Pathway Family Center is a CULT. Don't place your children in this brainwashing camp. It took me a long time to realize wht this program had done to me and my family.

President and CEO, Terri Nissley is a scam artist CPA who was caught scamming the IRS with her Amway activiies. She continues to pay herself handsomely while making the parents foot the bill for everything.

This program is very very harmful and there are several examples online of the horrible results of what happens to families when they go through this nightmare. Everything seems great from the perspective of the parents but the kids are secretly tortured and scared silent and forced to confess to false past drug use.

I know this because I was in this program. I had to do exactly what they wanted and believe everything they said or I was deprived of anything I had earned. This experience was a psychological nightmare and I will never be the same. I now have severe trauma induced anxiety and irrational fear of being in a group of people.

Brainwashed cult followers of Pathway like to cite examples of how Pathway is regulated etc. but they really are not. Parents don't ever see wht they did to us in group at the building and that is vital to understanding how we were hurt. Parents support Pathway sometimes but they never saw what really happened.

Don't be fooled, Pathway is a CULT that spawned from another program called STRAIGHT Inc.

For 16 years, Pathway has helped thousands of teens and their families to overcome the harmful and life-destroying effects of drug abuse. Pathway graduates have regained their life, re-established family relationships, and live productive lives. Many have obtained college degrees, established careers, and become entreprenuers.

Critics make accusations which are unfounded. Pathway is a day treatment teen substance abuse treatment program that is licensed by state licensing agencies, accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) (view summary of CARF accreditation >>) and is subject to periodic, comprehensive oversight reviews by these independent agencies. (More on the rigorous CARF Accreditation process>>) Pathway's clinical team is led by licensed Masters Level Social Workers with emphasis on adolescent substance abuse treatment. In addition, a full-time RN or LPN and licensed teacher are on staff. Consulting physicians and psychiatrists have sessions with every client. Some graduates of Pathway who aspire to become degreed social workers are on staff and assist the Masters Level Program Director and Masters Level Therapists with administrative tasks and selected group therapy sessions. While graduates on staff may participate in group therapy sessions, the Program Director or Therapist facilitate the sessions.

Pathway operations are subject to oversight by independent organizations, and they have endorsements and referrals by teachers, doctors, private counselors, judges, law enforcement, academia, active participation by volunteer board members, professionally credentialed staff, and daily experience and observations by parents.

All I can say to the parent who thinks PFC is a wonderful lifesaving program is: That's what I thought, unequivically. And you have been manipulated and lied to, just as I was. Ask yourself this question: "If this program is so great, why are there so many former clients coming forward now with testimonials of the horrific treatment they received?" Read up on brainwashing techniques and you will realize that these programs are using almost all of them on our children.

I know it is a hard pill to swallow, but I've had to accept the reality that I was coerced into admitting my child (actually 2 of my children) into that system. My fears and extreme concern for my children's wellfare, as well as my panic that they might be "doomed" to a life (or death) of a druggie lifestyle were all used against me.

Wake up! Our children's minds have been broken down. Their minds Had to adjust or they would have died! And some have died! One of the girls that I talked to since she's been out of the program several years, said her psychologist said that she was at a loss on how to proceed with her treatment (to undo the damage the program had done to her), that the only thing she had to compare it to was being in a concentration camp!

If you haven't already, review the testimonials on www.pfctruth.com/statements. If you delve into all the information that is out there, you will realize that the only reason that these people would take their time to give their statements, IS because it is such an atrocity! Teen concentration camps....in America?
I, not only had 2 children there, I also worked there....I was a "good program parent". There have been many lawsuits against parents who pulled their children out and refused to pay for what they considered abusive treatment. But the program didn't come after me, because, working there, I had seen too much. I saw kids mistreated, refused proper medical care, and saw how they were 'beaten down' mentally. I had objected to some things and they knew I was no longer going to be easy to manipulate. And, at that time, even though I was not happy and pulled my daughter, I still didn't know everything that went on....and still believed it was good for the most part, although I felt it was too harsh. It was not until years later that my son and others told me just how bad it was.

So, if you believe that it is a wonderful program, I'm telling you, so did I. That's what you have to believe. But, the end doesn't justify the means in this case. And if you believe that you've gotten the end you wanted, I don't think you fully understand brainwashing. It sometimes takes years for a person to recover from it's effects. And I believe, just like me, you will eventually see the truth. And, when you do, my heart will be with you, because, just like me, you will have to deal with the guilt. Just know that you did the best you could out of love....and it wasn't your fault that your love for your child was used against you. Maybe then the real healing can begin.

