At her last school, we struggled with even getting her to attend and she was not passing most of her classes. The people in the room were laughing. It's through a combination of sophisticated therapy, mentorship, the arts, and experiential learning that . also with girls there with severe eating disorders, they need the proper food intake. Recreational activities also help build confidence and self-esteem, and provides opportunities to practice stress-reduction techniques and pro-social skills. Substance Abuse Group:The earlier an individual begins using drugs, the more likely abuse and addiction will result. Someone is and thats me. Not one more child needs to die of preventable causes in these centers, Hilton says. Family therapy helps the student, and all family members, learn effective ways to interact, resolve conflicts, and heal. Youre better off putting her into a part time school at home and doing an intensive out patient treatment. as low as 10 serving size or 13 is NOT ENOUGH FOR 16 PEOPLE!!!! For some people that was enough food and for some people it wasnt. An example is when we were taken to a mortuary and there was a cremation happening, I cried since it brought lots of emotion and just was an inappropriate activity to bring a ton of depressed teenagers too but instead of support I got a consequence in negatives on a behavioral point card. Aswell as we were force fed. I remember I had terrible eczema while I was there (due to high stress). But, the legislation Sen. Gelser is working on passing in Oregon is similar to Bill 127 that passed in Utah. When we went swimming we were forced to leave in wet swimsuits with wet hair because there was no time to change. Its disgusting. , I am writing this review as a previous student at Eva Carlston Academy to express how harmful this program can be to a young girl suffering from depression and anxiety. And just this past October, I saw Paris Hiltons documentary which uncovered all of these repressed memories. okay there are so many fucked up things in that equation. The substance abuse group provides accurate, fact-based information about the short-term and long-term health effects of substance abuse. the most disciplining, most strict, and unhumane piece of cardstock I have ever seen. so you could earn positive points by following instructions. 425 followers. They will lie to you until your daughter is there, youve signed over her rights and then you cannot do anything. They didn't give me all of them, she says. This place will steal your soul. u/Iloveflowersandboobs (Reddit), April 2020: (SURVIVOR) Eva Carlston Academys website has been carefully designed to depict their residential treatment center as a caring and nurturing environment where teenage girls can feel physically and emotionally safe enough to process and recover from trauma and mental illness. but the other outings we went on were going to symphonies, art galleries, walking around the ginormous mormon church in downtown salt lake, and sometimes if we were lucky going to hockey games. They are punished regularly. Hence, I quit after only about a month. There was and is a girl there that has put other people in danger over and over again wether that be throwing windex at someones head. I had four hours of sleep the first day I got there because my luggage was lost in the airport and they wouldnt let me just fucking lie down because apparently a staff needed to be watching you on every floor of the three story stupid fucking house unless you were on the last phase of the program and you could just go to whatever floor you pleased.yeah LAST PHASE. After researching this facility we had the impression this would be a nurturing and supportive environment for our child to continue her growth and development as she was exhibiting depression and anxiety. yay!! We werent aloud to have access to TV, Phone calls, Dessert, free time if we got in trouble, like I said we had to sit in a room and not talk to anybody and write essays because if we didnt they would take control of that in a very awful manipulative way. If it was reeses pieces you got a fourth cup of reeses pieces and that was it. We ate like fucking rabbits because if you overdid your portion sizes you would get a big fat CONSEQUENCE. I only lasted about a month because of how absolutely awful it was. There was a significant focus on negative consequences where punishment was the cornerstone; this is not the type of program a depressed and anxious child should be subjected to. Letters and phone calls with family are strictly monitored, by rule, and the girls are reprimanded for complaining to parents. Like other behavior-modification programs, Eva Carlston Academy uses a level-system. If any former ECA students see this, know that I am so sorry for what you went through and for any role I played in it. Overall this place is fucking sneaky and staff dont know what the hell they are doing. As an 18 year old ADULTI WAS LIVING MY LIFE DEPENDING ON HOW MANY POINTS I GOT ON A FLAT CARDSTOCK PIECE OF FUCKING PAPER SO THAT MAYBE IF I MADE ENOUGH POINTS THAT DAY FOR DOING GOOD THINGS I COULD HAVE MY PRIVILEGES