Troubled Treatment

Sophia Young
  • 4.2 (5)
  • Documentary

“Troubled Treatment” is an award-winning serial investigative podcast examining one small, therapeutic boarding school in Spring Valley, Arizona, called Spring Ridge Academy. The school is one of many that existed in a network commonly referred to as the “troubled teen industry,” which markets itself as a supportive and caring environment for teenagers to heal from trauma and personal struggles and develop as a young individual. However, former students have spoken out about traumatic and even abusive experiences in the “therapeutic” program that was meant to help them.

Episodes

  1. 04/19/2024

    Episode 1: Troubled

    What happens when the place meant to help people heal ends up leaving them with more trauma? In the first episode of "Troubled Treatment," we learn about Spring Ridge Academy (SRA), a therapeutic boarding school for teens meant to help them through a wide range of struggles from addiction and mental health challenges to defiance and family conflict. We also meet the individuals who found their experiences in the program to be more often damaging than therapeutic. In the first episode of this limited series, we unpack just what the so-called "troubled teen industry" looks like from the inside.

  2. 04/19/2024

    Episode 3: Action

    The therapeutic model at Spring Ridge was not what most would consider conventional. The program included a myriad of individual, family and group therapies, but also required students to participate in several days long "workshops" to progress to graduation. This episode, we explore the origins of the unorthodox exercises and programming which many students named as the most traumatic part of their time at SRA.

  3. 04/12/2024

    Episode 5: Phase 5

    In our final episode of "Troubled Treatment": what some of those who worked at SRA are still doing in the troubled teen industry and how those who experienced these programs are moving forward advocating for reform.

  4. 04/12/2024

    Episode 4: Unsilenced

    After learning about the programming at SRA in previous episodes, former students explain the mental and emotional impacts of their experience at the school and what readjusting to "normal life" is like after leaving. This episode, we also explore the marketing success troubled teen industry programs employ to continue to attract parents desperate to help their children, while silencing those who attempt to speak up about the programs.

  5. 04/11/2024

    Episode 2: Toxic

    Initially, Spring Ridge Academy seemed like a positive place, at least some students thought. However, life at the desert-surrounded campus was not everything it first seemed. Former SRA students explain what daily life was like at Spring Ridge, both therapeutically and socially, and the program culture that sowed unease and distrust among its participants.

  • 5 Episodes

Ratings & Reviews

4.2
out of 5
5 Ratings

About

“Troubled Treatment” is an award-winning serial investigative podcast examining one small, therapeutic boarding school in Spring Valley, Arizona, called Spring Ridge Academy. The school is one of many that existed in a network commonly referred to as the “troubled teen industry,” which markets itself as a supportive and caring environment for teenagers to heal from trauma and personal struggles and develop as a young individual. However, former students have spoken out about traumatic and even abusive experiences in the “therapeutic” program that was meant to help them.

Information

  • Creator
    Sophia Young
  • Years Active
    2024
  • Episodes
    5
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Sophia Young
  • Show Website
    Troubled Treatment

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