As far as the rating goes, it is less than 1 star; terrible is not even bad enough. On a scale of 1-10 it's a minus 10.

Pathway is a fundamentalist rehab where kids are extremely isolated from society. They CAN'T: read books that aren't the Bible or recovery literature, look at newspapers, listen to the radio or music, go to school, interact with the opposite sex, have friends that aren't in rehab with them, or have free and open interaction with their families. Privacy is deliberatly taken away and doled out back to kids as they advance through the program. Initially they are not able to wear shoes except when walking between the building and the car, stand up or talk without asking permission, have privacy in the bathroom (even for a bowel movement), or go outside at all. They barely exercise and spend hours every day talking about their issues- which means that newcomers to the program are berated until they admit every terrible thing they have ever done to the whole 'group.' I know this is true because someone I love went through Pathway Family Center for two years and suffered from post-traumatic shock disorder afterward.
How is this program still in existence?! How could their methods possibly be considered therapetuic?! Pathway Family Center has no right to claim that they help kids and families. From what I have observed, the people that claim Pathway helped save their life are not actually addicts and are still deeply involved in the program for years afterward. This inability to separate from an institution is disturbing. The program is supposed to help people to heal and move on, not to have the program become their lives! Pathway is dangerous, as dangerous as any drug in terms of its long -term and damaging effects.

I'm a victim of the Pathway Family Center (Kids Helping Kids in Cincinnati, Ohio). Its beyond evident that subjecting a child to such a horrific enviroment is counter productive. With this said, my concern is the people who are responsible for all of this. My only wish is that I had the time and the money to dedicate to bringing these low life con artists wana-be community hero motherf@#$ers to justice. This place is so wrong on so many levels, it makes me sick to think such places exist in 2009. Its 2009....Two Thousand and Nine...not 1847. If youre thinking about sending your child to this ''place'', the question you should ask yourself is not "should I send my child to such a horrific place ?" but "what can I do to close this place down ?" Much love- John Larkin White IV

Horrible place. I wish I had done my research before sending my child there. They did far more damage than good. Fully research any facility you send your child to, better yet, consider more compassionate and voluntary alternatives.

Pathway Family Center is basically a Cult. What they do is take kids and put them in a restricted/tormented environment where they are berated and deprived of dignity behind closed doors. Then they are taken home to a host home where they are imprisoned and locked in a room. Kids only progress if they talk about how great the program is and that it saves their lives. If kids talk bad about the program to their parents at all, the parents are instructed to tell on their kid and the kid will be severely punished and set-back to a lower phase. Pathway takes good things like the Bible and the Twelve steps and twists them into a type of neurosis.

The parents are kept in the dark mostly and are forced to attend numerous meetings (conditioned) where the large group of other parents place pressure on them to do what everyone else in the program is doing (even if they feel that it is wrong). If parents start to question things or try to think for themselves, they are subsequently shunned and "ganged up on" by the Administrative staff as well as the parent group.

Pathway is a Cult, they brainwash kids, dupe parents, defraud people who donate money to them and then those at the top of this 501c3 pay themselves big money to do all of this. This program hurts a lot of people and sues parents if they don't pay for the abuse they dish out. It's all about money, greed and power......not about helping kids or families. Pathway lies.

For more info, read the truth about this place here: http://www.pfctruth.com

Before Pathway, our family was totally out of control and unmanageable. We felt like we were losing our son. He had become withdrawn from the family and was using drugs on a daily basis. He got to the point where all he could think of was his next high. He got two underage consumption charges and a DUI in 3 months and that wasn't enough to make him stop. The drugs had taken over his life. We are so grateful that we found Pathway Family Center. This program saved our son and our family. This program helped our son stop using drugs and understand his disease. He now has the tools to use for the rest of his life. He also has a network of other Pathway graduates for support. Our son has thanked us so many times for putting him in this program. We thank God that we found this program and it really works.
Charissa S.

This program seemed like our savior at the time but after a few years, Our family fell apart and we realized we had been conned by a horrible program. They took all of our money and used our home as a foster home. This place tricks the most intelligent of people but they really hurt our son, who is now much worse than he ever was before. When he graduated, he was fine but recently he told us what they really did to him in there and it just makes me want to cry. I feel so ashamed for not asking more questions and allowing them to separate us from our son. Don't make the same mistake we did, don't let anyone physically take your son or daughter away from you and tell you that they are liars. That is What Pathway told us. They were just hiding their abuse.

Worst rehab experience in the nation. Just like STRAIGHT, Incorporated.