TTI Glossary
The Troubled Teen Industry has its own language. Programs rename punishment, isolation, and control as "consequences," "reflection," and "support," and families often learn what the words meant only years later. This glossary collects that language from program handbooks, staff manuals, state records, and survivor accounts.
Terms used at more than one program are in Shared Terms A–Z. Terms documented at only one program or program family are under Program Sections, grouped by lineage. Treatment Modalities, About the Industry, and Wilderness Specific stand on their own.
Each entry ends with the programs where the term appears. Used at means it appears in the program's own documents. Reportedly used at means it comes from survivor accounts.
Treatment Modalities
- ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) #
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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.
- Attachment therapy #
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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 #
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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 #
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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 #
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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 #
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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 #
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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 #
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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 #
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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 #
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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.
- Equine Therapy #
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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 #
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See Attack therapy
- Gestalt therapy #
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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 #
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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) #
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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 #
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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.
- Positive Peer Culture (PPC) #
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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 #
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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 #
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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 #
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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 #
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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."
- Retroflexive Reformation #
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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) #
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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 #
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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.
About the Industry
- ACE / PACEs (Accelerated Christian Education / School of Tomorrow) #
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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.
- Adjudicated program #
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A TTI facility that only accepts court-ordered clients through the juvenile justice system.
- Adult & Teen Challenge (formerly Teen Challenge) #
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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 #
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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.
- Covenant school #
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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."
- EdCon (Educational Consultant) #
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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 #
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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) #
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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.
- Learned helplessness #
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When repeated exposure to uncontrollable punishment trains someone to stop trying to escape, even when escape becomes possible later.
- Line staff #
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Frontline direct-care workers who supervise youth day to day, often low-paid, with high turnover and minimal training.
- Liquidated damages #
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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.
- Parent companies #
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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 #
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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 #
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A contract clause barring a former student from living or attending school within 50 miles of the facility after leaving.
- PRTF (Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facility) #
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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) #
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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) #
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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.
- Residential Treatment Center (RTC) #
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Also called Residential Treatment Facility, RTF, Residential
A licensed 24-hour facility that houses youth and provides clinical and psychiatric care.
- Restraint #
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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 #
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Contract terms for parents and child. Diamond Ranch parents agreed their own involvement would be "by invitation" only.
- Therapeutic Boarding School (TBS) #
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A boarding school that markets therapeutic services, usually with less clinical oversight than an RTC.
- Therapeutic milieu #
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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 #
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A coffee can used for digging holes and heating water.
- Bow drill #
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A friction fire-starting tool that students must master, often required to eat hot food or advance.
- Burrito #
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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.
- Bust a fire #
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To start a fire with a bow drill. Gateway Academy students also carried "busting kits" on weekend trips.
- Camp drill #
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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.
- Challenge by choice #
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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."
- Eat hot #
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To earn a cooked meal by busting a fire; students who can't bust a fire eat cold rations.
- Lay Over days #
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Therapy days in the field (usually Monday and Tuesday), when the group didn't hike and the therapist visited.
- Pack drill #
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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.
- PMT (Personal & Mentor Time) #
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Scheduled time on therapy days for letters, therapy assignments, and primitive skills.
- Pulse check #
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A hydration check staff did before hikes.
- Scooby #
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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.
- Solo #
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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.
- Stoker Night #
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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.
- Wind Speaking #
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A group discussion held on hiking days. The handbook doesn't explain it further.
Program Sections
Terms documented at one program or program family, grouped by lineage.
Hyde School
Profile Hyde School
Sources HydeSpeak Glossary Booklet (1991).
See also Bust in Shared Terms.
- 2-4 #
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Also called Two-Four
A harsher punishment used "when 5:30 will not suffice." Students were pulled from classes and made to do manual labor during school hours until they "earned" their way back. See Work Hours.
- 5:30 #
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A punishment for "ethical infractions and poor attitudes" where students got up at 5:30 AM to do chores before breakfast.
- Concern Meeting #
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A session where faculty and peers confront a student about discipline, academics, attitude, or responsibilities, framed as counseling. See Guided Group Interaction.
- Tude Trip #
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Also called Attitude Trip
A 4- to 7-day wilderness camp and work project for 10 to 12 students, usually a punishment for students showing unacceptable attitudes while on 2-4.
CEDU and descendants
Profile CEDU
Sources CEDU High School and Middle School Glossaries of Terms (1999); Academy at Swift River Parent Handbook and "ASR Slang" glossary; Shortridge Academy Family and Student Handbook (2023).
- Academic Table #
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Mandatory evening study hall for students behind in schoolwork, where they were banned from smiling or talking to peers.
- Agreements #
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CEDU's rules, called "agreements" because students supposedly chose to accept them or accept the consequences. They ranged from the "big three" (no drugs, sex, or violence) down to keeping shirts tucked in. Breaking a rule was being "out of agreement." ASR's "no violence" agreement included "starving."
- Appointment #
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Scheduled one-on-one time a student set up with a peer or staff member to talk.
- Backdoor #
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The belief that you could leave, run away, or quit, which CEDU treated as a way of avoiding "painful reality." Compare Shutting the door.
- Bans #
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Orders forbidding a student from interacting with specific people, groups, or things, usually indefinitely. New students were often on bans from everyone except students deemed "positive." At ASR, bans meant no talking, eye contact, or note passing, used to "break up... cliques." At Shortridge, "physical" or "full" bans, which the clinical team could impose "for other clinical reasons."
