Treatment Rehab & Detox Clinics: Share your experiences

[Stargazer]

Valley Forge Medical Center
(Chronic Pain Program)
Eagleville, Pa.
Excellent
They also offer normal rehab


I can't say enough great things about this program...the staff is excellent. They deal well with complexities of chronic pain and addiction. It's an addiction-free pain management program. Very well rounded, deals with mind-body-soul.

They offer, but don't require you to do alternative treatments offered-such as Reike, bio-feedback, acupuncture. I tried every treatment they offered. Different things work for different people. Some of the other swore by acupuncture, where as it didn't do anything for me...not to mention the acupuncturist forgot about a needle that was in my chestplate...ouch. And he stabbed me in the anklebone everytime, it sent shocks through my ankle. I felt worse afterwards but as I said, a few of the others swore it was the best thing ever.

Our counselors were awesome. We did music and art therapy and I loved that. You are treated with care and respect. The nurses were fantastic...so was the Dr. that ran the program. He comes to see you every day. He really listens to what is going on with you, and handles it.

It was tearful for all of us saying goodbye. Our group was fantastic. We laughed so much, that everyone wanted to be in the chronic pain program. The patients in the normal rehab thought we were getting some great medication. When in fact, it is an addiction free program. They detox you off of opiates. But if there is a condition that does require opiates, they are given to you, except in the lowest dose possible.

Every person is treated as an individual for their individual situation. I assure anyone that would decide to go there they would be treated well. The food, not just in the chronic pain program is pretty good. They give you three meals a day, and a snack at 9:30pm-it is all different things-a turkey sandwhich to a brownie. There is also a lounge, in normal rehab wing that has peanut butter and jelly....they have a loaf of Texas toast style (really fresh lol) and little packets of peanut and jelly you can get.

I interacted with the normal rehab patients and they said that Valley Forge Medical was the best rehab by far they had been to. Some people were on their 6th or 7th+ time of rehab.

You won't regret going making the decision of choosing Valley Forge Medical. For those with chronic pain, that need treatment, this is the program to go to. As I mentioned they specialize with this. The Dr. also treats you as a person with chronic pain needs to be treated.

I forgot to say physical therapy is part of it too. Every morning, except Sunday, we went to the gym from 8am-9:30am. Working out in the morning was one of the best things to me. For me, it set the tone for the rest of the day. It put me in a great mood. And afterwards, the physical therapist massages you. He would rub my neck and shoulders. I had never had them massaged before, and now I know what I've been missing...

As I have mentioned, the program is about mind, body and soul. I loved bio-feedback, physical therapy, music and art therapy. They were just my personal choices. You aren't forced to do anything. They encourage you.

It was the best thing that ever happened to me.

 

[Dakoz]

Name: Hope Center Drug Rehab
Place: Miami Florida
Price: Cheap

Review: I have been addicted to IV heroin for almost 6 years and have been in and out of treatment for a while. I have had mixed reviews with the different places ive gone, It is kind of hit or miss. Some are just a complete joke and some I were amazing and I didnt stay sober because I didnt listen to them. I came across the number for this place (18003728136) and called, they collected some information and got me a flight within a day. I used for the last time at the airport. The treatment center was really nice and I met a lot of cool people there. I was anxious to see the doctor and had to be a little more patient than i would have like to have been but they had me meet him and do a drug history and they put me on meds so the detox was cake. They took us on outings and its right by the beach. The staff was friendly. The living areas are nice with tvs and music and you can bring instruments (I play guitar). The groups helped a lot, some where boring (music meditation) but a lot of people enjoyed them. My plan was to go home right after the treatment was up but They offer halfway houses with lots of freedom and close to the beach so I thought i would give it a shot for 30 days. The thing I like the most is the community. Ive been a loner since my use started and I have made tons of friends down here going through the same thing. Hope rehab did a good job at integrating me into the community. There are tons of support groups in the area. I have been sober 5 months and feel great and have decided to stay a little longer. This place saved my life where a lot of others failed, I dont even have the best insurance in the world and I didnt have to pay for anything. There are some places I for sure wouldn't recommend, Like state hospitals haha, but I have no problem saying that if you are like me and were worried about going to a place where they were not going to take care of you or make your detox and treatment comfortable, I can say this place does do that and more

 

[manboychef]

Leesburgh Florida
Lifestream Behavioral Rehabilitation
cost: My therapist said that they charge very little, and generally don't see the returns on it, however they are there to help people not make money. (I thought this was freaking awesome)

Background: I was dependent on benzos and opiates, however I tended to use speedballs mostly. Iv drug user since age 15, I went to rehab right after my 32nd birthday.

Detox center: It is also a psychward (I was a frequent flier due to overdoses, and benzo withdrawals) I like the staff. They give you detox meds and taper benzos. There was one tech I especially liked named brian. He was funny, he let us have extra cigarettes, and if you had a problem, he would devote time to sit down and talk to you. If you treated him with respect he was extremely respectful to you. The rest of the staff was excellent too. They all have degrees, and have worked there for many years. One instance that sticks out in my mind was when I was deep in detox. A tech named Cody spent most of the afternoon with me, just cheering me up and playing cards with me to take my mind off it. He also brought in movies for us to watch. The food was not so good, but that might have had to do with me being in withdrawals. They tested me for HIV and HepC as well as other diseases...I already knew I had hep C, however they let me know how much it had progressed. The only problem I had with the detox was that it was shared with people with severe mental problems. Another thing that is good. If they don't have room, they will set up a bed on the floor of one of the rooms, or in the main room. Basically, they understand that if you are there, you need it, and they won't turn you away. Brian had told me, he would rather see someone sleeping on the floor instead of dead with a needle in their arm because they were turned away.

