(PLEASE READ IN FULL)I am rating (ONLY!!!) the good that was at the school/treatment center 5 stars. I saw boys who graduated from here and they seemed to have benefited. The program deals with incredible challenges based on the boys efforts to rebel against it. There are good people that work there, although they will need to find some MVP-type replacements if one or more people decide to leave. Miscommunication was a problem while I was there (and this was a team problem - me included). There was one man who worked there who seemed very humble. He was accused of something that I do not know the details of. He was a family man, though, had little education, and I trusted him, and I STILL do. Mistakes and misunderstandings can easily happen. This man no longer works here. Leadership indicated there was an investigation. I do not know how this investigation turned out. There are people here that I am profoundly grateful for. There was an older man that counseled with the boys that seemed really friendly. One of my bosses told me she didnt want me to ever fear for my job. I love this mentality. People (including the boys, staff, everyone) will want to help the program succeed if we love them and care about them. Dishonesty is NEVER okay and this includes when no one is watching. I do not claim to be perfect. Please know I want your program to succeed. These are my thoughts. I worked from 2017 to 2019 as a teacher before my role was restructured/eliminated.

It’s hard for me to take an objective lens to this program given my personal experience, but I’ll try to be as reasonable as possible even as it pains me to write this.I attended Magna through most of 2018 and it was a negative experience to say the least. Overbearing rules, emotionally manipulative therapy, and a general dishonesty towards both the parents and clients that created an unhealthy environment to develop in. Depriving emotionally struggling teens of fundamental rights such as the freedom to communicate with family members and bodily autonomy is incredibly detrimental to one’s mental health, and even once you had “gained” those privileges, knowing these small solaces could be ripped away at any moment by a staff having a bad day was an emotional burden. To avoid this, one had to be constantly vigilant of both staff and other clients who would tell on you to gain standing with their therapist for even if your infraction was minor. If you were caught, you faced consequences ranging anywhere from not being able to leave campus to having to wear medical scrubs and have a staff be within 5 feet of you at any given time. To exacerbate this, strip searches were common and personal privacy was non-existent, further dehumanizing us.A good portion of the staff ranged from being apathetic to straight up abusive which created an unsafe environment, (there were exceptions, but they were few and far between) and the therapists would use scare tactics to keep you in line. They would threaten to take away privileges such as leaving campus, phone calls, to even your “home passes” (in layman terms vacations from the program). The hardest part is knowing that the therapists truly believe they were doing what is best for their clients, but had completely forgotten one of the main staples of practicing social work: individual autonomy.The schooling was atrocious, and this is coming from someone who finished an entire year of credits in 4 months at the program. The teachers are overworked and trying to teach 5 grade levels of a subject simultaneously while also trying to maintain order in the classroom. You ended up having to teach yourself out of a textbook which for me, coming from an academic background, was overly simple and took little effort; however, for the many of my peers who struggled with schoolwork, the lack of hands on teaching was impossibly difficult.It took me over a year to process the Stockholm syndrome I developed and even longer to even hint to my parents that the experience I had at the program was detrimental to my long-term mental health, and although I can only speak anecdotally, many others I attended the program with shared a similar sentiment. What they do at Vista Magna is willfully unethical and meant to whip kids into acting how the program desires, not actually creating lasting change. Once again, I can only speak anecdotally, but virtually every other client and me at the program relapsed to their past vices whether it be self harm or drug abuse.And all of this is stemming from me being one of “the good kids”. I rarely broke the rules and complied with virtually every whim of the staff and therapist. Many of my close friends had it much, much harder than me and it pained me to see them dehumanized for something they had little control over. Towards the end of my stay, I had a staff even tell me that I really didn’t belong in the program given how well-behaved and emotionally sound I was, and yet, I still had a very negative experience.I doubt I’ll be able to convince anyone of the true immorality of Vista Magna and on a macro scale, the troubled teens industry as whole, but I will leave with this advice: You cannot force change on to anyone. No matter how much you try or pray or abuse, change is something that can only be actualized through internal realization, not through external forces. You can help your child develop through therapy and communication but you cannot force it and trying will only alienate your kid and sow distrust.

