Life Examined
‘Taken against our will’: the damaging legacy of ‘tough love’ boot camps
Kenneth Rosen, journalist and author of “Troubled: The Failed Promise of America’s Behavioral Treatment Programs,” takes a closer look at the “tough love” industry and the damaging legacy of wilderness therapy boot camps through the eyes of four…
Kenneth Rosen, journalist and author of “Troubled: The Failed Promise of America’s Behavioral Treatment Programs,” takes a closer look at the “tough love” industry and the damaging legacy of wilderness therapy boot camps through the eyes of four former residents — and his own personal experience being forcibly taken from his home as a teenager. Host Jonathan Bastian also talks with Will White, the author of “Stories from the Field: A History of Wilderness Therapy” and teaching lecturer at Plymouth State University, about the history and positive effects of wilderness therapy programs.
In this episode
2 stories‘Almost everyone is left with trauma’: The impact of American’s unregulated wilderness teen therapy industry
Tens of thousands of “troubled” teens have, with their parents’ consent, been forcibly lifted from their beds and sent into the wilderness.
Read the story31 minThe therapeutic benefits of outdoor youth programs
Outdoor programs like the Outdoor National Leadership Schools, the Boys and Girl Scouts of American, or even popular summer camps have been around for a century, successfully teaching kids about the environment, outdoors skills, and surviving in…
Read the story21 min