Adult choices was the name of the rehab program. There were sixteen beds, and it was co-ed. You were allowed to interact with the girls and guys if you wished, however no touching, and no inappropriate bonding. On the weekdays you get up at six, make your bed and then line up for breakfast. You eat breakfast, afterwards the resident in charge of cleaning up dining hall did so. When you get back to the unit (the rooms and groups all took place here) you were given ten minutes to brush your teeth and wakeup. Coffee was available, and the residents provided the coffee (family members would send in coffee grounds). This was shared, because some residents did not have family that had the means or desire to help their addicts (all the residents had an almost familial bond). After getting cleaned up and having coffee, we had morning check in. Basically, we would get into a circle in the group room, go around the room and say good morning. Then we would read from a couple Daily inspiration books and discuss what was read. This actually led to some really deep conversations which further bonded all of us. After morning check in we had an hour and a half to do our daily chores, clean ourselves up (each room had either two or four people, and we each had a shower in the room) We were tasked with keeping the room clean and this would be inspected. We would have one of the residents check our chores. This was great because it made sure the living area and group room were very clean. We also had a kitchen that we kept snacks, peanut butter and jelly, and coffee in. This was also kept clean. After that we had two hours of group therapy. Both of the psychotherapists were always present. We would either do an activity, or have a seminar on certain aspects of recovery. This wasn't twelve step based. Also, if we were experiencing a problem or a stumbling block in our recovery we would discuss it as a group. Most of the problems brought up we could all commiserate with. For example, I brought up being shut out of my sons life, or someone would bring up abuse they experienced. This was very helpful because it showed we were not alone in those problems. After the two hour group we had about an hour of free time. I usually would sit and talk to some friends or play spades. After free time we had lunch. After lunch we had either an NA meeting, or AA meeting and depending on the day it was either big book study, speaker meeting, or general discussion. Outside people always attended the meeting, many of whom were previous residents. I liked the meetings, especially the speaker meetings. After the meeting we had a small amount of time to get cleaned up again, and get ready for either guided meditation(which was awesome), individual therapy sessions (which was also extremely helpful. My counselor helped me learn more about OCD and how to manage it. It is hard to find any therapist that understands the spectrum of ocd) Afterwards we did our daily chores again. Then we would either have Life Skills, which was basically teaching us about nutrition, proper parenting, working a job or a seminar on how to get federally bonded or create resumes. After this we had dinner. Then nightly check in. We would say how our day was, something good that happened, then we would read a quote from a box and discuss it. After that we had freetime till we were in our rooms at ninethirty. Lights out at ten. This was five days a week. We also had codependency class, and we had workbooks and modules to complete on our own or with help from others. We did our first three steps out of the twelve steps there, and whenever someone finished one, we would present it to the group. The feedback from the group was excellent. On weekends we had lots of freetime, however we still had chores, AA and NA meetings, morning and nightly check in, and we could go outside and play volleyball or walk, or play basketball. There was no smoking, it is tobacco free there. We could also watch tv, which I didn't do. Never been a big fan.

The staff was excellent. If you broke the rules you were giving a learning experience which was a minor punishment based on the offense you committed. After thirty days you got phone privileges which you signed up for. After thirty days you could go on outside meetings with your sponsor. You could also go to doctors appointments and dentist appointments. When it comes to the staff, if you were kind and courteous to them, they treated you very well. All the techs loved me because I like to joke around a lot. The food was not so bad, and there was plenty. I always hit on the lunchladies and they would give me extra of the food I liked.

I made a lasting friendship with one of my roomates. He is an awesome dude. He was always my spades partner, and because I have insomnia he would stay up with me and talk. On saturdays we would put the radio on classic country and sing along to the songs.

I left after sixty some odd days because I had gotten what I could out of treatment and I wanted to free up a bed for another lost soul. This place saved my life. I am sober now, and it will be a year on Nov 4th. I plan on going to one of the meetings held at the facility.

Basically, there are a lot of bullshit places for rehab in florida that just want your money. This place actually cares about helping you. They never sent what little bill I owe to collections, and I still call my therapist I had there from time to time to let him know that I am doing well.

I would highly suggest that if you are in the orlando area to give lifestream a shot. The waiting list is long but it is worth it. I think there is a correlation between a place not caring about payment and the quality of service. The more they stress payment, the worse it is because their motives are not so altruistic.

 

[crackingBozo]

C.A.R.E. Addiction Recovery
North Palm Beach, FL
Reasonable, has good scholarships, accepts insurance

What can I say? They're great!

I was attracted by the center's location, their individualized and holistic approach and the idea of combining Oriental treatment in the recovery program. I specifically love the therapies, they helped a lot in easing my withdrawal symptoms: yoga, acupuncture, massage, meditation...at no additional cost.

I love the accommodation, counselors are easy to talk to, low client to therapist ratio, great aftercare support. Overall a great healing experience.

 

[dooggie]

Veritas Villa
Upstate NY

Decent place. Decent food. The people there make the best part of it. I am currently redoing it another way. Didn't really like the 12 step program.

