This testimony was found in another blog. All rights goes to the original author.
"People in the community not to mention CPS need to know what's going on at this place. please keep my name anonymous...If you go to a "NATSAP" website they make Chrysalis and these other unlicensed programs in MT out to be amazing...dream school's you'd want to send your "at risk" teen to to get them out of your hair..I was sent there for ditching class and normal marijuana experimentation..
I remember how humiliated I was when I first got there: There was a leak in the closet where the towels were kept and I was blamed for putting away wet towels repeatedly. I was only 14 and some of the "veteran girls" (or girls who Kenny Pannel had "special relationships" with were terrorizing me to the point of tears every night and day about this stupid issue...
Kenny told me that if I didn't stop "lying" and being lazy... putting these wet towels in the closet he was going to shove one in my mouth and after that make sure I was sent to a lock down type facility where I would "have to ask permission to breathe". I was very frightened. they finally figured out there was a leak but I never got an apology from anyone, the short-term lock down probably would have been better than the two and a half years of utter hell I went thru there. They (Kenny and Mary) are typical scam artists...
Many "therapists" there ARE unlicensed even though every girls parents still have to pay the 50+ grand it takes to stay there a year!...Kenny hires male staff members as positive male role models for the girls, however I can recall one of my best friends right before she got to leave Chrysalis recount how she had sex in a shed with another male staff who mysteriously quit shortly after.
Kenny too, had very physical relationships with some of his "favorite" girls...I would consider my father and I to have a close relationship but in no way do we embrace constantly or sit on each others laps. this was too way too weird and it was uncomfortable...HE IS A PERVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
They send the girls to Lincoln Co. High school and expect them not to talk to or associate with any of the "unapproved" kids who drink on the weekends like normal kids..which is pretty much the entire school!!! so most of the girls are outcasts.Many Many staff members flock in and out...they realize that they work like slaves and don't get any recognition or pay...
I saw about 15 staff come in and out in the 2 and a half years I was there. I have so much more! it's been about 5 years since I graduated the program and I still have a strong strong resentment against Chrysalis and other places who support institutionalized child abuse...as a mother myself now, I'm horrified that there are places like and WORSE than Chrysalis in MT and other states who do not regulate private alternative therapeutic programs.
I am a member of an association called CAFETY which calls these programs on their bullshit and brings to light these issues...If someone ever told my daughter they'd put a towel in her mouth and send her to a private juvenile prison facility no matter what she did wrong or touched her inappropriately I would let them have it...there needs to be advocates for these poor girls...they are not treated like Americans, much less human beings.
I know they feel totally powerless and CANT have voices or else they will get reprimanded and threatened badly...girls are supervised the first year on the phone with their parents! I mean COME ON! It is hysterical how even in this bad economy, the place is STILL open and M and K still are buying new vehicles,toys, properties all over the world (Chile, Mexico, Hawaii, just to name a few) etc., prospering over these naive, vulnerable parents and children and getting tax breaks for community service projects the girls do.
When will the conservative MT government step in and say enough is enough for these programs...do they bring in more money for the state? HELL NO...so what's the issue? Money. these places have so much money they can hire lobbyists and even bring in their own students to Helena to protest against regulation (which Mary and Kenny have done)...its a cycle! Any other questions you have for me I will be happy to answer. I'm glad I came across your blog. "
Sources:
other offenses include: bribing students to risk hypothermia with candy and milkshakes if they jump into the lake in winter, allowing therapists to conduct therapy unlicensed without informing parents, having unlicensed un-credentialed employees conduct family therapy phone calls, and preferential treatment of girls. There is an excessive amount of turnover at this school as most employees disagree with Mr. Pannell’s management of the business and the execution of the program. In the past six months, seven employees that I know of have tendered their resignation. He would have you believe otherwise but the main reason is because of his leadership and un ethical treatment of employees and students.
ReplyDeleteI agree with all that you said. Kenny is a cruel, vindictive, immature person that uses intimidation and shame to control the students. I went to this hellhole in 2010 and left in 2012 after two years of emotional abuse. I came out of this school with a deep distrust of adults and abandonment anxiety due to the fact that the few staff that I grew attached to were fired or resigned within a few months. My "therapist" seemed to only be able to recite "treatments" from a textbook. The weekly and bi-weekly group "therapy sessions" were basically all the girls sitting in a circle telling everyone what the person did wrong. Girls were not allowed to respond, so anyone could accuse anyone of anything. I was severely penalized because a girl lied and said I threatened to kill her. Going off of the punishments, they are completely messed up. A girl was banned from communicating and interacting with anyone other than adults for NINE MONTHS. She was a compulsive liar, so that was the route they decided to go down. Once she got off "gag," as it was called, she was barely able to hold a conversation. Before, she had been bubbly and outgoing. I far prefer lies to the shell she became. The punishment for violating a rule was long, intense manual labor. This ranged from arbitrarily moving piles of gravel and horse manure to having to wash staffs' cars for hours on end. I am disorganized, so I frequently left small items around the house. Every item someone left unattended got that person half an hour of work. Many people would choose to not claim the item and have it thrown out to avoid the harsh work. I was raking manure during one of these punishments, and the ammonia from the urine was so powerful I passed out. I laid in the muck for over an hour, unconscious. Upon being discovered, I was punished further for both not being supervised as well as slacking off. The staff must have left once their shift was over, regardless of anyone else.
