This place is evil...It is, literally, the void in which all life ends.
I experienced this place in 2013 November to 2013 December. It was my first stint in rehab; I did not know that their "therapy" included verbally berating a person. I do have proof, in the form of witnesses, that the supposed "professional" at one point exclaimed, "I am tired of your bullshit, (my name)".
However, that was not what affected nor hurt me the most, but I feel it is necessary to report that level of disregard for appropriate psychological standards in dealing with patients who are in the most dark, somber, and fragile state of minds.
What devastated me the most was how the place slowly but surely, removed all my self-esteem/self-confidence in my abilities to take care of myself. I was (keyword) a UC student who was successful in school studying psychiatry, focused on neurology. I used to believe in myself; now it has been 2 years since being there, and the memories still haunt me. The staff rendered me and all my accomplishments as moot just because I was/am (unfortunately that place did NOT help my sobriety; it made me hate the idea of sobriety) a Heroin/opiate dependent person.
I now am on subutex maintenance, and addiction wise at least, I am staying away from opiates that ruined my life. Please do not read this as some addict bitching and moaning about a tough rehab. Read this as a warning. I became ever more despondent, ever more dependent, and ever more useless as a result of this place. After I forcibly, removed myself, I overdosed and locked myself up in my room for 4 months, scared of the outside world.
I also find out that my roommate, that shall remain nameless (and if there is a god in this godless world may he rest in peace), who I bonded with and yes, I actually loved this dude.
He died. Now addicts die because of their addictions; this is not new news. However, I can at least attribute some guilt to that treatment center. I mean someone died enough said.
Look you guys, if you want someplace to fleece your money, I was fortunate enough to have good insurance PPO; the bill for 32 days was, and I DO NOT exaggerate $35,000. Seriously.
So if you got deep pockets and want a no nonsense in your face experience which the pamphlet tries to obscure with the beautiful environment, then by all means go. They do their job. However, they lack finesse. At least for $35,000 you would expect a more "luxurious" rehab. This was not so. Some days we had no extra food because the staff just forgot to place the order. The pool they claim is accessible; in all those 32 days, I personally used it once for 30 minutes.
Basically get up 7:30 am. 8 am - 12 pm almost (except for 15 minute break) non-stop "therapy" (whatever you want to name it). Then lunch for 45 minutes. Then 1pm - 4pm nonstop once more. You got 2 hours maybe to yourself if you were NOT busy cleaning up their property. Why was I paying $35,000 to do that? Yes, chores are important, but they treated us as the help in that regard. Then from 6 pm to 9:30 pm nonstop "therapy" and 1 AA meeting everyday (mind you this is the weekday schedule; weekends ain't that much better).
I lost all semblance of responsibility. I had to "surrender" myself forcibly to god (which I am an atheist; it was wrong to force me to believe, and they had the gall to become upset with me about this issue). I now, save for not using opiates because of subutex/suboxone, have a messed up life. I still have not found a job nor felt a single moment of happiness. That place broke me.
Please you guys, do not be misled. Know what the treatment place is before you select it. Yes, it is effective at 10% rate maybe less. I got that statistic from them. I am sour because I lost my confidence and lost my roommate. So unlike that place, I will admit that I am skewed; but someone needs to write this.
It is a VERY intense program; if you are good with the principles of AA, then go. But if you expect some dual diagnosis (which the place falsely advertised then tells me I read an old pamphlet; I believe the social worker who sent me there, herself, thought it was dual diagnosis). So if addiction is your only problem, specifically for alcohol, then go. Others just be warned. I am not saying do not go. I am saying with ALL programs. Please READ, PLEASE ask questions. It's your life and your money; use both wisely. read more