I was at the woman's house of Gooden Center during the COVID19 pandemic, and did not have a very good experience overall.
Positives first: I liked the class with Greg, he was a nice and down to earth guy, and I liked the other girls at the Residential with me, and some of the food was good. Some staff members were nice, and I appreciated this. I enjoyed the outings, and the fact we had access to not just the grocery store, but stretching our legs at parks. I liked that aspect of how the program worked. I also liked the decorations around the house.
Negatives: This is more personal to me, but the therapy methods offered at Gooden Center were not the right ones for me (CBT and DBT). I did not have a good experience with the lead therapist, or many of the instructors. There was probably frustration on both ends, because it wasn't the right fit for me, but I'm still a little upset when I think of my experiences.
During COVID, something that upset me was one of the staff members didn't mask properly during an outing to a grocery store (staff wore a mask on her face, and it covered her lips, but the mask did *not* cover her nose, which is technically improper masking). One of the girls from the Center got upset because of this, and the staff member responded in a passive aggressive manner, instead of de-escelating the situation. The girl wound up getting angry at the staff, swearing, and throwing an object. The girl who got upset left Gooden, but I felt upset that (I felt) that there were consequences for the girl; but *not* consequences for the staff member (that I was aware of), who I felt handled the situation poorly. I chose not to get involved in that situation during the outing, but I was also upset by the improper masking, and the staff member being passive aggressive when asked to mask properly in the store.
After the girl left the program, some of the staff, and girls there, made fun of how the girl had sworn and thrown something. While I'll admit the girl had a strong negative reaction to the staff being passive aggressive, and I can see why it might have seemed amusing in hindsight; I didn't think making fun of her was very nice. I especially disliked that *staff* made fun of her, not just other girls in the program.
They also made fun of how another girl who left the program said she thought the staff, and the way Gooden was run, was "unprofessional."
The way I interpreted the masking situation, the girl got triggered by the staff's behavior, and felt out of control rage. Even though I didn't react with rage, I can understand how staff's behavior pushed the girl over the edge, since she had personal trauma with COVID19, and the staff member not masking (and being passive aggressive about it) would have caused the girl to feel valid feelings of anger. I'm not saying swearing or throwing things is right, but staff handled that situation poorly, and were also not right.
I do not feel like most of the staff were trauma-informed. Or, at least, I don't think most of the staff were trained in Complex-Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (C-PTSD). I've been clinically diagnosed with PTSD, but my symptoms are closer to C-PTSD, which is why I'm bringing this up.
The staff asked for feedback on topics that could be helpful, and I mentioned that I'd been through a type of Emotional Abuse called "Narcissistic Abuse", and could they please discuss Narcissistic Abuse at some point? Staff immediately said, "We can't diagnose Narcissistic Personality Disorder, we can't talk about this", and this frustrated me because I didn't say *anything* about Narcissistic Personality Disorder! (In fact, Narcissistic Abuse isn't always done by people with NPD/ doesn't always involve NPD, it's a term for a specific type of emotional abuse that can be perpetrated by anyone, NPD or not). I felt misunderstood, and alone.
During a medidation/yoga class, an instructor said we "could step out of our bodies, and look down at ourselves, like we're looking at a TV". This really upset me because I've had traumatic experiences with depersonalization, due to my PTSD- the therapist acting like we could willfully step out of our bodies, and have it be a pleasant experience, really irritated and upset me. When I get an out of body experience, it is traumatic, and not a positive experience for me!
If someone has Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Major Depressive Disorder, or Drug or Alcohol Addiction, Gooden Center, and the therapy methods (DBT and CBT) might be effective. I'm happy for the people who have had good experiences at Gooden, and who've been helped by Gooden.
But personally, I did not have a good experience at Gooden, and will not go back in the future, if I need to go to a Residential Treatment Facility. read more
