Reasons Eating Disorder Center (EDC) at BHC Alhambra Hospital in California offers a number of levels of care and programs for adolescents and adults:
- Inpatient: Inpatient units for adults of all genders (ages 18+), and adolescents of all genders (ages 12-17)
- Residential: Residential homes (6 beds/home) treating adults who are female identifying (including gender-affirming treatment for transgender women)
- PHP: Separate programs for adults of all genders (18+), and adolescents of all genders (ages 12-17). Eight hours a day, six days a week. There is an independent living option for adults.
- IOP: Adults of all genders (18+), and adolescents of all genders (ages 12-17). Four hours a day, six days a week.
- Virtual IOP and PHP options (5 days a week)
Reasons specializes in eating disorders with co-occurring psychiatric disorders (anxiety, depression, trauma, personality disorders), OCD, co-occurring substance abuse (at the inpatient level they offer detox), ARFID, eating disorders in the military (they take Tricare), and eating disorders in individuals with Type 1 Diabetes (Diabulimia),
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Any updates or current reviews? Please post in comments below. You can check out the FAQ and Guidelines for suggested questions. Thank you!
This place is AWFUL. there are ants EVERYWHERE, in the food, beds, etc. mold! claims to be able to handle medical issues but all they do is check vitals in the morning. they try to room you with Ed patients but sometimes you have to room with general psych patients. BHC Alhambra is a very traumatic place and I believe I will have PTSD as a result of my time here.
What are the phone times do you always get to pick your snacks and meals what do they offer for meals and snacks
The phone time is from 7-8 pm every night. Sometimes they would give early phone time if dinner was finished and intentions.
you can pick all your food and snacks. Meals is typical cafeteria food (Mac and cheese, ravioli, pizza, burgers) I believe it was on a week rotation. You grab your food from the cafeteria then walk back to the ED unit.
they had a good variety of snack. You could basically choose whatever you wanted as long as it fit in the exchanges.
I will say, their food philosophy is weird. They don’t let you combine foods they don’t think are appropriate. For example, on Mexican food night if you need an extra carb exchange, you couldn’t just get a bread roll. You had to get tortilla chips or something related to Mexican food. It was really annoying because I struggle with ARFID.
this is as of early 2023, though I believe it should be accurate.
When were you there? August 12, 2024- November 29, 2024
What level(s) of care did you do (e.g., inpatient, residential, PHP, IOP)? Inpatient and Res
If applicable: Is it wheelchair accessible? Inpatient is, the Pasadena res has stairs and a step into the living room so not exactly
How many patients are there on average? I believe we had 13 people in inpatient at one point. I think 15 is the max. In res 6 people was the max.
Does it treat both males and females? Inpatient does. The Pasadena house is for women only while the Arcadia house is mixed gender. San Marino closed down.
If so, is treatment separate or combined? In inpatient it is combined and in res there’s one house for women and one house for all genders
If applicable: Do they support the gender identities of transgender and nonbinary people? I would believe so. I didn’t personally experience this during my time there.
How often do you see a medical doctor, psychiatrist, psychologist (therapist), nutritionist, etc?
IP: doctor: weekly, psychiatrist: daily, therapist: 3 times a week, nutritionist: 2-3 times a week
Res: doctor: as needed (they’ll drive you to inpatient to meet with the doc) psychiatrist: once a week, therapist: 3x a week, nutritionist: 2-3x a week
What is the staff-to-patient ratio? 2 staff for more than 5 patients in res. 2 staff for 5+ patients in IP but there were extra floor staff, therapists, and nurses in the unit
What sort of therapies are used (e.g., DBT, CBT, EMDR, etc.)? DBT and CBT
Describe the average day:
IP: (these are time estimates I don’t remember the exact times lol)
wake up at 7 am, change into gown for weights and vitals, get ready for the day,
7:45- get walked from A2 to the cafeteria to pickup breakfast –
8:00- walk to the ED Unit and have breakfast
8:30- 9:00 am: meds and supplement9:00-9:45 am: process group
10:00-10:15 am: morning snack10:30-11:00 am: group 2
11:00 – 12:00 pm: lunch
12:15- 1:00 pm: group 3
1:00 pm – 2:00 pm: group 4
2:10 – 2:30 pm: small phone time
2:30 – 2:45 pm: afternoon snack
3:00 – 3:45 pm: group 5
4:00 – 4:45 pm: group 6
5:00 – 6:00 pm: dinner
6:15 – 6:30 pm: goals group
7:00 pm – 8:00 pm: phone time
8:15 pm – 8:30 pm: night snack
8:30 pm – 9:00 pm: phone time
9:00 pm – get scanned with metal detector and go back to A2 unit (psych unit) for the night. You will get meds and can shower until lights out at 10:00 pm
Residential is similar but there is only phone time after dinner at 7:00 pm and electronics get picked up at 11 pm. You can go up to your room with your electronics after night snack which is around 9:45 pm. You also wake up earlier. Between 6:00 am to 6:45 am so that patients have enough time to prep their breakfast.
What were meals like?
Inpatient: you had an option between 2 entrees in the cafeteria or a sandwich. You can only have a sandwich once a day- either lunch or dinner. 3 snacks a day.
Res: Patients would prep their own breakfast and lunch according to their meal plan. The diet aide would make the same dinner for everyone. There was a dinner outing once a week. 3 snacks every day.
What sorts of food were available or served?
IP: Breakfast foods (they were on a weekly rotation so not all were available at once): bagels, toast, jelly, PB, pastries, eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, biscuits and gravy, potatoes, French toast, cereal, milk, soy milk, yogurt, granola, cheese omelette, etc.
Lunch and Dinner foods (on a 3 week rotation; it varied sometimes): spaghetti, bread rolls, stuffed shells, manicotti, garlic bread, cake, cookies, chips, sandwich bread, Turkey, cheese, peanut butter, jelly, baked ham, chicken pot pie, mashed potatoes, fries, ice cream, fish sandwich, chicken nuggets, chicken tenders, fish, pizza, baked chicken, rice, rice pilaf, corn, green beans, side salad with dressing, fruit, tacos, flautas, chicken and steak fajitas, beans, corn bread, etc.
Res: (there were so many options, the fridge was always overflowing with food)
Breakfast foods: Pancakes, French toast, waffles, yogurt, fruit, juice, coffee with cream (with approval), bagels, cream cheese, cookie butter, peanut butter, almond butter, granola, instant oatmeal, cereal, milk, sausage, bacon, eggs, etc.
Lunch foods: sandwich bread, Mayo, pesto, pasta sauces, pasta, frozen dinners, beef Patties, chicken patties, burger buns, a huge variety of vegetables and fruits, chips, cookies, quesadillas, soup, rice, etc.