 

[GreenSnowday]

Name: Haymarket
Location: Downtown Chicago
Price: Free
I got sent here through probation and I thoroughly believe it is probably one of the worst rehabs around. There was drugs everywhere. Everyone was high, including me. I relapsed on heroin here after being clean off of it(not other drugs) for 7 months and got my most recent dope connect from there. I saw 4 or 5 people overdose and ~50% of the other patients were also high or drunk. The counselors were horrible and did not give a fuck about you or anything. They were all uneducated and could barely type or spell(they were all impoverished black people from the ghetto). Most of them had maybe 1-2 years clean and I could barely understand what they were saying. My counselor was NODDING OUT as he was doing my intake and it took him 4 hours to do it. A staff member got fired for bringing heroin to one of my room mates. We had 50+ people on our small unit, which consisted of one hallway, a dayroom, and the staff desk. There was 8 rooms I believe with 6-8 people in a room and the rooms had no ceilings for some stupid reason so you could hear fucking everything. Shit got stolen often and the whole place was a joke. The groups were awful and a lot of them consisted of the counselors spewing there own preachy bullshit and I could barely understand what they were saying. The counselors also liked to think they were hot shots and smart even though most of them could barely fucking speak. The food was awful. When they gave us our meds they would hand us our prescription bottles and ask us how many we were gonna take then take it back when we were done. This led to myself and others taking multiple pills out and trading them with other people for their pills/suboxone. I was there for around 4 months and it was the worst 4 months of my life.

 

[GreenSnowday]

Name: Gateway
Location: Lake Villa, IL
Price: Reasonable
This place was the most recent rehab I had to go to for probation/court and was my best experience in any treatment center. They separated patients by age and gender. I was in the Bridge Program(ages 18-24). Each program was a separate house and it was like a hotel. It was in a large private wooded area away from anything else and right on Fox Lake. The group of guys I was with was great and very supportive. It had a whole gym and the food was great. The counselors were okay nothing special but were pretty good. The price was very good if you had insurance in regards to the facility and location. Made a lot of great friends when I was there.

 

[JM357]

Baldpate Hospital
Georgetown MA
Inpatient Facility

This detox is thought of very positively by the local medical community. I've found it hit or miss depending on what you are addicted to and which doctor you get while there. The staff is usually nice and does try. When I went strictly to detox from heroin they did a few days of suboxone treatment (oddly 16mgs a day for like 60 hours (2.5 days) then stop- it did actually work in that I didn't get sick but have actually seen patients with lower dependency habits nodding off). But at one point I went for methadone (90mgs a day): I was also on clonazepam (RX) at the time and did not want to discontinue it. They decided I would cold turkey (which causes seizure risk (I saw another patient coming off methadone and RXed xanax get his xanax taken and end up having a seizure and spent 3 days in the local hospitals ICU) and possibly long-term damage/PAWS and isn't good). It made no sense either because it was a 7 day (on average) detox and I just ended up getting out and having extra clonazepam at home. To be fair I THINK the doc that did that is no longer there (all he gave me was a little darvocet and clonidine to detox from methadone and clonazepam as he seemed to believe the more addicts suffer the better their chances of staying clean). The other doc I had to kick dope there did make my detox comfortable. They do help people get into long term treatment after (halfway/sober houses) if they want that.

 

[aihfl]

Addictions: Alcohol and opiate pain medication

Detox Number 1
Name: Shands Vista
Location: Gainesville, Florida
Price: Expensive, but accepts insurance

This place is run by an arrogant prick by the name of Dr. William Green. I well taken care of in terms of food and medication, but boy did I pay for it. Even with insurance my copay was over $3,000. I was taken in just before the close of the school year by my ex-wife (I am a teacher). I could not really focus on getting better because I was freaked out about tying up the school year's loose ends. I asked to be discharged numerous times, but Dr. Green was bound and determined to strong-arm me into admitting myself into Shands's Florida Recovery Center and kept me there for a whopping nine days before my mother finally came to my rescue and got me discharged. No reading material other than 12 step material was permitted and no television other than news or recovery-related videos were permitted per Dr. Green's orders. This place would probably be ok were it not for Dr. Green.

--

Detox Number 2
Name: Lakeside (Aspire Health Partners)
Location: Orlando, Florida
Price: unknown, but they'll gladly take your insurance money

This place is a hellhole. I was picked up by Orlando Police after my exgf called 911 and dumped in a waiting room where I was left in agony from withdrawals for about 16 hours. No medication was dispensed, not even the blood pressure meds I need. There is no individual time with a therapist (they are useless), and group therapy, when it happens (it often doesn't) is unproductive. The psychiatrist was clearly there only to collect his check and spends very little time (5, maybe 10 minutes at most) with his patients. Once on the ward, medication was dispensed, but not everything I am prescribed by my regular psychiatrist was given to me and what little sleeping medication was given to me was insufficient. I slept maybe 3-4 hours in the nearly 3 days I was kept there. No medications for alcohol withdrawal were dispensed. Given that this is a psychiatric hospital and not a dedicated detox facility, there were violently crazy people in there and brawls and loud arguments were not uncommon.

