“Our primary campaign is to … close all behavior modification programs (including): therapeutic boarding schools…and faith-based group homes, since they are ALL abusve and fraudulant.” Source: Heal-Online website
Heal’s Parenting Guide says parents should never try to influence their children, saying:: “Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself. They come through you but not from you. And though they are with you yet they belong not to you. You may give them your love but not your thoughts.” Source: https://www.heal-online.org/parent.htm
“Prior to HEAL, I worked as college organizer for the Humanist Association of Los Angeles and media coordinator for Atheists United.” –From the bio of the HEAL-ONLINE California coordinator
California Coordinator for HEAL On-Line . . . will be speaking on ‘BEHIND BARBED WIRES: THE REALITY OF TEEN CONCENTRATION CAMPS IN AMERICA’ on March 27, 2012 … sponsored by Atheists Coalition. Source: https://californiahealresistance.wordpress.com
HEAL says, “False confessions are one part of the brainwashing/coercive thought reform process. This is why this is common-place in these programs. They are cults and use basic brainwashing methods to manipulate and control children and often their parents (through parent seminars).”
Source: pfctruth.com/pathwayorigins.htm and rickross.com/groups/lifespring.html
“The government is actively using brainwashing techniques on the most vulnerable in our society, those adults imprisoned (many falsely) and those children in private prisons as paid for by our tax dollars as well as parent’s pocketbooks and insurance companies, we should all be in agreement that this is the most important issue needing solving in our society today.” Source: beyondbusiness.net/openletter.htm
“This is happening in ‘private boarding schools’ claiming to ‘help troubled teens’ and instead are, in fact, brainwashing (or attempting to brainwash) teens who have done nothing but question authority.” Source: Beyondbusiness.net/openletter.htm
“Survivors are often too afraid of being put back into the “care” of these psychotic brainwashing fools who don’t consider ethics or morals in their world that often we don’t speak out, the fear being too great.” Source: beyondbusiness.net/openletter.htm
“Good” behavior modification or therapeutic programs for children and teens are rumored to exist. However, it is HEAL’s experience that it is more likely than not that there is no such entity. Source: https://www.heal-online.org/faqs.htm
Even success is twisted by HEAL to be bad: “Our concern is that even people who’ve gone through the program credit the program with ‘building’ them into the individuals they’ve become. This is a red flag because it shows that the program does not empower youth to be independent thinkers or help children to recognize their own worth.” HEAL was responding to this statement by a teen who went through a program that HEAL doesn’t recommend: “‘It taught me how to be a responsible person. They taught me honesty, integrity, built me into a person that really wants to make a difference in the world,’ said Mayfield.” Source: https://www.heal-online.org/investigate.htm
HEAL has close ties with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). The founder has a law degree, and others on staff or volunteers are lawyers. They welcome lawsuits because the organization has no assets to be forfeited, and they see the resulting legal proceedings as a drain on the finances of complainants — therefore causing them financial harm. Furthermore, they welcome law suits to gain more publicity for their cause.
In their words…“HEAL has received many “Cease and Desist” requests over the years and we have never complied. We will never comply. And, we advise corporations, businesses, and other entities that violate human rights and defraud the public to stop trying to intimidate us into silence. We will not be silenced.” Source: heal-online.org/harassment.htm
To our knowledge, no program who has ever tried to set the record straight with HEAL has ever been given the opportunity to share their rebuttal publicly on the HEAL website, since HEAL deems everything they say to be a lie…According to HEAL, “Programs resort to manipulation, lies, and confrontational and baseless attacks to avoid being held accountable for their own misdeeds. While it is possible that those in the industry have been dealing with ‘troubled teens’ for so long that they themselves have become identical to the population they claim to serve (based on their statements about their clients, not any belief held by HEAL), it is more likely that those running these programs have always been liars and manipulators and unable to see anything but their own reflection in the eyes of others.” Source: https://www.heal-online.org/harassment.htm
Their opinion of ALL therapeutic program staff…“Program staff/directors are master-manipulators, liars, and crafty salespeople. They are great at…blaming the kids (that they see as “throw-aways”) for the program staff’s own wrong-doing knowing that many parents send children to programs as a punishment.” Source: https://www.heal-online.org/warn.htm
Their opinion of the entire industry: “…this industry is fraudulent, abusive, torturous, corrupt, and often deadly. We will not condone or recommend risking any child or young adult’s well-being by placing them in a private, unregulated prison under the complete control of strangers.” When asked if there is any “good” therapeutic program, their response is consistently “NO!” Source: heal-online.org/parentsupport.htm
An example of how HEAL incorrectly reports on programs: A boys ranch we are familiar with is characterized by HEAL as this: “It looks to be a basic slave/labor camp.” HEAL goes on to recommend against placing a child there because of this and because the program has a “levels system”. In fact, HEAL knows nothing about this program, its staff, or how it operates. They assume that the boys help with the horse ranch so the owners can get some unpaid labor, but that is totally untrue. They assume that the owners are getting rich, and in fact, the owners have to supplement the costs of the program out of their own pockets. In this particular program, the boys are taught to be “horse whisperers.” They are given an unbroken horse when they enter the program, and by interacting with the horse and how the horse can be a mirror of their own attitudes, the boys can see more readily how they are acting. The horse, in essence, teaches the child to think and behave in a different way. It is an awesome program with a strong and unique therapeutic approach and counselors that should be congratulated and emulated, not torn down and called a “slave labor camp.” To say that is unconscionable and irresponsible, as with most of the program reviews on HEAL-ONLINE.
