My son just finished a summer program at Explorations. Knowing what I know now, I am shocked by the negative reviews and it's strange to me that they were not written by the parents of the kids who sent their kids there but from the kids (now adults) themselves, which makes it slightly less credible in my mind. I feel compelled to write this review because the negative reviews scared us so much that we almost didn't go through with the program and what a mistake that would have been! Our 14 year old son was there all summer. He went against his will. From the first phone call we had with him (2 weeks in), we could tell he was not only safe but also comfortable and happy (despite his anger for having been pushed to do something he didn't volunteer for). Penny and Mark were so good with him all along. As the weeks passed, we watched our son mature and grow and be held accountable to the highest degree. My husband joined them for the family float trip and was so impressed with Todd, Penny, one of the alumns that had come back to join the summer trip, and with the rest of the staff. At one point, our son even told us "it's better than home here." He is coming back from his summer experience and we are hoping that the changes we have seen from him are lasting changes, but regardless, I felt compelled to write this review to share our experience as our personal experience was nothing but positive, and we almost didn't do the program because of the negative reviews. If you are considering this program, go visit in person or do a Zoom call and ask to speak directly with some of the kids there. That was very telling for us and put us at ease. Good luck to anyone who is considering something like this! read more

This was 25 years ago, so things may have changed since then. I was 13, doing fairly typical 13-year-old things such as sneaking out, getting in trouble at school, and smoking marijuana. One morning I woke up around 4 AM to two strangers in my bedroom telling me they were taking me to a "camp." I had no idea what was going on, but ultimately ended up attending Explorations initial 30 day wilderness hiking experience - I was with a group of other "troubled teens "in the Arizona desert with nothing but a pack on my back that was heavier than me, not able to shower the entire time, and hiking miles and miles every day. After this, I lived with Penny & Lorne's (sp?) family for a few months with other teens that supposedly needed further "treatment," and was supposed to stay and begin school there. I saw and experienced many things while I was there, e.g. they made me sleep in a chicken coop as a form of discipline one night, one of the other girls snuck in marijuana that some of the teens smoked, they temporarily had us stay in a remote cabin that was filled with a cabinet of alcohol that some of us drank, people injured during the 30 day hike or trying to run away, Penny watching a show on HBO about prostitutes with some of the teens that lived with her (seems a bit inappropriate given the supposed therapeutic setting and ages of the teens), having to put phone calls with your parents on speaker or read their letters out loud, staff making you hang up if you said anything negative about the program, teens being isolated with nothing but a small bag of food and a tarp for nights in the snow, during which I personally came face-to-face with a coyote, wolf, or something similar that I literally thought was going to kill me in the middle of the night, etc. I did not personally witness any physical or sexual abuse like some other reviews mention thank God, although one of the female counselors was a masseuse, and gave one of the teen females a full body massage as a birthday present. I was also able to engage in a physical relationship with one of the male teens there for over a month until another teen told staff. I was ultimately kicked out literally in a 24 hour Period because I "needed more individual attention" than they could provide. They suddenly called me into their home office one night and asked if I would like to go home, I thought it was a joke at first, but sure enough I flew home the next day with my parents. I had no idea at the time why this happened. However, coincidentally, this was right after I disclosed to staff and the other teens that I was aware of a sexual relationship between two of the counselors, which was not allowed - one of the counselors left her journal out, and of course, being a "troubled teen "I read it and it detailed their sexual escapades quite explicitly. I also cursed out one of the staff members in front of Penny's young daughter, but given their clientele can only imagine this has happened tens or hundreds of times and would not be a reason for them to lose the significant amount of money that they would have made had I remained living and gone to school there. Overall, I did not have as bad of an experience as it sounds like some others did, however, I am now a psychiatric nurse practitioner in practice for 10 years, having gone to school for 10 years for this, and can say that there was absolutely no therapeutic Value in this non-recovery-oriented, for profit program. I'm sure there are high-quality wilderness therapy programs out there that can promote recovery, but in my opinion, as someone who attended this program and now as a mental health professional, this is not one of them. read more

This place is HORRIFIC!!! My parents sent me there over 25yrs ago when I was 14. Penny manipulated my parents to make me stay an extra month=EXTRA $$$. Which cost my parents over 40k!! Not to mention I was verbally and physically assaulted by one of their counselors on the hiking g trail. The dude tied me and my backpack up by a rope a dragged me across the trail and screaming in my face what a piece of shit I was and that I was no good of a person. That i would be lucky to come out of that place alive! 40yrs old and I still suffer from PTSD from that place!! Stay away!!! They are MONSTERS!!! read more

