A Little Bit Culty
Sarah Edmondson & Anthony “Nippy” Ames
Corey Jentry on Selling Sanity: Inside the Troubled Teen Industry Cult (Part 2)
SummaryIn the second part of their conversation with Corey Jentry, the hosts of A Little Bit Culty continue their deep dive into the coercive tactics of the troubled teen industry. Building on the previous episode, Jentry details the psychological aftermath of being processed through a program that weaponized his teenage desire for belonging to strip him of his autonomy. A significant portion of the discussion focuses on identity hijacking, where the program pathologized any expression of individuality as a failure of character. Jentry recounts the harrowing environment in which members were pressured to abandon critical thinking and moral conscience, specifically citing instances where the group reacted to tragic events—such as the suicide of a peer—with callousness and victim-blaming. He explains how this emotional manipulation served to solidify dependency on the group’s leaders. The conversation also touches on Jentry’s transition into rigid segments of the recovery world, where he eventually realized that the indoctrination he had suffered was mirrored in other hyper-structured environments. Through his journey of moving abroad and pursuing higher education, Jentry reflects on the slow, often painful process of de-indoctrination and the importance of finding language to describe and overcome the shame associated with his past.
Updated Jun 25, 2026
About This Episode
In Part 2 of our conversation with Corey Jentry, we pick up where we left off and follow the long, winding path out of the troubled teen industry and the program founded by Bob Meehan. Corey shares how years of coercive control, dependency, and identity-shaping didn’t simply end when he left the program; they followed him into the world of recovery, where he found himself grappling with many of the same dynamics inside certain corners of 12-step culture and the addiction-treatment industry. We talk about the dangers of pathologizing autonomy, the power of belonging, and why it can take decades to untangle beliefs that were imprinted during adolescence.
Our conversation also explores Corey’s evolution from survivor to researcher and advocate. He reflects on discovering how the business of treatment really works, recognizing familiar patterns across the behavioral health, rehab, and youth treatment worlds, and why he’s dedicated so much of his work to understanding indoctrination, radicalization, and coercive influence. Thought-provoking, nuanced, and occasionally darkly funny, this episode is a masterclass in spotting the difference between genuine support and manufactured dependence.
Pick up Corey’s book, Selling Sanity: The Troubled-Teen Industry, the Insane Profits, and the Kids Who Pay the Price, and follow him on his website, coreyjentry.com, Substack @drcoreyjentry, or on LinkedIn.
Trigger warning: This episode contains frank discussion of psychological manipulation, coercive control, addiction treatment programs, suicide, overdose, mental health struggles, emotional abuse, and experiences within the troubled teen industry.
Also…let it be known that:
The views and opinions expressed on A Little Bit Culty do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the podcast. Any content provided by our guests, bloggers, sponsors or authors are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, group, club, organization, business, individual, anyone or anything. Nobody’s mad at you, just don’t be a culty fuckwad.
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CREDITS:
Executive Producers: Sarah Edmondson & Anthony Ames
Production Partner: Citizens of Sound
Co-Creator: Jess Tardy
Audio production: Will Retherford
Production Coordinator: Lesli Dinsmore
Writer: Sandra Nomoto
Social media team: Eric Skwarzynski and Brooke Keane
Theme Song: “Cultivated” by Jon Bryant co-written with Nygel Asselin
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