for the night and get to eat night snack which was a single serving portion of whatever was planned. Provo Canyon, though, isnt the only behavior modification program that allegedly operates this way, or with similar methods. Rae, for instance, successfully ran away from Spring Ridge Academy, but was found by police within 48 hours, an experience she recounts on her TikTok page. Of course this place is going to do anything they can to get your money. Our dedicated staff ensures our urban-living spaces are safe, secure, and supportive. If a girl is underweight, they dont allow her to eat more food, they force her to drink ensures while shes crying. I think I failed every single test there except maybe three because they wouldnt listen to me about my way of learning. Although our program was founded to serve female identified clients, our small and nurturing setting has also been effective with non-binary and questioning students. My mom kept calling the program begging them to take me to a dermatologist. if you started crying when they gave you negative points, they would progressively increase the number you got. I had to drink those on top of all my food and everything, she says. They strictly measure every serving of food and also force the girls to eat everything on their plates at each meal or they will receive negative consequences. only I truly know my way of learning. Eva Carlston became a NATSAP member in 2015. This impression was reinforced during our tour. This process helps them develop and maintain healthy relational skills that will transfer to life after treatment. Which is true! After months of begging, they finally said they would take a picture and send it to my mom. If it was reeses pieces you got a fourth cup of reeses pieces and that was it. In fact, if you refuse to eat or take too much food, you can be punished. the most disciplining, most strict, and unhumane piece of cardstock I have ever seen. But instead of being helped, she feels that she was re-traumatized when, she says, the schools clinical director who was not Kyras normal therapist put her in Eye-Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy, a therapeutic practice developed in the 1980s that focuses directly on the memory, and is intended to change the way that the memory is stored in the brain, thus reducing and eliminating the problematic symptoms, according to the American Psychological Association. Salt Lake City, UT Residential Treatment Center History and Background Information Eva Carlston Academy is . Join us in our fight to combat abuse and neglect in 'troubled teen' programs! She heard what happened through a counselors walkie-talkie. It is very scary forced to increase powerful psychological medications for expressing feelings or having a bad day, not for diagnosis purposes. It is worth noting that many of the positive reviews are from parents, written shortly after their daughters discharge from the program. Eva Carlston Academy is a drug rehab facility in Salt Lake City, Utah. All correspondence and conversations with family are monitored heavily and any complaining to parents leads to a heavy negative consequence. so the girl got on focus because on her visit she and her dad lost each other. This was supposed to be a safe place, a therapeutic environment. I had lost about 10 pounds since wilderness and Ive never been overweight, always stuck to a solid 116 give or take a few pounds but after Eva Carlston I was 108 pounds at 51. After a few months of being there of course I made some life long friends. We pulled her after 3 months. Apply to Learning and Development Coordinator, Client Advisor, Distribution Manager and more! Research supports parent involvement in the treatment process, and Eva Carlston has our own parenting program designed to meet that need. All residents are fed a highly low-fat diet with strict portion control. If you want to learn more or to make a formal complaint about your experience, or your child's experience, you can reach them by calling: 801/538-4242. second, eva carlston makes themselves look great for the first hmm maybe first month then hides the mistreatment. I have personally had to spend a significant amount of time in therapy processing the trauma I experienced from being emotionally neglected during my time at ECA. Often staff would pull us from school/classes to do yard work and shoveling. Our goal for each girl is that her healing process leads to the discovery of her place, her passion, and her purpose in life. Our treatment approach is gender-specific, using the best, research-validated approaches for supporting womens mental health. Some staff would threaten us with the causes of getting in trouble if we didnt do something they wanted us too. Self care resets our minds and makes us efficient, happy, and productive people. Except Eva Carlston Academy punishes the gardener for months and brainwashes them into thinking the dandelion is a flower instead of a weed. They also lose other privileges, such as being able to have a snack in the evening, reading books and writing in their journal. If its such an ineffective and