Rick Reiss was scared for his teenage son, Gabriel. Gabe was struggling with depression and mood swings, and no amount of therapy or medication seemed to work. But when Gabe became violent, Rick wasn’t just scared for his son; he was scared of his son. Rick and his wife felt as if they had to do something drastic. So they made the decision to send Gabe to a wilderness therapy program. Nearly 18 years later, father and son talk about the decision that changed both of their lives and how their relationship has grown now that Gabe is an adult.
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Anna Martin: From "The New York Times, " I'm Anna Martin.
This is "Modern Love."
Rick Reiss had a big dilemma with his oldest son, Gabriel.
Gabe was suffering and struggling,
expressing intense anger and having violent outbursts.
Rick and his wife did everything they could think of to try to help him,
but nothing worked.
None of the experts they consulted,
none of the medications they tried.
So when Gabe was 14,
his parents made a decision that could seem hard to understand.
They enrolled Gabe in a wilderness therapy program as a last resort.
Before we get into the story,
I want to say that these kinds of programs for,
quote unquote, "troubled teens" have gotten a lot of scrutiny
since this essay was published almost 18 years ago.
They've been broadly accused of using extreme and sometimes abusive disciplinary tactics,
and their overall effectiveness is deeply contested.
According to Gabe, he was not abused at the wilderness program he went to.