--

Detox No. 3
Name: Center for Drug Free Living
Location: Orlando, Florida
Price: Free, because I was involuntarily committed

Again, I was dumped by the police at Lakeside, then transported to this facility. I'd rather go to jail than this place. As a cosmic joke, it is located immediately adjacent to an ABC Liquor Store. It looks like a jail, surrounded by high chain link fences. The first thing I witnessed was a brawl over the telephone. I asked someone if it was always like that there. He replied, "Yeah, pretty much." I asked him if he'd rather be in jail and he replied, "Being in medical at 33rd St. (the Orange County jail) is much better." Since they have to take anyone, most everyone is off the street and indigent and it is a tough clientele. The 12 steps meeting were productive, group therapy generally was not. They were run by unqualified "techs" with no professional education, and one of them had clearly fried his brain on cocaine and would senselessly ramble on and on. On the plus side, at least appropriate withdrawal medications were administered (an Ativan taper).

--

Detox No. 4
Name: South Seminole Hospital
Location: Longwood, Florida
Price: unknown, but accepts insurance

Again, this is not a dedicated detox facility, but a psychiatric unit. I was laying in bed one morning and knew I was intoxicated enough that I wasn't going to be able to "ride it out" on my own and begged my exgf to take me here. I did not want to call 911 because I knew I'd end up in that hellhole Lakeside (Detox No. 2). In the emergency room (my BAC was .42), I was given Librium asked if I wanted to admit myself to the psychiatric unit and did so voluntarily in the hopes that someone could help me with the underlying anxiety that was driving my drinking. I was not disappointed. The psychiatrist was a very kind and caring doctor who put me on an Ativan taper and gave me a script for two antidepressants (Remeron and doxepin) which made me feel much better in pretty short order. Group therapy, unlike my previous detoxes were run very professionally and were productive. Also unlike my other detoxes, since this is not a facility that caters primarily to the indigent, my fellow patients, while crazy, were not violently crazy.

--

Rehab:
Name: La Amistad
Location: Winter Park, Florida
Price: $550/day, but accepts insurance

Generally a good experience; located in an Orlando suburb. The surroundings were comfortable, my only complaint being the mattresses are noisy. Generally patients are housed three to a room (the rooms are large), but I lucked out and only had one roommate most of the time I was there. There is a small fitness center, a swimming pool and a ping pong table for recreation. It is coed, so you are free to interact appropriately with members of the opposite sex. Food was generally ok. While the director of the facility is a bit of a jerk, the "techs" were appropriately educated, friendly and professional. The therapists were extremely professional and most were quite friendly as well. 12 step meetings, and group and individual therapy were very productive, and the day was highly structured. The psychiatrist also had medication appropriately dispensed. Phone and internet privileges are generous compared to other rehabs. There were about four hours during the late afternoon and at night where you could use a telephone and an hour you could use the internet for business, provided your therapist didn't place any restrictions (cellphones are verboten). There are trips off campus on the weekends (one is to a bookstore), provided that you went to the majority of scheduled activities and there is no restriction on reading material (within reason) if you couldn't find anything in the not-so-well-stocked library. The library also has a number of jigsaw puzzles and board games and a decent collection of DVDs. Once you have been there several weeks, you are permitted off campus for a certain number of hours (decided by your therapist) with family members. I also made some pretty good friends during my time here. While it's not a country club like a lot of South Florida rehabs (no massages or acupuncture, etc.), it is comfortable and I would recommend it to others. Also, smoking is permitted.

 

[Erikmen]

I have once been in a recovering farm a long time ago for 45/45 days.
It was depressing. Some people were there for 9 months others legends for 3 years to avoid prison I guess.
We had a psychiatrist and a German doctor during the day, AA meetings. Working with earth, growing vegetables.

We had one week in separate facilities for those with withdrawals. This used to be the worst part.
Only heavy psychiatrist's medication. It was beyond harsh.

We had to wake up at 6:00 am, had 4 meals a day. They've kept us busy and made us work a lot doing literally everything.
In order to avoid the extra 45 days extension you'd have to behave and be a leading person, someone that helped those who were depressed and/or non responsive to the 'treatment'.

There was nothing comfortable about this place. This was back when I was young and a total reckless. I didn't choose to go there. I Had an OD and was in a hospital for 48 hours upon release I was taken to this place. I sobered up out of fear to come back until I was independent enough to do earn my living and be productive. Unfortunately I'd relapsed but learnt to be discreet for almost 10 years so basically nobody knew I was using opiates 3-4 times a day. With time though I knew if I wouldn't do something about it I would die. That was when I became sick had a surgery and started using methadone but that's another story.

I'm now off methadone or any other opiates or benzos. And a bit too old to go through any of that again.

 

[Moreaux]

Wilmington Treatment Center
Wilmington, NC
DO NOT RECOMMEND if you have other options

In general, this place is disgusting. They are somewhat expensive if you have insurance, but they also accept Medicaid. If you aren't destitute, they will try to charge you as much as they can.

The place is not sanitary, and the food is inedible. They do not offer healthy options...everything is heavily salted and floating in butter. I actually lost a lot of weight both times I was there. If you have a good intolerance or allergy, diabetes, or any other dietary specialty, they are not very accommodating. Essentially, it's an eat what you can situation, so you may struggle to get the calories you need. Supposedly there is a nutritionist on staff, but I was never able to meet with them and I observed that the diabetic patients were lucky to get 800 calories worth of food in a day.

Apparently they can't keep decent counsellors on hand - most of them are new and most have never been in recovery themselves. There is little one on one time, and because the counsellors are so young and new, they have little to offer.

