Pathway Family Center has closed.
Alert ! Former Pathway Family Center executive staff members: Victoria Winebarger and Beth Bunn have started a business called Branches Counseling, PLLC. Beware of Branches Counseling, PLLC! This "counseling service" could evolve into the next generation Pathway program. Given the history of Pathway's cultish methods, the devotion by these two women to the Pathway program in the past and the lack of information on their own website about their previous employment by Pathway, attention should be drawn to this new enterprise. To see why, visit the Pathway Origins page and see how these deceptive programs have "changed names" in the past.
See: Pathway Family Center Staff List
This website will remain available online for posterity and for the purposes of public education and connecting those who have been victims of programs like Pathway. Hopefully Branches Counseling, PLLC will not inflict the harm to families that Pathway Family Center and STRAIGHT Inc. did for decades.
There are still hundreds of other abusive teen programs operating in America, practicing dangerous thought reform techniques that deserve our attention. See:
HEAL Abusive teen treatment centers
ISAC Facility/referrer watchlist
I would like to thank everyone who put forth great effort at personal cost to expose this abusive program.
Below is the original Home page:
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Our Purpose
We are dedicated to exposing the dangers and repercussions associated with placing children into Pathway Family Center. Many people have reported being harmed by the treatment they received at Pathway Family Center. There are also very many people who have reportedly been harmed by this program's predecessor, STRAIGHT INC. In addition, there are many people who have reported that they were harmed in various ways by the methods used by Kids Helping Kids (KHK), which was (or possibly is) a Pathway Family Center and affirmably a STRAIGHT INC. descendant. The history of these interrelationships will be explained further in the Pathway Origins section of this site.
Our Reasons
It is our belief that the "inner core" techniques that were so psychologically devastating in STRAIGHT INC. and KHK continue to be implemented within Pathway Family Center. The shared experiences from former victims of these programs are eerily similar and it is evident that certain damaging aspects of STRAIGHT INC., KHK and Pathway Family Center have been at play at all times throughout the years. Some of these methods have been likened to systematic brainwashing and group-cult techniques. It is apparent that many topical changes have been made over time at Pathway Family Center but there is strong evidence that the most damaging, "inner core" techniques of psychological coercion and behavior modification are still being implemented. Furthermore, we consider these treatment methods to be "impermissible experiments" and thus illegal under the Nuremberg Code of Ethics. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuremberg_Code
There is an ongoing investigation by the Government Accountability Office into widespread abuses and deaths at residential treatment programs across the United States. The bill, H.R. 911- Stop Child Abuse in Residential Programs for Teens Act of 2009, was created to help regulate programs with very shallow oversight from state regulation agencies and accreditation agencies or no oversight at all. These agencies seem to offer little to no protection to the consumer and mainly serve as an image of legitimate oversight rather than true oversight. H.R. 911 has not been signed into law and therefore offers no protection to desperate parents seeking treatment for their children.
What Parents Need To Know
If you are considering placing your child in Pathway Family Center, please take a few moments to review our Questions To Ask page. When this site is fully constructed, we will provide more important information, in addition to these questions concerning techniques and treatment at any private residential program.
Reported Harms To Children And Families
On our Statements page, you can read the written accounts of those who were deceived and harmed by the aforementioned programs. The psychological and physical trauma they reportedly endured in the name of treatment is appalling. We have received many reports from parents and former clients of Pathway Family Center indicating that their family was harmed by the questionable methods to which they were subjected within this program.
Pathway Defies Reason
In our attempts to communicate our concerns to Pathway Family Center, it has been made painfully clear that this program does not wish to engage in any dialogue concerning their methods. It is also clear that Pathway Family Center does not wish to examine or change any of these methods despite an outcry by many former clients. We believe this lack of concern or accountability by Pathway Family Center is unacceptable and troubling.
Where We Stand
We stand against any dangerous thought reform techniques or other abuse implemented in the name of treatment. We do not make referrals to any program or institution. We do not profit from anything related to this website and we do not accept donations or funding. This website exists strictly for the purpose of educating and informing the public of treatment models that have not been scientifically proven to be effective. These models are consistently reported to be experimental and damaging. We believe Pathway Family Center is still subjecting clients to dangerous thought reform techniques and should be thoroughly investigated by the Forensic Audit and Special Investigations Unit of the GAO.
This site is not endorsed by or affiliated with Pathway Family Center