I was sent to Spring Ridge Academy, a therapeutic boarding school, when I was 17. I’d been a high-achieving, straight-A student my whole life and I had a lot of friends. I knew my parents loved me but they fought a lot of the time, so by middle school I was already seeing a therapist.

I started experiencing serious depression, anxiety, and PTSD after a sexual assault at 16. Then my parents separated. As a result, I was bouncing between housing, struggling to stay in school, and beginning to experiment with drugs and alcohol. I ended up being hospitalized for suicidal ideation three times the summer of 2016. The third time, I didn’t return home for over a year.

An education consultant visited me in the hospital. She told me I was being sent away to a school that would save my life. She and my therapist told my parents to take money from my college savings because, “What good is college money if she’s dead before she gets there?”

I begged my parents not to send me away. I promised them I would do everything in my power to change and get better at home, but my parents trusted the education consultant. They prepared to hand over $9,000/month for 18-24 months to Spring Ridge Academy.

Spring Ridge advertises itself as a healing oasis for teen girls with trauma. In reality, it’s an unregulated behavior modification center modeled after the pseudo-psychology of known cults, including Synanon and the first WWASP programs that branched from it.

The campus was isolated, high on a hill in the middle of rural Arizona. From the start, Spring Ridge preyed on my parents’ fear and groomed them to disbelieve everything I told them about what was really going on.

Page 11 of Spring Ridge Academy’s Parent Manual states, “At each step, you may hear certain types of comments, complaints, manipulations, and negotiations, most with the theme – ‘Get me out of here.’ …You may hear them in letters, phone calls, and personal visits… Do not acknowledge concern about any of the horrendous circumstances and events [your daughter] will undoubtedly describe.”

The program used a level system, 1-4. All communication with the outside world was restricted and monitored. I couldn’t speak to my parents without a staff member until 9 months in, after I had been brainwashed to believe that the program was the best thing to ever happen to me.

We had group therapy on almost a daily basis, which consisted of forming a circle where we were forced to berate and criticize the deepest insecurities and traumas of our peers. This method is known as attack therapy. Kids were constantly in tears during the process. The first time I cried in a group, I was told I was “being a victim.” We were rewarded for how well we could endure, and inflict the attack therapy.

Spring Ridge Academy founder Jeannie Courtney previously worked for Cross Creek Programs, which was named in a lawsuit for abuse allegations. She was formerly married to known cultist, David Gilcrease, who is also named in the lawsuit against WWASP. The school is now run by Jeannie’s son and his wife, Brandon David Courtney and Suzie Courtney.

Once or twice a week, we would receive therapy from a licensed therapist. Our therapists put us on “assignments,” which were bizarre and humiliating punishments. We were not allowed to speak for days on end (a common punishment that inspired the name of the survivor movement, “Breaking Code Silence”). Once I had to dress up as a baby and write with my non-dominant hand for a week. For two weeks I could not have shoes, sleep in my bed, or use the bathroom and shower in private. For three months, I had to carry a 5 lb bag of sand everywhere I went. We were banned from basic rights, like reading books and looking in the mirror.

We were also put through “seminars,” in a dark room where we endured multi-day long attack therapy sessions. We were forced to create and wear nametags with our greatest insecurities on them and forced to tell our peers to die. If we didn’t have a dramatic breakdown during these processes, the facilitator (Jeannie Courtney) would have us leave the group because we weren’t “ready,” and our stay in the program was extended for an indefinite period of time. As our reward for having a “breakthrough,” in a seminar, we were given extreme praise by the facilitator and our peers. To celebrate the completion of the seminar, we were fed cookies, blindfolded, led down a hallway, and massaged in a room while Enya played. We were told these experiences were saving our lives.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIz7f33gGYs

After enough time in the program, I became completely compliant. I was allowed to graduate after just 13 months. My parents were thrilled at the changes they saw in me and decided to send my younger sister away into a program too.

My family was still indoctrinated even after I was free. We were so enmeshed with the program that we flew back to Arizona to visit and volunteer on multiple occasions. Spring Ridge even offered me an internship and my parents hosted the founder at our home in California.

I saw Paris Hilton’s documentary last year and I began doing more research into #breakingcodesilence, Synanon, WWASP, and the history of Spring Ridge. I began having nightmares. Memories started coming back and I understood the things I experienced in a different light. I was devastated to realize that I hadn’t been saved and I wasn’t healed. I was brainwashed.

I got on TikTok to share my story and instantly began connecting with other survivors. I now have over 150k followers. I’ve healed so much by finally being heard and advocating for change in the troubled teen industry. My goal is to help survivors feel less alone and create a community where we can heal together.

Name:
Raelyn K

Program:
Spring Ridge Academy

Location:
AZ, USA

Years Attended:
2016 – 2017