Is Wayward a true story? Creator Mae Martin breaks down the inspiration behind Netflix thriller

But for others, it's a different story.

From documentaries and news reports to long reads, blogs, Reddit threads and social media posts detailing extensive neglect and abuse, the noise against the TTI is now deafening. Thousands of teenagers, largely in North America, have spoken out about their experiences, painting a disturbing picture of an industry that thrives behind closed doors.

And now comedian Mae Martin, best known for the critically acclaimed Feel Good, has delivered their own damning take with Wayward, an eight-part limited Netflix series about Tall Pines Academy — a therapeutic school in Vermont that appears, from the outside, to be a safe haven for "troubled teens".

The reality, however, could not be further from its glossy, seductive promotional materials.

Martin plays Alex, a police officer who soon crosses paths with best friends Abbie and Leila. The pair are plotting their escape from Tall Pines, and Alex vows to help break them out — and expose the sinister secrets lurking behind the school's walls.

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While public interest in the TTI has exploded in recent years, Martin's fascination stretches back much further — rooted in their own lived experience.

Read on for the true story that inspired Wayward, in Martin's own words.

Is Wayward a true story?

Wayward is a work of fiction, but it's inspired by Martin’s own experience of being labelled "a wayward teen in the early 2000s", and by their best friend being institutionalised when she was 16.

"I think I was acting out in lots of ways, and I probably was in need of some kind of intervention," Martin told RadioTimes.com.

"But in the early 2000s especially, we didn't have a lot of fluency around mental health or what might be the root of some of these behaviours. There was a sense that issues, especially around addiction, were about hedonism and selfishness and addictive substances, and I think now there's a bit more awareness that a lot of those behaviours are self-medicating and things like that.

"But back then, it really was a time of Dr Phil sending kids to brat camp."

US TV personality and author Dr Phil would be seen on his daytime talk show advising that troubled teens were sent to camps, treatment ranches and therapy programmes.

And although Dr Phil is often seen as a comedic figure, his name frequently surfaces in Reddit threads related to his role in promoting the TTI – and the comments are far from flattering.

"Both things are true, because he definitely is comedic," said Martin. "It's absurd. He's an absurd man. But it's sinister when you look into it [the TTI]."

Martin was never sent to a wilderness programme or "therapeutic school". Instead, it was her best friend who suddenly disappeared.

"Her parents told her she was going to see David Letterman in New York, she was really pumped, and then she never came back," they explained. "We were all very panicked. It was deeply worrying."

It was then "about a year" until Martin heard from their friend, who they consulted when writing Wayward. There was also another person in the writers' room who had attended one of those institutions.

"I remember getting a phone call, she had escaped and she was calling from a pay phone, and it was just crazy," they continued. It wasn’t until two years later that their friend finally returned.

"When she came back, the stories that she had, I just couldn't stop thinking about it," they said. "The therapies are so theatrical and bizarre. I mean, I'm calling them therapies. It's like behavioural modification programmes."

Martin went on to acknowledge that they were "probably more in need of a radical intervention than she was".

"I felt a lot of guilt," they said. "And that's sort of where the kernel of this show came from. She was very much an Abbie-type character and so I was imagining what it would have been like if I'd gone to rescue her, or if we'd been in there together, how we would have responded differently to that programme."

Martin also recalled finding out that a drug counsellor they'd been seeing "would receive a commission for every child that he sent to one of these schools".

"I think that's really common," they added. "And I think whenever money is involved, and there's such an incentive for these schools to appeal to parents who are panicked and worried about their kids and trying to do the right thing, and they're so vulnerable to manipulation at that point, when someone's coming along and saying they have a solution, I can totally see why it seems like a fix-all."

Is the 'Leap' real in Wayward?

The Leap is a form of extreme therapy which a select few are chosen to take part in when they have reached the final developmental milestone, the Ascend phase. It's designed to help the students "process their trauma" to "unlock total health", involving what appears to be a baptism by Evelyn, with the use of medication. In one scene, Alex's partner Laura describes it as "hypnotherapy".

Martin has revealed that the Leap is fictional, but they did weave in "elements from cults in the ’70s" that they had read about during their research.

"We created a whole bible for the fictional school, with really detailed rules and language and terminology. And we knew we wanted a final step that would seal that process and that there was no coming back from."

But one aspect of Wayward that will be recognisable to many is "Hot Seat" therapy – more widely known as "attack therapy" – a controversial form of psychotherapy in which participants engage in confrontational and aggressive exchanges to publicly humiliate one another, with a supposed view to growth and recovery.

"That was definitely one of the emotional tent poles that we knew we wanted to hit in the series, just because it is so harrowing to imagine and watch," explained Martin.

"And in all of the books I read about it, the goal – and you don't get out of being in that hot seat until you break – is people identifying the things that you're most vulnerable about, the areas you might carry the most shame around, and then just digging, sticking the knife in.

"But also, you can understand in watching it and reading about it how addictive that emotional catharsis is, and how euphoric it must be, the relief that comes afterwards when there's repair, which is such a mind-f**k when you're a kid."

Wayward is streaming now on Netflix. Sign up for Netflix from £5.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.

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