Send your kid here if you want to give them a shot at a full recovery.I was a student at Vista in 2008 when I was 17. I was an opiate addict and alcoholic, I had awful relationships with my family, I was in trouble with the law, and I was seriously depressed, anxious and even suicidal.Vista was a challenging place, but it saved my life. I learned to open up to myself, my family and my peers. They taught me to be honest and how to build integrity. They taught me to be empathetic and support those around me.Ive seen over a dozen therapists in the past 20 years and can honestly say that the members of the team here are some of the sharpest and most caring Ive ever come across.By all external markers I am a successful person. Beyond that I have peace of mind and freedom from addiction. Vista was the spark for my transformation and who I credit a huge amount of my success to.If I had a loved one in trouble this is where Id send them.

Hard place but gives you a shot at a better future should you want it.

This is the second time I reviewed this place. Somehow, they are able to delete negative reviews. DO NOT SEND YOUR CHILD HERE!! The program director is unwilling to accept and look at the problems at this school. If you question it, he will turn against you, even if you are paying for his salary! The counselor my son had threatened him and the program director publicly shamed me as a parent in a group counseling setting! They all should lose their licencing! If you are seeking help for your child, this is not the place. The only redeeming quality of this place were the kind people who worked in the cafeteria. As for treatment, it was nothing but mistreatment!

I was a resident at Vista Magna for 4 months. I have been to a wilderness program a therapeutic boarding school and even a halfway house. Out of all these experiences Vista was by FAR the worst. Everyday I was there I hated every second of it. The Therapist I had was the biggest jerk and most unhelpful person I have ever had “help” me. The teachers are average but most of the staff are power hungry and just do the job to get the power over kids who don’t have any rights in the first place. With a few exceptions of staff who actually cared about us.. I would recommend a wilderness program or maybe a therapeutic boarding school for your child or even home therapy. Vista robbed my parents of almost 500$ a day. That’s more then most collages! I don’t know what they do with all that money but it’s definitely not going towards the program. The recreation therapist was one of the only staff who treated us like normal people instead of people who are lower then them. Please to all parents considering Vista as an option to you kids LOOK FOR ANOTHER PLACE!

This is not the place for your kid. I manipulated my whole way through this program because I had to in order to go home. I had to “fake it till I made it” during the 6 months I was there. Kids manipulate their way through the program because they fear the system, they fear the therapists and fear the control they have over them if they say or do the wrong thing. Therapy and residential treatment centers should be places where you can be honest with yourself. The therapists would go on and on about manipulation but then they would manipulate every single kid in order to shape us into what they wanted us to be. And if you aren’t compliant then they break you down by isolating you from others and your family, ex. This place messed with my head and I came out worse then how I was when I went it. I saw things and heard things throughout my 10 months in treatment that I wish I never went through. On my first home PASS I refused to go back and explained to my parents everything that was actually going on throughout my stay there, because even though I could talk to my parents a couple days a week, I wasn’t able to tell them what was really going on because I feared I would never get my home PASS if I talked freely, because it wasn’t all sunshine’s and rainbows as they make it seem. And when I refused to go they tried manipulating my parents into calling the cops and having me transported back to Utah, my parents said no...... They pick the best acting kids to give the tours for parents and yell at staff and us to make sure everything is perfectly clean for the tours and no one can misbehave. It’s all BS, don’t waste a $100,000 like my parents on something that most likely isn’t the right place for your kid. Try some other things first like therapy at home, or even a wilderness program (which was bearable) before going to a place like this.

We are so grateful to the professionals and staff at Vista Magna for boys. Our son thrived there; he gained self insight, learned coping skills, developed confidence and is today a young man who is proud to sober. Our family benefited from the excellent family counseling provided by Jason Seavy. The school is very well run and the teaching staff is amazing--he recieved a very good education. Therapy and school were balanced by many healthy outdoor activities, sports and adventures, incuding skate boarding, hiking, skiing, fly fishing, rock climbing and rec league basketball. The caring kitchen staff made certain that meals were healthy and well-balanced, while evening and weekend staff were always compassionate and supportive. Its not an easy program and at first it was difficult for our son to adjust; however, he came to appreciate all that was being offered and is grateful that he had the opportunity to be a part of the Vista Magna family.

This place scarred me for life. I still wake up with PTSD nightmares and I left 7and a half years ago!!! Im almost 24 and I still wake up screaming and crying from their treatment. Me and my mom will never have a complete relationship again. We try, but you cant forget about the person who PAID so much money, and listened to those monsters (therapists) to keep you imprisoned in a abusive setting for so long instead of their own childrens literal cries for help. This place is toxic

I don’t even know where to begin.. that’s all I’ll say.