The psychiatrist is a joke. When I met with him he didn't even look at my file or speak with me. I walked in and he said I'm going to put you on Prozac. I asked why, since I was already on medication. He finally opened my file and said We will increase what I am already taking. The meeting took less than five minutes. Also, they do not taper benzos - just cold turkey and antiseizure meds. The opiate users that checked in the same day I did were literally high the whole time. They were supposedly detoxing, but many said they were higher there than when they were using on their own. They missed out on group and other activities because they were to high, so essentially getting nothing from the experience.

The living conditions are squalid, once you detox they stick you in something similar to section 8 housing in a bad part of town. The houses are old, filthy, and infested with insects, roaches, and mold and mildew. The houses are privately owned. You pay close to $500 a day to stay there, yet the beds are literally homemade and the matesses are only three inches thick - covered in stains, and there is no protection on them (covers etc). The pillows are in the same condition. The house is loud, as is the neighborhood it sits in. There are sirens to be heard at all hours, barking dogs, and loud parties next door. The furniture is appalling. The house staff is not friendly. Someone is getting rich off of this set up.

I had the misfortune of staying he twice, both times were voluntary as I was desperate to get clean, and it was the only place without a wait list.

 

[cj]

Wilmington Treatment Center
Wilmington, NC
DO NOT RECOMMEND if you have other options

In general, this place is disgusting. They are somewhat expensive if you have insurance, but they also accept Medicaid. If you aren't destitute, they will try to charge you as much as they can.

The place is not sanitary, and the food is inedible. They do not offer healthy options...everything is heavily salted and floating in butter. I actually lost a lot of weight both times I was there. If you have a good intolerance or allergy, diabetes, or any other dietary specialty, they are not very accommodating. Essentially, it's an eat what you can situation, so you may struggle to get the calories you need. Supposedly there is a nutritionist on staff, but I was never able to meet with them and I observed that the diabetic patients were lucky to get 800 calories worth of food in a day.

Apparently they can't keep decent counsellors on hand - most of them are new and most have never been in recovery themselves. There is little one on one time, and because the counsellors are so young and new, they have little to offer.

The psychiatrist is a joke. When I met with him he didn't even look at my file or speak with me. I walked in and he said I'm going to put you on Prozac. I asked why, since I was already on medication. He finally opened my file and said We will increase what I am already taking. The meeting took less than five minutes. Also, they do not taper benzos - just cold turkey and antiseizure meds. The opiate users that checked in the same day I did were literally high the whole time. They were supposedly detoxing, but many said they were higher there than when they were using on their own. They missed out on group and other activities because they were to high, so essentially getting nothing from the experience.

The living conditions are squalid, once you detox they stick you in something similar to section 8 housing in a bad part of town. The houses are old, filthy, and infested with insects, roaches, and mold and mildew. The houses are privately owned. You pay close to $500 a day to stay there, yet the beds are literally homemade and the matesses are only three inches thick - covered in stains, and there is no protection on them (covers etc). The pillows are in the same condition. The house is loud, as is the neighborhood it sits in. There are sirens to be heard at all hours, barking dogs, and loud parties next door. The furniture is appalling. The house staff is not friendly. Someone is getting rich off of this set up.

I had the misfortune of staying he twice, both times were voluntary as I was desperate to get clean, and it was the only place without a wait list.

Damn that sounds terrible. Posts like this are why we have this thread stickied. Hopefully it stops others from having to suffer through that BS. Getting clean is hard enough without the deck stacked against you.

 

[manboychef]

Damn that sounds terrible. Posts like this are why we have this thread stickied. Hopefully it stops others from having to suffer through that BS. Getting clean is hard enough without the deck stacked against you.

indeed. I have found that rehab facilities that are based around making money tend to be terrible in so many ways and actually detrimental to the patients recovery. Behavioral adjustment type rehabs that are a little longer term that don't require money are very good. It is what saved me. I would also steer clear of the faith based work camps. They create bitter people that are still addicts though not using. Why work so hard when the only thing they offer is god?

 

[Mmp85]

Bradford health services
Warrior Alabama
price. my insurance paid but my rents forked out 7000 dollars on top so I think it was 20000 plus for the 16 days I was there

I was there for heroin. The first part of the program is the detox unit its a smelly basement area in the main building. I shared a room with another dude. There was a private bathroom and shower in the room we shared. They gave me a 6 day suboxone taper which started the morning after I arrived. I had to take a drug test and see the doctor on my first day there. He was basically useless. After 2 or 3 days of doing nothing on the detox unit I was moved into a cabin with a bout 20 guys around my age. The cabins where segregated by sex and age. The guys and girls where kinda segregated we where not supposed to interact but it was loosely enforced and people where fucking like rabbits.

The actual campus was pretty nice. They had a limited weight room, volleyball, basketball, and other stuff that was all outside. It might not be as good in winter as I was there in july. I thought the food was mediocre I mean it was edible but reminded me of high school cafeteria food definitely not gourmet. There where 3 meals a day with breakfast starting at 7. Yeah they woke us up early as fuck and we where punished as a group if people where late to morning check in. There was lots of little bullshit rules that reminded me of high school.

The treatment was just strait 12 step indoctrination. We had group therapy in a group of roughly 10-15 people twice a day during the work week. Then we would have classes on different aspects of the 12 steps that was boring as hell. I only got to meet with a therapist once for like 20 minutes and it wasn't real therapy he was just coming up with a release plan.
The weekends where useless as no one with a college degree was there. In fact most of the ''counselors'' where just recovering addicts whos job was just a glorified babysitter.

