Podcast Summary: Something Was Wrong

Episode: S24 Ep16: Attack Therapy
Date: October 9, 2025
Host: Tiffany Reiss, Broken Cycle Media

Episode Overview

This episode features Marie’s story of being sent to Ivy Ridge, a “behavioral modification” facility, as a teen. Marie details a childhood marked by emotional and physical abuse, her sudden removal from home, and the traumatic environment of Ivy Ridge. The episode explores how "attack therapy" and institutional abuse shaped survivors’ recovery, lingering impacts like PTSD, and the ongoing journey to reclaim agency and familial truth.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Marie’s Early Life and Family Dynamics

• Upbeat Nature & Loss: Marie describes her naturally bright spirit, attributed to her late mother, who died when Marie was five.
• Father’s Shift: After her father's remarriage, Marie notices favoritism toward her half-brother and escalating emotional distance and discipline.
• Escalating Abuse: Incidents of disproportionate punishment and physical abuse intensify as she gets older, including being dragged up stairs, choked, and isolated for minor infractions.
• Seeking Love Elsewhere: Marie excels academically and socially. She is involved in church and community, seeking validation outside her home.

  "They needed to have something else be wrong with somebody to function. It didn’t have that much to do with how I was being because I wasn’t behaving bad." – Marie (06:10)

2. The Intervention and Unexpected Exile

• Family Intervention: Marie’s maternal relatives try to help her escape her abusive home, offering her a place to live.
• Parents’ Reaction: Fearing reputational damage, her father and stepmom orchestrate a deception, telling her she’s going to a dentist appointment only to hand her over to strangers for transport to Ivy Ridge.

  "My dad wanted to blindside me... They took my luggage. That’s how I knew they had really planned a big con on me." – Marie (14:28) “The guy was like, good thing you didn’t struggle because we have these zip ties that we would have used on your wrists if you had.” – Marie (16:22)

3. Arrival and Life at Ivy Ridge

• Intake and Culture Shock: Marie describes an intake process reminiscent of a prison – strip searches, point systems, prohibitions on communication.
• Dehumanizing Daily Routine: Strict rules govern every aspect, including how to speak, dress, and even when to close eyes. Hygiene items are limited and must be paid for by parents.

  “You only get 16 to 18 points a day. A lot of times your points are taken from you... I remember going to sleep doing math in my head like, how long will it take to call my parents?” – Marie (18:47)

• Attack Therapy: Group sessions are a key trauma. Sharing is rewarded with other residents publicly criticizing you, and recipients are forced to "receive" the criticism stoically.

  "It was a very bizarre experience... you have to stand there with your hands open... to indicate a posture of receiving feedback." – Christy (21:41)

4. Institutional Abuse and Control

• Strict Control & Arbitrary Punishments: Corrections and point deductions are given for minor infractions (e.g., not eating raw bacon, curdled milk). There are quotas for punishments.

  “The corrections were crazy. They would make up rules all the time so you’d lose points.” – Marie (24:18)

• No Real Education or Medical Care: Classes are basic online modules with no live teachers. No medical care is provided even when injured.

  "I didn’t see a doctor or dentist the whole 20 months I was there." – Marie (26:39)

• Seminars as Psychological Warfare: Survivors are forced to participate in cult-like multi-day events where they scream, role-play traumas, and are often humiliated—especially by family during family seminars.

  “Every part of it, I felt like my dad and my stepmom were attacking me.” – Marie (31:27)

5. The Riot and Its Aftermath

• Unrest: The girls are terrified during a riot led by boys. An alarm physically shakes them, many panic.

  "This alarm was so terrifying, you could feel the sound of it in your shins... I actually blacked out." – Christy (29:14)

• PR Response: Staff quickly seek to cover up the trauma by forcing each resident to confirm they’re “okay.”

  "She just got a verbal from every single person before we could really think about if we were even okay." – Christy (30:45)

6. Leaving Ivy Ridge and Re-entering the World

• Manipulation to Stay: Marie’s parents threaten to disown her and cut off resources if she refuses to “graduate.”

  “They said they would disown me as their daughter if I didn’t graduate the program...” – Marie (37:18)

• Gradual Realization: Post-release, Marie realizes her family remains toxic. She is told to never disclose her time at Ivy Ridge.