Dinner (made by the diet aide): goat cheese and fig sandwiches, stuffed shells, ham and cheese sliders, gnocchi, enchiladas, meatball subs, curry, lasagna, pasta primavera, burgers, pizza, French toast, chicken and spinach artichoke casserole, bbq chicken, etc.
Did they supplement? How did that system work?
IP and Res: yes they supplemented with ensure. Some people got a handful of nuts or a cliff bar instead.
What is the policy of not complying with meals?
They would encourage you to comply, but I personally never saw them enforcing completion. The worst they’d do is make you sit with the supplement for not finishing your meals or snacks.
Are you able to eat vegetarian?
Yes, they had food options for vegetarians. Veganism was highly discouraged. We had 1 vegan patient in res and they had to buy food just for them.
What privileges are allowed?
IP: reduced bathroom observation, “mock” residential for patients who may not have the option for a residential program or who have been there quite a long time, electronics, 15 mins in the gym
Res: reduced bathroom observation, outings, electronics, unsupervised walks, free access to the kitchen, unsupervised sharps usage
Does it work on a level system?
No
How do you earn privileges?
By completing a contract every week stating the privileges you’d like the team to discuss. Meal completion. Treatment compliance. Improved vitals.
What sort of groups do they have?
Yoga, art therapy, music therapy, movement therapy, creative expression, addictions and compulsions, family dynamics, grief and loss, decision making, nutrition group, baking group (only in Res), body image, etc. (these are some of the ones I remember)
What was your favorite group?
Art therapy! I’m an artist, it was the best way for me to express myself when words weren’t enough. It also distracted me and helped me calm down my anxiety.
What did you like the most?
Certain floor staff in inpatient made my whole stay bearable. The patients I was with. The sense of community between everyone. The creative expression groups.
What did you like the least?
How dirty inpatient was. They never cleaned the bathrooms. There was an ant infestation. The room I was in was always super hot they wouldn’t turn on the AC even though we asked so many times. I would wake up soaked in sweat because of how hot it was and from refeeding. So many worksheets. Repeating groups over and over after a certain time period. One therapist in specific who made us listen to Ted talks and discuss them and would take away our coping mechanisms at times so we could “cope with our emotions without distraction.” In Res I didn’t like how small the kitchen was. Three patients and some staff would prep at the same time and we were always bumping into each other. The kitchen had so many food options it was a bit overwhelming, weird little rules (i wasn’t approved for sharps the first week I was in res and I asked to cut my nails with my nail clipper and they didn’t let me, meanwhile I could do it with supervision in inpatient. I also got the blender snatched away from me the second day I was there because I wasn’t approved for sharps even though someone let me use the blender the day before) the caseworker in res made you do her job aka call clinics, providers, etc. to find step down in care, my therapist got fired in the middle of my stay and then I didn’t have consistent therapists after that, the lack of concern for patients who would discharge without insurance (aka me)
Would you recommend this program?
Only if you urgently need inpatient, or as a last resort for if you have state insurance. Go somewhere else if you have the chance.
What level of activity or exercise was allowed?
IP: yoga group, movement group, and you could be approved for 15 minutes of dance or gym time after dinner
Res: yoga, movement group, 15 minute walks if you were approved for them, I heard of some clients being allowed 30 minutes of gym time, or basketball
What did people do on weekends?
IP: you had groups until about 3:00 pm then you could have your electronics until dinner. You’d have goals group after dinner and then get electronics back. I can’t remember but I think there was visitation on one of the weekend days.
Res: a few groups on Saturday then you could have your phone after. Sunday you could get electronics after breakfast. Visitors were allowed at certain times during the weekend. People would watch movies, color, play board games, do puzzles, crochet, etc.
Do you get to know your weight? No
How fast is the weight gain process? i don’t know. I think I was gaining 2-4 lbs a week? But I was on weight restoration protocol.
What was the average length of stay?
It depends on the person and the insurance. I was in inpatient for 3 months and in res for one month. Other people were in inpatient for 2 weeks and in res for a few months.
What was the average age range?
it varied a lot. I experienced ages from 18 to even someone in their 70s
How do visits/phone calls work?
there were specific visiting days to follow, but you could get specially approved visits if you talked to your therapist first. You could make phone calls during electronics time.
What is the electronics policy (e.g., cell phones, iPods, Kindles, laptops, tablets)?
Cell phones, iPods, tablets, laptops, and things like Nintendo switches were allowed. Only allowed to use during electronics time. I was given permission to make phone calls to insurance, *TW: trauma* domestic violence hotlines *end TW*, and a lawyer in res.
For inpatient/residential: Are you able to go out on passes?
You were allowed to go out on passes in IP to doctor’s appointments if they were approved. I got a special pass to get clothing and lunch with my dietitian and therapist once.
In Res I saw a few patients go out on passes to the social security office, to a funeral, with family for a meal, for a haircut and snack, and even to a cat cafe
What kind of aftercare do they provide?
I don’t know. I didn’t receive any which I always found pretty irresponsible. They discharged me and didn’t set me up with any continuation in care because my ex husband took away my insurance.
Do they help you set up an outpatient treatment team?
If you have insurance yes. You’re going to have to call clinics yourself though and do all the work yourself. I wasn’t sure why they had a case worker if they didn’t help set it up for you.
Are there any resources for people who come from out of state/country?
They pick you up at LAX or Burbank airport if you come from out of state/ the country. They’ll cover an Uber or taxi for you to get to the airport
If applicable: How is the program responding to COVID? (Less patients, virtual programming, no visitors, masks, social distancing, etc)
In the inpatient A2 unit they’d quarantine you to a room at the end of the hall if you tested positive for covid. No other precautions were taken.
Other?
My situation was complicated from beginning to end. I had no facilities that offered inpatient or residential treatment in my state so I worked with Reasons for 2 months to get it approved. They do single case agreements, but that also took a whole month longer than the original step down date I had of September 25th which is why I was in IP for so long. They say they offer a scholarship for those that are unable to pay any further or with extenuating circumstances, but i had an extenuating circumstance (*TW: trauma* my now abusive ex husband quit his job and moved states and as a result I lost insurance coverage. *end TW*) They had me out the door the day I lost insurance coverage. If you have any other questions let me know, I was there so long so I may be able to answer.