Overall it didn't help me. I made new drug connections and relapsed within 8 hours of leaving. There IOP aftercare program was worse than useless. I guess they gear it more towards people on probation. Once they found out they couldn't send me to jail they basically left me alone. I wish I would have spent my money on individual counseling.

I also went to Bradford. The price was great in my case, I paid $200 out of pocket and insurance covered the rest and I stayed 24 days I think. It was probably $25,000 worry of treatment. My insurance covered a (better in my opinion) IOP program through psychiatrists office so they let me add 3 extra days to my stay since I wasn't using the IOP which was included in the cost.

I agree that the facilities were nice enough, think of like a decent church or summer camp up in the hills. I was fine with the food, there was always something I was willing to eat and they loaded us down with "snack bags" during the week full of chips and granola bars and Oreos and stuff, I probably gained 20 pounds. 20 pounds I thought I'd lose from cutting out booze and 3:00 am Waffle House trips.

What I didn't like was how dead set they were on detoxing anything that walked in the door. I was there for alcohol but by the time I checked in I was about a week sober and had never been physically addicted in the first place (much more of a binge till I black out style drunk) but they made me take Phenobarbital which I knew nothing about and it wasn't until I was coherent enough to list everything I was taking to my mother that she researched it and saw that it wasn't meant to be taken with some of the meds I was already taking for bipolar. They also tried to make me take drugs I didn't want like Seroquel for "sleep" which was a pill I tried in the past and had a bad reaction to. They kept using the excuse of "well you never cared what kind of pills you were taking when you were 'on the street' so why are so worried about what you're taking now" and I'm like, I was never 'on the street', I was in my own bathroom or bedroom taking pills that came in orange bottles with the pills name and my name on them.

Group therapy was a mess, at least in the all female cabin. It turned into a drama fest of "my life is worse than your life" or "my addiction is worse than your addiction" and if you tried to snap anyone back into reality their new rehab bestie would come to their defense and say, "But guuuyyys, she's an alcoholic!" And one day, irritable from all the meds I was being force fed I said, "And do you think I'm spending my insurances money and wasting my FMLA pay and time just to drink coffee while she gets therapy? What do you think the rest of are alcoholics and addicts or just compulsive cookie bakers?" And I stomped upstairs and took a nap and surprisingly no one stopped me.

I did not enjoy the AA/NA speaker meetings every night. I don't find the 12 steps the be all and end all of sobriety even though I go ocassionally and have about 2 years sobriety. These speaker meetings were very male focused and ranged from frat boys whose dads bailed them out of everything and old bikers who called their girlfriends their bitches, anyway they weren't anyone I could relate to, just the same two stories. Either I crashed my new car in a ditch but my dad towed it out and this is how I know Jesus loves me or me and my buddy drove our Harley's into a tree and he died at the scene but I was life flighted but since I was life flighted I never did a breathalyzer and that's how I know Jesus loves me.

I thought the counselors were nice and well meaning but most were just recovering addicts with a certificate. Only therapists had a degree. They basically babysat and did Big Book studies or activities with us. The only thing that really frustrated me was the way they treated the 12 steps as the only possible way you will not die. And most didn't understand dual diagnosis or psych meds. I see a psychiatrist and a therapist and occassionally an addiction therapist, I respect your sobriety but don't play doctor and tell me what I need and don't need for bipolar which is a serious illness and can affect my drinking. One counselor said to avoid Midol because it's like meth. Now I've never done meth but I have taken Midol plenty and if that's what meth is like it's pretty overrated.

I was encouraged not to take my Klonopin when I left even though I was taking even less than my prescribed dose and my anxiety was a major cause of my drinking. I was told not to take any stimulant ADD meds even though doctors had prescribed them to me years ago after trying Strattera and the other more adult medications to prevent me from being distracted while driving and adderal ended up working best.

They didn't set me up much of a release plan because I had family and a job to go home to. The problem was I didn't have my license, my family was too controlling (another factor in my drinking) and my job was being a cocktail waitress. Not a plan for success.

But I left that last day and my brother had a Klonopin sitting in his cup holder for me and I felt a million times better.

 

[Prescottdave]

Gatehouse Academy
Wickenburg, AZ
Licensed as a transitional living community.
Advertised as a residential treatment center.

Insurance paid for some of the therapy. Aside from that the cost was around 8 thousand per month and thirty thousand for the first three months. The average stay for each resident was 9-16 months which included transitional living for 6 months in a halfway house.

First three months were spent 30 miles out in the AZ desert at a facility known as the ranch. The facilities were run down and the appliances stopped working. The staff failed to provide a copy of my rights or to properly inform me of the grievance policy during intake. There was zero medical oversight during my admission even though I was about to unknowingly stop 5 milligrams of Ativan cold turkey after being on the med for over two years. I was also on 24 mg of buprenorphine and had been taking Suboxone for over a year. I had been on pain medication before the sub for over 12 years. I was weened of both meds in 5 days and stopped the bupe at 6 mg. I asked to see a doctor 5 times and was denied the right each time. I became to sick to voluntarily leave or to work. When I started having DT's and suffering from formication/delusions of parasites the staff offered me some lice spray but no doctor. The staff also quickly told other residents that I was infested with insects. The rumor spread through the entire program and persisted at main campus. I became convinced they were right but the spray they gave me never worked nor did anyone else see or get lice. It took me over 9 months for those symptoms to subside. It also took me that long to realize I was having a reaction from discontinuing the benzo's and bupe.