- Brother's Keeper Friend #
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CEDU's ideal of a friend as someone who confronts you and reports your behavior.
- Buttons #
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Emotional "sore spots" from the past that CEDU claimed had to be released in raps and Propheets.
- Community Contributions #
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Labor assigned as a consequence, like building rock walls and washing dishes.
- Cop-Out #
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Confessing your own or others' rule-breaking to staff. See Dirt, Cop out (Straight).
- Cover-Ups #
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ASR's label for "ways of denying or hiding the truth," including anger and "a victim mentality."
- Crack / Make O.K. #
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Finding a loophole or justification for something "out of agreement."
- Cut Up #
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Making derogatory remarks, or talking about pre-CEDU people or places with a student from the same area.
- Cutting Corners #
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Discreetly referring to a banned topic, like a band, without naming it. See Pop-Off.
- Dirt #
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Rule-breaking behavior. Students kept written "dirt lists" of their own violations.
- Disclosures #
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Forced confession of broken rules, shameful past behavior, and "negative" thoughts or feelings.
- Dishes #
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A punishment of cleaning the kitchen and washing dishes, with no smiling or unnecessary talking.
- Dorm Head #
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A student leadership role in the dorms.
- Down the Road #
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Running away.
- Family Resolution #
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A multi-family therapy weekend after each Lifestep. A "mini-resolution" could be called if a student was "in jeopardy of being asked to leave."
- Games #
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CEDU's label for "manipulative" behavior, including crying where others could see.
- Hiding Out #
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Withdrawing from others physically, emotionally, or socially; treated as something to confront.
- Ho! #
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A word used in groups to signal enthusiastic agreement, which ASR called a "Native American term."
- I & Me #
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A CEDU concept dividing a person into competing "thinking" and "feeling" forces, taught from a student's first rap.
- Indictment #
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A confrontation of a student over "negative" behavior or patterns.
- Lifesteps #
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Five full-day "emotional workshops" (anger and fear, cover-ups, shame, forgiveness, and more), described as "the heart and soul of our curriculum." See Seminar.
- Look Good #
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Accusation that a student who seemed fine was secretly struggling or being dishonest.
- Owning It #
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Taking full responsibility "from the heart" and proving it through consistent behavior.
- Pathways #
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ASR's roughly three-week orientation phase, with no photos, books, stuffed animals, or personal items beyond clothing.
- Personal Challenge #
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A "talent show"-style performance in front of the school and parents, with the task chosen by staff, such as a shy student made to dance and sing.
- Phases (CEDU) #
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Discovery, Quest, Reflections, and Pinnacle at the high school; Discovery, Quest, Challenge, New Horizons, and Summit at the middle school.
- Pop-Off #
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Mentioning, singing, or listening to music CEDU banned for glorifying "sex, drugs or violence."
- Propheet #
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A 12- to 24-hour emotional seminar built around one theme, named for putting "feet" under Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet. See Seminar.
- Pull-Up #
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Calling out another student's rule-breaking. A "negative pull-up" was one made with dishonest intentions.
- Rap #
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CEDU's confrontational group of 8 to 15 students. Faculty called raps "the glue that holds the school together" and could call an "all-day rap." See Attack therapy.
- Rap Request #
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A written request to bring specific people into a rap, often to confront them.
- Review #
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Probation for repeated Reflections, meaning staff line of sight, no home visits, and a support plan, with expulsion or "a higher level of care" as the alternative.
- Story #
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A student's life history, told repeatedly in raps to "scan one's negative past." Compare Lifeline.
- Sweat Lodge #
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A sweat ceremony run by staff, described as hot enough "to make you want to leave."
- Table #
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A restriction where a student works on "individual issues," separated from the group.
- Underground #
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Accusation of saying one thing to staff and another to peers. Elevations later banned slang meant to "create an 'underground' culture."
- Weekend Direction #
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Sheets posted every Friday listing each student's weekend privileges and consequences.
WWASP and affiliated programs
Profile WWASPS
Sources WWASP Policy Manual (rev. 2003); Academy at Ivy Ridge Upper and Lower Status Handbooks (2004) and Parent Orientation Handbook (2005); Cross Creek Manor Parents' Manual; Tranquility Bay Parent Handbook (2005); Spring Creek Lodge Parent Manual (2000); Academy at Dundee Ranch Parent Manual (2002); Paradise Cove Parent Manual (1996); Pillars of Hope enrollment packet (2007); Premier Educational Seminars "Using the Seminars" (2005) and Keys to Success Mom and Pop Handbook (2006); WWASP Accountability workbook.
- +5 Commitment Chart #
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A scale for rating one's "commitment," taught in Discovery.
- Academic Deficiency #
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A Category 3 violation for failing three tests a week or getting two Pink Slips.
- Accountability Formula #
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A formula taught in Discovery for admitting responsibility in program-approved language. Midwest Academy reps used it to get students "digging deeper."
- Achievement Status Probation #
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A demotion that reset points to zero; the student had to earn 200 points before voting up again.
- Adult Discovery / Focus / Visions #
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Seminars for parents and anyone paying tuition. Programs were told to "maximize efforts" to enroll parents.
- Bunk Buddy #
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A peer assigned to track a lower-status student and fill out their progress sheet.
- Bunk Leader / Facility Leader #
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"Youth Leadership" positions. A bunk leader answered for their bunk; a facility leader worked as a staff assistant three days a week.
- Case Manager #
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Controlled phone calls and visits and received complaints; parents could check on a complaint "without your daughter ever knowing."