emotionally damaging program, why do so many reviewers praise it? CW: Descriptions of emotional abuse, mentions of eating disorders, drug use and suicideAn overview of the abuse I experienced at Eva Carlston Academy and the. I just want to get this out there because I dont really hear anything bad about ECA on the internet and people need to know the truth before losing months and years of their lives to this traumatizing facility called treatment. I pleaded staff to please get me lotion for my eczema and I got in trouble. If you so happen to make eye contact with a random boy, youll be forced to write essays in the basement about it for weeks or months. I got in severe trouble for going against the rules and acting out. We were referred to this program by a highly-experienced and well-regarded educational consultant. Though many of the schools in this story are still operating and still accepting hundreds of teens into their programs each year scrutiny of them has increased dramatically, as has attendant legislation. If its such an ineffective and emotionally damaging program, why do so many reviewers praise it? Eventually she ran to the restroom and urinated in her pants on the way because she had to go so badly. but the other outings we went on were going to symphonies, art galleries, walking around the ginormous mormon church in downtown salt lake, and sometimes if we were lucky going to hockey games. I also had my wisdom teeth removed while I was at ECA. One little fuck up and youre toast! My parents and I thought I would be mentored and guided with appropriate therapy so I could grow and heal. I hadn't cut in two years, but at Eva I started to. I have watched girls breakdown from staff being mean and staff telling them they keep doing this wrong and that they didnt do this right and why cant you do that better and go do that now or else. It completely destroyed the concept of intuitive eating for me.. Dont send your kid here please. , Nightmares and panic attacks are commonplace among my friends after having left. This was supposed to be a safe place, a therapeutic environment. It has a maximum enrollment of 44, and the average length of stay is reported to be around 12 months. you earn a -2,000 points. Every day I counted my card every 5 minutes and brainstormed constantly about how I was going to make enough points for the day so I could eat an extra 100 calories or so after dinner and chat nervously with my friends. Please dont send your daughter here. However, we later learned that faculty instituted the rules and the use of point cards in a negative way. They made us get on our hands and knees to mop their floor when I was only there to figure out my work and why I did the things I did. Don't let the program dazzle you -- it's all a carefully cultivated front that masks the true coldness by using charisma and children who are terrified to speak out. Eva Carlston Academy is a residential treatment center for teenage girls. Clean your own fuckin house, get some maids, you have the fuckin money. I drank 13 (yes, around 13) bottles of water every 24 hours just to fill how hungry I was. I told staff I wasnt ready to talk about it and it caused me flashbacks. I probably still suffer from PTSD from my time there, she said in an interview with Refinery29. At Eva Carlston Academy, adolescent girls who have struggled deeply are invited to find their unique place in the world, a passion to inspire and guide them, and a sense of purpose in life. Constantly living in fear. The rest of it was not only unhelpful for me but harmful and traumatic. i left with severe PTSD and a deep wariness of all therapists. Parents, do not let Eva Carlston Academy manipulate you into sending (or keeping) your daughter there if its not a good fit. , Interesting that my review was removed. Most of them needed love, affection, and attention (in my opinion). i had the program director herself privately shame me into silence when i said my emotional safety was being compromised by staff. u/terra4468 (Reddit), 8/8/2018: (PARENT) This review is based on our daughters 12 month stay at Eva Carlston Academy in Salt Lake City, Utah. Currently, our daughter is part of a private Facebook group of graduates of Eva Carlston Academy. to earn your privileges, (dessert, listening to music, socialize, watch tv, having free time) so if you didnt have your privs, you have to do SODAs. work that could easily be paid for) at This is The Place (Kristi Ragsdales rich friends wedding venue.) If you self harmed they made you sleep on a fucking camping cot in the living room with the full overhead lights on with a staff right next to you. I am now almost 22 and still dealing with the after effects of this program. Activities at Eva Carlston Academy include: During adolescence, peers have a profound influence on each otheroften eclipsing the influence of parents, teachers, and other adults. LeadCandy provides Full Profile, verified Email Address, Social Profile links, and Mutual Contacts of Eva Carlston Academy employees. This type of cruel punishment made my anxiety triple. Eva Carlston abides by HIPAA. In 2005, she