Stratas Consulting Group and the Troubled Teen Industry

In my previous article, OpenSky and The Horrors of Wilderness Therapy, I explained my experience with the Troubled Teen Industry. It was atrocious, but I failed to go into the process, which got me there. My parents were recommended to see an educational consultant named Stratas Consulting Group.

After my parents got worried about me, my therapist recommended a person who works for Stratas Consulting, whom I will refer to as Ms. P.

Getting to Know Stratas Consulting Group and Ms. P

Ms. P was no help at all to my wife and me. We were just a number. Their job was to get us one step further down the Troubled Teen Industry pipeline. You could tell because of the scare tactics she used against my parents. She talked almost exclusively with my parents and only bothered to call me once.

When I told her I would not comply with residential treatment, she told me she was going to go off my case. Then, she continued to talk with my parents even after she told me she would leave.

Running Home

My wife and I ran home to avoid being forced into an institution by my parents and Stratas Consulting Group. Our return trip already passed, but we were able to get last-minute train tickets on Amtrak.

When we were on a layover in Chicago, I got a call from my family’s attorney, who, at the time, we thought was on our side.

She said she hired someone to be my “advocate” and to help me work things out with my parents without residential treatment. Little did we know that the “advocate,” whom I will continue to refer to from my previous article on Open Sky as Mr. J, is actually an “interventionist and transporter” who was recommended by Ms. P.

A Little Background of Mr. J and Stratas Consulting Group

Mr. J lives on a farm in Montana. Mr. J owns a company called New Day Rising, LLC. He is a licensed interventionist in the State of Montana. New Day Rising, LLC has a history of going back and forth between Active Involuntary Intent and Involuntary Dissolution as filing statuses. We do not believe he is formally an employee of Stratas Consulting Group.

Mr. J was not a random choice. In the past, he was married to Ms. P. We knew none of this information. In 2014, Ms. P and Mr. J worked on a project called Hopestone Retreat, LLC, which was supposed to be its own Wilderness Therapy company. You can see an application for a grant here: Hopestone Grant.

Mr. J was hired by my parents, through Ms. P, to convince me that he was supposed to be my “advocate” against them. But, in reality, he was trying to trick me into going into intensive residential treatment for them.

Getting to Know Mr. J

Mr. J came to our home in Boston, staying at a nearby hotel. When we asked what he was here to do, he gave us a mangled answer, but it sounded like he was trying to convince my parents to drop trying to send me to a facility. We were wrong.

At that time, he also admitted to working a deal for someone who killed seven people and was famous. “You know these people’s names,” he said. When asked if he had to report that information, he told us not unless he intended to do it again.

Mr. J “Fails”

Mr. J returned the next day, claiming he could not convince my parents of anything. Then, he recommended this place called OpenSky, almost convincing me it was different than other places. My wife was sold almost immediately, but I was not.

How Stratas Consulting Group Deals with Cases of Psychosis

My parents made it clear to Stratas Consulting Group that they believed I had psychosis or some thought disorder. OpenSky makes it very clear they do not work with thought disorders. Moreover, Wilderness Therapy is hazardous for people with thought disorders.

However, all those requests were ignored to put me in a location that doesn’t deal with my type of disorder. At one point, he even said, “I’ve worked with schizophrenics before. You can barely follow a conversation because of the conversations in your head. You’re not schizophrenic.” A knowledgeable therapist I know has since thoroughly refuted the idea that schizophrenics are like that. Seeing that I may have a thought disorder, he told me to lie about and hide my behaviors from OpenSky so they would still take me.

Almost Winning Against Stratas Consulting Group

Then, I told Mr. J off. I told him it wasn’t going to happen. He told me he was going to leave, abandon me, and leave me to fight against my parents alone.

Somehow, I got guilt-tripped into it. I decided to go; the next day or so was terrifying. I was told by Mr J to lie to OpenSky about being paranoid and hide the very thing I needed help with. The truth came out to them while I was already there.

Leaving Home

The night before I left for Open Sky, I was trembling in my sleep. Still believing Mr. J was my “advocate,” he took me to the airport in the morning. I saw my wife the last time as I got through the airport gate. It was a nightmare. I would go to a time zone, climate, and altitude I’ve never been in. I was told by Mr. J that I would be there for only 6-8 weeks. He lied; it would actually be three whole months.

He left me at the Durango airport with strange people who took my clothes, phone, credit cards, ID, and everything from me and then dropped me off into the woods. The resulting trauma would leave me to never be the same again.

The Troubled Teen Industry is child abuse on a massive scale. Children are sent down a pipeline from educational consultants like Stratas Consulting Group to abusive inpatient facilities and wilderness treatment programs. Then, they are nearly always recommended to go to facilities that attempt to hide the trauma they went through; some hold these teenagers and young adults for the rest of their lives.

Multiple Children and young adults die every year. Throughout Troubled Teen Industry history, many have been starved, neglected, or even beaten to death. Know the signs. Don’t let this happen to you. Do not trust Stratas or anyone else. Don’t do this to your children.

I am a survivor. #BreakingCodeSilence breakingcodesilence.org