Podcast Summary

Podcast: Something Was Wrong
Host: Tiffany Reiss / Broken Cycle Media
Episode: S24 Ep11: One More Thing To Be Scared Of
Release Date: August 28, 2025

Overview

This episode of Something Was Wrong features the deeply personal and harrowing story of Molly, a survivor of the "troubled teen" industry and institutional child abuse. Molly recounts her experience at Turning Winds, a wilderness therapy program, sharing the trauma she endured—emotional, physical, and sexual abuse. The conversation dives into the manipulation and danger inherent in such programs, their impact on survivors into adulthood, the complexities of familial relationships post-trauma, and the journey towards healing and self-acceptance.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Structure of the “Program” and Early Experiences

• Initiation and Transition: Molly describes an “initiation phase,” followed by a rigorous wilderness trip in Hells Canyon, Idaho.
  • Assignments: Writing letters to her future self/daughter and crafting eulogies about her life with/without the program. (03:50)
  • Coerced Confessions: To "graduate," she is pressured to admit to issues she didn't have, including sexual promiscuity and substance abuse:

    "I had to comply and admit I was sexually promiscuous... but in all reality... I knew I wasn't a bad kid." (05:08)

  • Isolation and Survival: Alone in the woods at age 13, relying on minimal supplies for three days.

2. Manipulation, Grooming, and Escalation of Abuse

• Trust and Stockholm Syndrome: Privileges increased with compliance; trust built as a means of control.

  "It was like this building trust over time to the point where they know that you're not going to run because you are just compliant." (07:18)

• Grooming by Staff:
  • A male staff member (“the night watchman”) is promoted to daytime because he is favored by residents—a technique that enabled further abuse.
  • Early Signs: Nicknames and affirming notes escalate into invasive questions and sexual grooming.
  • Predatory Behavior:

    "He would let us curse if one of us broke a rule. He'd be like, I'm not gonna tell the higher up people... He made me feel calm. He was like a brightness.” (08:22)

  • Escalation from grooming to orchestrating sexual acts among residents, then to direct abuse and threats.

Notable Quote—Threats and Fear

"We will have a blanket party. If you tell, I will put a sheet over your head and beat you with a baseball bat... I will hunt you down like a dog and kill you and bury you in the woods and no one will find you."
— Molly (13:52)

• Resulting Silence: Molly and others silenced by fear, shame, and threats; trauma is internalized.

3. Discovery, Aftermath, and Leaving the Program

• Eventual Discovery: Internal staff suspicions about camera tampering spark an investigation.
  • Residents agree to disclose partial details to authorities, but downplay the severity.
  • Facility’s Response: Consistent with institutional cover-ups, sanitized statements are issued to parents.
• Mother's Realization:
  • Molly’s mom senses something wrong, contacts an attorney, and orchestrates Molly’s exit.
  • Legal Intervention: Molly is able to partially disclose, despite being monitored during an attorney call.
  • Emotional Reunion:

    “I remember her hugging me and just saying, hi, baby. She was just so relieved I was home.” (22:20)

  • Police Investigation: Molly is interviewed by police without parental or legal supervision; mother intervenes to stop further questioning.

4. Legal Outcomes and Systemic Failure

• Abuser’s Prosecution: The perpetrator receives minimal jail time, despite clear evidence and victim testimony.

  • “He was actually sentenced to days in jail and then somehow got out earlier.” (19:55)

  • Additional arrests for related and unrelated offenses followed, with little closure for victims.
• Lack of Restitution & Institutional Accountability: Facility returns tuition to mother after legal action; no meaningful repercussions or reforms are apparent.