Hey Dani, thank you for sharing this honest review. I’m just now coming across it, but I was there at the same time. I’m happy to touch base or answer any additional questions from others.
email: kwilliams4294@gmail.com
run. run as fast as you can. my bed was covered in ants same with the dining tables. moldy showers, bathrooms, walls, water. Horrible staff, breaking religion rights, basic rights, Disability rights and literally HIPPA. im currently trying to sue the f*** out of them rn. DO NOT GO HERE. they throw away all files of any complaints you made while in treatment so if you report them to the DPH (like me) theres no evidence. they get away with literally every form of abuse, neglect and fraud. i hope it gets set on fire (with no one inside) thats the only way to kill those ants (which patients have been complaining about for over five years!)
I don’t know how to unrecommend this place as it deserves . It is so bad I can’t even think about it.
I left San Marino/Arcadia this Wednesday. What a crazy not good program . Let me tell you what happened to me :But for example nurse that was a there was intoxicated she over medicated me
I poop my pants twice because I was ashamed to ask staff for bathrooms because they made comments like ewww that is gross or you going again even though the doctor from the physical told them I take medication for my UC that will make me go
When I poop they would not let me use shower until the night they only let me changed
Thank god director came it was random check
I told her her all of this
The investigated all
I was telling the truth even a guy therapist had relationship with his client and his client was my roommate was purging in the bathroom so I told on her to staff .her therapist said I attacked his client that I’m bully and told me they don’t want ppl like me there
All cuz I did not want her to purge in my bathroom
So that is why I sign ama
But the director was able to changed me to another house
Even the staff at the old house said is not possible
But when I got to the new house one of the staff was at the San Marino covering one night and she created all this stuff .
She treated me like shit
They were talking behind my back about me cuz I told on them to the entire boss of reason **** she was amazing
i believe they worried for lawsuits
I ask the psychiatrist for anxiety medication he said you don’t need it just use You coping skills
Then my last day I had to sleep on couch
And staff and patients at the old house called me Tazmanian Devil), from looney tunes in the kitchen . To this day I’m so stressed out. The only good thing was i got my labs all stable and I was without behaviors for over a 3 weeks and I still did not use behaviors ever sense I got home .
****name redacted by admin per site policy
I am so sorry to hear this. I just left Monte Nido East Bay with very similar RC experiences and treatments. My Kaiser Therapist is wanting to send me to Reasons now! But after reading about your experience, it sounds like the RC’s in these programs are pretty much the same. Low pay, to low level workers , who are on some sort of power trip and enjoy bossing & denying patients basic human rights and needs. On one occasion, I was given an over ripe sliced banana to eat. I asked if I could have a fork to eat it with, and was told “No, eat it with your hands!” I told the Corporate Mgr, my Psychiatrist and the medical Dr what they had said, I expressed that we are here of our own volition to receive help, we are not in a prison facility and should not be treated as such. This has added to my mistrust of medical treatment & I am at a total loss of what to do now.
I walked in, wondering why it’s called reasons and walked out understanding why. If you’re looking for a reason to stay alive stay away . Robbed me of any sense of trust in humanity with their lies and manipulation
Hey I’m here in resi and I cry everyday I just want go home . This place keep you away from everything especially when you come on low weight . Also they tell you when to drink water is called push fluids is crazy . Idk if I should ama ? When you were here
i was at their ip in february 2023. they did push fluids too. I ended up **tw** faking my way through because the staff were extremely mentally and emotionally abusive***END TW***
I signed ama they made me poop myself twice because they shamed me for using bathroom
Hey is happening to me right now
**Update on available Programming and Levels of Care (vs. what is currently listed at top of page)
(I am a Reasons alumni and have been in all of their levels of care. I have been in strong recovery since May 2022, and I have been actively and consistently involved in their alumni groups and events since 2018.)
Inpatient: In addition to the info listed above, as of May 2024 they are able to facilitate supportive NG tube feeding for both adults and adolescents at the Inpatient unit.
**Reasons Inpatient is also one of the very few ED treatment centers that accepts Medicare.
Residential (Adults): 3 houses, each with capacity of 6 patients. The Pasadena and San Marino houses are women only, and the Arcadia house is open to all genders.
PHP/IOP: Since covid, they have not resumed their in-person PHP/IOP programming. They currently only offer Virtual PHP/IOP, and only for California residents. They have separate programming for adults and adolescents. They also offer a short, 2-week “intensive” Virtual program.
**Reasons currently accepts Medicare for Virtual IOP.
• When were you there: 2024
• What level(s) of care did you do (e.g., inpatient, residential, PHP, IOP): inpatient
• If applicable: Is it wheelchair accessible: yes
• How many patients are there on average: 5-8
• What genders does it treat: all
• If applicable: Do they support the gender identities of transgender and nonbinary people: yes
• How often do you see a medical doctor, psychiatrist, psychologist (therapist), nutritionist, nurse, etc: psychiatrist 7x/week, medical doctor as needed, therapist 3x/week, dietitian 2-3x/week, nurse is always around
• What is the staff-to-patient ratio: they are understaffed
• What sort of therapies are used (e.g., DBT, CBT, EMDR, ACT, exposure therapy, somatic experiencing, etc.): DBT, CBT, lots of exposure
• What were meals like: really awkward, i hated being at the table. you sit with staff but they don’t eat, they’re just there to observe and redirect. there was a lot of silence. you get 30 minutes for meals and 15 for snacks. there is a limit to condiments and lots of rules about exchanges and conduct at the table (sleeves rolled up, no napkins on lap, only 2 napkins etc) you go to the cafeteria to pick from 2 options with staff guidance (if you have meltdowns or on rest protocol they remove this privilege). snacks were a big issue for me as the program is largely exposure-based, so you choose your snack in the moment and the calories are on everything which i disliked.
• What sorts of food were available or served: typical hospital food, it was really bad IMO.
breakfast: scrambled eggs, toast, cream of rice, oatmeal, cereal, muffins, bagels, waffle sticks
lunch/dinner: hamburger, corndogs, ribs, orange chicken, chicken pot pie, quiche, beef stew, burritos, chimichangas, tacos, fried fish, lasagna, rice, mashed potatoes, dinner rolls, usually mixed vegetables, you are always able to do a pb+j or turkey sandwich as an alternative 1x/day with no weekly limit.
snacks: poptarts, yogurt, granola, cheese sticks, apple sauce, chips, pretzels, cookies, ice cream, candy, trail mix, crackers, pudding, energy bars, cheez its
• Did they supplement? How did that system work: yes, 50% or less 2 ensure plus, 70% or less 1 ensure plus, more than that 1 ensure original. some people got permission to do clif bars instead. they don’t force you to drink it. 5 minutes for 1, 10 for 2. they have you pour your supplement into a clear cup which was also a huge issue for me because you can see the calories on the bottles.
