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Peninsula Village - I am a 28 year-old women currently preparing to attend graduate school to pursue international work abroad in developing countries. I am also a survivor of a three- or four-month ordeal in the Special Treatment Unit (STU) at "The Village" of Peninsula Hospital.
In STU for three to four months, my treatment team eventually deemed that I was not an appropriate fit and released me to Peninsula Hospital for treatment for drug abuse.
My memories of experiences at "The Village" are heart-wrenching. However, I was on so many different medications at the time, it is a bit foggy, as well.
I was placed into the village for using drugs and running away from home on numerous occasions. My single mother thought "The Village" might be a good idea.
At age 16, after running away a final time, I was placed into a juvenile detention facility in Knoxville. I stayed in the detention facility for 30-days before being transported to "The Village." I do not remember meeting with my mother at any time during my three- or four-month stay in STU.
Here are my most prominent and sad memories of STU:
- We were given a time-frame of several minutes to finish our meals. If we finished our meals within the time-frame, we were allowed for a second serving. - We were given a time-frame to make our beds, and beds were then inspected to ensure proper folding techniques were employed. - One day they rolled a young women restricted by five-point restraints on a hospital bed into the middle of our group-therapy circle. The counselors then proceeded to encourage everyone to degrade her condition and her choices in a circle around her. - During my speaking engagements in group-therapy, I was told that everything I was saying was a lie, even when what I said was actually the truth. - We had to raise our hands to ask the counselors if we were allowed to ask a question, before we could ask a question. - We were on our beds the majority of the time. - I was only restrained one time, and left in isolation for four or five hours. I was severely sedated on Thorazine. I was restrained for pulling my arm away from a counselor who was trying to get me to stand up from my bed and attend a group-therapy session. - I was given Thorazine several times for defensive behavior. - During my stay at "The Village," I began to bite myself to get out of STU. I also was planning a massive overdose of my alloted medications in order to get out of STU. This attempt was hindered by a counselor discovering my cache of saved medication.
Eventually, I refused to do anything, move, talk, eat, function. After a month or more of this behavior, they finally released me to Peninsula Hospital. Peninsula Hospital was similar to a fancy retreat center compared to "The Village." I, needless to say, was relieved and made many strides forward in self-discovery, participation, and healing.
It has been almost 12 years from the time that resided at "The Village." I have completed so much in my life with many accomplishments for which to be proud. And I owe none of those accomplishments to my time in STU at "The Village." The unit seems only to brainwash poor souls for redevelopment. I liken the unit to what our military may try to utilize to brainwash captives. Luckily, I was a strong young women, as I am today, and was able to survive "The Village" without sacrificing inner self, motivation or passion. Unfortunately, others are not so lucky.
Description
Survivor's Report #3: Peninsula Village
Everything in my statement is true. I give HEAL permission to use my statement. I want to remain anonymous for now. I was sent to Peninsula Village back in Sept. 2004 Many things were horrible... just to name a few for now, because I do not want them to know who I am if they read this because I am working on trying to form a large lawsuit against them so yea but here are a few things I experienced there for about 6 months:
Being Physically restrained about twice daily on average where there was no reason for it whatsoever. An alarm kind of like a car alarm except much louder would be turned on and about 20 staff would come running into the unit and all basically jump me, throw me to the ground and sit on me to hold me down.... a few times they really hurt me.. I remember one instance in which they performed Xrays on my jaw and wrist from my restraint.
I would also be mechanically restrained when I "struggled" meaning when I was trying to escape my restraint because they were hurting me. I would be tied down to a bed and sometimes they would leave me there for hours or just about the whole day. If I had to go to the bathroom they would put a bedpan underneath me. disgusting. Also if I fell asleep they would come kick my bed and tell me to wake up. they said that being tied down was a punishment and not a treat of naptime. But it was a no wonder I was so tired. They had me way over medicated. I was put on Abilify for my agitation.. Every time they would restrain me, they would increase my dose. I was up to 120 Mg daily. But thats not all... when I was restrained they would give me large dose shots in my ass of Klonopin, Haldol, Thorazine, etc. They would make me so tired I could have slept for days. We had to eat on our beds, we didn't even get to sit at a table. Bathroom times were on their terms... If we had to go when it was not bathroom break, we had to wait, and if it was a real emergency they would allow it but then you would get consequenced for it later on in consequence group. Who ever thought of being consequenced for having to use the bathroom? We were not allowed to talk except in group therapy or if we raised our hand and were actually called on. You had to sit on your bed with your back up against the wall. If you got off your bed, you would be restrained.
