• jordanlund@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    Given how “therapy” programs like this are, at best, complete bullshit and, at worst, full of fraud and abuse, I’m leaning on supporting the kids here.

  • Silverseren@kbin.social
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    6 months ago

    Passages Alaska, founded in 2020. The website is incredibly vague on whom the therapy they use is for. They claim it’s for teens who “struggle with anxiety, depression, technology addiction, low self-esteem, and failure to launch” which is, as stated, incredibly vague.

    Actual medical anxiety and depression isn’t the fault of the person and needs medicine, not “mindfulness therapy”. And I have no idea what “technology addiction” is. This sounds like parents who are mad at their kid being on their phone all the time.

    It seems to be some New Age-y nonsense with a bunch of meditation and yoga BS.

    • Burn_The_Right@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      This is just one of numerous abusive things conservatives do to their children to “toughen 'em up”.

      Conservatives should not be permitted to be around children.

    • rambling_lunatic@sh.itjust.works
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      6 months ago

      Going through their website, they seem incredibly bland. The only thing that really started ringing alarm bells is that one of the staff has a degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Liberty University (!!!).

      • Todd Bonzalez@lemm.ee
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        6 months ago

        Oh, that’s more than an alarm bell. This is part of a cult. Liberty University graduates are pretty much always brain-broken Christofacists.

        100% chance that this place doubles as a conversation camp by design.

        • rambling_lunatic@sh.itjust.works
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          6 months ago

          The other people seem mostly fine. I am somewhat bothered by several of the staff being in the process of earning their degrees, and also worried because where they are earning them is left unsaid.

          The founder studied at an actual reputable university.

    • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      At best that translates to confidence courses, networking with other kids, and learning to disconnect. Which can be great. But if that was the case they’d advertise it. At worst, (and people are trying to escape so … yeah) it’s a crash course in manhood type place where they think Hollywood’s version of basic military training is too soft.

  • Ms. ArmoredThirteen
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    6 months ago

    We were driving through absolutely middle of nowhere western Washington once, forest everywhere, and started seeing signs like “do not stop for teens” or “don’t pick up hitchhiking kids”. We figured it was likely a cult or conversion camp since there weren’t any jouvies in that area, probably we would have ignored the signs and helped someone out if they asked

    • burgersc12@mander.xyz
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      6 months ago

      I grew up in the same area as this place had no idea it existed. So messed up thinking about what was happening 20 minutes from my house and it ran until like 2011!

  • secretlyaddictedtolinux@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    In a situation like this, it would be good to hear what they have to say. They are cut off from social media, completely deprived of the ability to communicate with someone to represent their point of view. This is terrible and the place is likely awful for them to have tried to escape like this. I hope one day when they get out of there they let people know if it was a terrible place.