  “Don’t tell anybody you went to Ivy Ridge because they’re going to think you’re weird.” – Marie (39:23)

• Delayed Freedom: She’s blocked from seeing friends and family. The process for allowed contacts is highly regulated by parental approval.

7. Lingering Trauma and Recovery

• PTSD Symptoms: For years, Marie suffers nightmares of being re-abducted.

  “My nightmares for the first 15 years were how do I avoid the kidnapping?... They always would get me every time.” – Christy (53:04)

• Flashbacks and Panic Attacks: Triggers in everyday life such as alarms, line formations, and even drink cups recall traumatic experiences at Ivy Ridge and the Honor Academy, which retriggers trauma.
• Therapy and Realizations: Attempts at family therapy expose her father's lack of remorse or understanding.

  "Your dad is not ready, willing, or able to do this. This man is very detached from you. He sees no reason to do this." – Therapist, recounted by Marie (49:54)

• Personal Healing: Understanding her parents’ behavior wasn’t her fault is a turning point. Support from chosen family and friends is central to recovery.

8. Reflections and Advocacy

• Supporting Survivors: Marie urges listeners to educate themselves on psychological manipulation and institutional abuses, and to support survivors’ truth and healing.

  "I just want you to learn a little bit about psychology of people who aren’t made aware of the full truth and finally got their vindication to understand they were never supposed to feel unloved or misunderstood." – Christy (54:12)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• The deception in the moment of kidnapping:

  “We park and pull up and the lights are off in the dentist office. And I go, dad, are you sure they’re open?... [He says] see that car over there? That’s going to take you on a tour of a boarding school. And you’re going to return when you’re 18.” – Marie (14:13)

• Dehumanizing nature of attack therapy:

  "You can share whatever you want, get it off your chest. But then they’re going to have three people stand up and grill you afterwards about what they really think about you… Not allowed to react with your own emotion." – Christy (21:31)

• The forced isolation and loss of faith rituals:

  “They wouldn’t let me go to church... I have to go to church every week and get communion… They just shut down my whole case.” – Marie (28:09-28:40)

• On being forced to remain after turning 18:

  "They said I wouldn’t have any money or way to pay for college if I left… They manipulated me by saying my biological mom’s family had issues… I could only talk to my dad." – Marie (37:18)

• Understanding the pattern years later:

  “That’s when I realized the normal isn’t to be rude and distant. It’s to be encouraging and inclusive. And that’s when I was like, the Ivy Ridge thing wasn’t because I was a problem.” – Marie (48:43)

• On not being believed:

  “I think not being believed was the hardest part.” – Christy (53:53)

Timestamps of Key Segments

• Marie’s childhood and family background: 01:15–06:53
• Parental abuse and early interventions: 06:54–14:25
• Being sent to Ivy Ridge (“kidnapping”): 14:26–19:44
• Life at Ivy Ridge and attack therapy: 19:45–25:21
• Abuse, isolation, and enforced silence: 25:22–31:27
• The riot and institutional cover-up: 29:10–30:56
• Psychological manipulation in seminars: 30:56–34:36
• Graduation and forced continued stay: 37:05–38:56
• After release, family dysfunction continues: 39:14–41:27
• Rediscovering safe relationships, the role of advocacy: 41:25–44:55
• Honor Academy and PTSD: 43:16–46:44
• Therapy, realization, and ongoing boundaries: 49:54–52:35
• PTSD symptoms and nightmares: 53:04–53:51
• Reflections, message to listeners, hope for support: 53:59–54:55

Tone & Style

The episode’s language is raw, honest, and urgent, mirroring the intensity of lived trauma. There are moments of dark humor, especially among survivors reflecting on institutional absurdities, but an undercurrent of grief remains. The hosts approach survivor testimony with deep empathy and allow Marie and Christy space to vent, process, and seek meaning.

Takeaways

• Systemic Abuse: Ivy Ridge (and similar programs) are depicted as abusive institutions that mask control as therapy, leaving deep scars.
• Survivor Validation: Not being believed, both during and after experiences, can be as harmful as the abuse itself.
• Complex Recovery: Healing is non-linear—survivors grapple with PTSD, damaged relationships, and reconstructing a sense of self and family.
• Call to Action: Listeners are urged to understand, believe, and support survivors—by educating themselves, challenging narratives of "bad kids," and advocating against institutional abuse.