There were level systems which always made me feel bad about myself. When you were restrained they would strip you of your clothing and make you wear hospital gowns until you contracted to move up to wearing scrubs then contracting to wear your clothes. The first day i got there I was restrained and in my restraint I vomited and they made me lay in it. My face was covered in it for about 2 hours.
In my stay there i must have been restrained over 60 times and they were all completely unnecessary. We were forced to participate in their AA or NA groups. i never had an addiction problem but they said I did. they said I liked tranqs. they were wrong, i never had one of them in me until I came to PV. i was forced to participate in Medicine wheel groups in which we had to learn and were tested on some kind of Native American Stuff.
The director of my unit at the time was not licensed he was actually denied by the board of health so he was misrepresenting himself. He told me once, "if you think you are smart enough to get kicked out of here and escape it here you are wrong" I would not see my dad for weeks sometimes over a month. My family therapy sessions would get taken away from me in which I could not talk to my dad much less see him
` if when i was talking to my dad and i tried to tell him how bad it was there they would end the family therapy session right there. they also told him I was incompetent and did not know what I was talking about when he heard me tell him about my bruises. I was covered in bruises from the head down. My mail was monitored by staff both outgoing and incoming. That is all i am going to say for now.
The reason i was sent to PV was for PTSD from my mother passing away when i was 14. If i would cry about it, they told me I was attention seeking. My PTSD worsened alot from being at PV. to this day I still have nightmares and flashbacks from that place.
Additional Information
A former member of the Hawk Clan at PV addresses issues parents should be aware of...
Here are some questions parents may have before sending their kid off to PV... for anyone else it's a detailed explanation of how certain things are done in PV
1) What was the food like?
The food varied, some days it was good depending if it was breakfast lunch and dinner others bad... but then again when you are hungry after a hard days work anything in your stomach is better then nothing. I only became ill after eating the food a few times but it was not due to the foods content but more the taste, those foods included Kielbasa, Brussel sprouts, Honey buns, beef stroginof (which we called beef stroke me off).
2) Where was it served?
We usually ate in a huge building located on the main campus called the "Y.C." or Youth Center.. this was also where parent events were held and the staff room was in the loft of said building while Boys STU is literally in the basement below. Sometimes we had to eat at the cabin depending on the circumstances. When we were on quarantine due to an illness that was floating about we ate at the cabin and had our food brought to us.. it was kind of nice not to have to walk a mile to eat seeing how the boys campus was on the other side. But the strike rule also comes in to play, the strike rule is basically each month we get three strikes, If any of the males get caught sneaking a peek at the girls... that was a strike for the whole clan, if your clan obtained 3 strikes the clan would have to each day for a week consume every meal on the boys side. That means we had to go to the YC, take the food back to the boys side, eat, and then bring it back to the YC and then go BACK again to the boys side... making us take 4 trips as opposed to the normal 2. 3) Was food ever denied? Kind of, they really manipulated this one... Based on what ever it was you did, would make you wait to eat until 15 minutes before said meal was over... that means you have to eat ALL your food and not throw up. Problem was what ever was on the menu you had to get one portion of each type even if you hated it. Also you had to FINISH everything on your plate or you would get DL (Desert limitation) They always made sure you ate... but they made it hard to enjoy whatever it was you were eating
4) What was the school part of the program like? We only had school on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I believe the girls had it on alternate days which makes me wonder if they only received 2 days of school as opposed to 3. The reason we only had three days of school was so on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday we could do vocational work... which was the village's cheap ass way of not having to hire anyone to repair anything as they tried to pass it off as a learning skill. We pretty much fixed everything that became broken unless it truly needed to be professionally done. When the cabins needed work, we fixed them, when concrete needed to be laid, we did that, spreading gravel, re shingling the roofs, weeding the front of the admissions office... that was us. This supposedly counted as gym and shop credits but I never saw any of those grades come to fruition when I finally got back to normal public school... thanks to PV I was put in 11th grade when I should have been in my senior year on the sole reason I did not have enough credits. 5) Where were classes conducted, and what was the classroom support like? IE. Teachers, computers, books etc..
