WWASP Seminars were the backbone of the WWASP program, essentially it was both their marketing scheme and their premise for their own perverted brand of therapy. These seminars were run by a company called Resource Realizations (or Premiere Educational Seminars) a spin off of the Lifespring Seminars started by former Lifespring facilitator David Gilcrease. Seminars were required to be participated in by both the parents and the students including seminars that both the parents and children would attend together. Seminars were broken down into 4 initial stages, Discovery (level 1), Focus (level 2), Accountability (level 3) and Keys to Success (level 4+) As the child and parent both progressed through these seminars they would then be given the responsibility to staff these seminars.
WWASP Seminars used many tactics of brainwashing and mind control. Playing on the psychological responses to intense emotional distress, Resource Realizations used both negative and positive reinforcement (“break you down to build you back up”) to indoctrinate it’s participants into the program. Encouraging absolute trust and loyalty to both the methods of the seminars and the program. For parents the threat was, if you don’t devote yourself 100% to this program your kid will be dead, insane or in jail. For kids, it was simply that you would not move forward in the program, nor be released until all seminars are passed. The fear of being kicked out of the seminar would force kids to participate in humiliating processes, attack therapy and would often lead kids to admit to things they had never done, just to pass for “dealing” with their issues. WWASP Seminars also utilized deprivation of sleep, food and bathroom breaks to keep people on edge and more likely to break down.
The outcome of such an intense experience was an extraordinary high, the feeling of a life changing experience and ultimately a cult-like loyalty to the program. This afforded WWASP the power to easily manipulate it’s followers and to maintain a system of free marketing, as recruiting became a requirement of parents once they started staffing seminars. Students who did well in seminars advanced through the program in about a year’s time. Students and parents who could not pass the seminars would be held back, extending their programs for months, even years.
Seminars: Intense Intimidation, Confusion and Terror – By Meyla Atkinson
Before even setting foot inside the first seminar, the child has already witnessed the effects of seminar for a full week. The most alarming aspect was the screaming. The dining hall was positioned just next to the seminar room, so plenty of noise could be heard almost every meal. Some classrooms and the isolation rooms were above the seminar room, these were also full of noise from the seminar. Loud, disruptive music was also common, as was hearing the facilitator screaming at a particular child. The child would witness other children, (perhaps their friends) entering the room, hear intimidation and wailing from torture, and thus be intimidated and half the work breaking their spirit was done before they ever set foot in seminar. Girls who “chose out” inevitably cried and came back looking quite disheveled. Russian interrogators knew simply the implication of torture or seeing one’s compatriots return injured from interrogation made perhaps 30% confess. Both often played on the affections for loved ones.
Night was often used by the Russian gulag to extract confessions and WWASP used night to it’s advantage in seminars especially. These ran late into the night, often until 11pm, followed by hours of “homework” and early morning rising, the most profound impact being serious sleep deprivation. Children Physicians recommend 8-10 hours of sleep for adolescents, but during seminar our already meager seven hours of sleep was reduced to much less, sometimes four hours or less per night. Sleep deprivation makes critical thinking difficult or impossible. So the teen is left very vulnerable to giving up or changing core beliefs to match what WWASP teaches.
The facilitator was a particularly cruel and unempathetic tormentor, akin to the interrogator in the gulag. He employed many psychological interrogation methods, especially psychological contrast: one minute he was speaking in a friendly, sympathetic tone, with an appealing face. The next minute he was screaming, arms raised aggressively in the child’s face. He would often use foul language He was allowed to lie, and often did, sometimes creating elaborate untrue scenarios to confuse and dismay the children.
During seminar in WWASPS, they regularly denied the children water bottles, limiting water intake to four short breaks, even in sweltering summer conditions. Gulag likewise deprived a person of water during interrogation. Both policies resulted in dehydration, muddied thinking, and an increased susceptibility to the mind control.
Music was used to install fear and induce compliance. Specifically the theme to 2001: a space odyssey was played whenever everyone had to sit down. Often there would be tricks: not enough time to get to your seat, not enough chairs, last minute instructions that were hard to comply with. The intent was to single out the slowest, least interested children to “chose out.” There was always punishment for choosing out, usually at least another month of time at the facility. The fear of choosing out was in everyone. The child who chose out would have to write an essay on why she was accountable for leaving the seminar early, what she would do differently to not chose out in the future, often 5 or 10 pages front and back margin to margin. Sometimes she might lose her level, or the confidence of the group in her sincerity, all because of how well she performed such trivial tasks and tests. The effect was to put the child on edge all the time, wearing her down much quicker by constant fear of making trivial mistakes.