- Categories #
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Also called Rule violation categories
Numbered offense codes grouped by severity, 1 through 5. Category 1 included "Manipulation" and passing gas without permission; Category 3 included "Runaway Talk" and "Romantic Encouragement"; Category 4 at Dundee included "Layering" and "Shave head"; Category 5 included "Self-Inflicted Injury."
- Chain of Command #
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Upper-status students could only bring a request to the person one level above them.
- Choose-out #
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Leaving a seminar before it ends. Programs followed up using "choose-out sheets." At Pillars of Hope, a student who chose out was transferred to a Covenant school.
- Commitment Letter #
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A letter parents signed promising to keep their child enrolled "regardless of how long it may take." Dundee's version included agreeing to transfer a temporarily expelled child "to a less desirable program." Staff read it to the child.
- Discovery / Focus / Accountability / Keys #
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The student seminar sequence, which also included Orientation and Principles. Completing and Staffing them was required to move up.
- Double Down #
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Doubling a punishment essay to halve the demerits and fine.
- Family #
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A group of lower-status students monitored by an assigned upper-status student.
- Group Awards #
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Also called Group Citizenship Bonus
Bonus merits for every student if the whole group went 24 hours without serious violations.
- Grungies #
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The seminar term for "negative emotions," framed as tools "to manipulate" others ("Grungies vs. Payoffs").
- High Impact #
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A WWASP-affiliated boot camp in Baja California, Mexico, offered under the Zero Tolerance Policy.
- Hope Credits #
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Merits at Pillars of Hope, used to move through levels named for art movements (Classical through Hope Scholar).
- Incidentals #
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A mandatory monthly fee ($95 at Spring Creek) with "no individual accounting."
- Internalization Program #
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A follow-on placement of at least four months, required for PCII and where PCIII took place.
- Intervention #
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At Ivy Ridge, an office where a struggling student talked with a peer leader and staff, then wrote a 1,000-word goals essay before returning. Tranquility Bay used the same process.
- Keys Family #
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A group of parents in the Keys to Success seminar, led by a "Mom" and "Pop," who checked each other's "commitment level" weekly.
- Languaging #
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Correcting how someone talks, such as "woulda-shoulda-coulda" or giving a "reason, story, or excuse."
- Lava lava #
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The wrap skirt boys wore as their uniform.
- Lower Status / Upper Status #
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The student hierarchy. Upper-status students monitored lower-status families everywhere, including the bathroom.
- Merits / Demerits #
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The points system. Students rated themselves daily and staff could override the ratings.
- Out of Area #
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A punishment for being anywhere you weren't explicitly allowed to be.
- Parent-Child Seminars (PCI / PCII / PCIII) #
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Joint parent-student seminars tied to level; PCII was required for home visits.
- PCT Conference (Parent-Child-Teacher Conference) #
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Quarterly parent visits, the first 2½ to 4 months after enrollment.
- Pink Slip #
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A teacher's warning for insufficient schoolwork; two in a week meant Academic Deficiency.
- Progress Review #
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A daily staff-facilitated peer group for feedback on "problems, progress, and solutions."
- Purpose statement #
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A personal statement written every morning after Focus.
- Right/Wrong game #
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A Discovery concept teaching that arguing about who's right "damages" relationships.
- Room Restriction #
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Confinement to one's room until completing at least 10 worksheet credits.
- Running a number #
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Slang for acting out a "non-working" pattern, like "running your perfection number."
- Self-correction / Staff correction #
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A student reporting their own violation for a reduced penalty, versus a staff penalty for rating yourself too highly.
- Shutdown #
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Lights-out. Upper-status doors stayed open at least 2 inches.
- The Source #
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WWASP's online newsletter; student-only submissions were meant to "foster parental disengagement."
- Status levels #
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Regular, Achievement, Advanced, Service, Honor, and High Honor. No calls home until Advanced.
- Structure violation #
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A study hall offense like talking or "being distracted."
- TASKS (Teen Accountability, Self-esteem, and Keys to Success) #
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The seminar series run by Resource Realizations and later Premier Educational Seminars. Parents were told not to sit next to anyone they knew.
- Unauthorized Communication #
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A Category 2 violation for talking to another student without permission.
- Value Cards #
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Cards of "personal values" chosen in Principles, used to confront "old behavior." Principles also taught students to "release my old friends... old clothes."
- Victim vs. Accountable #
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A framework sorting students' language into "victim" or "accountable" speech.
- Worksheet Points #
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A punishment worked off by completing worksheets in study hall.
- Zero Tolerance Policy #
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Immediate transfer or expulsion for physical aggression, needing restraint, needing one-on-one supervision more than 8 hours, or trying to leave. Ivy Ridge transferred students to Tranquility Bay in Jamaica; Spring Creek offered High Impact.
Midwest Academy
Profile Midwest Academy
Sources Student Manual (2012), Family Rep Handbook (2012), Dorm Parent Manual, Youth Leader Manual (2010), Basic Training for Staff, Life Contract (2011), Consequences Document.
- A/B/C/D/F Friends #
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A letter-grade ranking of a student's friends. Contact with an "F" friend was a Category 5 violation.
- Captain #
-
An Honor Status student overseeing other upper-status students and intakes.
- Communities / Support Community #
-
Weekly pre- and post-seminar homework groups.
- Confession letter #
-
A letter confessing "all misbehavior and broken rules while at home," required for level 3 as an "unwritten standard."
- Disengage words #
-
"in spite of," "regardless," and "nonetheless," which staff were trained to use to shut down arguments.
