In this episode, Travis sits down with social worker, researcher, and author Dr. Will Dobud to explore the “troubled teen industry” and what it reveals about how we think about kids, treatment, and risk. Drawing from his new coauthored book Kids These Days, Will talks about involuntary residential programs, the financial and systemic forces that keep them going, and how many young people experience “treatment” as a form of institutional trauma. Along the way, he reflects on his own evolution as a practitioner, the limits of one-size-fits-all models, and why success, mastery, and genuine engagement matter more than any branded therapy. It’s a provocative, thoughtful conversation about the stories we tell about youth, and why change may actually start with adults these days.