Humiliation was a common event in seminar. Slut-shaming was rampant, and the girls who had sex were particularly humiliated. Sometimes they were asked to dress slutty and put on dance performances for crowds of cheering or jeering peers and staff. Children were encouraged to share personal intimate details about their lives with dozens of strangers. Girls who had been sexually abused were especially humiliated for it. Although blame was an unacceptable idea, the idea of accountability was redefined to encompass blame and define the responsible party (the child in all circumstances.) They taught even a woman raped at gunpoint had chose her rape over being shot, therefore she was accountable (responsible, at fault, could have chose differently.)
Warm Embrace For Kids, or Merely “Psycho Cry Fest”?
Can I Trust Them? – Companion story to Breaking the Vow of Secrecy
My name is Austin Bires and i survived 3 years of abuse as a child in a facility called red river academy. I have not the time or patients to describe how horrible my experience was. I still dont know what to believe as a 25 year old man i still have random fits of blind rage if my mind even goes there. My best friend took his own life over the issues revolving around what he went thrue there and all of us left with scars i can only hope parents out there realise how fragile the mind of a child is. This is not the way to go. Its pure evil. Mindwash. Will ruin your childs mind. If you love them accept the way they are. Have some balls and deal with the issue yourself. This place will kill your child emotionaly. Im dead inside. Dont take my word for it thoe. Im just a delinquent.
Austin! What’s up?? I remember you.
I spent 13 months in Montana at spring creek lodge
The facility was horrible and I have quite a few horror stories from it. But the seminars as tough as they were. They were probably the best part of it and I learned a lot from them. I recommend them to anyone having a very difficult time inlife.
I actually know a few friends that would benefit from them if anyone could comment where I could find them if they are still active.
I think I remember u Adam I went there from 2000 to 2002
I am here because something came upon me today to find the name of the program my sister was in around 1998/1999. I only remembered her being in Utah and the fact I had to go to these seminars called discovery and focus. I searched many times but today I found this…it still doesn’t seem to direct me to the name of the specific facility she was at as reading the comments it seems possibly several use these same seminars ??? Can anyone help? St George sounded familiar but I’m not sure…anyway, it’s been on my heart to find it as I remember this time in my life being pretty traumatizing when she was sent away in the middle of the night…I was not told as I’m sure they knew i would have told her. Anyway, we are both adults now, she is almost 40 and w/o details she hasn’t done well for herself in her life..I can’t help but think this (stupid) facility caused this and damaged her more than if she never had went..I can’t help but think and remember that if she was such a “troubled teen” then I should have went too..because she wasn’t that bad and probably would have out grew a lot of that stuff like I did. Reading some of the comments brought back memories of these seminars that I literally forgot..I can’t remember much of them until something triggers it and I find that so odd!
Someone said about the song true colors and I instantly remembered, and the cruise ship exercise..all the same and mind you I went in 1998!! So they haven’t changed anything?? I only remember having to go around the room and tell everyone if they were a “giver” or a “taker” and I can’t remember if that was in conjunction with the life raft scenario but yea thinking back it was pretty morbid…I wish I remembered more as I believe I was effected by this cult (yes I’m going to say it) not as much as my beautiful sister but wow! Why are these things still in operation…sorry for the ramble but I wanted to confirm what others wrote and send a little msg/prayer to the universe out to my sis because we don’t speak anymore and I pray that she is doing well and can get healing..esp if this horrible place did anything to her that she never spoke of ??
I remember you Adam. You should know better than this. The seminars weren’t meant to help, they were meant to break kids and extend their stays in the program, allowing the program to extract more money from parents.
Seminars were actually the best part. The kids that refused to check their ego at the door got hosed. I actually think it was very beneficial and truly provided a deeper understanding. Today I’m an entrepreneur and I can honestly say I would not be where I am if not for these concepts: Discovery, Focus, Accountability and Key to Success.
Spring Creek Lodge save my daughters life I cannot say enough about the program by resource realizations for discovery and focus she is a very healthy married woman today with two healthy children and a beautiful mother I appreciate everything that resource realization stayed for my husband and I and my family thank you so much
I’m so sorry, but I must warn you that I’ve found that we did a few things wrong back then. I strongly recommend that you get your daughter to a psychiatrist. We have found that we can make outstanding individuals but she will tend to do anything to force compliance of children and there’s been a few accidents.
