We were instructed to always accept staff giving feedback to us but we were not allowed to give feedback to staff because they felt this was our way of telling a staff member how to do their job. You are also punished for exhibiting symptoms of mental illness or emotional distress. We pulled her after 3 months. 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. The program is located at 4943 Wasatch Blvd, Salt Lake City, UT 84124. Currently, our daughter is part of a private Facebook group of graduates of Eva Carlston Academy. Paris Hilton didnt set out to become the face of a movement. I remember I had terrible eczema while I was there (due to high stress). Eva Carlston Academy abuse. if youre not going to read this long ass paragraph, just please listen to these next three things. All residents are fed a highly low-fat diet with strict portion control. While it is sometimes uncomfortable being on the receiving end of feedback, this feedback may be direct but it is always respectful (not 'attacking'), and clients then have the opportunity to take in this feedback to help them take accountability and growth in their relationships with others., The spokesperson also said: Providing the best possible care for teens and families who are struggling is the priority for Eva Carlston, and the vast majority of our clients have a positive experience.. They finally took me to a doctor and the dermatologist prescribed lotion that wouldve helped. My daughter has been incarcerated there, with no access to proper authorities, her family and the world. They pick favorites and basically say screw everyone else. We were required to calculate every serving of food we ate and were very restricted with regards to how much we could have and when. I have made a formal complaint to the Utah State Department of Licensing. I told staff I wasnt ready to talk about it and it caused me flashbacks. Friedrich says she received a mini hot seat of her own. They didnt allow me to take any pain meds or even Advil! The educational component is mediocre. The students live in a constant state of fear and dont tell their parents the truth because they are afraid of further punishment. , I am a former employee of Eva Carlston Academy. My mom kept calling the program begging them to take me to a dermatologist. At her last school, we struggled with even getting her to attend and she was not passing most of her classes. Constantly living in fear. We were stuck in the house every single day expect for maybe a couple hours on saturday and like an hour on friday. I found it very strange that we were not allowed to wear slippers in the house unless you had a medical problem, even in the winter. Aswell as we were force fed. But youre usually about a week or two from graduating at this point anyway so who gives a shit? They are given a very short amount of time to eat the food given, which often times causes them to vomit due to this added stress; again this results in another negative consequence. When I first got there, there were groups held to basically bash a girl who was not ready to do her work. This impression was reinforced during our tour. I also had my wisdom teeth removed while I was at ECA. Individual therapy helps students discover new ways to understand their difficulties and develop new skills for successfully addressing those difficulties. going into eva, I had a very normal diet. Because this coaching takes place in a systematic way in the girls day-to-day routine (milieu) and in real time, it helps girls respond more naturally to real-life situations as they arise. In the following, Eva Carlston Academy reviews many of the behaviors and signals that are indicators of a child going through a difficult time. the tactics they pulled bordered on conversion therapy if you didnt knuckle down and let them shut you up. Even our daughter's therapist snuck in food for her to eat during therapy sessions. 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. so an example would be (a family teacher gave me this once which triggered me extremely because I am a victim of rape) youre alone with a boy and he tries getting in your pants. It is worth noting that many of the positive reviews are from parents, written shortly after their daughters discharge from the program. Its disgusting. u/paris_stone (Reddit), 1/11/2019: (SURVIVOR) 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. They highly monitor social calls so we had no privacy to express our true feelings with family. I have a history of sexual abuse, so this was particularly terrifying to me. Our team provides opportunities, challenges, and mentorship to help girls overcome these restrictions so that they can discover their own preferences and passions. they were ridiculous with their cleaning standards white glove test, cleaning the whole house with bleach every day, even multiple times a day, plus a deep clean once a week. 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. In this family-style setting we were told the girls learn a strength-based approach to skill building, problem solving and emotional regulation, social-skills development, and preparation for independent living. we were not treated like humans, we were treated dogs. I was taking a longer time that was normal for me and the girl said let me see and snatched my paper and then our interaction ended in -2,000 points because I was taking too long. If we did not eat everything on our plates we were given a severe negative consequence. There was a lot of shame-based stuff there., Rae also describes attending group therapy sessions known as feedback that involved anywhere from 10 to 70 students. Towards the end, close to when my parents finally had it and scooped me all the way from Texas, things got really fucking weird. Increased Risk of Depression. 