- Elements I / Elements II #
-
Midwest's core seminars, followed by the Value Living Seminar and Parent Weekends I–III.
- Exit Plan #
-
A plan for a child who turns 18 and leaves early, written without "any input from the teen." A "Good Terms Exit Plan" listed the exact belongings they could take.
- Family Value Frame #
-
Family-written values used to enforce rules after graduation.
- Five S's #
-
"security, safety, supervision, schedule, and standards."
- Headcounts #
-
Counts of every student every 20 minutes; after a door alarm, the wing had 45 seconds.
- Home Internalization #
-
The final phase at home, with parents as "dorm staff." Two weeks without points meant termination.
- H.O.P.E. Buddy (Helping Orient Partners for Excellence) #
-
An upper-status student assigned to a new arrival for three days, responsible for reporting a "negative attitude."
- Hug time #
-
The only time staff could hug students, with permission.
- ISS / OSS #
-
In School Suspension (locked out of schoolwork until consequences were filled out "accountably") and Out of School Suspension (a separate room with staff and a peer leader, plus a 1,000-word essay).
- Monthly Progress Review #
-
A student questionnaire "designed to identify wavering or non-supportive parents."
- On Board parents / Red flags #
-
Parents fully committed to graduation, and the warning signs that they were "wavering."
- Recommendations #
-
Peers recommending consequences that the student then had to "pick up."
- Self it / Staff it #
-
Staff shorthand telling a student to take a self-correction or be given a staff correction.
- Special casing #
-
Any exception to program rules.
- Standards Violation (Category 3.5) #
-
Not living up to one's status.
- Track #
-
Required weekly academic output.
- Triad #
-
The family rep, teacher rep, and Triad Advisor.
- Working visit / Working call #
-
Visits and calls meant for "working" on family issues.
Respect Camp
Sources Respect Camp Cadet Handbook. Filed with WWASP materials; offense codes match Ivy Ridge.
- Breaking Silence #
-
Talking in the bathroom, dining hall, or after lights-out.
- Cadet #
-
A student, addressed only as "Cadet [last name]."
- Code of Ethics / General Orders #
-
Statements memorized "word for word," starting "I will follow lawful orders given by all staff at all times."
- Double time #
-
Running everywhere.
- Phases (Respect Camp) #
-
Reality, Respect, and Responsibility; no calls home until the last. Heads shaved weekly.
- Requesting permission to speak #
-
A required script for talking to staff, which could be denied.
Straight, Inc. and Kids Helping Kids
Profile Straight, Inc.
Sources Straight rules, new-parent rules, "Tools of Personal Change," consequences guidelines, Moral Inventory guide, phase schedule, and staff memos (1982–83); KHK Phase Rules and Parent Rules. KHK was a Straight spin-off.
- Beltlooping #
-
Holding a student's belt loop while escorting them. Straight rule #40: "Hang on tight to newcomers by the belt loop"; rule #44: "No newcomers wear belts."
- Dime therapy #
-
Collecting three oldcomers' phone numbers to call instead of using or seeing old friends.
- Eye games #
-
Nonverbal signals between parent and child, banned during Open Meeting.
- Heavies #
-
Sad or shocking family news, which parents were forbidden to share and had to "let staff handle."
- Host home #
-
An oldcomer's family home where newcomers lived during early phases. Parents couldn't contact the host family.
- Newcomer / Oldcomer #
-
Early-phase clients and the advanced clients responsible for them. Newcomers couldn't talk to other newcomers.
- No Phase / Start Over #
-
The harshest consequences, for getting high, "copping out," or "physical defiance." Lighter ones were Loss of Responsibility, Away From Home, a 7- or 14-day Refresher, and a Phase Drop.
- Open Meeting #
-
A mandatory meeting where parents spoke to their child over a microphone in front of everyone, limited to their feelings; no cameras, notes, or sad news.
- Parent Raps #
-
Mandatory parent groups, including six consecutive "New Parent Raps" and sibling raps for kids 8 and up.
- Permission request #
-
A written request, due 72 hours ahead, to go to the doctor, school, or even the yard.
- Phases (Straight) #
-
Five phases adding focus areas: Self; Family; Achievement; Leisure and Friendship; Social Responsibility. First and Second Phase kids couldn't go outside, read, watch TV, or receive calls or mail.
- Straight Thinking #
-
A five-point test for acceptable thinking, paired with Straight's seven-step version of the Twelve Steps.
- Want list #
-
Items a kid asked parents to bring, checked by parents before Open Meeting.
Spring Ridge Academy
Profile Spring Ridge Academy
Sources SRA Student Manual (2010), Phase Overview, Ground Rules (Phase III); survivor accounts.
- Action #
-
SRA's second student Training, a three-day seminar meant to turn "non-working patterns of behavior into working patterns." See Seminar.
- Challenge #
-
SRA's first student Training, a three-day seminar targeting "self-limiting beliefs, attitudes and behaviors." Parents attended Parent Challenge; students' attendance at their parents' graduation depended on progress.
- Checks #
-
A warning-level consequence for being late, unprepared, disruptive, or rude, plus one per day a fine went unpaid.
- Commitment #
-
SRA's final student Training, ongoing through Phase IV.
- Community Life Director #
-
Also called CLD
Staff who oversaw student life. CLDs approved or banned music, movies, and wall posters, monitored lower-phase calls with parents, confiscated unapproved CDs, and chose the Honor Code Board.
- Family I / Family II #
-
Joint parent-student Trainings; Family II prepared the student for home by "dealing with issues in a controlled environment."