Cheers-
David G
I wish this was really THE David Gilcrease
I was a locked up student twice. The first the first time my parents pulled me out after 3 months because they did not have any contact with me be a phone call or through my case manager or through my therapist or through the mail. It discourage my parents and made them very worried that they were unable to get in touch with their child in to see how I’m doing so they brought me home. The event of them kidnapping me from my bed at 3 in the morning without telling me where I was going and handcuffing me and flying me to Utah to stick me in what should be called a jail or a prison when I did not have any lifestyle or legal orders to have any of this done to me. I was a little bit of a wild teenager I am positive that I would have grown out of the phase that I was in. When my parents pulled me from the program I had a lot of anxiety and a lot of fears and I struggled and instead of them realizing that I was struggling with PTSD from being in the program they mistook it as something else and they sent me back this time I was there indefinitely. Every day I would wake up I would not know when I would ever go home and I had to accept the fact that I may spend my entire teenagers locked up in Cross Creek Manor. My family spent over $5,000 a month to keep me in there and the conditions and the environment were horrendous. Unsanitary old dilapidated building with black mold Plumbing issues and electrical issues. 10 to 15 girls in a room at a time the food was worse quality than what you would receive in prison or jail, and we were given very little physical exercise let alone any education on an academic level. Each of us has studied independent studies threw packets we had a teacher type person that would be in the classroom to answer questions if we had any but we never had lectures or lessons or lesson plans and all of our studies were done independently on our own. I witnessed many many children try to run and Escape which always involved a horrendous injury. I witnessed two students throw a chair through a plate-glass window and each one of them push the other one through the jagged glass hole in a desperate attempt to get out and escaped and run for freedom. They were both brought back in with Jagged pieces of glass sticking out of their kneecap and hands covered in blood and dirt but that was the desperate lengths they went to in order to escape the environment that we were all in. the first the first time my parents pulled me out after 3 months because they did not have any contact with me via phone call or through my case manager or through my therapist or through the mail. It discouraged my parents and made them very worried that they were unable to get in touch with their child and see how I’m doing so they brought me home. The event of them kidnapping me from my bed 3:00 in the morning without telling me where I was going and handcuffed ami and flying me to Utah to stick me in what should be called a jail or a prison when I did not have any lifestyle or legal orders to have any of this done to me. I was a little bit of a wild teenager I am positive that I would have grown out of the phase that I was in. When my parents pulled me from the program I had a lot of anxiety and a lot of fears and I struggled and instead of them realizing that I was struggling with PTSD from being in the program they missed took it as something else and they sent me back this time I was there indefinitely. Every day I would wake up I would not know when I would ever go home and I had to accept the fact that I may spend my entire teenage years locked up in Cross Creek Manor. My family spent over $5,000 a month to keep me in there and the conditions and the environment were horrendous. Unsanitary old dilapidated buildings with black mold plumbing issues and electrical issues. 10215 girls in a room at a time The food was worse quality than what you would receive in prison or jail, and we were given very little physical exercise let alone any education on an academic level. Each of us studied independent studies through packets we had a teacher type person that would be in the classroom to answer questions if we had any but we never had lectures or lessons or lesson plans and all of our studies were done independently on our own. I witnessed many many children try to run and escape which always involved a horrendous injury. I witness to students throw a chair through a plate glass window and each one of them push the other one through the jacket glass hole in a desperate attempt to get out and escape and run for freedom. They were both brought back in with Jagged pieces of glass sticking out of their kneecap and hands covered in blood and dirt but that was the desperate length they went to in order to escape the environment that we were all in. The staff would emotionally abused you and terrorize you and they would pick their favorites and create clicks which would create animosity and chaos. Some male staff would take me and other female students air transportation and they would not take us to our locations that we were supposed to be going to they would often end up taking us out to do something and pretend to have vicarious dates with us because we had no other choice but to sit in this car and run these errands with these people because they were our Superior they were in charge of us they could make or break us and if we were to say anything to deviate from their ideal we would be accused of being liars and manipulators. Every single staff member had the perception and was trained to view each and every single one oing as a liar manipulator thief and cheat desperate manipulator that would do anything to get out and raise hell in society
I remember accountability being all about triggers / pushing people’s buttons. The first day was small groups and all about sharing your deepest, darkest secrets. If you didn’t share enough, you were “chosen out” by the group / upper levels / or facilitator. Many kids got stuck at this step because they weren’t seen as being open / honest enough about their deepest and darkest fears and secrets.
