Straight, Inc. was founded on April 22, 1976 by Mel Sembler and started its treatment program on September 1, 1976.

This program was highly controversial due to the style of therapy it used, called "tough love" that has been likened to brainwashing. Various allegations of abuse and lawsuits led to the end of Straight, Inc.

Many former patients of Straight have formed 'survivor groups' assembling themselves in small numbers seeking a means to understand the trauma suffered and supporting one another in grasping the reality of what happened in their lives.

After the closure a lot of the senior management opened their own programs based on the methods of Straight. Kids Helping Kids, a Pathway Family Center, uses the Straight Inc. model

Some of the consequences for not 'getting in touch with your feelings' included: 90 second showers (30 water: 30 soap: 30 rinse), we were required to ask for toilet paper by-the-square (by the humility of my humble host home may I please have another square), no use of a mirror, seven strokes of a comb, 3 hours of sleep per night. Thankfully, food consequences had been eliminated (saltine crackers with peanut butter and only a dixie cup of water). 103.5 fever was considered an excuse to get out of 'group therapy.'

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