• What is the policy of not complying with meals: supplement. if you eat very little they will put you on mass gainer/benecal. if they are really concerned they will move you to the actual hospital to get a tube.
• Are you able to eat vegetarian/vegan: vegetarian, yes and they have options in the freezer for protein substitutions. probably not vegan. they also don’t do kate farms.
• What privileges are allowed: not much, it’s a psych ward. less observation for the bathroom but it takes a long time to get that. if your labs are stable and you behave you get one coffee with breakfast. while i was there a client had a contract for meal compliance and group participation that earned her a starbucks drink after a while.
• Does it work on a level system: no
• How do you earn privileges: good behavior, meal compliance and rest compliance, participation in groups
• What sort of groups do they have: DBT, art therapy, yoga, anger, grief, lots of processing, life skills
• What was your favorite group: art therapy
• If applicable: Is the program trauma-informed: i’m going to say no but not sure
• What did you like the most: some of the therapists were really good at their job and led meaningful groups. also the amount of art we did was fun.
• What did you like the least: it’s literally a psych ward so there is very little freedom, the food is not good, the exposure element, some of the staff acts like they don’t want to be there at all, if you’re struggling often they will blame you and your own internal motivation instead of trying to help.
Hi I’m going next week what is the phone rules times . Can you leave ama do they put tube right away im terrified
You get your phone for roughly an hour I think it’s 6:45-7:55 but depends on who’s working. I left AMA but they try really hard to scare you out of that. They are not quick to tube [*TW*] and actually I saw them let someone basically eat nothing for a week before they told her they were going to do it. [*END TW*] Nobody forces you to eat and supplement isn’t mandatory. It’s not a great facility and the therapy wasn’t helpful for me so good luck
my friend say is hell there im going friday idk what to do
honestly I’d go anywhere else but here if you have any options
What insurance do you have? Maybe we can help you brainstorm alternative options <3 That’s one of the things this community is great at!
I got best insurance I’m work for police department I got no copay’s . How are phone rules in resi I’m going to San Marino tomorrow
DO NOT SEND ANYONE YOU LOVE HERE…this place made me 10x worse. i went here with a somewhat open mind about recovery and ended up way worse. they try to bully you into eating by taking away things and threatening to tube you if you don’t eat(i told them i didn’t care) once they began the process of transferring me somewhere u could be tubed they said that i wasn’t receiving treatment anymore because it obviously wasn’t working. by the time i left there i had lost weight and was medically very unstable and had to be hospitalized. they said that they didn’t care anymore the last week i was there and let me fast for XX hours straight and then sent me to the er for fluids, this repeated for nearly 2 weeks. horrible program i hope they shut down.
Hello, I need to go to reasons in San Marino for residential, can you give me any guidelines regarding the agency like for example, how is it sleeping with a roommate, what is the environment there, do they give you any hard times if you want to leave early? for a person who cannot cook do they help you cook for yourself, I don’t know how to cook, I need to go in July but I am not sure if reasons is a good place for me as I have heard many comments who don’t recomend this place. I am nervous any new details can help.
I went to San Marino in April. It was not a good environment how ever it is different for everyone. There was only two of us when I was there (I wonder why) and I tried hard not to leave and gave it two weeks and it was just more harmful to me so I asked to leave and they wouldn’t let me leave and they threaten to put a hold on me (which they can’t do) and threatened if I left I had to be on a hold which once I met with the psychiatrist he told me what staff told me was not accurate. But it was a brutal experience and my mom had to fly from wAshington to let me leave despite me living close by. Staff is on a power trip (see my review below) and their food system is so disordered
Thanks so much
Thank you very much
I was at the Pasadena location, but I will say, that in my experience in terms of cooking, you make/cook breakfast and lunch for yourself, so being able to make/cook basic things is helpful. I found that staff wasn’t very helpful if a patient didn’t know how to cook (at least at the Pasadena location). They would give you idea on what to make but it was up to you ultimately.
Also, I know you talked about the San Marino location, but I personally didn’t get a choice about which location. It was all about which location had an opening. But I was there last year, but perhaps it’s different now!
Thank you very much 🙂
Thank you so much for this info Lexi. Do you think they would allow you to bring a cookbook or print out recipes (obviously assuming they didn’t have nutritional facts in it)? Or would you be allowed to watch Youtube videos with cooking instructions?
Aside from staff being unhelpful for people who didn’t know how to cook, how did you find the rest of the food/meals/meal plan structure? Was it pretty similar to how Nat described it in their review below, or did this location seem different?
You could bring meal ideas (they wanted you to be prepared and recommend having ideas ready) however it had to be fast meals that were made. You had to share the kitchen with 6 people so you had 5-10 minutes to think of something and cook it. and the items you used had to be approved. ( you can’t repeat any item within 72 hours) so like if you had rice or like carrots any type of Bread, egg onion etc in 72 hours and it was in the recipe you couldn’t use it. It was a struggle trying to come up with meals or snacks because they classify so many things as similar stuff. Like if you had a turkey sandwich at lunch you couldn’t have anything with any type of bread in it for 72 hour even if it’s a different type of bread. So like no burrito taco wrap ect for exactly 72 hours. Or if you had any type of berry and you needed a fruit you would have to go down the line of fruit they had because of the repeat rule. Everything had to match too so if you needed an extra protein or something you couldn’t just add a cheese stick because it’s a “snack food”. I like that you could make your own food there but it was like pulling teeth trying to find something “appropriate” or that didn’t have anything you didn’t have with exactly 72 hours. And yes the check, extremely closely.
all the locations have the same rules. They have similar staff that rotate through the houses and they go by a rule book
as for watching YouTube videos there’s no phones until after dinner. Unless it was on a weekend. And if it was on a weekend and you wanted to cook something with a video they would prob make you get it approved by a therapist to have a staff let you watch it on their phone because they don’t allow phones in the kitchen because of not being able to monitor stuff. So your best bet is to print it
sorry if I put my two cents in but hope it was helpful
You know, I’m not totally sure if they would allow one to bring a cookbook or recipes to be honest. They have some meal ideas posted on a piece of paper in the kitchen, at least they did when I was there. However, the time one gets to actually make breakfast or lunch is limited and really depends on the number of patients in the house. At one point when I was there, the res house I was at was full (6 clients), so it was usually 2-3 clients in the kitchen at once trying to prep meals. It could get a bit overwhelming with all the people and the amount of time you would get to actually prep wasn’t very long. I think I remember it being max 30 minutes to prep. So in terms of bringing recipes/cookbook pages, I don’t think there would be time for super elaborate cooking.
