About this episode

Dr. Corey Jentry shares his experiences in the troubled teen industry, exploring the manipulative tactics used to recruit vulnerable teenagers into cult-like treatment programs.

In Part 1 of our conversation with Dr. Corey Jentry, we dive into a side of the troubled teen industry that doesn’t get talked about nearly enough: the programs that didn’t need to kidnap kids in the middle of the night, because they convinced them to walk in willingly. Corey shares how, as a struggling teenager looking for connection, he was drawn into what would become a five-year stay inside the Insight Substance Abuse program, formerly Palmer Drug Abuse Program (PDAP), a highly controlling treatment program founded by Bob Meehan, the controversial architect behind a network of adolescent rehab programs that many former participants now describe as cult-like. What starts as a story about teen treatment quickly turns into a masterclass on love bombing, recruitment, and coercive influence. Corey walks us through the carefully crafted world of attractive young counselors, instant belonging, and promises of friendship that made the program feel like the answer to every teenage problem—until it wasn’t. We unpack the origins of Meehan’s treatment empire, the business model behind the industry, and how vulnerable families were sold a solution that often created far more harm than…

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