Girl on the Edge 'de-stigmatizes therapy, saves lives'
Herald Journal
By Kevin Opsahl staff writer
WELLSVILLE — As Samantha Booy was out checking on the horses at Uinta Academy this week, she talked about how these equines helped her on the road to recovery in the past.
Equine therapy is a central component to the Wellsville residential treatment center for girls and young women, said Booy, who is now the equine manager for Uinta Academy. Every girl at the facility, which serves girls who struggle with relationships, attachment or trauma, gets a horse to take care of while they area there to maintain and interact with.
“When I came here I was in a dark place,” Booy said. “Being with them (horses) saved my life.”
A movie called “Girl on the Edge,” a drama based on Uinta Academy and the services it provides, will air on Showtime this weekend.
The 2015 movie is about a teenager who was sexually assaulted and becomes self destructive, forcing her parents to send her away to a facility to recover. The movie is directed by Jay Silverman, a Los Angeles-based filmmaker, writer and producer who sent two of his daughters to Uinta Academy.
“Girl on the Edge” is based on one of Silverman’s daughters, who was raped in high school and developed post-traumatic stress disorder. The movie starts after the incident and focuses on the recovery aspect.
“Uinta Academy saved my daughter’s life,” Silverman said. “It was a story I needed to tell because I think so few parents know what to do when a child has been traumatized. It’s bad enough we don’t get a book on how to raise children, but add onto that trauma and you’re way out of your league when it comes to a child who is self medicating to get rid of the pain of being raped and not want to share it with anybody.”
Silverman’s daughter didn’t reveal her rape until she was at Uinta Academy. She completed the treatment center’s program and is now a college student in San Francisco studying photography.
Booy went to school with the Silverman daughter on whom the movie is based. Booy has not seen the movie yet but is pleased someone would make one based on Uinta Academy.
“I love it because people in treatment get a certain reputation, ‘They’re horrible people; they’re dangerous.’ That’s not what it is,” Booy said. “So a movie detailing what the girls deal with is really nice because I want to get rid of that reputation of the girls that are in treatment. (Seeking treatment) is not the shameful thing people make it out to be.”
Jeff Simpson, the executive director of Uinta Academy, said he and the staff at the residential treatment center are pleased with the movie.
Simpson said he hopes it “de-stigmatizes girls and families having to go through treatment” and shows “this is a normal family.”
Russ Pryor, associate executive director of Uinta Academy, who worked with Silverman’s daughter during her stay, said when he saw the final cut of the movie, he was “emotionally taken aback.”
“It reminds me of the journey these kids are on when they first come and are in disrepair; they’re broken and have feelings of emptiness,” Pryor said. “Then they go through the process of rebuilding a sense of identity and self.”
Silverman said his movie provides a “miraculous interaction” for both parents and young people. He has screened it all over the world and gotten positive response.
“Parents have come up to me and said, ‘I’m willing to take this journey with my child after watching the characters in the movie and how they got through it,’ because not only do the children get help at Uinta, but the parents are an integral part of the journey,” Silverman said. “I think the movie is a great tool for people in similar situations to understand and be cognizant of the journey.”
Silverman contacted Simpson about an idea for a movie a few months after his daughters finished the program, but Simpson had concerns at first, thinking it would be a docudrama on the real Uinta Academy.
Silverman said he had a different idea, would send Uinta Academy drafts of the script and gave Simpson a chance to fly down to California where the movie was being filmed to provide consulting on the set. Simpson would help provide accuracy for the therapy scenes in the movie.
“It was one of the coolest things I’ve ever done in my life,” Simpson said, noting a framed picture he has in his office of him with the cast of the movie, signed by Silverman.
Silverman hopes everyone can learn about the great work that goes on at Uinta Academy by watching “Girl on the Edge.”
“If you go visit the Grand Canyon, you go, ‘Oh my God, now I understand what everyone is talking about,’” Silverman said. “With respect to Uinta, here you are in this beautiful community in this little tiny place that no one knows about, and I just think it’s a miracle what they’re doing there. I’m their biggest fan.”
“Girl on the Edge” will air on Showtime’s network Sunday evening, April 17, on SHO NEXT. For information on TV schedules and how you can watch “Girl on the Edge,” go to http://www.sho.com/.