The meal plan structure is based on exchanges, which I personally had a hard time with as it had been a while since I’d been in a treatment center that used exchanges. Yes, Nat did a great job at describing the food/meals/meal plan structure! I echo what Nat said in their review – I also found measuring all my food (and fluids) with measuring cups/spoons and food scales to be triggering and very disordered.
Hi Lexi I have a question, how was it living with a roommate? l Thank you for your response I wanted to get more opinions about reasons as all places of reasons have negative reviews. Thanks for your help…
Hi Karina! I personally found living with a roommate to be nice. You’re only in your room at night and in the morning, but you get to know who your roommate is from day 1. I found that whenever someone new came, another client would know that they would be the new client’s roommate and were very quick to introduce themselves and welcoming the new client :).
Thank you Lexi 🙂
Thank you very much for your input it was very much helpful. I have heard that reasons is not a very good environment to help people who have eating disorders and I was very much debating of whether I should go or not. One of the reviews said that it helped little but now she binge eats and especially now that she is craving fast food now, which to me, is no good. For me it seems that they are only interested in making money. Thanks…
hi! this is for residential not IP
1) i’ve read the reviews and it seems like some people like it but the general consensus is it’s rly strict. in what ways is it strict?
2) are they 100% hard and fast about having dessert for snack every night? that really scares me
3) how aggressive are they with weight gain? does anyone know how they determine goal weight? if you come in at a healthy bmi (by the bmi standards, not like what’s healthy for u) do u still have to gain weight?
4) what’s the policy for non compliance/refusal of food or supplements?
5) are they nice or are they just like strict and mean? i don’t like being told what to do and am afraid i would get mad and like beef w the staff (for the record i’m not like crazy, i’ve been to res before and didn’t cause problems but i’m just scared cuz i’ve read this place is strict)
6) overall, would you recommend?
thank you!
dessert is a must no question asked. Sometimes places work on you but they are stick in stone in their ways. I had to weight restore but they will allow people to maintain as long as that’s what your team wants and feels your healthy at your current weight but still the meal plans are pretty big for everyone so it’s hard to not gain something. Refusual in meals is just sitting with a supplement for 5-10 minutes. And the staff is just plain mean lol. Like I’ve been to so many residentials before some of my favorite staff has been extremely strict just the staff here is just plain cold mean and rude where it’s not just strict it’s pretty cruel how they treat people. Like this one person has ptsd because she had a stalker and would close her curtains because she was paranoid and this one staff member thought it would be so funny to take their curtains away as a “exposure” and like would say it was an exposure but laugh about “having to do it” the poor girl was petrified. Like it’s so sick how they treat people. I get Ed centers need to be strict but there’s a line been strict and just plain cruel. I came here because it was stricter than like cfd or Alsana but the staff was just so mean and I wasn’t going to put up with it. I tried so hard to stay, but after one thing a staff did to me It drew the line and I left out of my own mental health. Overall I wouldn’t recommend unless you have a really really thick skin and need like boot camp level strictness and can handle like no compassion no working where your At treatment. Like most places will try to wait before they work on certain things but as they say “it’s an exposure based treatment center” so the minute you walk in you start the exposures and stuff and expected to do the same as those who have been there a few days. And be ok with some staff being cruel. There were like one staff that was nice she was extremely strict but the rest no. So just make sure before you go there that you can handle it. They also believe in self regulation so if you need additional support staff can’t support you because they want you to “learn how to self regulate” and people would sometimes have panic attacks or cry and staff wouldn’t acknowledge them unless the left the room and staff would then harass them they needed to be in line of sight.
hey thank you. which location and dates?
Reasons inpatient 2019
and San Marino March/April this year
Location: San Marino
I went to the San Marino location and I can’t speak on the other houses but each one has different but similar rules. This program might be good for people who need extreme strictness but It was not helpful for me. I can see it maybe being helpful for someone who needs tough love. But for someone who needs a nurturing environment, I don’t recommend this place. This is not a program to meet you where your at under any circumstances even if it’s just your first day, or will work with you where your at. It’s not the place to go unless your ready for extreme strict rules, and none to little compassion.
They say it’s an exposure based program and will remind you that multiple times a day so be ready on your first day to be challenged and expected to be ready for the multiple daily exposures. They believe in self regulation, so multiple clients who would have breakdowns/panic attacks/flashbacks and are expected to self regulate by themselves. No going to your room or out of staff sight. staff is not supposed to talk or sooth you. You have to self regulate by yourself lol.
You prep your meals on day one and measure everything down to the water you drink it can’t be over it can’t be under. You use measuring cups to measure everything including your water it has to be exactly at the line, we also use food scales so if you have chips and you need 1oz it has to be 1oz exactly. Sometimes it literally would be .99 and they would make you break a chip to make it 1oz even if it’s over they will make you break a chip and throw it out to make it 1oz. Which was really hard for me with my ocd and for a place that talks sooo much about not being distorted, I felt distorted measuring my water and random things.
There is multiple daily exposures. Tuesday, wednesday and Sunday is take out. (One is worlds eats which is something cultural, and the others is a fast food or something else) They don’t tell you the place until two hours before dinner to pick your dinner. They only give you like three options from the menu. Usually the dinners are the same for everyone. Friday is exposure snack, one week is savory and the next week will be sweet. They don’t tell you what it is until you sit down and they bring it in from the other room. It’s not based on your meal plan everyone gets the same (Examples: banana splits, milkshake , churros, tacos, fries) Saturday is baking group and you make something for night snack and your required to eat what you made no matter what for night dessert. Dessert is every day at night snack and it has to be an appropriate dessert (icecream, dessert cookies, candy ect) if you have a lot of exchanges you must have something that matches each other like if you had skittles which is one exchange you must have all skittles or another sugary candy (no having skittles and a cookie or anything that isn’t the same) they also will do blind exposures where in the moment when you are in the kitchen they will tell you you have to do an exposure fear snack/lunch from the list of fear/challenge foods you prepare your first week with your dietitian. And you have no warning.
they also have a 72 hour no repeating rule. So let’s say you had cereal for breakfast no cereal even if it’s a different type until literally 72 hours they check everything. Or if you had a turkey sandwich one day you can’t have anything like a sandwich (hot dog, hamburger, wrap, pb&j/ anything with bread and something in it) for 72 hours. So it’s hard to find something sometimes or like if you want fruit you have to be creative and find different fruits because if you have an apple you can’t have an apple for three days. A lot of things are considered similar too which is stupid.