- Ground Rules #
-
A contract students and parents signed before visits. Students agreed not to contact friends or anyone their own age, to let the answering machine take calls, and not to watch MTV. Parents agreed to report any "deviation."
- Honor Code Board #
-
A student board chosen by CLDs. Any student could "take" a peer to the board in writing; the accused had 24 hours to write a rebuttal taking accountability. See Retroflexive Reformation.
- Introspection #
-
Forced silence imposed for supposedly "therapeutic" reasons, usually by a therapist, limited to Functional talk.
- Mandatory Study Hall #
-
Required evening study hall for Phase I students and anyone with low grades. Compare Academic Table.
- Phase Orange #
-
A punishment level below Phase I: orange shirt, slippers instead of shoes, On S&S, arm's length from staff, no internet, mail through the therapist. See One-on-One.
- Phases (SRA) #
-
Phase I through IV in 2010, later renamed Orientation, Consistency, Integration, and Transition. Phase I students wore red shirts, stayed in staff eyesight, kept doors open, and couldn't talk to each other without a higher-phase student present.
- Rainy Day Letter #
-
An inspirational letter each student wrote to a graduating peer.
- Results #
-
An SRA Training after Action.
- Rose Ceremony #
-
SRA's graduation ritual; each student gave the graduate a red rose, a Rainy Day Letter, and named three "gifts."
- Service #
-
SRA's required service program (campus beautification, fundraisers, clean-ups), needed to move up.
- Training #
-
SRA's name for seminars (Challenge, Action, Results, Commitment, Family I and II, Parent Challenge). See Seminar.
- Walkied #
-
Staff radioing ahead when a lower-phase student moved across campus.
Family Foundation School
Profile Family Foundation School
Sources Employee Guide, "Consequences of Misconduct" (2008).
- Announcing Sanction #
-
Starting every conversation with an assigned statement about a "character defect," like "hello my name is Jack and I need to seek humility." The same guide bans making students "announce humiliating or derogatory things about themselves."
- Brought up at the table #
-
Being called before the group, which decided consequences.
- Courtesy Sanction #
-
Saying "yes, thank you" or another polite phrase every time anyone spoke to you.
- Dress-down Sanction #
-
A ban on jewelry and brand-name or "flashy" clothes.
- Family Blackout #
-
A ban on all mail and phone contact with family. Missing homework meant a one-week blackout.
- Land Lock #
-
Rearranging beds so a student couldn't leave without waking others, plus Shadow and sandals instead of shoes.
- Program Only #
-
Limiting a student to talk about their "recovery program."
Utah and Western RTCs and therapeutic boarding schools
Island View and Elevations RTC
Profiles Elevations RTCIsland View
Sources Island View Parent Manual (2004); Elevations Student Handbook (2020). Elevations is Island View's successor.
- Broken record #
-
A script parents repeated to a child's complaints ("I love you but something had to be done") until the child understood they could "no longer manipulate you."
- Community Break #
-
The consequence for breaking the Safety Code (self-harm, "cheeking" medication, knowing of a run plan): dorm restriction, no peer communication, possibly sleeping in the hallway, and a Personal Integrity Evaluation presented to a student committee.
- Community Roles #
-
Student jobs, many monitoring peers: Sherlock (room and dress inspector), Chancellor (sat on the Community Break board), Trail Boss, Compass (orientation buddy), Rooster (wake-up), Oscar (awards).
- Enmeshment #
-
The program's label for parents who questioned staff or sympathized with their child's distress; they "sacrifice their own child at the altar of personal insecurities."
- Last staff directive #
-
Always follow the most recent staff instruction "without argument, even if the rule is not specifically mentioned."
- Peer Feedback Session #
-
Also called PFS
A staff member and student leaders confronting a student about a behavior.
- Phases (Island View / Elevations) #
-
Orientation, Explore, Apply, Impact, Test. Elevations added colored bracelets for each phase.
- Red-crossing #
-
A parent "covering for, bailing out, or mitigating" for their child.
- Sherlock Marks / Dirty Bird Award #
-
Room and dress-code demerits announced by name each morning; the messiest dorm got extra deep-cleaning.
- Shutting the door #
-
Also called Closing the door, Corridor of Success
Parents cutting off every way out except finishing the program. Trinity described a hallway of side doors parents shut one by one.
- Spiffy #
-
Grooming standards and each student's locked box of supplies.
- Team Focus #
-
A whole team doing essays and "team unity" groups because of a few members. See Group punishment.
- Verbal Cue #
-
A scripted peer correction ("Your [behavior] needs to stop"). Students unwilling to cue others couldn't move up.
- Yellow Zone #
-
A security status for residents who ran, endangered themselves, or "significantly disrupted" the community.
Aspen Institute for Behavioral Assessment
Profile Aspen Institute for Behavioral Assessment
Sources Parent Handbook (2010), largely identical to Island View's.
See Broken record, Guilt loading. A child saying they weren't getting enough therapy was likely "attempting to manipulate you" by claiming to be "therapeutically deprived."
Copper Canyon Academy and Sedona Sky Academy
Profiles Copper Canyon AcademySedona Sky Academy
Sources CCA Student Manual (2011); Sedona Sky Academy Student Manual, adapted from CCA's.
- Being in the position #
-
Being in a situation where a sexual rule violation could happen, itself punishable.
- Choices / Consequences sheet #
-
A posted penalty list; one work hour for "badgering and whining," bare feet, "roaming," or "self-induced purging."
- Commitments to self #
-
Written commitments required before every visit.
