S24 Ep4: This Could've Been You

Something Was Wrong

Broken Cycle Media

True Crime, Documentary, Education, Society & Culture

4.1 • 24.6K Ratings

🗓️ 31 July 2025

⏱️ 86 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

*Content warning: distressing topics, childhood abuse, death, psychological, sexual and physical violence of children, self-harm, murder, psychological and physical violence of children, substance use disorder, cultic abuse, Institutional child abuse, ‘troubled teen industry’ (TTI), suicidal ideation, medical neglect, disability abuse, PTSD.

*Free + Confidential Resources + Safety Tips:
somethingwaswrong.com/resources

*SWW S23 Theme Song & Artwork:
The S24 cover art is by the Amazing Sara Stewart

Follow Something Was Wrong:

Website: somethingwaswrong.com
IG: instagram.com/somethingwaswrongpodcast
TikTok: tiktok.com/@somethingwaswrongpodcast

Follow Tiffany Reese:

Website: tiffanyreese.me
IG: instagram.com/lookieboo

*Sources
Aspen Education Group, Lathrop Lybrook
https://lathroplybrook.com/aspen-education-group/

Dark Forest: A Look Inside Controversial Wilderness Therapy Camps, Sierra Nevada Ally sierranevadaally.org/2023/08/02/dark-forest-a-look-inside-controversial-wilderness-therapy-camps/

Death of a 12-year-old boy at Trails Carolina ruled a homicide
https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nc/charlotte/news/2024/06/24/trails-carolina-death-homicide

Embark Behavioral Health
https://www.embarkbh.com/

Former attendees describe ‘nightmare’ at therapy camp in NC mountains. DHHS suspended admissions after 12-year-old died, Carolina Public Press
https://carolinapublicpress.org/63565/camp-nc-mountains-dhhs-scrutiny-camper-death-sexual-assault-transylvania/

Hawai’i Department of Health’s Office of Health Care Assurance Cites Pacific Quest Corp. for Illegally Operating Unlicensed Special Treatment Facilities or Therapeutic Living Programs
https://health.hawaii.gov/news/newsroom/hawaii-department-of-healths-office-of-health-care-assurance-cites-pacific-quest-corp-for-illegally-operating-unlicensed-special-treatment-facilities-or-therapeutic-living-programs/

Health Department cites 2 teen treatment facilities on Big Island, Star Advertiser
https://www.staradvertiser.com/2020/01/13/hawaii-news/health-department-cites-two-teen-treatment-facilities-in-keaau/

Lawsuit claims Trails Carolina misled parents, charged huge fees and created abusive environment, Spectrum News 1
https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/rochester/news/2025/04/30/trails-carolina-facing-new-class-action-lawsuit

NC therapy camp Trails Carolina where 2 have died faces lawsuit over child sexual assault, FOX 8
https://myfox8.com/news/north-carolina/nc-therapy-camp-trails-carolina-where-2-have-died-faces-lawsuit-over-child-sexual-assault/

New Leaf Academy
https://en-academic.com/dic.nsf/enwiki/5109613

New Leaf Academy, ‘Programs for Troubled Teens’
https://programsfortroubledteens.com/directory/new-leaf-academy/

No charges filed in death of child at Trails Carolina, WSPA
https://www.wspa.com/news/local-news/no-charges-filed-in-death-of-child-at-trails-carolina/

Owner-Operators Help Provide Quality Care, Family Help & Wellness
https://famhelp.com/owners/

Pacific Quest
https://pacificquest.org/

Pacific Quest FAQ
https://pacificquest.org/faq/

Pacific Quest Bridges the Gap Between Outdoor Wilderness Therapy and Residential Treatment Programs, Outdoor Sportswire
https://www.outdoorsportswire.com/pacific-quest-bridges-the-gap-between-outdoor-wilderness-therapy-and-residential-treatment-programs/

Parents take ‘troubled teen’ industry to court in lawsuit against owners of shuttered western NC wilderness therapy program
https://www.wral.com/story/parents-take-troubled-teen-industry-to-court-in-lawsuit-against-owners-of-shuttered-western-nc-wilderness-therapy-program/21671633/

Samantha’s New Leaf Academy (now Embark Behavioral Health) Testimony, Unsilenced
https://www.unsilenced.org/samanthas-testimony-new-leaf-academy-now-embark-behavioral-health-2007-2009/

Trails Carolina, Unsilenced
https://www.unsilenced.org/program-archive/us-programs/north-carolina/trails-carolina/

'Where the hell am I?': Former campers describe harsh introduction to Trails Carolina, NBC News
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/trails-carolina-wilderness-camp-death-rcna139942

Where does Trails Carolina stand 1 year since the death of 12-year-old boy at North Carolina troubled teen camp?
https://myfox8.com/news/north-carolina/where-does-trails-carolina-stand-1-year-since-the-death-of-12-year-old-boy-at-north-carolina-troubled-teen-camp/

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Something was wrong is intended for mature audiences and discusses upsetting topics.
0:05.9	Season 24 survivors discuss violence that they endured as children, which may be triggering for some
0:12.0	listeners. As always, please consume with care. For a full content warning, sources and resources
0:19.1	for each episode, please visit the episode notes.
0:23.2	Opinions shared by the guests of the show are their own and do not necessarily represent
0:27.7	the views of broken cycle media. All persons are considered innocent until proven guilty
0:33.2	in a court of law. Responses to allegations from individual institutions are included within the season.
0:40.4	Something was wrong and any linked materials should not be misconstrued as a substitution
0:45.1	for legal or medical advice.
0:48.6	Today you'll meet Leanne, who despite her young age, is heartbreakingly already a survivor of three different programs across the United States.
0:58.5	It's important to emphasize how recent Leanne's experiences are.
1:03.5	Leanne attended these institutions from November 2017 through the summer of 2020, between the ages of 12 and 16.
1:12.9	The first program she attended was a so-called wilderness therapy program called Trails
1:18.8	Carolina, which was launched in 2008 by Wilderness Training and Consulting LLC,
1:26.1	doing business as family help and wellness.
1:29.8	According to their website, family help and wellness currently has 15 owner-operated programs
1:36.7	across five states.
1:39.4	Broken Cycle Media reached out to Family Health and Wellness for comment regarding allegations of abuse
1:45.8	at programs under their ownership. In response, they said, quote, family help and wellness,
1:52.9	FHW, is unable to comment on pending legal matters or specific allegations. FHW and the affiliated programs it supports are strongly
2:04.7	committed to advancing standards of care in residential treatment and behavioral health care.
2:10.2	This includes active support for critical legislation, such as the Stop Institutional Child
	...

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