A lot of things have rules like if you have a sandwich/hamburger/hot dog IT MUST HAVE A COOKIE AND CHIPS even if you have met all your exchanges it’s an extra and required, no half sandwich even if you only have 1 exchange carbs for lunch, and sandwiches must have a spread. So a lot of the time you go 2-5 extra exchanges over your meal plan. If you have pasta or any Italian food it must be paired with garlic bread! if you have Indian food it must be paired with naan bread. Mexican food must have chips and guacamole or rice or beans even if it’s extra exchanges. Bagels can only have cream cheese or peanut but no other spread. If you have toast the spread had to match with your breakfast, toast can’t have cream cheese, it can only have peanut butter, butter or jelly.
You can’t have inappropriate lunch combinations so no snack items for meals. ( if your missing a protein you couldn’t add a cheese stick or cheese unless it was like a sandwich and you could only add a cheese slice) like once I had a frozen Indian meal and I needed another protein so I had to add some of the frozen chicken from the fridge and add naan bread. Or if you have Mac and cheese and still needed something it would have to be another serving. Everything must match. Each staff has a different definition of what matches which sucks.
Everything has to fit on one plate. You can’t have more then one plate. So a lot of foods will mix together which sucks because if you had fruit or bread sometimes it would leak onto each other. I dont struggle with food touching until here, because this was so extra because it’s hard to fit everything on one plate and it was just gross when things would leak on to each other or onto bread. Or the juices of other things mix together. If you have cereal you have to pour ALL the milk into the cereal before you enter the dining room because you can’t have more than the water cup and plate. So by the time you start eating after check ins and everyone getting to the table your cereal is soggy so it’s not worth having cereal for breakfast sometimes.
every thing here is considered diet food there no sun chips, oatmeal, brown rice, wheat bread, no avocados toast, guacamole can only be with chips or on tacos nothing else, no Greek yogurt, no plain anything, no soup unless it’s an extra, no smoothies, no tuna, no veggies unless it’s cooked in oil or with a dip, nothing popped or baked, no black coffee (if you get approved which takes weeks) but if you do it must be with cream, anything that has a negative or healthy food connotation is banned.
I woke up to go bathroom my first day at 3am and wasn’t thinking and accidentally flushed the toilet and they made me add two ensure pluses to breakfast because of the rule if you flush even on accident any time of the day they add 2 ensure pluses to your meals. No matter the circumstances. Even if it’s your first day, they are supposed to tell you that but they didn’t tell me that and still made me sit with it “because it’s protocol” Like we’re human and make mistakes they literally have the door cracked and can hear everything so like they know I’m not doing anything and it was my second day so I wasn’t use to not flushing. It’s so cruel we are not robots who can be perfect all day long and shouldn’t be punished with food.
You can’t wear hoodies anything baggy, everything must be fitting and “your size”nothing too revealing, nothing that is considering “hiding yourself” no tank tops, ect, no blankets, no putting your feet up at any time feet must be on the floor all day even in groups or they will start supplementing you if you put your feet up during groups (which is so beyond stupid) I brought a lot of clothes and only 3 of my outfits were not banned. Hands must be at the table at all times. No resting your head at the table, or not having your head up.
You will be redirected at least a few times each in an hour for any little small thing, even down to putting you hand in your head both hands not on the table your feet not being on the floor at all times. By the end of the day I just felt defeated and like a piñata because you walk on egg shells everything is not ok, and staff makes rules as they go along
This post relates to the adult programs (18+), not the adolescent programs!
When were you there? July – August 2022
What level(s) of care did you do (e.g., inpatient, residential, PHP, IOP)? IP and res
If applicable: Is it wheelchair accessible? IP is, but the house I was at for res was not, as there are stairs to the bedrooms. However, there is one bedroom/bathroom on the first floor
How many patients are there on average? IP can vary. In the 8 days I was there, we never got to more than 5 or 6. But I did heard from other patients who had been to IP before me that they have been there when there was 15+ patients. In res, there’s only 6 patients at a time max.
Does it treat both males and females? Yes
If so, is treatment separate or combined? In IP, treatment is combined. In res, there are 2 houses for those who identify as women and 1 house that is mixed gender.
If applicable: Do they support the gender identities of transgender and nonbinary people? The patients I was in IP with at that time all identified as cis-gender, so I’m not sure how they support those in IP. In res, there were patients who used they/them pronouns and I found staff to be respectful of that
How often do you see a medical doctor, psychiatrist, psychologist (therapist), nutritionist, etc? IP: 3 times a week (therapist), twice a week (dietician), every day (psychiatrist), on admission and then as needed (medical doctor). Res: 3 times a week (therapist), twice a week (dietician), once a week (psychiatrist), on admission and then as needed (medical doctor). I will say, with regards to the medical doctor, if you are in res, it can be difficult to see the medical doctor since staff has to take you back to the hospital to see the doctor, since the doctor doesn’t come to the res houses. Usually, if you are having some medical issue(s), they just call the doctor and he or she makes recommendations over the phone or you’ll have to see a specialist in CA while in treatment.
What is the staff-to-patient ratio? IP: I’m not totally sure. I think it really depends on how many patients there are IP at one time. I know the ratio changes overnight when the Reasons staff/nurses leave and Reasons patients are under the care of the psych nurses. In res, I can’t remember the exact ratio either.
What sort of therapies are used (e.g., DBT, CBT, EMDR, etc.)? Mostly DBT and some CBT.
Describe the average day:
I know that the times I listed aren’t 100% correct as I can’t remember, but wanted to give a general idea! Also, the schedule listed below is for res. I can’t remember the exact schedule for IP)
6-6:15 am: wake up
6:15 am-6:30 am: weights and vitals
6:30-7:30 am: bathrooms unlocked to get ready for the day. If you are 24 hour bathroom obs (which everyone is when you first admit), a staff has to be standing out the door. That can get annoying in the morning when staff is also doing things to start the day
7:30 am: breakfast prep starts. There’s either one or 2 groups, depending on how many patients are in the house at the time
8 or 8:30 am (ish): breakfast
9 am: group
10:00 am: push fluids #1 (this is basically 10 minutes where you have to drink a cup of water (or more or less depending on your fluid protocol and what’s listed on your meal plan). If you don’t like plain water, you can get the dietician to approve you adding Mio flavor drops to your water. In IP, some people picked Gatorade over the flavor drops, but I don’t remember Gatorade being allowed in res.
