Liahona Treatment Center

I am thankful and grateful every day to have found Liahona. Before sending him there, I was skeptical and had my doubts and fears, but after researching many of the treatment centers available, I chose Liahona. Sending my son to Liahona was the best and most difficult decision of my life. Unlike many of the treatment centers I spoke to, they explained the program and was very transparent about the process. The staff at Liahona are dedicated and sincerely care about helping the boys. Prior parents/students falsely claim that there is abuse, brainwashing, or wasted money, probably because they did not complete the program. If you take your son out of the treatment program before they are ready, then logically they have not benefited from the program, and it becomes easy to blame Liahona. I’m not claiming the process is easy, but nothing worthwhile is easy. Liahona is not for everyone, but once you make the decision to send your son there, you just have to trust the process. They know what they are doing! My son recently graduated the program after 13 months. Although he hated being there (what kids really wants to be there), he is also thankful that we sent him there. He graduated high school one year early. He’s established some very close friendships and a brotherhood that will last forever. These friendships and bonds are made the old-fashioned way, with face to face interaction, without the distraction of electronics, video games, or social media. Thanks to Liahona, my son now has the tools he needs to make choices that are not harmful to himself and others, take responsibility for his actions and decisions, and to help navigate through life.

Friendly staff, great ownership, clean facility, very good program, highly recommended!

This place saved my life. I didnt get to complete my program sadly. But even though i wasnt able to i didnt give up. Using the tools Bear showed me i continued down to success. I am not currently enlisted in the Marine Corps and i havent relapsed since. I plan on visiting this place that i am proud to call home and family. I highly reccomend sending troubled youth here. Not going to lie, it is hard but with adversity comes growth :) - Robert Jordan XD

This place changed my life for the better and I know that without it I'd be dead or in jail right now. Sending your son here is the best thing that you could possibly do for him.

I went to Liahona from January 08 to March 09, and it is an absolutely dreadful place, a wolf masked in sheep's clothing. It is a horrible facility that lies to parents so Clay , the owner, can get as many kids in there to fill up his pockets. They lie to parents about the disciplinary actions. Some of the disciplinary actions that I am certain are not relayed to parents include; being sat in a chair forced to stare at a wall for 10 hours+ a day, not being given proper nutrition, being forced to do excessive cardio activity (including carrying large rocks and sprints) with seemingly no regard for possible health problems/risks, grown men (the staff) getting physical with the kids, etc. The kids letters are read and censored "if necessary." Any attempts to relay information of disciplinary actions by a student to his parents will result in the student's letter not being sent. When the kids first arrive they are forced to act like animals(literally) in front of their peers. The purpose seems to be to immediately break them down and show them the authoritative manner in which the facility operates If the student refuses he will end up with punishments mentioned above. The facility lies to the parents, telling them the students go on a weekly activity out into the surrounding area. That is not true. In order to go out on the weekly activity the students have to earn it by displaying exemplary behavior, and I mean exemplary. Simply forgetting to push in their chair or to turn off the lights twice would result in a student missing the activity. They also mention on their website the statement that the students enjoy "daily recreational activity", unless they consider forcing them to run miles on end, and punishing them even more severely for refusing to do so, recreational activity then that is also a lie. Recreational activity mostly only occurs on Saturday and Sunday, and like the weekly activity students must display exemplary behavior in order to be eligible. Repeatedly the kids at the facility are used for free manual labor, and the staff have the audacity to tell the kids to be grateful for the opportunity to do so. Free manual labor I personally performed while there includes; helping staff members move multiple times (as well as family/friends of the owner) , cleaning up a back yard of a staff members house, landscaping work at a staff members house, and landscaping work at the facility. The program is set up in a brainwashing manner that turns the students into obedient mindless drones by removing their identity and operating the facility in an authoritative like fashion. The rules are very strict and the punishments are very harsh. For example, writing 300 word essays and miles of extra running being dished out to the students for things as small as forgetting to push in their chairs. They force the kids to memorize meaningless quotes that are pages long week in and week out. The purpose of this is to keep them occupied, thus making them much more manageable. Punishments for refusing, or failing, to memorize the quote are quite severe. The student would miss the weekly recreational activity, and any weekend recreation. If a student never does the quote then essentially his stay at the facility is doubled, because he would only earn half points for that week. To top it all off, the ineffectiveness. Behavior of kids returning home usually will recede to to how it was before in a matter of weeks. You hear about it all the time at the facility, kid's parents calling and complaining of returned negative behaviors. Some parents still have not figured out the scam and actually send their kids back. I guess Clay is a good salesman. So yeah, bottom line please do not send your kids here!