Honestly, avoid this place like the plague. Opal is negligent in their care for patients that don't fit within the typical eating disorder picture. As a fat person, I thought that I would be safe at Opal and that was simply not the case.
To preface, I'm diabetic and in a fat body. I also have mental health struggles. On my first night, I was given a plate full of carbohydrates without any insulin (I wasn't on insulin when I entered treatment, a decision I made with my OP team).
I informed the intake "specialist", Courtney, that I was diabetic and a lot of my ED was wrapped up in that. She reassured me that they had treated diabetic clients before and would have no issue navigating this.
Because of COVID, they had split folks up into cohorts. Cohort A was 8-2, I believe, Cohort B (my cohort) was 12-6, and Cohort C was from 8-6. On my first day there, I was not given lunch so my ED had a field day with that one.
As my time continued, I didn't see the physician on staff until a week and a half into treatment. I had complained to my team that my body was feeling AWFUL and that I felt nauseous when I ate and felt overly full throughout my time there. They told me that this was a normal part of the re-feeding process. As it turns out, once I met with the MD on staff, one of the medications that I was on for my diabetes was an appetite suppressant but no one knew that or considered that to be a factor. Dr. E was great at addressing my concerns and helping me navigate going off of the medication that slowed my digestive process and going back on to regular short-acting insulin.
Treatment continued and I was told by my team that I wasn't allowed to carry my phone (which also acted as a medical device for being able to check my blood sugars) and that I needed to lock it up for the day.
As a diabetic, I was forced to eat foods that put my health at risk, for example, cake and ice cream without insulin, plates full of carbs (again without insulin), etc.
My therapist, Shazia, gaslit me to high heaven the entire time I was working with her. When I was told with LESS THAN A WEEK'S NOTICE that I would be stepping down to intensive outpatient (iOP), I got mad. I had seen that most, if not all, of my other clients and friends had a minimum of 2 weeks notice before they stepped down. When I told my therapist that I was pissed, I was met with "too bad" and "I know you're frustrated". I asked to switch to a different therapist when I stepped down (fully aware that this was going to come back to bite me) and I was met with an email that stated that I needed to apologize to my, now, former therapist for my "emotional outburst."
I was FORCED to apologize for having emotions. I was not allowed to switch therapists until I apologized.
In addition to all of this, I was misgendered constantly by both staff and clients and when I brought this to the attention of staff and clients, my concerns were brushed aside.
In my final week at Opal in their vIOP program, it was the final straw for me. Chrissy Hughes, the exercise experiential therapist, decided to do an activity in the "ReThinking Sports and Exercise" group that was WAY out of line and inappropriate. In this group, not only myself but the ENTIRE group of clients was blown away by the response and lack of accountability from Chrissy and the leadership team for the harm that was caused. As clients, we demanded an apology and wanted to know what the leadership at Opal was going to do about the harm that was caused. They scripted an apology and brushed off questions and concerns. I was brought back into THREE groups after I had stepped down (by my choice, this time. I wasn't about to continue putting myself in harm's way) to attempt to remedy this. At the end of the day, Opal failed.
Opal claims to be a HAES aligned facility but their setup says otherwise. Their chairs are too small for folks in larger bodies, they disregard fat clients when they say that they're uncomfortable. They only offer the HAES didactic group one time per month (for comparison, the rethinking sports and exercise group is offered once a week AND one 2 hour block once per month). My friends on the BIPOC spectrum felt out of place as this facility is VERY white, not only in clients but also in their staffing. At the time I was in treatment, there were maybe 4 (?) staff that were POC, yet they wanted to make sure that they were working with POC clients. It's all a bunch of performative nonsense.
Honestly, find somewhere else to get treatment. Kara, Julie, and Lexi are all thin, white women. If you have a marginalized identity, you're not safe here. read more