The classrooms was a class cabin... thats right just like Tom Sawyer. Each clan had a section of the cabin that was "homeroom" with a specific teacher as the clans "homeroom teacher" The teachers were varied.... although there were only four they each had a unique personality and taught specific subjects... one taught Math, calculus and of the like, Another taught strictly English and literature, another taught Biology and various sciences, and the last taught History, Geography, economics, etc. The books were new and plentiful but they never let you read what you wanted. I remember The English teacher told me to pick out a book as an assignment.. I picked a book called "A confederacy of Dunces" Which I had read before and enjoyed... He said he would not allow me to read it because I was not worthy of such majestic story telling. I agree it was an awesome story, majestic even.. But I am not worthy to read a fucking book? Instead he made me read this piece of shit horribly written 120 page book titled "A light in the forest" Which is just a shitty rip off of the book "The education of little tree"
Just for the record... you could not read anything other then AA/NA material outside of school unless you were a high level and even then the book had to be evaluated and approved by your treatment team.
6) Under what circumstances could school be denied?
If you were sick, or in the burrito (straitjacket) or the time out room.
7) What were the accommodations like for the students not in STU?
We lived in cabins in the middle of the peninsula that had been infested with pine beetles so the trees were constantly falling down due to wind factors and even the trees own decay mixed with the weight of the trees. We had some very close calls of trees hitting or cabin and it's a miracle none of us was ever hit by a falling tree. We also had to clear these trees and chop them in to pieces, this task was perfect in the eyes of the program because the forest was constantly falling apart and so it virtually never ends. Chances are to this day kids at PV are still continuing what we did years ago. The Cabins had no electricity and no plumbing but we did have something called the tubes which was a latrine of sorts that was open and had three giant PVC pipes stuck in to the ground at a slanted angle. This was used to piss in and during the summer it reeked.
What sort of clothing did the captives wear, and where did it come from?
We were to wear white T shirts, working jeans, shirts tucked in with belt, normal tennis shoes for school days and steel toed boots for work days. Every 2 months or so we would have something called inventory day where we would clean the cabin from top to bottom and go over a list of clothes we needed... There was actually a list with the items required and the amount we should have that we had to have a staff verify and sign. Kids usually received the clothes from their parents... but the kids whose parents could not afford it or simply refused to send them things had to go find the items from what is known as "The eagles Nest" Basically The eagles nest was a storage space for all the clothes that was ever left by a former patient... over 17 years of rehab patients clothes reside in that nest... and woe to the poor sap who had to get his clothes from that place...
9) If you needed a basic necessity where did it come from? Such as tooth paste and things of that nature...
The village provided that but only the cheap knock off brands, also your parents could send you hygienic things if need be but they had to be approved. 10) Was there a stage/level system at PV?
Yes, both in STU and in the Cabin program but they differ greatly. IN STU you have Levels 1,2, and 3. You come in as an "outcast" and have to earn your way in to the group by writing a 10 page journey paper about why you were sent to PV... once you complete it you are in the group. Depending on a kids writing level this project could take a few hours or for others 2 months. When you are in the group you are a level one. You have to kiss ass and ragg on your fellow captives to show your are able to be a level 2 or they wold just decide that you needed to be a level 2... you then have to send in a request and staff will review it. Level threes have the most privileges and I found out that all you have to do to get level 3 is ask... but most don't because when anyone talked about thinking about going for a level 3 they were manipulated in to not even bothering because they would be rejected and it would be a waste of time.
The cabin system was different and very intricate.... the levels were based off the Native American medicine wheel. The levels were Pre-mouse, Mouse, Senior mouse (this level has been abolished) Bear, Bear Adoha, Eagle, and Buffalo. Each level meant something and it would take waaay to long to explain each meaning and how to obtain each level because each way is different based on what Clan you are put in to. Also when you receive a level there is a ceremony among your Clan members that takes place by a fire in an almost cult like ritual that is supposed to be "mystical" but once again each ceremony was different depending on what clan you were in
Basic employee qualifications for entry level staff?
We were never informed of their qualifications and even if we asked wouldn't tell us Many claimed to be off duty marines... but when 9/11 happened I always noticed how it was strange how they were not asked to ship out. I know one of my staff members was trained to be a geologist but stuck to PV instead.
What sort of training did PV give them?
On the field training... get some stupid intern and place him with a clan. Thats how morons like Jibby stuck around.
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