After watching the This Is Paris documentary about Paris Hilton, I revisited my own experiences 20+ years ago at Explorations with a therapist and unpacked some serious trauma. While I cannot speak to the current state of Explorations, I can say that its proprietor Penny James and the ex-drug addict counselors working for her created lasting damage to me and my relationship with my family that took decades to repair. The common thread to most attendees was the persistent gaslighting that tried to convince me, an occasional pot smoker with a high GPA, that I was a hopeless drug addict so that I would stay in their program indefinitely. I also witnessed physical abuse along with mind games that broke many of my fragile peers. As a parent myself now, I would advise any parents considering this program, or any other from the Troubled Teen Industrial Complex, to steer clear and instead look to professional licensed therapists. https://www.survivorsbreakingsilence.com/ read more

They brain washed me into saying I did drugs. They made me sleep outside until I confessed to doing drugs when I hadn't even tried anything. They made me call my parents and confess too. I would not recommend this place to anyone. read more

I was fortunate enough to have attended explorations 17 years ago. It did not brainwash me, it was free will, my decision. I've since stayed in very close contact with the family and not quite sure where I'd be today had my parents not found this place. Forever grateful... read more

Explorations is somewhere between Hope and Paradise. Hope and Paradise are both small towns a stones throw from the Explorations campus in Trout Creek, MT -- they are also words to describe the feelings I experienced while at Explorations. Enrolling in Explorations was one of the best things that has ever happened to me. Prior to Explorations I had suffered years of trauma and abuse, after many attempts to get me the help I needed--the help I deserved, I ended up in Montana. Go figure. Whether it was some puppet master pulling strings behind the scenes or divine intervention the formative years I spent at Explorations are what I consider my "turning point". Having been enrolled or placed in several different programs, graduating from one, working for one, and continuing my education with a focus on childhood trauma and therapeutic programs I speak with not only first hand experience but knowledge when it comes to placements dealing with struggling adolescents. Being accepted and offered a space for enrollment changed my life. I understand how easy it is to be choosy when allowing kids to enter your home, while retaining a sense of well being for your own children as well as the children welcomed into the serene log cabin of a home at explorations. If during the application process an interview is offered - feel honored, I highly recommend seeing for yourself how truly inspiring this place is. If you are looking for a place to have your child "shape up" - send them to military school. If you are looking for help... help for you, your child, for everyone involved trying to provide the best life possible given the circumstances... Penny and the team at Explorations are great people to have in your corner. Explorations provided a home for me when the previous situations I was in were far from a safe atmosphere, much less a home. I maintain contact with the others I spent time their with, other students, staff members, community members, and owner Penny James. Last year when my father passed away Penny, her family --MY family, the friends I made there, the guides I worked with, the students from the local school, all reached out to me and supported me. THAT is what CARE feels like. That care was learned from Explorations. My endorsement for Explorations is for the residential program offered. While I had peripheral contact and experiences with the Summer Adventure Program ( all of which are very positive) the bread and butter is the HomeBase Experience. Affiliated and registered with the Montana regulatory board for adolescent programs and a full member of NATSAP (natsap.org) this is a one-in-a-kind place and will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. read more

It's Juneteenth, so I am choosing to share one of the many horrendous experiences I had while staying in Penny James' house of torture. I was in the car with about 4 other students, one of them Black, when the Therapist, Bruce, called someone a n***er as a joke. It was extremely uncomfortable as the Black student was already experiencing severe racial discrimination literally every single place he went in rural Montana. The same therapist told me, when reflecting on gay marriage that he "hates the sin but loves the sinner". Penny James likes to pretend she is progressive and forward thinking but the program does not reflect that. On top of that, we all witnessed Penny accept someone into the program who was was pretty severely autistic, whom the staff constantly bullied and neglected. The child on the spectrum was forced to complete the worst of all the chores, including cleaning an active rat's nest that was present in the outdoor kitchen. Completely unsanitary, unsafe and inhumane. Every single of of the 3 girls (including me) that attended Explorations were sexually harassed by the oldest boy in the program. He was an adult. When you see this, Penny, I ask that you and your family stop watching my social media as it has been about 6 years since I left. Please do not send your child here, especially if they are any type of minority. read more

