Thank you to @kristahessey.bsky.social and the team at Global News for their brilliant investigative journalism on the Venture Academy - a therapeutic boarding school in Canada. This is a must-read.

Golightley says total control is a key "to the functionality of these programs" because it pressures kids to fall in line.

“The institutions themselves are set up in such a way that can be really traumatizing…because people are being stripped of their autonomy and they’re being coerced to comply.”

Little is known about the scale of the for-profit, or private, industry in Canada. Researcher @sgolightley.bsky.social, who likened Venture's program to other Troubled Teen institutions she's studied in the U.S., wants to change that.

hass.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

A research recruitment flyer with a link to the study.

I'm launching a new study on therapeutic boarding schools in Canada. I am looking for people who have previously been enrolled in a Canadian therapeutic boarding school. Research includes a brief, confidential online questionnaire. Please spread the word!
hass.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

‘Out of Control’: Institutional violence and the ‘troubled teen industry’ Learn about private residential behaviour modification programs known as the 'troubled teen industry'.

Vancouver! I will be giving a public talk about my research on the 'troubled teen industry', including soon-to-be-launched research I am conducting on therapeutic boarding schools in Canada. Aug 13th 2pm. Please come join us and help spread the word.
www.eventbrite.ca/e/out-of-con...

Toward Mad Trans Liberation: The Necessity of a Mad-Queer-Trans Lens Annual Mad Studies Guest Lecture featuring Dr Merrick Pilling, Toronto Metropolitan University

Excited to be hosting Merrick Pilling at the University of Strathclyde on the 9th of June - talking about the intersections of Mad Studies and trans and queer liberation #MadStudies
merrickmadatstrath.eventbrite.co.uk

Courtland town council begins process to revoke business license for troubled-teen facility A unanimous vote from Cortland’s town council solidifies the council’s plan to revoke the business license of Brighter Path.

BOOM! Town begins process to revoke business license for troubled-teen facility@maiasz.bsky.social @labefana.bsky.social @sgolightley.bsky.social @yep4rights.bsky.social @againstrestraint.com @tktk.bsky.social @dawnjpostesq.bsky.social @annettesmith.bsky.social

www.waff.com/2025/04/15/c...

This may be of interest: on creative works about child sexual abuse & the cultural ramifications of creative works (& we'd appreciate a repost) @camillelw.bsky.social @maireadenright.bsky.social @drmarymcauliffe.bsky.social @ciarab.bsky.social @boddice.bsky.social @sgolightley.bsky.social

Please share our documentary on the troubled teen industry its dangerous for children especially 🏳️‍🌈queer ones like me🏳️‍⚧️. no child should ever endure this kind of abuse conversion therapy doesn’t work trust me www.thekidsarenotalrightdoc.com/blank-1

A big moment for work ending abuse in the troubled teen industry. Thank you to all the organisers and survivors who worked so tirelessly to make this happen. We can fight for justice and make a difference together.

Hello! Thanks for following

Upcoming seminar on the troubled teen industry - I will be presenting! Free tickets, open to all.
www.tickettailor.com/events/child...

The Netflix docuseries The Program is about survivors telling their stories of abuse in ‘troubled teen industry’ therapeutic boarding schools. Here’s my take on why the show is so powerful & how institutional abuse thrives in the industry:
theconversation.com/the-program-... #TroubledTeenIndustry

It’s fascinating how as youth everyone I know just wanted to be treated like an adult and then as adults everyone is clinging to youthfulness

‘I’m Gay! I’m Gay! I’m Gay! I’m a Homosexual!’: Overt and Covert Conversion Therapy Prac... Therapeutic boarding schools (TBS) in the USA are residential programmes that seek to reform teenagers perceived as having mental health and/or substance misuse

I have spent the last seven years researching therapeutic boarding schools from a critical survivor-led perspective. My work includes research on anti-LGBTQ+ ‘conversion’ ideology in the programs academic.oup.com/bjsw/article...

Hello to the rest of you who have jumped from the sinking x! Who else is around? I’m a mad studies / critical disability studies + social work academic. I specialise in research on the USA’s so-called ‘troubled teen industry’. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...