HEAL specifically focuses on destroying faith-based programs…Nearly every religious therapeutic program in the country – programs that have been around and successful for many years — are on HEAL’s list of so-called “teen torture and abuse” facilities. Yet HEAL knows so little about most programs that they don’t even know that a number of the programs that they list are not teen facilities at all — they only work with adults (and even those have gained high praise from the government and leaders for their effectiveness). HEAL obviously doesn’t know about the inner workings of these programs, but has lumped them all together, assuming that all religious programs are automatically abusive and poorly run.
We recently contacted HEAL by phone about a specific religious therapeutic boarding school. HEAL tried to discourage us selecting any religious program, period. In fact, when we asked them, “What religious program do you recommend?” someone named Simone, who calls herself a “survivor”of a teen program, told us, “All religious treatment centers are designed to brainwash and abuse.” She warned us not consider any religious program, saying, “All religious therapeutic homes and schools are alike — they abuse and brainwash — they are all cults.”
Tragic accidents are not always a reason for a good program to be shut down. In some cases, HEAL pushes for the closure of programs where a tragic accident has occurred, calling it “abuse” whether or not it is the direct fault of the program. In one case, a girl fell while on a hike and died. In another, a child died in an accident in the program’s vehicle. These accidents are terrible to contemplate, but life is fragile. HEAL jumps on these tragic events to make it appear that such deaths must go on all the time and that they are the result of abuse. Incredulously, they even claim that programs are killing and burying kids on their property and covering up deaths. The truth is, any injury must be reported immediately to state authorities, and the percentage of deaths of teens while in programs is far less than deaths of teens outside of programs. In other words, kids are far safer in a program than they would be at home. It is also proven that teens learn better while in a boarding school setting because they are less distracted and are given more help in learning.
HEAL always assumes the worst, even when they can find nothing wrong with a program. For instance, see this review: “HEAL’s concern is that this program is very tight with the behavior modification industry, including some confirmedly fraudulent and abusive programs.” They go on to say the program should not be considered because of this fact, and of course, their definition of “fraudulent and abusive” has more to do with it not allowing the child to do whatever they want to do (including leaving the program on their own, without the program being allowed to contact the parents). Source: https://www.heal-online.org/investigate.htm
Or, just because a program is located in a particular state, they tell all parents to stay away: “HEAL recommends no parent subject any child to any program in Utah, since Utah is corrupt and refuses to regulate or take action against confirmedly abusive programs.” Source: https://www.heal-online.org/investigate.htm
"I have been a mental health professional for over 30 years and possess a Master’s Degree and Ph.D. in the field. I have worked in many settings. Like any profession…in the mental health world, there are good people and bad, and good programs and not so good. I have a real concern about Heal-Online and the propaganda they are spreading about all therapeutic boarding schools and residential programs for children and adolescents. It is obvious that the leadership of this organization have had perceived or true negative experiences with adolescent programs of which they were residents. They appear to have a vendetta against all like programs. Unfortunately, they lose all credibility with their all-inclusive ranting and many false accusations. In an effort to resolve their own issues, it appears that they are attacking many programs without clear and convincing evidence of wrongdoings.
They have set up “standards of care” for programs to receive their apparent nod of approval. Many of these “standards” are unrealistic and not in the best interest of children/youth in care. For example, they state that “No program can accept a child from another State” and that a child 14 years and older must have the right to sign themselves out of any facility.” It is difficult to understand how/why they see “standards” such as these as beneficial to a child. They may have good intentions, but my belief is that their unresolved personal issues are blinding them to the damage they are doing. There are a host of effective programs nationally that are making a tremendous impact in the lives of countless children, teenagers, and families. I take my hat off to these programs that remain focused on their mission to help struggling kids and families, even when the attacks of people like those behind Heal-Online are unrelenting. I know that Heal-Online and their leaders are facing law suits. In the future, I hope they significantly amend their ways and truly do their due diligence and research before talking disparagingly about anyone or any program. Then, and only then, will they have credibility and a voice that should be heard."
(The name of this psychologist is withheld, fearing reprisals and harassment by HEAL)