Mel Wasserman

CEDU originates from Synanon, a cult founded in Santa Monica, California in 1958 by Charles E. Dederich.

Mel Wasserman, the founder of CEDU, was a former Synanon member.

According to Maia Szalavitz, author of Help at Any Cost: How the Troubled-Teen Industry Cons Parents and Hurts Kids, "Synanon sold itself as a cure for hardcore heroin addicts who could help each other by 'breaking' new initiates with isolation, humiliation, hard labor, and sleep deprivation."

The troubled teen industry has continued to be associated with Synanon and the various CEDU spin-offs.

Former students have made the assertion that CEDU was an acronym for Charles E. Dederich University, while CEDU marketing materials claim, this stood for "See Yourself As You Are and Do Something About It".

The average time a child spent at a CEDU program before graduating was 2 1⁄2 years.

CEDU Educational Services, Inc., known simply as CEDU (pronounced see-doo), was a company founded in 1967 by Mel Wasserman and associated with the troubled teen industry.

The company owned and operated several therapeutic boarding schools licensed as group homes, wilderness therapy programs, and behavior modification programs in California and Idaho.

The company's schools have faced numerous allegations of abuse.

In 1968, there were 28 people living on the ranch under the guidance of Wassermann, ranging from 13 to 24 years old.

However, despite the fact that they were working on the ranch, they were not receiving any payment for their labor.

CEDU had been given non-profit status.

In September 1968, CEDU faced a setback when county planners denied their ranch a permit for public use.

This decision meant that the program would have to find a new location to continue its operations.

CEDU went out of business in 2005, amid lawsuits and state regulatory crackdowns.

Teenagers were often held beyond their 18th birthday with conservatorship or extended custody, until they completed the full program.

The programs were year-round.

CEDU had its own language, derived from Synanon.

Three times a week, for 3–4 hours, teenagers would attend "raps," pseudo psychology group sessions led by untrained staff based on Synanon's "the game."

Children and staff were incentivized to "indict" residents for minor rule infractions, previous traumas, and "disclosures" or items individuals were ashamed of, in the name of emotional growth.

This is commonly referred to as attack therapy, where screaming, swearing, and humiliation is appropriate and expected.

At night there would be Group touching, called "smooshing", consisted of hand holding, spooning, snuggling, caressing, sitting on laps, petting hair, was expected of both teenagers and staff.

It was common for staff to engage in this form of touch with teenagers.

In addition to raps, in order to advance in the CEDU program, a resident would have to earn the privilege to participate in a workshop known as a "" every three months.

The were based on Synanon's "trip", and would last from 24 hours to several days at a time.

The were led by unlicensed staff along with teenagers at an advanced stage of the program, known as "upper school".

They employed sleep-deprivation, humiliation, exposure to large variations in temperature, guided imagery, loud and repetitive music, regression therapy, physical reenactments of trauma, and forced emoting.

The propheets were based on the book The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran, writings of R.W. Emerson, and Thoreau.

Each used "tools" from the historic literature, that were later used as stepping stones in the program that teenagers were expected to act upon in everyday life.

There were seven propheets (Truth, Children's, Brother's Keeper, Dreams, I Want To Live, Values, and Imagine ), and two workshops (I and Me, and Summit )

During intake, which occurred upon a teenager's arrival to a CEDU program, they were strip searched by staff and upper school residents, were placed in generic clothing after their belongings where taken away, and made to sign a contract consenting to CEDU's agreements.

The three most emphasized agreements were no sex, no drugs, and no violence, yet there were agreements for every part of life, including timed showers, the way hair was worn, and the way people must speak.

Violators would be sent to the Ascent Wilderness Program located in Ruby Ridge, Idaho, which was CEDU's version of a six-week boot camp, or placed on a "restriction", which included emotional growth writing assignments, manual labor, isolation, "bans" or forbidding a teenager to speak to, look at, or be acknowledged by peers, and sometimes "bans" from singing, smiling, reading, learning, drawing, and being touched.

To graduate from Cedu High School the students were required to complete 232 units.

Diplomas were accredited by the Western Association of School and Colleges.

There were even restrictions on clothing items allowed at CEDU.

Brand names, rock star imagery, and major league sports team logos were banned.

CEDU was founded by Merle "Mel" Wassermann.

Wasserman had been a furniture salesman and had been involved with sponsoring people undertaking the Synanon program.

CEDU was initially based in Reche Canyon and was operating out of a ranch.