ReplyDeleteBottom line: This is an abusive and traumatizing environment. No one should have to endure what we did, no matter how "rebellious" or "troubled" they are. This school should not be allowed to stay open and Kenny Panell should be prevented from all future attempts to do this to more girls.
Please do not send your girl here. There are many schools that are accredited and have a genuine goal of helping these kids out. I was brought here when I was 15 and left when I was almost 17. When I tried to tell my dad what really was going on at this school my therapist would hang up the phone right away so I couldn't get a word in. They will convince the parents their child is having a hard time adjusting and is going to rebel. I attended another therapeutic boarding school in Utah, and I had a great experience there. This school will not only further emotionally damage your child. When I first got there I was quite outgoing and by the time I left I felt like the life was sucked out of me. I was verbally and emotionally abused by the staff and the other students. Group therapy is nothing but sitting in a circle and bashing everyone for what they are doing wrong. There is a difference between constructive criticism and abuse. Kenny Pannel chose favorites and if you weren't in that group, you were in for a long, painful ride. The few girls that I know that liked it here, were in that favorite group. When parents would come to tour here I wanted so badly to explain the reality of this place, but every girl that attends here knows if you speak poorly of Chrysalis or Mary and Kenny, they would make sure you would pay for it with manual labor, or worse, a talk with Kenny himself, the most terrifying man I have ever encountered. He knows people aren't going to believe a troubled teen, they are going to trust his "licensed and expert" opinion so he has no problem getting in your face and tearing you down as a person until you have nothing left and any self esteem you may have had, completely gone.
ReplyDeleteThis place should have been shut down a long time ago.
Please do not send your girl here. There are many schools that are accredited and have a genuine goal of helping these kids out. I was brought here when I was 15 and left when I was almost 17. When I tried to tell my dad what really was going on at this school my therapist would hang up the phone right away so I couldn't get a word in. They will convince the parents their child is having a hard time adjusting and is going to rebel. I attended another therapeutic boarding school in Utah, and I had a great experience there. This school will not only further emotionally damage your child. When I first got there I was quite outgoing and by the time I left I felt like the life was sucked out of me. I was verbally and emotionally abused by the staff and the other students. Group therapy is nothing but sitting in a circle and bashing everyone for what they are doing wrong. There is a difference between constructive criticism and abuse. Kenny Pannel chose favorites and if you weren't in that group, you were in for a long, painful ride. The few girls that I know that liked it here, were in that favorite group. When parents would come to tour here I wanted so badly to explain the reality of this place, but every girl that attends here knows if you speak poorly of Chrysalis or Mary and Kenny, they would make sure you would pay for it with manual labor, or worse, a talk with Kenny himself, the most terrifying man I have ever encountered. He knows people aren't going to believe a troubled teen, they are going to trust his "licensed and expert" opinion so he has no problem getting in your face and tearing you down as a person until you have nothing left and any self esteem you may have had, completely gone.
ReplyDeleteThis place should have been shut down a long time ago.
can you share what school you attended in Utah? we are currently searching for therapeutic boarding school for our girl.
DeleteWould anyone my wife and I about Chrysalis. We are considering sending our daughter there.
ReplyDeleteI was also sent to this school. It was extremely detrimental and for the amount of money it costs is so absurd. I wish more people would speak out but honestly they brain wash you into believing that if you do you are not accepting you’re own personal issues. I worked very hard in the school to prove to my parents and myself that I was enough. I got straight A’s, I was very organized and kept my room clean and Kennedy still antagonized me. He would tell the staff not to trust me and that I was manipulative and since he was technically my new guardian and the adult I believed him. I struggle still in my adult life trusting myself and my own feelings and put others very much before myself. This has gotten me into some very bad situations with older men as a result. No one should ever attack a youth just because you are the person in power. It breaks my heart that my parents trusted these people and that I wasn’t allowed to tell them the truth. I was stuck and powerless and folllowed the rules and kept my mouth shut. It is now when I am 23 that I have to undo the damage. I honestly think that if your child is only skipping class and smoking weed like I was that maybe the best solution is to just hold them closer and have more empathy. Sending your children away period causes severe abandonment issues that may never be able to be repaired in a special child parent relationship.
ReplyDelete