Second Nature Cascades

I got sent here when I was 14 and it honestly want all that bad but I've always liked the outdoors, therapy wise it was awful. The only positives were the memories I made sneaking out of my tarp sleeping area at night and hanging out with friends. Definitely wouldn't recommend sending your kid here if you want positive lasting results though, when I finally went home after 3 months at second nature and 6 months at a ranch in Utah, I made it maybe 2 months before I completely dove off the deep end of substance abuse. All I learned from second nature cascades was that hard drugs didn't affect you how I'd been told they did my whole childhood so I had a lot more confidence when it came to experimenting

If I could give Second Nature Cascades a 0 star review I would. I was sent here when I was 15 years old (I am now 21), and to this day I am still scarred from my time spent here. The staff are poorly trained and do not in the slightest care about the teens well-being while at this program. One thing that is SO important to know is that if you're a parent thinking about sending your child here for anything that is non-related to a drug or alcohol addiction DO NOT. This program is NOT meant for children who struggle with anxiety, depression and or suicidal idealization. I was sent here for anxiety/depression and this was the least helpful program my parents could've possibly chosen. Upon arrival you're immediately taken to a doctor for a urine test and then brought back to base and strip searched. You're given no direction as to what's going on or what's happening to you and all of your personal belongings as well as your clothing is taken from you. As an early teen I watched many girls experience a drug/alcohol detox and that was one of the most traumatic things I've ever witnessed considering the staff couldn't care less. While I was there my anxiety attacks were so bad to the point where I would stop breathing all together and the staff did nothing, didn't even try to get me medical attention to see if it was possibly something else other than anxiety causing me to stop breathing. You're fed bottom of the barrel food that supplies you with no nutrients whatsoever and you're treated like a dog. I did not feel human while I was at Second Nature Cascades. Please.. if you're thinking about sending your child here because their website looks promising... reconsider. I don't know how any of these wilderness programs are legal.

I was sent to this program as a 15 year old (I am now 22) and am continually haunted by my experience there. At the expense of oversharing personal details, I will say this to parents considering sending their children here: unless he/she has a serious drug or alcohol problem, this is not the right place for them. They will experience many teens going through extreme detoxes and learn more about the drug world than any sane teen would ever want to need or want to know. Many therapists who are dealing with youth that suffer from extreme anxiety and/or depression recommend this type of program, but fail to educate parents on why the majority of kids that are sent to these are there for: drugs and alcohol. I would highly recommend a therapeutic boarding school or therapy-based program, but this detox based environment only makes things worse.

Second Nature Cascades is an excellent program across the board. Their administrative staff is friendly, helpful and available; their therapeutic staff professional, experienced, caring and in the case of my son highly effective. My husband and I both felt that their parent counseling and video education series was highly relevant and useful.

I sent my son to Second Nature after trying various other programs that didn't work. A wilderness program was my last choice and I was extremely anxious of letting go and entrusting my 16 year old son's care to complete strangers. And, in the middle of one of the coldest winters 2013-2014 on record. He successfully graduated from the program, but required therapeutic boarding school for further work. (Which by the way is quite common.)

To put it in my son's words, "I was there, because I fu@&ed up. It sucked, but it was necessary and through the process I met a lot of cool people and learned a lot about myself." (Note: he made this statement about 2nd Nature after completing one year of therapeutic boarding school.)

Jay and the staff at 2N Cascades are about as good as it gets in the wilderness education industry. If you're set on sending your child to one of these programs, this is the one to use. 2N gets 3 stars (almost all others would get only 1) because this is an extreme step which you should carefully consider, and it might hurt your teenager rather than help them.