began working as a Therapist at, . It is unfortunate that some do not believe they benefited from the care they received. Provo Canyon School is still operating today, but is now owned by Universal Health Services, a healthcare service provider; the school says it cant comment on what happened before the change of ownership in 2000, but says, "We do not condone or promote any form of abuse. I wish you all well, and it's honestly amazing to hear a parent taking their child's side in this, in believing and standing with them. so when you get there, youre on the daily level, its the first level of four. Treatment always works better when its integrated with real world situations. I am not against treatment and it is a great tool but ECA drove me further into my mental health issues. Eventually she ran to the restroom and urinated in her pants on the way because she had to go so badly. Increased Risk of Depression. it was never an appropriate time to express any emotion that wasnt submissive obedience. Please sign this petition to investigate and hopefully shut down Eva. 4.0 out of 5 stars. I cant speak for every graduate, but I have had the privilege to stay in touch with many alumnae, most of whom I was able to get to know quite well at ECA. Girls are not allowed to speak about anything relating to struggles or injustices ever. Every single person in the room was just over and over and over shaming this girl, she was I think 13 or 14, she was in tears, she was trying to leave, and the staff wasn't letting her leave, she tells Refinery29. Even during unmonitored home visits (later in the year) our daughter did not complain as she was afraid of being punished upon her return to ECA if we had intervened with the program. To support and accelerate this work, we incorporate therapeutic elements into every aspect of our students lives. im sure the more classically rebellious teens had it far worse they were the ones who got restrained, and that was horrible enough to witness. Her anxiety was exacerbated by the negativity and shaming messages inherent to the ECA program. The program serves young women between the ages of 12 and 18 in a clinically intense, family-style program which focuses upon creating opportunities for students to explore the arts while working toward continued growth and healing. if you started crying when they gave you negative points, they would progressively increase the number you got. The argument was that this would infringe on religious freedom. Certain staff had very bad boundaries, very touchy would stay way to close to you and once again you couldnt really say much because they would look at that and say oh thats being disrespectful. The other girls had to do that as well., Refinery29 emailed a spokesperson for Eva Carlston to ask if theyd like to respond to either of Rayburns claims; they said they were unable to do so, citing the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) and saying that this and analogous principles of confidentiality prevent Eva Carlston from divulging protected health information regarding its patients. When Refinery29 asked Eva Carlston to comment on Kyra and Friedrichs claim that Kyra was removed from therapy, a spokesperson said, No student would be punished by being excluded from a group, however there may be situations where a student is not being respectful of other group members and would be asked to utilize their individual therapist until they are ready to engage productively in a group setting. Eva Carlston did not respond to Refinery29's request for comment about whether they use EMDR at their facility. I had four hours of sleep the first day I got there because my luggage was lost in the airport and they wouldnt let me just fucking lie down because apparently a staff needed to be watching you on every floor of the three story stupid fucking house unless you were on the last phase of the program and you could just go to whatever floor you pleased.yeah LAST PHASE. Its impossible not to wonder: How can these schools get away with this? And the sad part part about Eva Carlston is that everyone who works there thinks that everything they do is in the interest of the girls. linktr.ee/evacarlstonacademybcs. I hope therapy with your daughter continues, and I hope her disordered eating gets better-- for a few months, my house was put on measuring cups because we took more than the serving sizes (I still have those half-memorized, and they're really not enough for a normal eater, especially with the work-outs we did) which severely impacted people's eating. The staffs job is to keep us safe, and emotional safety is just as important as physical safety, especially in a mental health program (and one for struggling young people, no less!) I also had to do that with my other sexual assaults, and that was not therapeutic in any sense, she says. amusingly, they would threaten us that if we didnt obey, we would be sent to a lockdown facility. however, eva carlston academy IS a lockdown facility. I was constantly scared of getting in trouble for every thing I did. okay so me and my mom toured eva the day i intaked.