"DE-PROGRAMMING" CAMPS
Here are some examples of children who were sent to camps to coerce them into saying they were not abused:
Alanna's Story:
Alanna Krause was institutionalized by her father. Her story is at: http://www.sfweekly.com/2002-12-18/news/girl-interrupted/5
Here is the bit about being institutionalized:
Once he had custody, Marshall Krause checked Alanna into a locked residential treatment facility in Utah for five months, though she had no criminal history or evidence of mental health problems. When she returned to her father's care at age 13, Alanna decided that she couldn't live with what she attests were constant fights and the threat of physical confrontation, so she ran away to Los Angeles. A juvenile court there finally placed Alanna with her mother inOjai, where she lived until she left for college last year.... ....Krause had used independent psychologists to refer Alanna to Island View. Krause says he checked Alanna, then 11, in to the $6,000-a-month institution because Lana Clark and two other psychologists recommended it. Clark had diagnosed Alanna with Parental Alienation Syndrome; Krause says she was "going out of control."
Alanna says she was traumatized by her time at Island View. "I had never had sex, tried drugs, or been arrested," Alanna says. "I was an almost straight-A student. Everyone else was 16 or 17 years old. They were prostitutes, gangbangers, or heroin addicts, teen parents. I'd go to AA and say, 'Hi, my name is Alanna and I've never had alcohol.'"
She says she underwent therapy in which she was forced to say that she loved her father, and that her mother was crazy. "They would tell me, 'Your dad is not a bad father and your mom is crazy.' They would hold me in there until I would say it. I remember staring at the light reflecting against the wall, and those ideas seeping into my brain. I realized what I needed to do was to pretend that it was working. But I had to stay in touch with both realities at once. There was the me that I was inside, and the me that I showed to the outside world. Every night, it was like that movie Memento, and I would remind myself, 'OK, this is real, and this is real.' I remember thinking, 'This is weird. Is this a movie? Is this my life?'"
Dr. Jared Balmer, executive director at Island View, says that many children who enter his facility have similar reactions. "A majority of the children here think that they have no problems," he says. "But they think that everyone else has lots of problems."
Alanna stayed at Island View for five months, with her father visiting every few weekends. When he came, they'd either undergo joint therapy or he'd take her on excursions into town. Simone-Smith, however, was not allowed to visit her daughter; Alanna could only make 10-minute calls to her mother after she'd earned phone privileges -- six weeks into her stay. To maintain contact, they sent each other letters, which were screened by the Island View staff.
Alanna won a million dollar lawsuit.
DM's story:
My son was a great student and was in drama and after school activities. He was very popular and had lots of friends. I was told to bring him in to court one day so he could tell the judge which parent he wanted to live with, which he had already said was me, because his father was abusing him. I brought him in and they had someone there who took him away. I didn't see him for a year. He was sent to three different camps and boarding schools. One year later he came back. He had a completely different personality. He was very sad and withdrawn and he did not have a memory of much of his past. I am on supervised visits and his father has full custody, so I don't know exactly what happened, but I think they used electric shock treatments and other forms of torture to erase his memory and silence him about the abuse.
JV's Story:
I was tortured with electroshock therapy treatments in order to get me to stay quiet about the abuse and to make me forget it. It was really painful and took decades to get my memory completely back.
Anonymous girl:
I know of a girl that was handcuffed and put on a plane to I believe northern California to be brainwashed/deprogramed by the state. She was smart and said yes to every thing her her captors threw at her, "Yes I love my Dad, yes I want to be with him" and as soon as they released her back into her father's custody she ran away and lived on the street rather than live with her abuser. It was illegal for her to live within the protection of her mother so she lived on the street. What a nightmare. I hope it does not happen to Damon!
Alanna's Story:
Alanna Krause was institutionalized by her father. Her story is at: http://www.sfweekly.com/2002-12-18/news/girl-interrupted/5
Here is the bit about being institutionalized:
Once he had custody, Marshall Krause checked Alanna into a locked residential treatment facility in Utah for five months, though she had no criminal history or evidence of mental health problems. When she returned to her father's care at age 13, Alanna decided that she couldn't live with what she attests were constant fights and the threat of physical confrontation, so she ran away to Los Angeles. A juvenile court there finally placed Alanna with her mother inOjai, where she lived until she left for college last year.... ....Krause had used independent psychologists to refer Alanna to Island View. Krause says he checked Alanna, then 11, in to the $6,000-a-month institution because Lana Clark and two other psychologists recommended it. Clark had diagnosed Alanna with Parental Alienation Syndrome; Krause says she was "going out of control."
Alanna says she was traumatized by her time at Island View. "I had never had sex, tried drugs, or been arrested," Alanna says. "I was an almost straight-A student. Everyone else was 16 or 17 years old. They were prostitutes, gangbangers, or heroin addicts, teen parents. I'd go to AA and say, 'Hi, my name is Alanna and I've never had alcohol.'"
She says she underwent therapy in which she was forced to say that she loved her father, and that her mother was crazy. "They would tell me, 'Your dad is not a bad father and your mom is crazy.' They would hold me in there until I would say it. I remember staring at the light reflecting against the wall, and those ideas seeping into my brain. I realized what I needed to do was to pretend that it was working. But I had to stay in touch with both realities at once. There was the me that I was inside, and the me that I showed to the outside world. Every night, it was like that movie Memento, and I would remind myself, 'OK, this is real, and this is real.' I remember thinking, 'This is weird. Is this a movie? Is this my life?'"
Dr. Jared Balmer, executive director at Island View, says that many children who enter his facility have similar reactions. "A majority of the children here think that they have no problems," he says. "But they think that everyone else has lots of problems."
Alanna stayed at Island View for five months, with her father visiting every few weekends. When he came, they'd either undergo joint therapy or he'd take her on excursions into town. Simone-Smith, however, was not allowed to visit her daughter; Alanna could only make 10-minute calls to her mother after she'd earned phone privileges -- six weeks into her stay. To maintain contact, they sent each other letters, which were screened by the Island View staff.
Alanna won a million dollar lawsuit.
DM's story:
My son was a great student and was in drama and after school activities. He was very popular and had lots of friends. I was told to bring him in to court one day so he could tell the judge which parent he wanted to live with, which he had already said was me, because his father was abusing him. I brought him in and they had someone there who took him away. I didn't see him for a year. He was sent to three different camps and boarding schools. One year later he came back. He had a completely different personality. He was very sad and withdrawn and he did not have a memory of much of his past. I am on supervised visits and his father has full custody, so I don't know exactly what happened, but I think they used electric shock treatments and other forms of torture to erase his memory and silence him about the abuse.
JV's Story:
I was tortured with electroshock therapy treatments in order to get me to stay quiet about the abuse and to make me forget it. It was really painful and took decades to get my memory completely back.
Anonymous girl:
I know of a girl that was handcuffed and put on a plane to I believe northern California to be brainwashed/deprogramed by the state. She was smart and said yes to every thing her her captors threw at her, "Yes I love my Dad, yes I want to be with him" and as soon as they released her back into her father's custody she ran away and lived on the street rather than live with her abuser. It was illegal for her to live within the protection of her mother so she lived on the street. What a nightmare. I hope it does not happen to Damon!