The rooms flooded during the monsoons and the AC broke for 3 months in the middle of the summer. Staff routinely forgot to refill clients medications so it was common to run out of your SSRI's or mood stabilizers and have to stop cold turkey for a week. Residents commonly had sezuires or became delusional due to the lack of medical care. My friend almost died from being given the wrong insulin on two different occasions. The one doctor I did see 8 weeks into my stay got fired when I was under her care. Turned out she was operating on a fraudulent license and stealing medications. Wake up was 5 AM. Then work ethic for 3 hours followed by an hour long group circle run by recent ex graduates of the program. The rest of the day was spent cooking, cleaning or going to AA big book studies. NA was not allowed and my NA book was confiscated upon arriving.

The methods used at Gatehouse focused on invasive confrontational techniques to get new clients to brake. These methods operated on public shame and humiliation in front of the entire community. These harsh techniques were used on those suffering from all types of addictions, serious mental illnesses, eating disorders and developmental disabilities. Somehow the treatment was all the same. Work, public humiliation and 4 AA meetings each day. Thankfully if these methods did not suffice there was some horse back riding. One kid broke his arm and before my stay one girl broke her neck from falling of a horse. Turns out those overseeing part of the horse back riding at the ranch were on meth and opiates. Communicating to anyone through a phone was not allowed for the first 8 weeks. It also took 8 weeks to have my first doctor appointment. When you could make a phone call it was monitored by staff. Any complaints about the program would result in the staff member ending the call. If you wanted to voluntarily leave you had to walk the 30 miles through the desert into town to main campus to get your ID. Many times they would lie to you and say they sent your ID home if you tried to leave. Before my admission they told me on the phone I would meet with their doctors in a few days after arriving. They also said they were well equipped to detox someone off alcohol or sedatives.

I entered the program voluntarily with zero involvement with the courts. I was over 18. After I became more coherent 4 weeks in I worked with my friend to file a grievance to the AZ DOH. He filled it out under his name and I told him what to write. He was severely punished for submitting this grievance. This process helped start the eventual downfall of the company. I started to complain of fraud and abuse. Instead of helping the staff began to threaten me. The AZ DOH finally did an inspection and closed the ranch campus. The ranch had been operating an illegal detox clinic at this location before my arrival for over 7 years without basic regulated medical oversight. The company moved the ranch to Idaho but closed shortly after because a staff member was caught statutorily raping a minor and giving drugs to other underage clients.

Still at main campus signs of embezzlement and fraud permeated the community. When i tried to speak up about these facts staff took me aside and would threaten me with work crew or other demeaning punishments. Finally the CEO was busted and convicted of wire fraud, illegal control of enterprise, money laundering, drug charges and gun charges. It was rumored he had connections to organized crime groups. The program closed it's last campus in 2012. Before this closure the company had five other locations closed by the state due to non compliance with licensing standards. The CEO was quickly hired at another rehab is California that had connections to Morning Side Recovery and had acquired the Gatehouse Academy website. The story ended up in the news and was archived by an advocacy organization. In the end I found out the program was an affiliate of NATSAP. NATSAP affiliated programs had a long history of this type of criminal behavior. In 2008 they appeared in a congressional hearing on the subject of abuse and fraud at RTC's. This was televised and can be located online. Thanks for reading and sorry for the long post.
http://www.heal-online.org/gatehouse.htm

 

[cj]

Gatehouse Academy
Wickenburg AZ

Insurance paid for some of the therapy. Aside from that the cost was around 8 thousand per month and thirty thousand for the first three months. The average stay for each resident was 9-16 months which included transitional living for 6 months in a halfway house.

First three months were spent 30 miles out in the AZ desert at a facility known as the ranch. The facilities were run down and the appliances stopped working. The staff failed to provide a copy of my rights or to properly inform me of the grievance policy during intake. There was zero medical oversight during my admission even though I was about to unknowingly stop 5 milligrams of Ativan cold turkey after being on the med for over two years. I was also on 24 mg of buprenorphine and had been taking Suboxone for over a year. I had been on pain medication before the sub for over 12 years. I was weened of both meds in 5 days and stopped the bupe at 6 mg. I asked to see a doctor 5 times and was denied the right each time. I became to sick to voluntarily leave or to work. When I started having DT's and suffering from formication/delusions of parasites the staff offered me some lice spray but no doctor. The staff also quickly told other residents that I was infested with insects. The rumor spread through the entire program and persisted at main campus. I became convinced they were right but the spray they gave me never worked nor did anyone else see or get lice. It took me over 9 months for those symptoms to subside. It also took me that long to realize I was having a reaction from discontinuing the benzo's and bupe.

The rooms flooded during the monsoons and the AC broke for 3 months in the middle of the summer. Staff routinely forgot to refill clients medications so it was common to run out of your SSRI's or mood stabilizers and have to stop cold turkey for a week. Residents commonly had sezuires or became delusional due to the lack of medical care. My friend almost died from being given the wrong insulin on two different occasions. The one doctor I did see 8 weeks into my stay got fired when I was under her care. Turned out she was operating on a fraudulent license and stealing medications. Wake up was 5 AM. Then work ethic for 3 hours followed by an hour long group circle run by recent ex graduates of the program. The rest of the day was spent cooking, cleaning or going to AA big book studies. NA was not allowed and my NA book was confiscated upon arriving.

