I first learned about the Troubled Teen Industry through social media, when a survivor shared their experience in a wilderness therapy program. Their story sounded insane and scary, but I felt the urge to learn more. As I read and watched more survivor stories and documentaries, I began to feel sympathy for those who endured these experiences. 

The Troubled Teen Industry is still active today. Many guardians enroll their children without fully understanding what these programs actually do. Behind the scenes, many teens are subjected to emotional, physical, and psychological abuse. Some leave the programs traumatized, developing unhealthy coping mechanisms that last into adulthood. Others don’t make it out at all, some die young as a direct result of the mistreatment they suffer. 

My interest in becoming a psychiatrist stems from my desire to help people receive real, professional care. These so-called “therapeutic” programs do the opposite of what they claim: they damage mental health rather than support it, and in some cases, they kill.

This issue resonates with me personally. When I was younger, my dad would often “joke” about sending my sisters and me to behavioral boarding schools or military school whenever we misbehaved. While it may have seemed like a harmless threat at the time, I now recognize how dangerous that mindset can be. It minimizes the serious harm these institutions cause, and made me realize how easily children can be sent away to places that promise discipline and healing, but instead deliver trauma.