- The Four Agreements #
-
Don Miguel Ruiz's book, required reading with reports.
- Home report #
-
A written visit report students and parents read aloud in group.
- Levels / Phases (CCA and SSA) #
-
Willingness, Trust, Leadership, Hope. Move-up sheets required being able to "regroup quickly when told 'No'."
- N/C Meal #
-
A meal consequence for refusing staff direction or a work hour.
- Phase Probation Status #
-
Suspension of all phase privileges and roles; staff might sit beside her at meals.
- Purchase restriction #
-
No buying anything for at least a week, for not turning in a checkbook register.
- Student Leadership Manual #
-
Defined leadership as "holding others accountable," "not being afraid to hurt someone's feelings," and "watching lower levels in rooms."
- Visit Agreement / Home Living Agreement #
-
Parent-written rules needing therapist approval before every visit.
Gateway Academy
Profile Gateway Academy
Sources Parent Handbook (2014).
- Advocate #
-
Staff assigned one-on-one to a student, sitting in on calls home.
- Earnings Group #
-
Peers voting on a student's application to advance.
- Guide #
-
A higher-phase student responsible for "upholding expectations" among peers.
- Lifeline #
-
A written timeline of drug use, self-harm, trauma, and legal trouble, shared in group.
- Off-Track #
-
No privileges, no social talk, staff line of sight, 5-minute speakerphone calls.
- Re-Focus #
-
Demotion to Orientation privileges until the therapist decided otherwise.
- Snapshot #
-
A journal entry about an incident, four times a week, signed off by a Guide.
New Haven
Profile New Haven
Sources Parent Handbook (2019). Owned by InnerChange.
- Peer Feedback #
-
Every peer filled out a form on the student; mostly negative feedback blocked move-up.
- Phases (New Haven) #
-
Expectation, Exploration, Insight, Integrity, Interdependence, with "subjective requirements" like honesty. Parents had phase work and an "Open Book Test."
- Relational Coach #
-
Staff assigned to explain the program and help with phase work.
- Special Status #
-
Academic, Therapy, or Suicide Watch Special Status, each restricting activities, calls, or supervision.
- Value Beads #
-
Beads earned for completed modules, presented at a "Values Ceremony."
Solstice East
Sources Handbook.
- Cover Girl #
-
A student checking her team's dress and grooming daily.
- Hero's Journey phases #
-
Orientation, Separation, Threshold, Initiation, Transformation, Atonement, Return, "a mirror of the Rite of Passage" where "old ways... are altered or destroyed."
- Hygiene / Laundry Protocol #
-
Daily mentor supervision until hygiene or laundry met standards.
- Mindful Processing #
-
Separation within sight for "quiet reflection."
- Self Focus / Therapy Focus / Academic Focus #
-
All free time spent on assignments.
Uinta Academy
Profile Uinta Academy
Sources Parent Handbook (2008). Teaching Family Model.
- 5-Second Rule #
-
Five seconds for every girl to get to her bedroom and stay there.
- Basic skills #
-
Following instructions, accepting feedback, accepting "no," disagreeing appropriately.
- Card conference #
-
Nightly point tallies; 10,000 points a day earned next-day privileges.
- Family Meeting #
-
Nightly student meeting that could "decide on student consequences."
- Family Teachers #
-
Milieu staff.
- Manager #
-
A student checking others' rooms, showers, and bedtimes.
- Motivation System / Sub-System #
-
Levels Daily through Achievement, needing hundreds of thousands of points plus "bonds"; Sub-System made privileges cost more.
- Peer report #
-
A required report on another girl's rule-breaking, which the handbook said was not "ratting."
Maple Lake Academy
Sources Handbook. Girls with learning differences.
- 15-minute check out #
-
Time away from direct supervision.
- Green / Yellow / Red Light #
-
Behavior statuses; Red meant no calls, no animals, arm's length from staff.
- Male in the hall #
-
An announcement male staff made entering student hallways.
- Run Risk #
-
No shoes, scrubs, sleeping in front of night staff, no phone or mail.
- SUCCESS Program #
-
The graduation checklist, including being "100% compliant" and proving "that you are fun to be around."
Moonridge Academy
Profile Moonridge Academy
Sources Stages of Change Manual (2020), pages 51–61.
- Family Leader #
-
A student reporting peers' behavior and checking chores; perks included skipping mouth checks.
- Junior Mentor #
-
A student who could give peers consequences and carry staff keys.
- Stages (Moonridge) #
-
Six stages; home visits from Stage 3.
- Sunday Speaker #
-
A graduate invited back to speak.
- Visit Pass #
-
A pre-visit form of goals that parents graded afterward.
Falcon Ridge Ranch and Woodland Hills Academy
Profile Falcon Ridge Ranch
Provo Canyon School
Profile Provo Canyon School
Sources Parent Manual (1997), including its glossary.
- Avoidance #
-
Any resistance to "change," including guilt-loading parents, stalling, and running away.
- Being part of the problem / solution #
-
A binary; "poor attitude" meant being part of the problem.
- Extension #
-
Keeping a student past the contracted period.
- Family Therapeutic Interaction #
-
A home visit, "not intended to be breaks or vacations."
- Incite #
-
Provoking others to join a behavior episode.
- Infraction Report #
-
Also called I.R.
A written ticket for breaking rules.
- Investment #
-
Also called Investment Unit, Investment Periods
A secured unit where students earned their way out through 25-minute blocks of enforced quiet.
- Limbo #
-
The lowest academic level, for an F.