10:15 am (or so): AM snack prep
10:30 am: AM snack
11 am: group
12 pm: lunch prep starts (again, it’s either one or 2 groups)
12:30 or 1 pm (ish): lunch
2 pm: group
2:50 or 3 pm (can’t remember): push fluids #2
3 or 3:15 pm: PM snack prep and snack
4 pm: group
5 pm: group
6 or 6:15 pm: dinner plating (dinner is the meal that prepared every night, so you just plate this meal)
7 pm (or so): vitals and can check out electronics
Sometime between 8-9 pm (can’t remember): HS snack prep and then snack. For HS snack, you have to have a dessert type item (such as baked goods, ice cream, candy, cake, etc). They do this to challenge the ED and try to normalize eating dessert type foods. On Saturday and Sunday nights, you have to have the baked good that was made over the weekend during baking group.
After snack: bathrooms unlocked to get shower/get ready for bed, can go into bedrooms
11 pm: electronics checked back in for the night (most patients, or the ones I was with at the time, were asleep by this time, so staff would come into rooms quietly to collect electronics and put them away. If you are still awake, staff will tell you it’s time for return electronics)
What were meals like? (This only applies to res. Options for IP are listed below that). Meals were varied. There were various different types of available foods for breakfast, snacks and lunch (see the next question for more info on that). Dinner was made most nights by the diet aide with a client’s help. One night a week was a dinner “inning” where dinner is ordered from a restaurant in the area. On that day, the diet side comes around with the menu for the specific restaurant for that night and you pick what you want, based on the menu and the requirements you have to meet. For this night, you eat to fullness and then check in with staff to see if you have had enough based on your meal plan. Another night during the week, the diet aide cooks dinner alone based on food from a different country. They print out facts about that country for everyone to read while eating and talk about it. In addition, there is also challenge snack every week. The dietician picks out PM snack and everyone eats the same thing.
For IP: breakfast, lunch and dinner is normal hospital food. For snacks, there are different options in the kitchen.
What sorts of food were available or served? (The examples listed below only apply to res. IP options are listed below that) Breakfast examples: cereal, milk, yogurt, fruit, muffins, bagels, cream cheese, eggs, toast, hash browns, sausage, items to make breakfast sandwiches, etc. Lunch examples: sandwich fixings, mini pizzas, variety of frozen meals, salad fixings, different salad dressings, veggies, fruit, nut butters/Nutella, etc. Snack examples: cheese and crackers, yogurt and fruit, fruit and nut butter or Nutella, pop tarts, candy, chocolate, ice cream, muffins, pastries of different kinds, cookies, baked goods, goldfish, etc.
For IP: meals is normal hospital food, snacks are similar to examples listed above.
Did they supplement? How did that system work? (This applies to both IP and res). Yes, they do supplement with Ensure. The amount of supplement you get is based on the percentage of what you eat of your meal/snack. Staff tells you which Ensure to take from the fridge (either regular Ensure or Ensure Plus, you can pick the flavor you want) and you pour it into a cup while staff watches. To be honest, that part was super triggering for me to be able to see the nutrition label personally. Some people also get the option of supplementing with a Cliff bar. Also, if you are diabetic, they use Glucerna to supplement.
What is the policy of not complying with meals? The dietician will try to work with you, at least that was my experience in both IP and res. I had a really hard with completing and complying in IP, so my dietician there did some adjustments to my meal plan to make it easier and less overhead. In res, if one continues to struggle, I think they could send you to IP or the medical hospital. But I’m not sure, as that never happened while I was in res.
Are you able to eat vegetarian? Yes. I know there were several patients in IP and res with me who were vegetarian, but not if its ED related.
What privileges are allowed? (For res) Electronics nightly and on weekends, decreased bathroom obs as you go through the program, yoga, going on short walks (eventually). In IP, its electronics, yoga, decreased bathroom obs
Does it work on a level system? No – you earn privileges based on progress, stability medically and nutritionally, and decrease in behavior use (for both res and IP)
How do you earn privileges? Every week, you fill out a contract for staff to go over during treatment team. On there you can write desired privileges and it’s up to staff to approve or deny them (for both IP and res)
What sort of groups do they have? IP: art therapy, drama therapy, music therapy, resilience, DBT, self-compassion, yoga, and others. Res: same as above plus a few others I can’t remember
What was your favorite group? Music therapy or yoga! The music therapist and the yoga teacher are SO nice and so good at what they do. Everyone looked forward to those groups every week.
What did you like the most? Music therapy, yoga, the people I was on treatment with
What did you like the least? The majority of the groups, the strictness/certain rules in res and the way res did certain things (I can go into detail if anyone wants without being triggering) and the IP environment (during the day, you are only with Reasons patients and staff. At night, you sleep on the general psych ward and while they *try* to keep Reasons patients on one side of the psych unit, that’s not always the case. Because it’s a psych unit, doors have to stay open all night which gets annoying with the hall light coming into the room all night plus 15 minute checks from overnight nurses who are NOT quiet when they come in the room and shine a bright light on you most of the time – sleeping was difficult. Plus, with it being a psych unit, it was common to hear yelling or screaming most nights)
Would you recommend this program? Not at all. I was there less than month (IP and res combined). I have never left AMA from a program before and seriously thought about doing so from Reasons. The only reason I didn’t was because I was scared my outpatient team wouldn’t see me and Reasons telling me my insurance may not cover more treatment if needed if I left AMA.
What level of activity or exercise was allowed? Gentle yoga every week (in IP) and 3x a week (res). Some people got to go on walks with staff, but that didn’t usually happen till someone was near the end of the time in res. For both IP and res, any sort of stretching (ED related or not) and pacing is a no-no and staff will call you out.
What did people do on weekends? Weekends in IP are the same as during the week. In res, on Saturday’s, groups end before lunch, so you get electronics for the afternoon. Sundays in res, there’s no groups, so you get electronics after breakfast/all day. On weekends in res, most people took naps, used electronics, sat outside if it was nice, read, watched movies/TV shows, crochet/knit, colored, puzzles, board games, etc.
Do you get to know your weight? No
How fast is the weight gain process? I’m not sure.
What was the average length of stay? Really depends. I was in IP for 8 days and then my insurance cut me to res and I got 29 days in res before my insurance cut me again. But others were there for months, it really depends.
What was the average age range? When I was there, 18-30’s mostly. At the end of my stay, there was one of woman in her 50’s though.
How do visits/phone calls work? You can make phone calls when you have electronics. Visits were still not happening when I was there because of COVID. I’m unsure what it looks like now.
What is the electronics policy (e.g., cell phones, iPods, Kindles, laptops, tablets)? You can bring cell phones, tablets, laptops, etc. But you can only use them during electronics times. I was allowed my phone occasionally to make quick phone calls related to school things or cancelling at home appointments.
For inpatient/residential: Are you able to go out on passes? No because of COVID
For PHP/IOP: What support do they provide outside of programming hours? Unsure – I didn’t do PHP/IOP. At the time I was there, both were fully virtually and only available for California residents.