Explorations is not a bad place, but it is not a wonderful place. Penny James is somewhat emotionally unstable, harsh, and money driven. She often makes decisions based on emotion rather than reason, despite her level-headed manner when interacting with parents. I attended Explorations for a few years and learned a lot from the experience, but much of that learning came from pain and hardship often caused by Penny's instability. There are staff at the program that work hard to do their best for the kids and for whom I have lots of respect, but the head of the program, Penny's, problems trickle down to make it a dysfunctional institution. The local school's offer a sub-par education that I am still working to catch up from. The culture of the local town is prejudicial to kids that attend therapeutic programs and "program kids" are often treated as second-class citizens by adults and youth alike. If you send your child to Explorations, you are sending them into a hostile environment that they will probably grow from, but not in the ways you expect. Comparatively, I am glad that I attended Explorations instead of other therapeutic programs, but I would not recommend it to parents seeking help for their kid. read more

I am a parent who looked at Explorations as a step-down program for my teen. Though we never attended, I feel it necessary to post about my experience to contrast the negative reviews. FWIW, I have not been in touch with anyone from Explorations since our last exchange nearly a year ago. I was referred to Explorations by an educational consultant. We were looking for a very specific place. It had to be year-round, not be or feel like an institution, have an experienced staff (savvy to teens) and bonus if it could mimic a home environment. Explorations ticked all the boxes. I went to Trout Creek and spent a day with Penny, Larry and the current students. I make decisions based on instinct and the environment at Explorations left positive impressions. Not one staff member over-sold Explorations. No one promised me anything they didn't feel they could deliver. I very much appreciated this honesty. The short of it is though we desperately wanted Explorations for our teen, Explorations did not want us. Ours was a specific case and it was determined that Explorations did not feel entirely confident about our situation. Some may read this as they are inexperienced and intimidated but I hold the opposite view. It takes a lot of empathy to say, "We aren't confident that we can keep your chid safe with our current student roll". So contrary to the reviews that claim Penny is only out for money and uncaring of the students, Penny wasn't interested in our money and in not admitting my teen, she showed the highest respect for its student body and staff. She knew her "kids" well and was only going to admit kids she felt would blend well with the current mix and one where she felt she could help. She was honest with her rejection and it's a decision I still think about because it was absolutely the right decision. If I had to describe Explorations, I say that it's a home environment that lets kids fall with safety. They don't insulate their teens from everything. It's not the nature of how the program was designed. As a parent who is well versed in places like Explorations, I've learned that these programs-- all of them, are not fixes for teens and their parental relationships. They are places where teens can and should screw up and then have a team back at home to explore and understand. They are what home isn't for a teen. There are licensed professionals at Explorations, contrary to a negative review. But to me, I put a lot more weight in the long-time staff and their long experiences working with teens. In fact, on my visit, I saw two kids who had graduated the program and were back to visit and hang out. Their interaction with Penny was that of a child and parent. There was also a teen who was living there year-round by choice. All this speaks to the safe vibe I felt at Explorations. read more

Explorations has been doing incredible work with children and families for years! The program is respected among referring professionals and other therapeutic schools and programs. The founder has dedicated herself to helping get teenagers back on track and her passion to her work is admirable. read more

Caring home. The group at Explorations provides a safe environment youth. They have a dedicated and skilled staff that encourage students to improve themselves, and focus on growth and communication skills. read more

I'm Kathleen and I'd like to share my experiences with explorations. Walking in at 17 years old, I was emotionally hurt & rebellious against my family. Penny & Larry really helped me to grow into an individual. Them and the staff, cared for me. They helped me open up and rebuild my relationship with my dad and sister. My time there was unforgettable and I wouldn't be who I am today without them by my side as a high schooler. read more

I would give this place no stars if I had that option. This is a horrible place. I sent my child there thinking it would help our relationship and help her get back on track. Instead, they stole my money for over a year, and didn't help in any shape or form. It is supposedly therapeutic, yet there is not one single licensed professional living with the teens. They will take anyone just for your money, even if it is "against their better judgement". The owner, Penny James, made that better judgement statement to my daughter, telling her "we weren't going to take you because of your situation, but I did anyways". The owners aren't even professionally trained to use therapy. They might have one therapist to talk with the kids, but other than that, they are not involved in their life. The one therapist that was there towards the end of her stay was completely egotistical and didn't relate with any of the kids, making them call her Dr. and refusing to connect on a personal level with them. Not only that, the kids must go to a local public school where half the students are pregnant or on drugs, not helping family issues by any means and taking away any confidentiality from the program. Please, do not send your kids here! read more