New Vision Wilderness, LLC 133 West State Street, Medford, WI 54451

"As someone else who was in here for 90 days don’t send ur kid here. Ur not aloud to even know each others names. U barely get feed. Shoot I had another girl in there attack me and say she wanted to ki££ me. No staff decided helping was a good idea. This place ripes everything away from u and expects you to be happy and willing to share everything with everyone else. Kids from different states I had a girl from NY in my group. Just please take time and seek different help then just sending them away to where they have no idea how they got there but they woke up there getting told to strip down out of there clothes to put on what seems like jail clothes. U wouldn’t want that done to u so why do that to them?"

"I was sent here at 13 years old and it has caused me trauma that I still deal with to this day. I was very hurt as a kid and was going through severe depression and PTSD, so my parents decided to look into this wilderness therapy program. But I promise you it’s not what you think it is. Most of the kids/teens that go here were taken from their homes in the middle of the night, and taken out into the middle of the woods where I personally spent months away from home living in the wilderness. The youngest person in my group was 11 years old. You have no contact with the outside world, no contact with your family or friends, and the only updates your parents get on you is through the guides and therapist who comes out into the woods once a week. On a few occasions kids have tried to run away and get back to society but it’s never successful because you’re watched the whole time and you are miles and miles away from anyone seeing or hearing you. Once I finally left I was in therapy for many years after that but had a lot of trouble connecting with any therapist or telling anyone what was happening because I was terrified of being sent back, or being sent to one of their boarding schools. I will not share ALL the details of my experience there, but PLEASE please do not send your children here… i promise you there are safer and healthier therapy options."

"NEVER SEND YOUR CHILD HERE - PLEASE READ NVW deleted my previous review. Let's see if they leave this one up. I went to New Vision when I was 13 years old, the youngest age they accepted at the time. Seeing that they have lowered this age to 10 is absolutely mortifying. This entire program is a cash grab that relies on coercive control, fear, and manipulation to terrify children into submission and "behavior." The psychological abuse I experienced at this program caused extensive long-term damage, leaving me more mentally unwell when I left than I arrived. When a client doesn't "behave" i.e. having "side conversations" (conversations out of earshot of staff), stealing food (because we were UNDERFED IN HARSH CONDITIONS), or other "bad behavior," that child is placed on "isolation." Isolation is when a child's tent is placed 50-100 yards away from the rest of the group and the other children are not to look at, speak to, or acknowledge the isolated child. If they do, they too put themselves at risk of being put on isolation. Additionally, I went in the winter. We were freezing at all times, and I even got a frostbite-like condition. We would shower once per week in a tent. There were also "challenges" we were assigned. One is called the survivor pack challenge where instead of a backpack, you carry your belongings in a tarp tied with rope on your back while you hike, something very dangerous on the body. A girl in my group had sciatica and was put on this challenge. She was SCREAMING in pain as we hiked, but she was forced to continue. Having reconnected with other girls from my group years later, we all have reached the same conclusions. Note- they do not allow you to exchange contact info likely for this reason. I am almost 23 years old now, and I still think about this program often. Parents, I implore you to realize that there are ZERO positive reviews from former clients. I assume that when you bring this concern to the staff, they write us off as troubled, disgruntled former clients. I am a well-educated individual going to law school in the fall. I am not a "troubled, disgruntled" client. In fact, this experience is one of many in my life that has motivated me to become a lawyer, as I want to represent victims of childhood abuse at the hands of government and private institutions. When your child returns, they may seem "better." They are not. They are terrified to step out of line again in fear of returning. This place damaged my relationship with my parents nearly beyond repair, as I blamed them for the traumas I experienced here. It was not until a few years ago I forgave them because I realized that they were desperate and manipulated by these people too. To this day, they say sending me here is one of the biggest regrets of their lives. Please, PLEASE do not subject your child to this. I promise that there are other options."

"There are so many terrible wilderness programs out there, but New Vision Wilderness is the ONLY place I'd recommend for your teen. They have deep knowledge of attachment and trauma-informed care, their staff is top notch, and they are incredibly safe and caring while in the wilderness and really thoughtful about the experience. It's painful and difficult but ultimately deeply healing."

"Update - Our son completed 3.5 months at New Vision Medford WI on 1/16/23 and went onto a 2nd step program. We are celebrating his 16 months of sobriety and growth. He is still at the 2nd step program hoping to graduate in June. New Vision is instrumental in saving his life. He now sees a future and is stepping in to it. Thanks Team"