I was in Lifeline in 2015-2016 ish for behavioral issues. My mother brought me under the guise of going out for a cup of coffee. Mostly I spent my time here trying to help others around me. And anything that I did was always pushed back out onto me. It is assumed you are a liar. That you are a manipulator. That you are whatever fill in the blank negative trait they would place onto you. The tactics of this place is to strip you of your identity completely, to cut you off from all of your support systems and to use the issues you were already dealing with for control. I was not allowed to exist as myself and at each moment everyone working there made sure of it. Any expression of identity is bad. Any expression of what you love is bad. You want people to get better? Well maybe encouraging them to explore themselves through their passions without shame and guilt is the first place to start. I was constantly told that my bisexuality was only because of my childhood trauma and because I was a misandrist. I was denied my right to express my sexuality in anyway other than in detailed sex journals I was to keep for a specific group where I was to read out my experiences and be shamed for participating in them. I was told I didnt actually experience attraction to women but that the abuse of my father is what caused me to explore lesbian and queer relationships for the majority of my romantic life. I was out as Non binary at 12 years old and used they them pronouns. At that point I was 15. I was forced into girls group. I was forced into using my dead name and being misgendered daily by everyone. I was told that my being non binary and preferred name were a part of my addict identity and therefore it was harmful to me. Therefore it was not real. I was shamed for discussing my gender beliefs with other clients. I was told I was being manipulative and forcing other clients into believing they were transgender. Even though that was not what was happening. I had only explained to other clients why I did not identify as a girl. How I had found myself experiencing my own gender. I was forced to stop discussing it in totality. I have done a lot of research in the past about covert conversion camps and this place fits the bill. Big surprise my preferred name did not change, I am still transgender and a variation of nonbinary, I still like women. Not only did this place attempt to teach me that my sexuality and gender preferences were harmful but it also taught me that experiencing symptoms of mental illness is to be shamed. I learned here how to stop talking about my suicidal thoughts. I learned here how to suppress down my issues not work through them. I watched the clients I lived with suffer needlessly and endlessly. Instead of teach us how to be assertive and how to navigate a world full of trauma, hatred and cruelty they taught us how to be silent, bystanders, and even worse perpetrators. My parents are extremely abusive. They have not only physically and emotionally abused my siblings and I but also sexually abused us. Lifeline encouraged my parents. Lifeline stroked their egos and helped them in their process of belittling me, grooming me, and smoothing out their agenda. They helped my abusive parents be abusive. If you have gone here and it has helped you thats great for you and I hope that down the line you aren’t faced with a hollow you in the mirror that you convinced yourself you were. And if you have gone here and it did not help or made things worse, know you are not alone. Know that adverse reactions in the face of abuse is normal. Know that anyone in this world that strips you away of that which you love, that which you are at your core are going to be the ones forced to carry the burrden of their actions. I am truly sorry that so many of us went through this place and endured so much horrible treatment. We all deserve better, to be loved as we are, to be accepted as we are. And I am truly so sorry for everyone I watched come through this place. I am so sorry to everyone who needed help or support through already difficult life situations that did not receive it. We all deserved better than what power and control freaks and abusers put us through.