Surviving The "Troubled" Teen Industry: introducing TTI Survivors

In 2020 The "Troubled" Teen Industry amassed an estimated $23 billion dollars. (NYRA). Year after year these programs have proven to only harm instead of fulfill therapeutic needs that they claim to. The TTI promotes outdated ‘therapies’ such as attack therapy, derived from pseudoscience cult-logic. The term “therapy” is grossly misapplied and gets used as a blanket method with no basis by unqualified adults in power. This is done through breaking the child’s spirit through forced isolation, forced manual labor, food/sleep/education deprivation, public group humiliation rituals, unethical restraint methods, and countless other means of sadistic abuse.

Present day TTI: These for-profit institutions continue to profit without requiring proper federal /state oversight or licensing that public programs require. Thousands of reports on account of child abuse, medical neglect, child sexual abuse, illegal practices, wrongful deaths, etc. get covered up. These legal “loopholes” have allowed cycles of perpetually-escaped accountability in the TTI.

Tara, Jon, Bobo and Barb gave birth to the TTI Roundtable Account through a collective effort of communication, information-sharing and community organization. Not only a public tool to provide support to victims of TTI abuse, the Roundtable account believes in educating the public on the systemic oppression of children by first hearing marginalized peoples who have spoken on systemic injustices for decades.

Jon survived Elan from 1990-1993. A few years later he started deprogramming in therapy and committed to using his voice to heal his shame of participating and perpetuating Elan’s abuse while he was there, and accepting that he was never deserving of the abuse he was forced to carry out and endure. From raising awareness, working to bring survivors and allies together, and cultivating legislation changes Jon is leading the way to exposing the bad players involved that have never had to answer for their crimes and behaviors.

Tara is a social justice activist; a fearless ally and spokesperson for the unjust treatment and perpetual systemic infliction of trauma onto children in this country for private profit. In 2021 Tara decided to take the steps to dissolve the shame instilled in her from her 2004-2008 Elan stay. Telling her story through the eyes of a 12 year old; and discovering that the same abuse STILL happens since she left 15 years ago fueled indignation that demands accountability exposing these unthinkable practices of harming children.

Nora is a survivor of what is now Outback Therapeutic Expeditions and the now-closed Mission Mountain School, a therapeutic, all-girls boarding school. She attended these programs from 2003 until she left at 18 in 2005. She is responsible for creating the TTI survivor ribbon as well as the Discord server, TTI Survivor Safe Space, a place for survivors and allies to come together, discuss issues, find support and friendship, plan activism events, and discover healing together.

Cold Case Western Australia
They're the crimes that continue to haunt grieving family members and the wider...

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