The second day I remember making a “costume” that reflected our triggers / deep underlying issues. Mine was something about feeling weird and not fitting in. Then they let us loose and told us to push each others buttons. I think this exercise is blocked out for in a lot of people’s memories because it was SO traumatizing. Everybody basically just went around yelling insults at each other in the most fucked up ways. Girls that were raped were told they were sluts, guys who “pushovers” were made to lay on the ground while people walked over them, etc. the worst was the people from your small group who knew your secrets, and you also were the worst to them because you knew theirs. I remember making a girl cry that was from our group telling her her dad didn’t love her. I remember distinctly how much it tore me up inside to say the things I’d said, and how much I wished I could just hug her and tell her it was going to be ok, but then also remember in some fucked up way thinking I was helping her because that’s what they told us we were doing.
Looking at it now, the fact that accountability was necessary to get to upper levels says it all. The whole point of the exercise was to “close the circle of brainwashing” so that we’d start tearing people down thinking we were helping by holding others “accountable” for their choices, including their “choice” to “hold on to trauma” instead of being “accountable” for “making the choices that led to it happening”.
My mother sent me to attend sort of a mishmash of all the seminars that was designed specifically for siblings of kids in residential facilities who were heading down the same path. It was in Fort Lauderdale the summer of 2000. Only I and one other kid didn’t have a sibling in a program.
Even though it was only a few days and surely cannot compare to the months or years of hell some kids went through, the experience of being brainwashed, and coming to that realization after the fact, was traumatic.
I still get chills when I hear Cyndi Lauper’s “True Colors,” which they played repetitively during one of our exercises. And I’ll never forget the sounds of these children crying as they forced everyone to envision, in great detail, our parents being notified that we had been killed on a sunken cruise ship. A truly bizarre experience that will stay with me for life.
The “positive” comments here about the seminars or any programs in general make me sick and those of us who went to these places know these comments are obviously made by nefarious individuals who worked or work for these places. They don’t fool me.
I went to Copper Canyon Academy, SUWS wilderness, Wingate Wilderness, and a “sober living” facility that was the least worse of them all but still messed up. I witnessed and experienced the things detailed on this page and more. The programs also exposed me to other teens who had really major issues, and this had an impressionable effect on me. I had never committed a crime or used drugs before, but this changed after my first program. Hence, more programs.
Reading this was extremely triggering, even for someone that is 10+ years free of these programs. I can’t believe they still exist and it pains me to know kids are in these places right now. I was one of them and it changes you forever.
The program saved my life, that part isn’t brainwashing but because the way I was living I would have been dead before I turned 18 i was 17, however it was likely just being taken out of my life that saved me, a psych ward or drug treatment program would have probably worked too and not caused PTSD. I was at spring creek, the worst for me was the stupid motivational tapes at meals because I have learning disorder and couldn’t remember what was said on tapes when we had to write about it. That said, I couldn’t pass the seminars no matter how hard I tried, and they were literally hell on earth, providing 0 actual help.
I was a “mentor” for Discovery Ranch for Girls in Cedar City, UT in 2016. I stayed for 3 months and then decided I couldn’t handle it any longer. There were more than several girls I wanted to save – I would imagine hiding them in the trunk of my car and taking them to a safer environment. I implore you to do some research into this particular facility. I recently checked their website and many of the same staff are there – most of the very intense and abusive ones.
I’m still in contact with several of the girls I mentored and they still struggle to this day.
John Smith Wtf are you talking about? Bill Boyles is a program survivor and strongly advocates for us all.
Bill Boyles, I know where you live. No matter how bad a kid is in life, NO KID deserves to be abused physically, mentally or emotionally. There is a reason why alot if not all these programs are shut down now cause they don’t work and also they got shut down from staff actually being arrested and convicted aka sentenced to prison time for phyiscally hurting or sexually abusing kids. Now that’s fucking gross. If i had a kid or brother/sister that happened to then i would track that employee down and cut his fucking dick and balls off.
Has anyone looked into Gilcrease’s past? This sounds eerily like the MKUltra programs of the CIA. Like what happened to Ted Kazinsky (The Unibomber) at Harvard.