Podcast Summary: Something Was Wrong

Season 24, Episode 24: "Finally, You See" (Finale)

Host: Tiffany Reiss | Guest: Max (Survivor), with appearance by Max’s Dad and a letter from Max's Mom
Original Release: December 10, 2025
Topic: The lived trauma, survival, and family impact of abusive “troubled teen” programs, focused on Max’s experience at Mount Bachelor boarding school.

Overview

The finale of Season 24 centers on Max, a survivor of the troubled teen industry, as they recount the emotional, psychological, and physical abuse experienced at the Mount Bachelor program. The episode explores how the program’s methods led to lasting trauma, the family dynamics before and after, and the intergenerational impacts of trauma and eventual steps toward familial healing. Contributions from Max’s father and a heartfelt letter from Max’s mother provide multi-perspective insight into the damage caused and the ongoing recovery process.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Arrival at Mount Bachelor & Loss of Identity

• Campus Description: Max details the remote, prison-like nature of the campus, its physical layout, and the daily disconnect from normal teenage life.

  "The rules weren't about safety. They were about stripping you of your identity and control." — Max (03:57)

• First Experiences: Max describes the humiliating entry process—showering, scrubbing embedded dirt, being assigned to peer groups, receiving rigid rules about appearance, and sensing the intention behind them.

Methods of Control and Abuse

• Peer Groups and “Cleanup List”: Forming groups by arrival, each with set “graduation” dates. Forced to disclose in detail all personal “indiscretions”—including sexual assault—to both staff and parents in front of mentors.

  "They made you say who, what, when and where these things occurred. Everything but the why, because that did not matter... It really made me realize there was no point in this other than to humiliate, shame, and force these kids into self disclosure that was non consensual." — Max (07:19)

• Life Steps: Repetitive, secretive psychological “workshops” (attack therapy) with mandatory assignments, forced regression into childhood (“Forever Young”) including baby talk and children’s music, and intense peer confrontations.

Punishments & Isolation

• Self Study: Punitive isolation through individualized labor, journaling, and loss of social privileges for minor infractions (e.g., cutting one’s own hair).

  "When you get on self study, you lose all privileges. No singing, smiling, laughing or other distractions at all... physical labor until your mentor tells you otherwise." — Max (10:28)

Humiliation and Psychological Tactics

• Public Tasks and Bans: Forced silence (total bans), humiliating drills (“Watusis”), and public spectacles both on and off campus to break will and reinforce conformity.

  "You're coaxing someone into doing something without them knowing where the end is... prime examples of their insidious methods of power and control. Brainwashing, essentially." — Max (19:01)

• Demeaning Roles: Assigning demeaning archetypes (e.g., “Cinderella” for always cleaning up others’ messes), enforced exclusion and public shaming.

Educational, Emotional, and Social Deprivation

• Low Academic Standards & Missed Medication: The education was elementary-level and often missed; many kids didn’t get needed medication for weeks.
• No Real Therapy: Pseudo-therapeutic exercises were never conducted by licensed clinicians.

Field Incidents & Safety Neglect

• Failed Camping Trip: Staff incompetence led to students being lost in freezing woods, rescued only by Forest Service. The incident was hidden from parents.

  "Eventually, we ran out of food... The Forest Service actually had to come rescue us... They never told the parents about this, but somehow the local news reported it." — Max (17:22)

“Transition” and Post-Program Fallout

• Graduation Rituals: Graduation required pre-approved speeches and plans, reported as hollow and coerced.
• Reintegration Struggles: Lacking emotional and social supports after exit, returning home led to worsened behavioral and psychological problems for Max and other survivors.

  "You're in this highly controlled environment that's super traumatizing. And then you're just spat back out... you don't have any emotional or social or psychological support." — Max (36:26)

Systemic Coverups and Whistleblowing

• Investigation & Closure: Whistleblower nurse alerts authorities, DHS visits; staff coach compliant students (including Max) to represent the facility during investigations. The program was eventually shut down.

Family Reconciliation and Regret

• Parental Perspective: Max’s dad discusses his mistakes, the regret for sending Max, and the enormous financial cost (~$100,000+). He shares his guilt, his struggle to connect, and their slow, fragile journey to reconciliation.

  “Basically you just paid a shitload of money to warehouse your kid because you didn’t know what else the fuck to do — loser. I mean, that’s what it felt like." — Max’s dad (43:56)
  "That I regret it, that I wish I had had some other option thrown at me. I don't want her to think I did it because... you're too much work. I was truly afraid she was gonna die, and every grownup in my life was telling me to do it." — Max’s dad (46:04)

• Parental Apology: Years later, after an article about program abuses comes to light, Max’s dad offers a heartfelt apology, finally acknowledging the trauma.

