What Bhad Bhabie's Body Language Revealed In Her Abuse Allegations Video

The following article includes allegations of sexual, physical, and emotional abuse. 

Before Bhad Bhabie made a foray into the music industry, she was Danielle Bergoli, or the "catch me outside girl" who appeared on the Dr. Phil Show in 2016 when she was just 13 years old. After her appearance on the show, Bergoli was sent to a youth behavioral treatment center called the Turn-About Ranch. After another woman who appeared on the Dr. Phil Show was sent to the same camp sued the treatment center for alleged sexual and emotional abuse, Bhad Bhabie released a YouTube video imploring the TV psychologist to acknowledge the allegations and revealed that she, too, had suffered emotional abuse and other types of misconduct at the same center. 

Both women also report going to the camp's administration to report abuse and maltreatment and were met with skepticism and retaliation. Per People, Turn-About Ranch denies that any wrongdoing or inaction occurred on their part. McGraw told Ashleigh Banfield in an interview that any experience was not his or his show's responsibility.

Still, Bhad Bhabie says in her video, "It was just our word against the staff's word when you're there, because there's no witnesses, there's no cameras, you don't have a phone, there's none of that. That's why I was so scared to speak out, because I was like, 'No one's going to be believe me.' A lot of things happened to me there, and it hurt me so bad because I was genuinely like confused."

Kati Morton, LMFT and host of Ask Kati Anything Podcast tells Nicki Swift that Bhad Bhabie's body language in her video is more than telling. She says, "I have not treated Danielle Bregoli personally but in my professional opinion, she seems very emotionally distanced in the YouTube video, which makes me wonder if she has even had a chance to process all that she went through. Visually, she fidgets a bit, which could be due to her anxiety about sharing this information and putting herself out there to the world. It's got to be scary to publicly talk about something so traumatizing and call powerful people out, but I am so proud of her for sharing her story and sticking up for all of the children who don't have the ability to do so." 

Morton also has concerns for anyone who shares Bhad Bhabie's alleged experience at Turn-About Ranch. She says, "If the allegations are true, Turn-About Ranch is only traumatizing and harming children more, which will likely lead to other mental health issues like increased anxiety, complex PTSD, eating disorder behaviors, or even thoughts of suicide. They aren't getting the safe nurturing environment necessary to process all that they have been through, and I haven't seen any research to support manual labor as a medium for therapeutic treatment."

Despite not having firsthand knowledge of the camp or anyone's experience, the allegations are troubling to Morton. 

Kati Morton, LMFT and host of Ask Kati Anything Podcast also tells Nicki Swift that in her experience, sending teens to behavioral treatment camps is something she doesn't take lightly. She also hopes that Dr. Phil McGraw will eventually speak out. She says, "I always prefer to believe in the good in people, and my hope is that he wasn't aware of these issues until now and is figuring out what to do about it. However, I can say that personally, I do not refer people to a place that I haven't visited or reviewed carefully. I hope that this leads anyone in the mental health field to help shut down harmful places like the Turn-About Ranch and be more thoughtful about where they advise people to go."

Bhad Bhabie's allegations come in the wake of the Break Code Silence movement, renewed in part by allegations Paris Hilton made in a recent doc about her life alleging abuse at another, unrelated youth treatment camp. As a celebrity who purports to be a therapist, hopefully, McGraw will engage with the allegations made by the women and others who are sharing their experiences sooner rather than later in the name of shedding more light on the situation. 

If you or someone you know has been the victim of sexual assault, you can call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or visit RAINN.org for additional resources.