- Passive aggressive #
-
"I forgot" and "I didn't understand" as "indirect acts to avoid or hinder progress."
- Positive Incentive Points #
-
Also called P.I.'s
Points to move up or "buy" off probation.
- Subculture #
-
Two or more students "joining forces" against the program; also forbidden styles.
Sorenson's Ranch School
Profile Sorenson's Ranch School
Sources Student Manual (2008).
- Hike #
-
Walking as punishment, up to a 10-mile hike for "talking outside of group."
- Incomplete #
-
Evenings in the "incomplete room" and a mandatory workout.
- Judicial harassment #
-
A grievance judged "unfounded," punished with Level 1 and 10 work hours.
- MPR (Multi-Purpose Room) #
-
Where students "out of control" were sent, and could be made to sleep.
- No Show list #
-
One weekend workout per missed group.
- PPM (Positive Peer Modeling) #
-
Upper-level students accompanying lower-level students, including to class.
- Run watch #
-
Status for a student caught planning to run.
Re-Creation Retreat
Profile Re-Creation Retreat
Sources Student Manual (2013).
- Challenge (RCR) #
-
Applying to move up before reaching the full point total.
- Line behavior #
-
Single file, arm's length apart, facing forward, no communication.
- Phases (RCR) #
-
Orientation, Hero, Abundance, Self-Interest, Soul Purpose, Principles, each with book reports on self-help and prosperity titles.
- Sub-grouping #
-
Close friendships with a few peers, banned.
- Victim vs. Hero #
-
Every student's "one basic choice"; "It is not fair" was victim thinking.
Whetstone Academy
Profile Whetstone Academy
Sources Family Handbook (2019). Boys from 5th grade.
- Milestones #
-
Stones added to a necklace for accomplishments.
- Out-of-community #
-
A status that could restrict parent visits.
- Stages of Student Progress #
-
Denial, Resistance, Acceptance and Superficial Compliance, Integration; resistant boys might need "a wilderness experience." Compare Manipulation phases.
- Walkabouts #
-
Weekend adventure trips as "concrete metaphors."
Three Springs programs
Profile Three Springs Inc.
Sources Three Springs New Beginnings Handbook (2003); Auldern Academy Handbook (2004–05).
- Community System #
-
Auldern's statuses (Orientation, Full Community Member, Community Leader). No phone calls for the first 30 days; students applied to a committee to move up.
- Covenant #
-
Principles students had to "voluntarily" accept, including to "submit to the authority of the school staff."
- Four-letter words #
-
"Can't, Ain't, Won't, Don't," which girls were not allowed to say.
- Huddle #
-
A group meeting any girl could call. In a "Support Huddle," the group circled a girl who kept breaking a norm until she took "ownership" and thanked them.
- Medicine Wheel stages #
-
Orientation, Community Member, Positive Peer, Pledge, Honors, Hero, each with a borrowed Native American direction, animal, bead, and stone.
- Off-Campus Suspension with Conditional Re-enrollment #
-
Suspension where return could require completing a wilderness program.
- Safe haven box #
-
A box for dropping contraband after visits for reduced consequences.
- Self-Defeating Behavior Cycle #
-
A worksheet for each treatment problem, from "triggers" through "Poor Me Syndrome" to "promising 'never again.'"
- Stage Suspension #
-
Seven days on Orientation restrictions with a Buddy, plus apology letters and an essay on "your status within the community"; the group voted on reinstatement.
- Stages of Group Development #
-
Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, Transition; a "stuck" group was "only 'faking.'"
Christian programs
Escuela Caribe
Sources Student Handbook (1991). New Horizons Ministries, Dominican Republic.
- Certificate of Affection #
-
A 3rd-level privilege, listed beside hand-holding and "chaperoned dating experiences."
- Freeday #
-
Each house's weekly day off, withheld if not earned.
- Housefather / Housemother #
-
The staff couple running each house.
- Levels (Escuela Caribe) #
-
Zero (Orientation) through 5th (Personal Responsibility), then Off Points. Each needed push-ups, sit-ups, memorized Bible passages, Zig Ziglar readings, and house votes requiring "evidence of loyalty to the staff."
- Rank #
-
A pecking order by level, weeks on level, and points.
- Target Goal #
-
A problem area assigned every two weeks and scored nightly.
- Units of Concern #
-
The punishment currency. Each unit was "one day of appropriate restriction or one swat on the seat of the pants with a specified paddle." Running away cost 10 units.
Agapé Boarding School
Sources Handbook (around 2013). Stockton, Missouri.
- Interference Policy #
-
The school could remove any parent "interfering with a student's progress," risking the son's expulsion.
- New kid #
-
Status for new students, in an orange or yellow shirt.
- Orientation (Agapé) #
-
Punitive physical training and work detail; restrained students were carried "to the Orientation Room."
- Truancy #
-
Leaving without permission; belongings became "property of the school" after 10 days.
Trinity Teen Solutions
Profile Trinity Teen Solutions
Sources Parent Handbook (2008). Wyoming.
- Blurred Boundaries #
-
Families where "the power lies in the hands of the child," including parents who protect her self-esteem.
- Enabling #
-
Parents shielding a daughter from "the full impact of her harmful behaviors," including ordinary caregiving.
- Environment of discomfort #
-
The principle that "People only change when they are uncomfortable." Cheerful letters and news from home were said to weaken it. See Ordeal Therapy.
Teen Challenge and Bloom
Profile Teen Challenge
Sources The Teen Challenge Therapeutic Model (1992, adopted 1993); Bloom Family Handbook (2024).