I went to Vista. Would not recommend to anyone but I think it is better than many if the programs out there. I would urge any parents thinking of sending away their teen to reconsider and read up on the troubled teen industry.

Abuse. Please look at all the reviews here and on yelp and FB. Also join (Survivors of Vista RTC) without the parenthesis on FB

The perfect place for your least favorite child. Hell learn all the skills he needs to loathe you more than he already does. Your son will come out broken and hateful but hey, its 8 months you dont have to take care of him.

Terrible and abusive condition. This place needs to be shut down

I was recently a client at Vista Magna RTC. I have been to many therapeutic programs and this was by far the worst. I was miserable the whole entire time I was there. The campus is disgusting. Half the staff treat you like dirt. I first went to a wilderness program and that changed me a lot. I was a new man. I willingly went to Vista and everything went downhill. I was there for 6 months and it did nothing but make me worse. My parents had to pull me from the program and took me home because I was not safe. Please do not send your child here. There are many other programs that will help your child but this is not the one. The cost to send your child here is extremely high and it is definitely not put into your child’s treatment. They try to tell you how we go off campus everyday and do all these fun activities which just never happens. I left campus about 15-20 times in my half a year there. Most of the time, you sit in a dark basement in silence because the staff won’t let you do anything like go outside or work out in your room. Half the staff know what goes on here and leave after about a month of working there. Please do not make your child go through what I went through here. There are so many programs that help like wilderness and other Therapeutic Boarding Schools but this is really not the place. DO NOT SEND YOUR CHILD HERE IF YOU WANT THEM TO CHANGE.

I wish I could give negative stars to this nightmare of human rights violation. Its been about 8 or 9 years since I spent 14 months in this hell hole, and I still struggle to forgive my parents for sending me here. They sure do make it look pretty, but what you dont see is what happens to your child on the inside. I was ridiculed and mentally abused by the councelors and staff, just like every other child in there. I lived to go to sleep at night, and day dreamed of escape or even my own death every day, passing time through the nightmare of an experience this place was. If you are considering sending your child here, please contact me via Facebook messenger, and Im sure I can explain exactly why you should never send a child here. Especially a mentally Ill or addict child. This place makes things worse. It took years of REAL therapy to overcome the damage done to me there. There are other options. You couldnt pay me to say something nice about this place. Other than the food they use to intentionally make you gain weight.

Words cant describe the pain and horror I endured here. Its been almost 5 years and Im still struggling to pick myself up. My therapist always talks says she could sue them and get justice for these poor kids after explaining to her what happened and her doing her own research. I dont think I can truely have close relationships or a somewhat normal life again. I went to a wilderness place before this and I just needed some more help and time to heal so I was sent here. Vista set back all the work I had put in. And created a greater sense of self hatred and a larger lack of trust in people. Please Im begging you there are other treatment places out there. Do you research and put in the work so there can be an actual chance of helping your loved ones and helping create and better life and a more loving full life. Please.*also as an edit I sometimes didnt see my therapist for weeks along with the psychologist. Not only was this a toxic environment the therapy was a joke. And if you tried telling your parents on one of your two five minute phone calls that were being monitored they would hang up the phone*****another edit. This wasnt posted because I went back to bad behaviors or didnt like to take responsibility. Ive been to other treatment centers and the environment changed me definitely for the good.

Seven years have passed since I graduated from here. I still have nightmares. Terrible place and incredibly abusive.

I spent 6 long, traumatizing months at Vista before being kicked out and living homeless on the streets of Salt Lake City. Please, listen to these reviews. Its hard to explain what it was like, becuase no one could even imagine how sick this place actually is. Im frankly surprised this industry still exists, becuase troublesome parents with money will move mountains to try to get their children fixed.If you want the best results, dont look for therapy. You have to find the root cause, which most of the time comes from how you as parents raised your children. Its hard to accept, but the only way things get better are when the parents admit their faults. Being a friend, being understanding, and being patient will help you and your child more than any program or therapist can. This industry is just a prime example of capitalism, collecting as much money as they can with no actual care for their goods/services.Sure, i guess you could say im just another angry kid who got sent away. If thats the case, send your kid there. Im sure he will love it.

Run.Do not send your children here.Abusive. Toxic. Wrong.

Friendly professional knowledgeable staff beautiful place!

Dont do your children dirty fam

Lovely school and staff

Caring, kind, good people.

Helped me