma-informed" labels do not guarantee safe conditions, and that some facilities with abuse histories have received the designation.

Religious exemption (as a strategy) #

Faith-based programs arguing they are ministries, not treatment programs, and so shouldn't be licensed as treatment. Teen Challenge's 1993 position paper complains that states "demand" drug and alcohol licensing, forcing centers "to stray from their mission statement." See Discipleship program.

Used at Teen Challenge

Residential Treatment Center (RTC) #

Also called Residential Treatment Facility, RTF

A licensed 24-hour facility that houses youth and provides clinical and psychiatric care.

Restraint #

Physically, mechanically, or chemically restricting a person's movement. The TTI has a long record of restraint-related injuries and deaths. Several programs expelled or transferred any student who needed restraint (see Zero Tolerance Policy), and Aurora docked a student's advancement points for being restrained. See Booty Juice.

Sponsor / Participant #

Contract terms for parents and child. Diamond Ranch parents agreed their own involvement would be "by invitation" only.

Used at Diamond Ranch Academy

Therapeutic Boarding School (TBS) #

A boarding school that markets therapeutic services, usually with less clinical oversight than an RTC.

Therapeutic milieu #

The idea that the whole living environment is treatment, used in the TTI to justify control over every part of a young person's day. See Christian Milieu Therapy.

Wilderness Specific

Billie #

A coffee can used for digging holes and heating water.

Reportedly used at Second Nature

Bow drill #

A friction fire-starting tool that students must master, often required to eat hot food or advance.

Reportedly used at Second Nature

Burrito #

A restraint where a student's sleeping bag is wrapped in a tarp and tucked in so they can't move, with a staff member often sleeping on the tarp beside them to catch any escape attempt. It was used on new arrivals and as a punishment. It borrows its name and setup from the "thermal burrito," a legitimate wilderness first-aid technique for hypothermia.

Reportedly used at Trails Carolina

Bust a fire #

To start a fire with a bow drill. Gateway Academy students also carried "busting kits" on weekend trips.

Used at Gateway Academy as "busting kits"

Reportedly used at Second Nature

Camp drill #

A timed drill where students fully set up camp (building a fire pit, digging a latrine and sump, putting up shelters, hanging bear bags), get staff sign-off, then tear it all down and erase every trace. Like pack drills, it was repeated if the group failed to beat the timer.

Reportedly used at Second Nature

Challenge by choice #

An option for students to turn in issued gear, like a backpack or shoes, and use primitive items they made themselves instead. The handbook frames it as optional and says students "are never deprived of their gear."

Used at Wingate Wilderness Therapy

Eat hot #

To earn a cooked meal by busting a fire; students who can't bust a fire eat cold rations.

Reportedly used at Second Nature

Lay Over days #

Therapy days in the field (usually Monday and Tuesday), when the group didn't hike and the therapist visited.

Used at Wingate Wilderness Therapy

Pack drill #

A timed drill where students unroll their tarp, bedroll, and sleeping bag, lay out everything from their pack for staff inspection, then repack it. The time limit was nearly impossible to meet, and if the group missed it, everyone had to repeat the drill, sometimes several times in a row.

Reportedly used at Second Nature

PMT (Personal & Mentor Time) #

Scheduled time on therapy days for letters, therapy assignments, and primitive skills.

Used at Wingate Wilderness Therapy

Pulse check #

A hydration check staff did before hikes.

Used at Wingate Wilderness Therapy

Scooby #

A piece of used toilet paper. Students had to carry their scoobies with the rest of their gear until they could burn them in the campfire at night.

Reportedly used at Second Nature

Solo #

A period of forced isolation outdoors. At Second Nature, students spent a few days at a time alone in a small patch of forest. At New Haven, a "therapeutic assignment" living alone in a small shelter in the back pasture; its handbook called running away "a natural part of this intervention" that parents had to "accept... in full." The Link School's top level required a "3-day fasting" solo.

Used at New Haven The Link School

Reportedly used at Second Nature

Stoker Night #

A night when one assigned student, the "Stoker," must bust a fire for the whole group. If the Stoker succeeds, everyone eats hot; if not, everyone eats cold. See Bust a fire, Eat hot.

Reportedly used at Second Nature

Wind Speaking #

A group discussion held on hiking days. The handbook doesn't explain it further.

Used at Wingate Wilderness Therapy

Program Sections

Terms documented at one program or program family, grouped by lineage.