- Blessings / Consequences #
-
Bloom's framing of rewards and punishments; the handbook repeats that Bloom "does not punish anyone."
- Bloom Bucks / Markdowns #
-
Daily scores for "Attitude (Fruit of the Spirit)" and more, spent at the "Bloom Boutique."
- Christian habilitation #
-
Teen Challenge's preferred term over "rehabilitation."
- Discipleship program #
-
Teen Challenge's self-description, reframing residential treatment as church ministry, with therapy as "the most conducive environment possible for the work of the Holy Spirit." See Religious exemption.
- Life-controlling problems #
-
An umbrella term for addiction, bulimia, "sexual addiction," and "victim abuse," all traced to "man's separation from God."
- Satellite issues #
-
Problem behaviors framed as orbiting the "root issue" of a relationship with God.
The Link School
Profile The Link School
Sources Student/Parent Handbook (2013). Christian Science, Buena Vista, Colorado.
- 3 P's / Dings #
-
"punctual, prepared & participating"; dings added up to weekend chores, and "circle dings" restricted computers.
- Expedition Leadership Levels #
-
Raven, Bighorn, Wolf; Wolf required a "3-day fasting" solo.
- Practitioner of the Month #
-
A Christian Science practitioner for "prayerful support," billed to the student after three days. Illness got "spiritual treatment" first.
Boot camps and military schools
Thayer Learning Center
Profile Thayer Learning Center
Sources Parent Manual (around 2003). Kidder, Missouri.
- Boot Camp (Thayer) #
-
The "Basic Trainee Cadet" stage, with no calls and all schoolwork withheld; motivational tapes instead.
- Grise'l Method #
-
The founder's trademarked program model, not explained in the manual.
- Stages (Thayer) #
-
Boot Camp, Residency, Junior Staff, Homeward Bound.
- TLC dollars #
-
Behavior points framed as mock paychecks for "make believe bills"; visits cost $50 to $150 TLC dollars.
Robert Land Academy
Profile Robert Land Academy
Sources Handbook. Ontario, boys grades 5–12.
- Academic Charge #
-
Two to four weeks of lost calls, rank, and leaves for incomplete homework.
- Academic PT #
-
30 to 40 minutes of "rigorous physical training" for missing homework.
- Alternative Messing #
-
Separate meals for "additional remedial training."
- Defaulters #
-
A status for too many laps owed, with all privileges lost.
- Recruit #
-
The entry rank, about five weeks, with no calls home.
- Stand Down #
-
A holiday, with homework assigned for it.
Other programs
Montana Academy
Profile Montana Academy
Sources Policies & Procedures.
- Clans #
-
Earth, Moon, Sun, Star, Sky; Earth Clan got a supervised 5–10 minute call every two weeks. Serious offenses meant a Clan Drop.
- Drudgery #
-
Labor as punishment, from Minor (scrubbing a 6x6 square of tile) to Major (named projects like "Ranger Roger," worked inside a roped-off patch of forest).
- Exile #
-
Hospitalization or wilderness "with possibility of return" after a capital offense.
- Levels of Infraction #
-
Rule Infraction, Misdemeanor, Felony, Capital Offense. Felonies included self-harm and "persistent hostility to the program"; capital offenses included a "suicide attempt."
- Privilege Freeze #
-
All privileges suspended, no calls or mail, and "social isolation."
- Sight and Sound / Close Watch #
-
Supervision statuses after suicide threats or assaults.
- X system #
-
Room demerits from Room Leaders; each X barred a student from their room and cost $1–$3.
Ironwood
Sources FAQ. Maine.
- Intervention / Rehabilitation and Transition #
-
Ironwood's restrictive and less restrictive tracks.
Judge Rotenberg Center
Sources brochure (2018); Massachusetts DDS licensing report (2025).
State, hospital, and clinical programs
- Advancement points #
-
Weekly points to move up, docked four for being physically restrained.
- Circle Up #
-
A community meeting for "accountability" and "appreciations."
- Community Rebuild / Personal Rebuild #
-
Whole-unit restriction until it "returns to a positive peer culture," and an individual version with "no time limit."
- DBI (Dangerous Behavior Incident) #
-
48 hours of privilege loss for aggression, "elopement," or having a phone.
- Individual Growth and Change Plan #
-
A behavior plan for youth considered a safety risk.
- Intake period #
-
No family phone contact so the teen could reflect "without any outside influence."
- Minor / Open PL #
-
24-hour privilege loss for things like note passing, and open-ended loss until a task was done.
- Personal Refocus / Social Refocus #
-
Loss of activities and "refocus assignments" for not meeting level expectations or for "socially inappropriate comments."
- Phases (Milwaukee Academy) #
-
Bear, Owl, Butterfly, Phoenix, each with a charm.
- Positive Redirect #
-
Halving a point loss by taking responsibility, doing a "positive energy exercise," and apologizing to staff.
- Process Paper #
-
A written assignment identifying one's "thinking errors."
- Restorative Community Justice #
-
Also called RCJ
Required repair of harm, including incidents in the facility.
- Supervision Levels #
-
Five tiers, from arm's reach and visible in the bathroom to a Level 5 lanyard with 5-minute check-ins.
- Thinking chair #
-
A chair for time-outs.
- THV (Therapeutic Home Visit) #
-
A home visit with length partly set by insurance.
- Trust or safety violation #
-
The consequence for "major problems" like running away.
No terms match. Try fewer words, or show the whole glossary.