Podcast Summary

Podcast: Something Was Wrong
Episode: S24 Ep13: How Profoundly Sorry I Am
Host: Tiffany Reiss (Broken Cycle Media)
Date: September 18, 2025

Main Theme

This deeply personal episode explores the experience of Shannon, a mother who sent her daughter Kaylyn to the Academy at Ivy Ridge—a for-profit behavior modification center for struggling teens. Shannon recounts her family's ordeal: the desperation that led to this decision, the manipulation and financial pressures exerted by the program, and the devastating aftermath. Through vivid recollection and searing regret, Shannon unpacks how entire families were drawn into the program’s web, the impact of its coercive tactics, and the long-term trauma left in its wake.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Background on the Academy at Ivy Ridge and WASP Network

• Ivy Ridge operated from 2001 until 2009 in Ogdensburg, NY, as part of the Worldwide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools (WASP), a network later scrutinized for persistent allegations of abuse.
• The program marketed itself as a therapeutic boarding school but was embroiled in lawsuits for fraud regarding unaccredited diplomas and allegations of severe mistreatment.
• Congressional hearings revealed widespread abuses in similar programs nationwide ([09:06]).

2. Shannon’s Family: Desperation and Search for Help

• Shannon describes her daughter Kaylyn as a fearless, free spirit whose rebellion culminated in two overdoses by age 13 ([12:56]).
• The family’s frantic search for answers (school and community counselors, priests, even Dr. Phil)—ends with a late-night online search yielding Ivy Ridge.
• The high cost ($40,000+/year) was presented as the only hope to “save” Kaylyn ([15:53-15:56]).

“We can always make more money, but we can’t make another Kaylyn.” – Shannon ([16:27])

3. Enrollment and Early Experience at Ivy Ridge

• Shannon recounts a polished sales pitch featuring a “success story” student (“That’s what sold it for us.” – [17:53]).
• Key manipulations:
  • The program restricted parent-child goodbyes upon entry ([19:58])
  • Parent participation in costly, mandatory seminars, reinforced by peer pressure and emotional vulnerability ([21:46-23:24])

“They are the source of saving my child, so I didn’t question it.” – Shannon ([20:50])

4. The Seminar System: Escalating Commitment and Shame

• Seminars fostered a cult-like camaraderie and hierarchy among parents, bred dependency, and subtly blamed parents for their children’s issues ([26:21-27:17]).
• The “plus 5/minus 5” system (“Do whatever it takes”) measured parental commitment and coerced further investment ([29:16-29:20]).
• Social pressure and shame were used to spur both financial (seminar fees, travel) and emotional devotion.

“There would be shame if I couldn’t +5, do what it takes. There’s shame in being a +1.” – Shannon ([29:48])

5. Program Structure and Family Repercussions

• Parent-child contact was strictly controlled; early communication restricted, progress measured by “levels” ([21:39], [38:12]).
• For in-person visits, both child performance and parent seminar attendance were prerequisites—another lever of control ([41:44]).
• The entire family was affected: Kaylyn’s twin sister Christina also began to struggle; Shannon briefly considered enrolling her too ([47:34]).

6. Loss of Faith, Program Exit, and Shunning

• Over time, Shannon noted inconsistencies (changing staff, evasive communication) and other “red flags” ([47:34-50:00]).
• On removing Kaylyn from Ivy Ridge, Shannon and her husband were abruptly cut off from the community—calls ignored, digital access revoked.
• Discovery of Kaylyn’s suffering (through files left at the campus and shared after her death) revealed the true pain the program inflicted.

“Kaylyn did not tell me about being put into the isolation room… So much of it was the pain that she was really in, that she just wanted to come home.” – Shannon ([55:28])

7. Aftermath, Grief, and Healing

• Kaylyn passed away in 2017, an event with unresolved questions. Christina died of an overdose in 2022.
• Shannon describes her ongoing grief and guilt, and the transformative solace she finds in caring for a horse she believes connects her to Kaylyn ([60:32-62:30]).
• Professionally, she has become a therapist, now committed to helping other families and advocating against such institutions.

“My way of surviving the depths of loss of my girls is to be of service for those who still have breath in them, who still are trying to find ways to heal.” – Shannon ([63:31])

8. Advice to Parents Struggling with Similar Guilt

• Shannon urges acknowledgment of mistakes, openness to dialogue, and compassion in working through guilt and shame.

“If I was a staffer at your seminar bullying you to be a plus five, I was a cog in that wheel… I now know it was wrong.” – Shannon ([65:59])

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “We weren’t going to let money be the reason our child didn’t live. We had no other options left.” – Shannon ([16:12])
• “How am I questioning a program that is all I have left to save my child, where I have evidence of parents whose children have been saved?” – Shannon ([36:44])
• “I don’t have nor will I ever have the opportunity to apologize and to tell her that we were wrong… That’s much of what drives me to share this experience.” – Shannon ([57:13])
• “Their parents, whether knowingly or unknowingly, put their children in the lives of strangers. That was wrong.” – Shannon ([64:37])
• “My hope is that those beautiful, lovely humans who experienced such devastation are given the opportunity to heal. …They all get to hear from someone that they didn’t deserve to suffer the way that they suffered…” – Shannon ([64:57])

Important Segment Timestamps

• [09:06] — History of Ivy Ridge and WASP network
• [12:56] — Shannon introduces her family, begins personal narrative
• [15:53] — Program cost discussion
• [17:53] — Manipulative sales pitch, “success story” student
• [19:58] — Dropping Kaylyn off, first exposure to program control
• [21:46] — Restriction of parent-child communication, seminar obligations
• [26:21] — Seminar indoctrination, introduction of value system
• [29:16] — Explaining “plus 5/minus 5” system and peer pressure
• [38:12] — Communication with Kaylyn while enrolled, family rep system
• [41:44] — First permitted family visit after seven months
• [47:34] — Rising doubts, decision to withdraw Kaylyn, being shunned
• [54:56] — Discovering Kaylyn’s suffering from posthumous files
• [57:13] — Guilt and lack of closure (“profoundly sorry”)
• [60:32] — Healing through horses, new path in life as a therapist
• [65:17] — Advice for other parents

Tone and Language

Shannon’s storytelling is open-hearted, vulnerable, and marked by intense regret but also a fierce commitment to truth-telling. Tiffany, the host, responds with empathy and affirmation.

Conclusion

This episode is a raw, crucial testimony about the ways high-control, unregulated institutions manipulate desperate families—and the enduring scars these experiences leave. Through her painful honesty, Shannon hopes to honor the memory of her daughters and validate the suffering of other survivors and parents. The episode urges compassion, vigilance, and reform—within families and across systems that claim to heal but often cause profound harm.