Stolen

A Memoir

By: Elizabeth Gilpin

Narrated by: Elizabeth Gilpin

Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

A gripping chronicle of psychological manipulation and abuse at a “therapeutic” boarding school for troubled teens, and how one young woman fought to heal in the aftermath.

At 15, Elizabeth Gilpin was an honor student, a state-ranked swimmer, and a rising soccer star, but behind closed doors, her undiagnosed depression was wreaking havoc on her life. Growing angrier by the day, she began skipping practices and drinking to excess. At a loss, her parents turned to an educational consultant who suggested Elizabeth be enrolled in a behavioral modification program. That recommendation would change her life forever.

The nightmare began when she was abducted from her bed in the middle of the night by hired professionals and dropped off deep in the woods of Appalachia. Living with no real shelter was only the beginning of her ordeal: She was strip-searched, force-fed, her name was changed to a number, and every moment was a test of physical survival.

After three brutal months, Elizabeth was transferred to a boarding school in Southern Virginia that in reality functioned more like a prison. Its curriculum revolved around a perverse form of group therapy where students were psychologically abused and humiliated. Finally, at 17, Elizabeth convinced them she was rehabilitated enough to “graduate” and was released.

In this eye-opening and unflinching book, Elizabeth recalls the horrors she endured, the friends she lost to suicide and addiction, and - years later - how she was finally able to pick up the pieces of her life and reclaim her identity.

©2021 Elizabeth Gilpin (P)2021 Grand Central Publishing

Critic reviews

"Elizabeth Gilpin’s memoir broke my heart. She writes in vivid prose about how, as a fifteen year old girl - an honor student and a promising athlete - she was kidnapped in the middle of the night by strangers, sent to live in the woods for months, and finally placed at a cruel, abusive, 'therapeutic' boarding school. The story is fascinating. It is also a powerful and timely examination of the consequences of misdiagnosing and mistreating mental health and trauma." (Molly Bloom, best-selling author of Molly's Game)

Compelling and Informative

Elizabeth and I went through these programs together, so, of course, I relate to the experiences she describes in Stolen. However, there are two things that I genuinely appreciate about this book: (1) she includes some of the more harrowing moments of our time there and, (2) she introduces the troubled teen industry as a whole. The latter is a critical aspect of Stolen, as the troubled teen industry is not widely known, and our school is just one among countless others. For the general public, Stolen provides insight into an unregulated industry that deserves scrutiny. For former students, it gives voice to our collective experiences in private programs like Carlbrook, as our stories are often not told, and if they are, they are not believed.

But the narration!!

I could get over her never admitting to her own mistakes, her inability to see that her parents really loved her, that the place was horrid, but I could not get over her narration. I thought she was upset? She cried but where’s the emotion between? This woman should NOT have read her own book. That was the big mistake.

The Narrators Voice is Monotone

This book is too difficult to listen to because the narrator’s voice is so monotone. I couldn’t even finish listening.

Riveting account of a therapeutic school

This is a riveting account of one person's experience in a therapeutic school, something I hadn't realized existed until I listened to this. Having said that, I have mixed feelings about the content. On the one hand, some of the experiences she said were horrible were things I wish I had experienced in high school, such as parts of her outdoor experience, the hiking and tent living. I also think that her negative attitude contributed to the negativity of her experience, however from my own experience I can see that this negativity was likely caused by her depression. On the other hand, the experience she describes was abusive, without a doubt, and the kind of "counseling" they often did was based on thoroughly flawed beliefs and methods. I understand the value of breaking someone down to then build them back up, which is done in nearly all brainwashing methods. It does have its use in therapy for some cases. But from what I can tell they did a horrible job of the "build you back up" part. To think that this method works for all cases is terribly misguided. The author would have done much better seeing a psychiatrist or psychologist for what she needed, not being subjected to this kind of abuse. I understand she has reconciled with her parents. I'm not sure most people would have been able to do that after all she went through. Thank goodness the school is closed.

Emotional

I couldn't stop listening to this story!
I really loved that fact that you could hear her pain in her voice while reading certain parts which made the listeners understand just how much pain she was in recounting specific times!

Heart Wrenching

This book was heartbreaking to listen to. As a parent who sent their son to a “therapeutic school” it hit extra hard. His/Our experience was different in many ways. (It’s been 10 years since he graduated) He still says it saved him. I agree. They helped get him on medication (for the first time) and getting his depression and anxiety under control. They taught him coping skills through equine and different therapies. They built up his self esteem. He graduated early and at the highest level attainable which was really something as he struggled to finish anything prior to Ironwood Maine. Listening to Elizabeth’s account of her experience made me think how it could have been for my Trevor, had we picked the wrong school. It made me almost nauseous at times to think out of shear luck we didn’t send him to a nightmare school like Elizabeth experienced. Hearing the raw emotion in her voice brought tears to my eyes more than a few times. My Trevor still struggles at times with his depression. It’s a chronic battle for him. I pray Elizabeth continues to find happiness in her life and that this book reaches parents like me, that may be considering a therapeutic school for their child. Researching to an extreme would be my advice. Not only call the parents on the list most schools hand out for you to ask their experience, but ask to speak to the child/person that went to the school themselves. If I were in the position we were in 10-11 years ago, and had the information I’ve read in Elizabeth’s book, I would insist on it. I’d like to say I’d never send him in the first place…but I think back to the days of desperation…Trevor talking about taking his own life on a daily basis and we had exhausted all avenues to help him ourselves. This was a last ditch effort to save our son. We did it. It helped him. After reading this book I feel like we dodged a bullet. Congratulations to Elizabeth on this incredible memoir. I hope she’s finding peace and joy in her life.

Insightful, heartbreaking look into abuse of the TTI

The troubled teen industry has been conning parents and abusing children for over 4 decades. Using deceptive marketing tactics, these for-profit schools kidnap children from their beds in the middle of the night, strip them of their identity, and cut them off entirely from the outside world. Elizabeth’s book is an insightful emotional journey on her experience through this hell. Children are stripped of their humanity, after their parents signed away their custodial rights, which ‘Stolen’ describes in gut-wrenching detail.

Most of these ‘programs’ masquerade as schools, with little to no government oversight. Staff members are unqualified and untrained, subjecting children to whatever dark whim they choose to inflict. The schools have numerous lawsuits again them, with allegations of abuse, will close down and open back up under another name. Such has been this horrifying cycle.

As a survivor of one these schools, though under the now defunct WWASP branch of schools not CEDU like Elizabeth’s school, it amazes me places like this are still open today. The majority of these kids leave the schools with lifelong CPTSD, and a host of other mental issues they did not go in with. At 33 years old, this book made me know that I am not alone in my struggle to confront this absolutely horrible time of my life, most of
the memories I have attempted to completely block out.

The most heartbreaking part of this book was the ending, where Elizabeth dedicates ‘Stolen’ to every victim of Carlbrook Academy who has since passed away; suicide and overdose are all very common outcomes for survivors of such programs.

Elizabeth does an excellent job of explaining that teenagers in pain don’t need these programs - they need intensive therapy, warmth and support from their parents. Shipping your difficult teenager off is not the solution. For parents considering this, check out the Breaking Code Silence movement, in which thousands of victims have finally begun speaking out.

Real, Raw, Heartbreaking

Elizabeth shares an event that altered her life. Her raw emotion and description of the time there and after are expressed in a raw format. Though heartbreaking this is a real example of a strong young woman that has overcome so much yet will always push on as she did then.

awesome

great book i feel for the Elizabeth and the things that she endured. Good book!

Disappointing

Between the monotone delivery and the inconclusive ending, I spent my time waiting for a better outcome.