I went to Phoenix for Trauma Recovery, only lasted 1 day. During my initial assessment Lindsi said…read morethey separate their groups into males and females. I was excited to hear it; that was going to be my first question because it's important to me. Studies show women participate more and heal more deeply, in women only groups. Lindsi and I talked about how important that is. She made several statements that she "gets it".
I started a week later, to discover about half my group is men. When asked about it, Lindsi, who had been previously super responsive, didn't respond at all. It took 3 texts, and needing to talk before group, that got her to responded; saying 'sorry for the confusion, call the front desk and they'll explain'. The front desk explained their groups have never been separated by sex. It's clear, Lindsi lied.
That was also my last day at Phoenix; neither Lindsi nor anyone else, attempted to make contact with me. I know a lot of IOPs lie to get people enrolled. They expect us to quietly deal, to put up with it; especially the trauma victims. We tend to not advocate for ourselves and they take advantage of that. There should be severe repercussions for such behavior.
I was an admitted patient, they have an ethical responsibility to at least refer me to another program. Since they made zero contact, they failed at this as well.
I saw a few things during my one day that weren't very "trauma informed". Like forcing a woman to move her chair back from a place she felt more comfortable (she was just 2' back). A male patient that was hyper-focused (stalker style) on talking to a female patient who was obviously trying to walk away. And, they lied about not being able to email me forms, yet I signed a document that said I agree, those same forms are just as valid if transmitted by email.
Another oddball thing, during my assessment, Lindsi noticed a similarly in the name of my street and hers. She then told me the name of the street she lives on, the city, her mother's street name, that her mother lives in the same neighborhood, and the name of her elementary school. What!?! That's not a good idea, we're strangers.
We need to hold places like Phoenix to account, or they'll re-traumatize their own patients. I plan to file a complaint with the Utah Dept. of Health and Human Services, and encourage anyone else with complaints to do the same.
(Phone: (801) 538-4242,
Email: dlbc@utah.gov,
Mailing Address: 195 North 1950 West Salt Lake City, Utah 84116)