5. Repercussions and Recovery

• Reintegration Difficulties:
  • Extreme adjustment period after return: “It felt like looking at somebody else’s life from the outside in.” (24:17)
  • Strict routines and regimentation persist.
  • Struggles at a small Christian school; ostracism intensifies trauma.
• Family Dysfunction:
  • Ongoing strained relationship with her mother, emotional withdrawal, and lack of meaningful communication about the abuse.
  • Attempts to find acceptance/safety in church and later in other communities.
• Pattern Recognition:
  • Describes a cycle of falling into abusive relationships as a result of prior grooming and brainwashing:

    “It was because of the grooming stages. I firmly believe that, because it desensitized my brain to what was okay and what was not.” (28:55)

• Body Image and Food:
  • Severe struggles with food as a locus of trauma and control:

    “Outside of being fat shamed my entire life, I never was able to trust my body to tell me what it needed…” (36:43)

6. Transformation and Healing

• Therapeutic Interventions:

  • Real healing begins through honest disclosure in therapy.
  • Somatic therapy and ketamine therapy play significant roles in reconnecting with her body’s needs and overcoming shame and dissociation.

• Motherhood as Healing:

  • Molly intentionally breaks cycles with her own daughter:

    “My daughter doesn’t owe me respect, but I have earned it… It’s a give and take. That’s all I was asking for and I was not allowed that. But it’s made me a damn good mother…” (39:55)

  • Establishes clear, respectful, and empathetic relationships with her child.

• Insight on Parent-Child Dynamics and Troubled Teen Industry:

  • Critiques parents who outsource their child’s care/“discipline,” emphasizing the importance of empathy and communication rather than control:

    “No amount of pressure on your child like that is going to make them change because they want to. They will change their behavior because they are scared that if they don’t, then something worse will happen. And that is not respect. That is not change. That is fear.” (42:28)

  • Calls for systemic change, oversight, and accountability.

7. Reflections on Turning Winds' Legacy

• Program Expansion and Rebranding:

  • Turning Winds has grown, upgraded facilities, and added new programs, but Molly is skeptical of substantive improvement.
  • Cites misleading or performative elements—e.g. staged photos, claims of equine therapy that didn’t exist during her stay.

• Observations on Their Podcast:

  • Molly listens to the facility’s current podcast, noting unchanged attitudes among former staff.
  • Disturbed by authoritarian mindset—“my house is a benevolent dictatorship and I rule my house like a king”—from former staff.

• Neurodivergence and Misdiagnosis:

  • Underscores how girls, in particular, were punished for neurodivergent traits rather than supported.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Institutional Abuse:

  “The nature of these programs and the immense amount of verbal and mental and spiritual and physical abuse, there’s shame that comes in undoing the brainwashing.” (42:19)

• On Breaking Cycles:

  “There have been people who have tried to study why in a family of trauma, one heals and breaks the cycle... other than grit. I don’t know why I was blessed to be that kid, but I am gritty and I take pride in that.” (41:58)

• Advice to Parents:

  ”All your child wants to know is that you’ve got their back, that you’re gonna love them no matter what, that you’re gonna be there for them.” (42:49)

• For Survivors:

  “If there are other survivors out there that know exactly why I’m crying and can feel exactly what I’m talking about, you were never alone in it. We were all abandoned. We were all left to survive…” (41:49)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 02:25 — Molly begins recounting the “initiation” and core structure of her time at Turning Winds
• 06:21 — Scale and expansion of the facility
• 07:16-16:00 — Detailed account of grooming, escalation of sexual abuse, and threat tactics
• 19:40 — Discussion of prosecution, trial, and justice system failures
• 24:17 — Reintegrating into life post-program and experiencing ongoing trauma
• 28:55 — Cycles of abuse in adult relationships and impacts of grooming
• 31:19 — Turning Winds’ current status and changes
• 32:39 — Molly’s impressions of the Turning Winds podcast
• 34:21 — Discussion of neurodivergence and institutionalization
• 39:55-42:49 — Reflections on parenting, breaking cycles, and advice to survivors and parents

Tone & Language

The episode is raw, emotional, empathetic, and honest. Molly’s detailed, unvarnished recounting brings light to the devastating realities faced by many in the troubled teen industry. The host’s respectful, supportive approach lets Molly’s voice and experience direct the conversation.

Summary

This episode offers a courageous, unfiltered account of surviving institutional abuse, the betrayal of adult authority, and the long road to healing. Molly’s story highlights both personal resilience and the urgent need for fundamental change in how children with behavioral and neurodivergent needs are treated. By echoing a call for empathy, proper parenting, and systemic reform, this episode gives voice and validation to countless survivors—ensuring they are neither isolated nor forgotten.