I too have mixed feelings about The Haven. I would have loved to give it at least a 4, but some issues lowered my overall rating. First, you are initially swept in while in the pit of your addiction being assured that everything will be as presented. You are quickly encouraged to sign, and whisked away to a beautiful, safe detox house. This was an excellent aspect of the program, as detox can be extremely tough and scary. They give you appropriate medications to ease the withdrawal, provide meals, and you just rest for a few days. My stay in detox was 3 days, but this varies individually.
Phase 2 is the residential portion, also a very nice house with up to 5 other women. Lunch and dinner are freshly prepared daily and groceries are supplied for breakfasts, snacks, etc. There is a pool and jacuzzi (sporadic heating), an exercise trainer and yoga instructor. Here, life is very structured and consists of morning chores then group meetings with DOA counselors and therapists throughout the day. Free time and exercise/yoga are in-between, and in the evening, outside meetings, such as AA and NA. There is always a "house mother" on staff who dispense meds, transport us to meetings/outings, and provide general support and assistance. My experiences with them were all excellent!
My first jolt came early on when another client was being "moved on" after only 2 days! This was a shock to her and all of us there, and to this day I don't know what happened, as I never saw her again. I can only surmise that it may have been an insurance issue; which brings me to the sticky part of this program. I was under the impression that the inpatient portion would last 28 days, as many of us were told this. Once you're in, you quickly find out this is not the case, and it varies depending on your insurance. This was never explained upfront and left me feeling vulnerable and apprehensive not knowing how long I would be there. Most of us had less than 24 hours' notice when it was time to leave. My original paperwork stated that I was signing to an "agreed upon length of stay", but this was not the case and getting a direct answer out of anyone was nearly impossible. I was only told that it was up to our insurance. I was even told to exaggerate my symptoms if I wanted my insurance to authorize additional days. Basically, you don't know exactly how long your treatment will last, and this was my biggest point of contention.
Between Phase 1 &2, I stayed three weeks, which I felt was adequate. At this point, you have the option of Phase 3 Inpatient or Outpatient. The inpatient is a sober living house which is not covered by insurance and for the women, it is a sub-par living facility. The cost was $1,500/month and the women's house was small and they seemed to cram as many people in as possible, so I opted out and chose to stay in my own living situation and attend outpatient meetings.
Outpatient consisted of PHP, IOP, and weekly individual therapy sessions which were all great. PHP was daily group meetings from 9:30 to 3:30 and IOP was 3 times a week from 5:30 to 8:30pm. Again, how long you stay in this phase is determined by your insurance. I did 5 weeks of outpatient, and was approved for additional visits, but I chose to go end my program and move on to my own home and personal therapy. Here, they do seem to want you to stay as long as insurance will keep paying for it, but the sessions were becoming redundant and unproductive for me. I spoke with my case manager over the phone, and that was that. No formal discharge charge or plan for continuity of care, although there are weekly alumni meetings for life, which is nice. I never met with the medical director in person, only two brief Zoom meetings (mostly for medication), and I felt there should have been a better exit plan for such a life changing experience.
On the positive side, life changing it was! Overall, I am very happy and grateful that I went through The Haven's program. I got a lot out of it including life tools and coping mechanisms that I will carry with me forever. I feel strong about my recovery and positive for the direction my life is going. I have been out now for 2 weeks and feel good, but basically on my own. There have been no follow up calls or emails, and that is disappointing. The Haven is relatively new, and they are still going through changes; I can only hope they are positive ones. They do not include any type of contingency program for relapse as some facilities do. and considering my insurance has paid out over $100,000, I think they could do a better job in being a facilitator of long term patient care. They are pretty much the only inpatient facility in town, so it's a good choice for many, just not the best for all. read more