338. We also know the importance of providing female role models to help inspire hope and model the qualities of a healthy woman, and we staff our program accordingly. worked as a Psychiatrist at Eva Carlston. All that they did was just give me some therapist reports and some psychiatrist notes, and that's it. And, our family is undergoing intensive family therapy for the same reasons. u/parentingtaco (Reddit), 2018: (SURVIVOR) Its a damaging program based on a behavior/point system that has been proven not to work. My skin was ruined and bloody and scarred. what a joke. The description of the petition reads, Girls under 18 and younger are signed away to Eva Carlston Academy, a residential treatment center that supposedly helps girls with addiction, eating disorders, depression, mood disorders and other mental health or behavioral issues. At Eva Carlston Academy, we believe that our long-term mental health is well served by knowing how to have fun! Each year, its estimated that 50,000 kids are forced into residential treatment programs against their will, either placed there through foster care, the Department of Education, mental health services, or by their own parents, according to Breaking Code Silence, an initiative organized by survivors and activists to raise awareness of the Troubled Teen Industry. Eva Carlston Academy is licensed a residential treatment center specializing in helping adolescent girls between the ages of 12-18 who are struggling with difficulties such as trauma, anxiety, and depression. Often staff would pull us from school/classes to do yard work and shoveling. okay there are so many fucked up things in that equation. Usually they are busy and dont respond right away so you have to wait. Her anxiety was exacerbated by the negativity and shaming messages inherent to the ECA program. Overall this place is fucking sneaky and staff dont know what the hell they are doing. Treating people in a bubble and then expecting them to survive in the real world is laughable. , i went to eva carlston for 14 and a half months. It's through a combination of sophisticated therapy, mentorship, the arts, and experiential learning that . I don't know anyone who can live on 1 cup of cereal and a dozen raspberries. They also didn't tell me why., When Refinery29 reached out for comment on this matter, Eva Carlston said: Providing the best possible care for teens and families who are struggling is the priority for Eva Carlston, and the vast majority of our clients have a positive experience. I can say I am stronger person because of it all because of other programs not because of eva. , I was at Eva Carlston back in 2013. the most disciplining, most strict, and unhumane piece of cardstock I have ever seen. Our bathroom breaks were monitored and you were not allowed to use the restroom until at least one hour after a meal. But, copycat programs have now proliferated across the country, negatively impacting a whole new generation of teens. 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. Not everyone loses so much weight because metabolisms vary. The therapists are not good and they dont really know what they are talking about. Something was just gnawing away at me for years and I could not put my finger on it. We've waited too long to take action, and now is the time.. 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. The staff treats the girls abusively with extreme amounts of intimidation. From what we saw, the therapists are not able to influence changes to the daily milieu to advance individual therapies or even promote opinions about activities to which the are opposed. If its such an ineffective and emotionally damaging program, why do so many reviewers praise it? 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. Employees in Salt Lake City have rated Eva Carlston Academy with 3.2 out of 5 for work-life-balance (3.1% lower than company-wide rating), 1.9 out of 5 for diversity and inclusion (38.3% lower than company-wide rating), 3.2 out of 5 for culture and values . [Courtney] was very adamant that she was trained at a WWASP school, says Sara Hubbell, 22, who attended Spring Ridge Academy from February 2016 to August 2018. Being told every single day that doing your best isnt enough and you will never be enough takes a toll. It was the worse 11 months of my life. Usually they are busy and dont respond right away so you have to wait. I probably lost 10 pounds in those two weeks. However, the year our daughter spent at Eva Carlston Academy was significantly damaging and profoundly and negatively impactful to her. I remember I had terrible eczema while I was there (due to high stress). Being told every single day that doing your best isnt enough and you will never be enough takes a toll. 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 had to quit after only a short time because of the cruelty I witnessed there. [edit] honestly, i downplayed the stuff about lgtbq+ clients. I am doing deep trauma work in therapy just to work through ECA.