  "He was like, I don't know that I can ever make this right. What can I do? Please, just tell me what I can do. What I told him is, all I want is an apology and acknowledgment. That's all I need." — Max (49:34)

Max’s Mom’s Letter and Perspective

• Max reads a moving letter from their mother, expressing pain, regret, helplessness and her own journey through addiction, loss of custody, and the deep sense of failure and sorrow caused by the program.

  "Max's lost teen years is sad beyond words. We can never get those years back. And it has been so difficult to see how the trauma has affected their ability to cope with the awfulness and cruelty of what happened to them in those programs." — Max’s Mom (53:36) "Part of the change they have worked so hard for has helped me stay sober over these past 14 years. I love you, Max. Your bravery and dedication to healing shines through." — Max’s Mom (55:56)

Long-Term Impact and Ongoing Recovery

• Max reflects on their ongoing struggle with trauma, addiction, self-worth, and attachment—outlining the insidious, lifelong effects of the TTI (troubled teen industry) experience, but also naming the relief and partial closure found in family acknowledgment, and expressing hope for broader systemic accountability.

  "All of that really negative internalized self talk that is super prevalent throughout survivors, at least for me. It still hasn't really left me, but it's more manageable..." — Max (57:03) "I'm so happy to have agency and to have the things that I need and to be able to get the things that I want... There is such joy in having access to those that sometimes that is what I have to look at and remind myself, like, you made it. It's a privilege to be alive and you're free." — Max (62:00)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Stripped Individuality
  "It was very obvious to me, even at that point, that those rules weren't about safety. They were about stripping you of your identity and control." — Max (03:57)

• On the “Cleanup List”
  "They made you Disclose rape and sexual assault also. That wasn't something that had happened to me at that time. So it didn't really register to me how disgusting that is to make somebody do or disclose. Especially if there were like issues with incest or anything like that. They made you say who, what, when and where these things occurred. Everything but the why, because that did not matter." — Max (07:19)

• On Punishments and Self Study
  "When you get on a self study, you lose all privileges. No singing, smiling, laughing or other distractions at all... physical labor until your mentor tells you otherwise." — Max (10:28)

• On Brainwashing Tactics
  "You're coaxing someone into doing something without them knowing where the end is. That is one of the prime examples of their insidious methods of power and control. Brainwashing, essentially." — Max (19:01)

• On The Graduation “Celebration”
  "The staff would also tell you if you try to say anything snarky or use your speech as like a fuck you to the program, you will be dropped. They reminded you you are not out of this program until you are walking out of these doors with your parents. So they held this over your head till like the very, very end." — Max (34:39)

• On Parental Regret
  "That I regret it, that I wish I had had some other option thrown at me. I don't want her to think I did it because I don't want you around or that you're too much work. I was truly afraid she was gonna die, and every grownup in my life was telling me to do it." — Max’s Dad (46:04)

• On Finally Getting the Apology
  "He was frantically apologetic. If I had known this, I would never have done this. I didn't know this happened. Which I'm like, you weren't able to hear me at the time, but like I told you... And he was like, I don't know that I can ever make this right. What can I do? Please, just tell me what I can do. He is coming to me basically begging, please let me rectify the situation. What I told him is, all I want is an apology and acknowledgment. That's all I need... It was simple. I think that that was the most profound thing, was how simple it was." — Max (49:34)

• From Max’s Mom
  "The impact of those schools and camps seems devastating to Max's life. I've learned to live without forgiving myself for my part in this woundedness that befell my family. Most everyone tells me I need to forgive myself. I just nod. But the mother in me can't." — Max’s Mom (55:30)

Important Timestamps

• 03:57: Max on loss of identity and purpose of rules
• 07:19: “Cleanup list” and forced disclosure
• 10:28: Punishments and “self-study” explanation
• 13:55: Description of “life steps” and phases
• 17:22: Camping trip disaster and Forest Service rescue
• 19:01: Public humiliation and brainwashing
• 34:39: Graduation procedures and coercion
• 43:56: Max’s dad on the futility and cost of the program
• 46:04: Max’s dad’s regrets and explanation for his decision
• 49:34: Max recounts the moment of apology from dad
• 53:36–55:56: Max’s mom’s letter and perspective
• 57:03–62:00: Max on lasting trauma, recovery, and autonomy

Conclusion & Takeaways

The finale delivers a searing, first-person view of the abuses found in the troubled teen industry—how authority, secrecy, and power were wielded to break children down, not build them up. It clearly illustrates not only the survivor’s perspective, but the complicated, generational wounds these places create within families. Despite pervasive trauma and loss, the episode closes with hope: family members who, through grueling but genuine introspection and apology, could begin to heal and restore broken bonds. Max’s wish for the future is for full exposure and dismantling of the TTI, and for survivors and families to find compassion and support, not shame or isolation.

For Listeners Seeking Help

Episode notes include resources for trauma survivors, mental health care, and those impacted by the troubled teen industry. If you or someone you know is struggling with trauma or thoughts of self-harm, please seek professional help and support.