The methods used at Gatehouse focused on invasive confrontational techniques to get new clients to brake. These methods operated on public shame and humiliation in front of the entire community. These harsh techniques were used on those suffering from all types of addictions, serious mental illnesses, eating disorders and developmental disabilities. Somehow the treatment was all the same. Work, public humiliation and 4 AA meetings each day. Thankfully if these methods did not suffice there was some horse back riding. One kid broke his arm and before my stay one girl broke her neck from falling of a horse. Turns out those overseeing part of the horse back riding at the ranch were on meth and opiates. Communicating to anyone through a phone was not allowed for the first 8 weeks. It also took 8 weeks to have my first doctor appointment. When you could make a phone call it was monitored by staff. Any complaints about the program would result in the staff member ending the call. If you wanted to voluntarily leave you had to walk the 30 miles through the desert into town to main campus to get your ID. Many times they would lie to you and say they sent your ID home if you tried to leave. Before my admission they told me on the phone I would meet with their doctors in a few days after arriving. They also said they were well equipped to detox someone off alcohol or sedatives.

I entered the program voluntarily with zero involvement with the courts. I was over 18. After I became more coherent 4 weeks in I worked with my friend to file a grievance to the AZ DOH. He filled it out under his name and I told him what to write. He was severely punished for submitting this grievance. This process helped start the eventual downfall of the company. I started to complain of fraud and abuse. Instead of helping the staff began to threaten me. The AZ DOH finally did an inspection and closed the ranch campus. The ranch had been operating an illegal detox clinic at this location before my arrival for over 7 years without basic regulated medical oversight. The company moved the ranch to Idaho but closed shortly after because a staff member was caught statutorily raping a minor and giving drugs to other underage clients.

Still at main campus signs of embezzlement and fraud permeated the community. When i tried to speak up about these facts staff took me aside and would threaten me with work crew or other demeaning punishments. Finally the CEO was busted and convicted of wire fraud, illegal control of enterprise, money laundering, drug charges and gun charges. It was rumored he had connections to organized crime groups. The company closed it's last campus in 2012. Before this closure the company had five other locations closed by the state due to non compliance. The story ended up in the news and was archived by an advocacy organization. In the end I found out the program was an affiliate of NATSAP. NATSAP affiliated programs had a long history of this type of criminal behavior. In 2008 they appeared in a congressional hearing on the subject of abuse and fraud at RTC's. This was televised and can be located online. Thanks for reading and sorry for the long post.
http://www.heal-online.org/gatehouse.htm

That sounds like absolute hell.

 

[manboychef]

that gatehouse place sounds horrible! That would be completely against any of the recovery models that work.....it sounds like synanon. The confrontational behavioral modification doesn't work...it just creates bitterness and resentment.

 

[aihfl]

Wow I didn't know the Syanon story. That's some crazy shit.

 

[cj]

Wow I didn't know the Syanon story. That's some crazy shit.

It really. Between syanon and Strait inc the rehab industry has a dark past. Especially as it pertains to minors.

 

[Slowlybut surely]

MDS
Southfield, MI, USA
Expensive, cash or credit..no ins.
They have a relationship with discover, you may qualify for financing if needed.


This place saved my life. I was up to almost 200mgs of oxy per day. It's a three day detox under anesthesia. It's a private facility...only 4 patients at a time. They don't treat you like a criminal. This was the only way I knew would work for me, I couldn't go through withdrawal, I couldn't ween, and I tried suboxone, but I didn't want to trade one drug for another.

Your hotel is included in the price. You go in on Tuesday for paper work ekg and blood work. Wednesday you go in for treatment, by Thursday morning you're clean! The staff is amazing! Dr. George comes to your room to discharge by Friday. I highly recommend this process...and you don't have to be in withdrawal when you go in. I took my last dose at 3:30am and went in for treatment at 10:00am. Each patient is assigned 2 paramedics, a doctor and an anesthesiologist during treatment. Ben, my paramedic, even came to my hotel room to stay with me so my mom could run out for lunch. They were all kind and compassionate.

The process uses naltrexone to clean your MU receptors of opiads and replaces it with an opiad antagonist. There is no addiction factor or withdrawal from naltrexone. There was no intubation, no catheters, just oxygen and an IV. I'm five feet tall 95lbs soaking wet, and I did fine...Your body goes through the worst of withdrawal while you're under anesthesia. When I woke up, I'm not gonna say I felt great, but I damn sure didn't feel the need for a pill, and I didn't feel any withdrawal symptoms.

Like any other procedure with anesthesia, It takes a couple of days to get back to normal. It was more like the flu. I think that's more related to the pre-op instructions, you can't eat, and I hand to drink magnesium citrate two days before. So your body is drained of nutrients for four days....that'll make anyone feel like crap! They send you home with meds for discomfort, enough for a week or so. I felt much better when I started eating.

During the procedure, they implant a naltrexone pellet to stop cravings, it lasts for two months, I'm keeping the pellet for at least 8 months....it works, even if I tried to take a pill I wouldn't feel anything. It works if you want to be clean. I changed my phone number while I was on the way to Michigan...you have to change your environment and habits and it will work. It's $10k, however, I know I've spent way more than that over the past five years. It's worth it to save your life. If you can buy pills, you can afford the process.