I'm 35, I was sent to this program when I was 13 years old. You made me wear an 80lb pack (this was…read moreverified in the airport when I weighed it to go to a boarding school in Montana after). I have scoliosis now, and mental trauma I can't even explain to my husband or friends. DO NOT SEND YOUR CHILD HERE. My mom has regrets sending my me here after hearing my stories... you brain wash and abuse kids. This program took away parts of my childhood I cannot get back now. Put your kids in therapy and give them meds, you're better off than this garbage.

Due to my previous reviews being removed multiple times, I am sharing my experience here. I…read moreattended Second Nature Wilderness when I was 17 years old. I am now 24 and continue to live with complex PTSD as a result of my time there and the subsequent program that Second Nature strongly urged my parents to send me to -- a program that was later shut down for child abuse. Second Nature deeply damaged my life in ways that I am still recovering from. The environment taught me that survival depended on complete compliance and conformity. I quickly learned that to "progress" through their phases, you had to act and speak exactly as they wanted, regardless of how you truly felt. By the time I completed the program, I had lost my confidence, my sense of safety, and my ability to trust myself or others. From the moment I arrived, the experience was dehumanizing. I was forcibly taken from my room in the middle of the night by strangers and brought to the wilderness. Despite being a minor and a survivor of sexual assault, I was required to strip naked, squat, and cough in front of staff members, some only a few years older than me. I was then made to sleep between staff members -- sometimes one male and one female -- and could not use the restroom without someone watching me. None of this reflected trauma-informed or sexual-assault-informed care. Once in the program, basic needs were routinely neglected or mishandled. Winter clothing was withheld until long after temperatures had dropped, leaving many of us cold and unsafe during long hikes. Despite hiking miles every day and performing constant physical labor, food portions were strictly limited, often leaving participants hungry and fatigued. In addition, restraint techniques were used that caused physical pain, justified as part of maintaining order, but in reality, they were traumatic and unnecessary. The program's psychological approach relied heavily on humiliation and forced vulnerability. Within days of arriving, I was required to write and read a "Life Story" aloud to the entire group, detailing deeply personal events and traumas. Later, participants were instructed to write "Letters of Accountability," in which we were expected to publicly confess everything we had done wrong in our lives while our families sent letters expressing how we had "hurt them." While accountability is important in true therapy, these exercises were conducted in ways that shamed rather than healed, with emotional distress often used to "break" participants into submission. Hiking long distances each day, coupled with emotional isolation and limited food, was not therapeutic -- it was a system designed to exhaust and control. While parents may believe these programs teach discipline or self-awareness, what they actually create is temporary compliance through fear and exhaustion. True behavioral change cannot come from coercion or degradation. I now work with trauma-informed therapists who have been shocked by what I endured. It has taken years to even begin rebuilding trust and safety. I share this not out of anger, but so that parents can make informed decisions. There are legitimate therapeutic options that support healing -- Second Nature Wilderness Therapy is not one of them. I would also like to add that I have requested my own medical and psychotherapy records on multiple occasions with no response.

I've been going to the hope center for the last 7-8 years. I cannot thank them enough for being…read morethere during some of the lowest points in my life. Michelle is so kind, caring, ans knowledgeable and truly cares about every person who walks through their door. She helped me meet my therapist, Patti, who has been my partner in crime as I've faced the ups and downs of my life. Knowing I am loved, and supported, especially when I feel alone has helped me build a life I love. The ups and downs may still come, but now I have the tools and resources to better face them and best of all I know I'm not alone. Thank you to everyone at the Hope Center. I am so grateful you exist in our community and for all that you do for not just me, but everyone.

From the owner: Aspen Hope Center provides an array of mental health services such as crisis intervention, suicide…read moreprevention, mobile crisis response, therapy, a confidential 24/7 HopeLine, school-based programs, and referrals to appropriate providers. The Hope Center strives to decrease the stigma surrounding mental health and helping reduce the stress of navigating the system of mental health.