What kind of aftercare do they provide? Do they help you set up an outpatient treatment team? I had an outpatient treatment team already, so I’m not sure if they help set one up.
Are there any resources for people who come from out of state/country? I’m not sure
If applicable: How is the program responding to COVID? (Less patients, virtual programming, no visitors, masks, social distancing, etc) When I was there, it was no visitors or outings/passes, mask wearing (although not enforced by staff in either IP or res), social distancing (again, not enforced)
Other? I’m happy to answer any questions about anything I wrote – I can provide my email (if that’s allowed, Rachel!) for people who have more questions! Also, this review is only based on MY experience. I know everyone’s experience is different!
Also, forgot to mention: I was at the Pasadena location for res
Can you email me
Lexi – if you reply with your email address so that Anonymous can reach out to you, I will redact it as soon as you two get in touch so that it doesn’t stay up!
Anonymous – Just so you know: unless the author you are replying to has already said they are open to communicating off-site, for a number of reasons (legal, member safety, community safe space, boundaries, peer pressure, retraumatization/accidentally provoking the fawn trauma response) I can’t approve posts where someone directly asks another person to email them. Obviously since Lexi said they are up for emailing, I approved this reply! 🙂 However I can’t approve some of your other ones. If you resubmit some of your replies to other people but leave out the request for personal contact and ask your questions in your reply, I will gladly approve them asap! Or you can make a post asking if anyone is up for emailing with you.
Yes, I’m happy to provide my email! It’s [redacted]
I will provide my email 🙂
Hi I am currently in another ED treatment center as i write this. I have looked honestly everywhere to find somewhere to help my ED. I have OSFED so my questions about Reasons are
How often do meals repeat? I need more then one exposer to learn to like the food.
Are they neurodivergent friendly? I have autism and learn in a non conventional way and would need help in groups
Are they ADA compliant? I have a task trained service dog who will accompany me.
What is the electronic rules? I like to fall asleep reading on my phone.
Meals repeat every three days. The dietitian may allow you to repeat a food exposure every two days if you ask. You will prepare all of your meals and snacks in the kitchen yourself. A mental health technician will monitor you as weigh and measure every morsel of food before it touches you plate. For evening snacks, you will be required to eat candy or some other dessert item every night. Electronics are returned to patients in the evening between 5:00 PM – 9:00 PM. I don’t remember the exact time. At 11:00 P.M. You will be expected to return your phone to the nurses’ station or a mental health technician will enter your room and take it from you. In my experience, Reasons is not neurodivergent friendly. I asked to leave after two days and was kicked out after six. I doubt they are ADA-compliant. You would need to call them and ask if they will accommodate your service dog.
-Meals repeat but they will not let you eat the same thing over and over.
-I am autistic + ADHD and did not find them ND friendly at all. I’ve never gone through an ABA program, but based on what I’ve read about it, Reasons has strong ABA vibes.
-I was there with somebody who had a service dog and they were great about it. She was allowed to bring her dog everywhere with her and all of the patients and staff adored the dog.
Reasons is really into strict rules and structure and the treatment team will push you super hard. In 2019 I spent 5 months bouncing around between levels of care all the way from IOP to inpatient and personally found the program to be a real mixed bag. I learned a lot of really useful skills there but the approach that my treatment team took with me was so harsh and strict that I didn’t really absorb any of it until long after I left the program and processed it all. I am extremely stubborn and tend to dig my heels in when I’m pushed too hard and that really clashed with the really aggressively exposure-based nature of the program. At the time I mostly just needed compassion and kindness more than anything else, and with the exception of a handful of mental health workers, I did not really feel a lot of that while I was there. However, I met some people who said the program worked super well for them and totally turned their lives around, so it really just comes down to what your temperament is and what kind of support you need IMO. If you’re looking for a gentler and more flexible approach I would recommend Bright Road Recovery in Claremont. I went there after Reasons and had a great experience with them. I found the treatment team to be very kind and caring and they were very willing to do things at my pace and on my terms.
Ezra would you be willing to do a review of Bright Road Recovery? https://edtreatmentreview.com/bright-road-recovery/
*TW: tubes*
I heard they can only tube two people at a time is this true and how does that work?
Yes they can only have two people on tubes at a time usually those who come in on one.
Describe the average day:Everyone sleeps on the [female] psych unit and the EDO unit is a different building. Everyone gets woken up for weights and vitals between 6:40-7:00am (depending on which staff are working) and you have until around 7:40am to finish getting ready for the day. If staff plates for you, you wait at the nursing station or head to the unit first and everyone else heads to the cafeteria. After getting the trays, everyone heads to the unit for the day and don’t go back to the other unit until around 9pm. The day is essentially breakfast, group, AM snack, group, lunch, group, PM snack, 2 groups, dinner, electronics time after goals group, HS snack, electronics time until it’s time to head back to the psych unit. Everyone gets wanded with a metal detector before going back. You have until around 10pm to get ready for bed.
Hi anyone that has been to the inpatient program have any up to date info on the program? This is the only inpatient that would take me in and I’m admitting on Monday. I’m wondering if they tube? Also is this more hospital based or how does it work. I’ve never been inpatient and I’m terrified. Also curious, is the ED ward mixed with the psychiatric ward?
Yes and they tube as of a month ago for adolescence and adults they haven’t until recently it is mixed with psych only for sleeping but you go to the ed building for meals and snacks but it’s low key scary because it’s like a scary psych hospital hopefully your experience is better it depends but it’s gross there and the nurses don’t give a care if psych people come into your rooms or bother you but you should be fine they treat Ed patients better and on a pedal stool depending on who’s night staff
reasons has res and ip. ip is based on bhc alhambra which is a phsyc ward. reasons is kind of towards the back, there is multiple locked gates you have to walk through. it’s a locked facility.
reaosns apparently does tube, but as a previous commenter said they wait a while until they tube.
this program is very punishment based. with my peers, if they didn’t complete, the staff would take away privledges, refuse to let them call their family. or i was being loud apparently ( i am on the asd spectrum) so to try to use “positive inforcement” they took all my stuff, made me be in a gown. it wasn’t even in a safety way. they even took my paper stars.
ok so if your adolescent, you would sleep on the adolescent general unit. the ed people kind of have rooms seperate from the mh people. the adults go to A2, which is a unit. i don’t know much more about it. but bacially you only sleep with the phsyc people, you are in the reasons place nextdoor from like breakfast to after pm snack. all the below reviews are accurate, so it can give you an idea.
good luck on your recovery!
TW. i saw in a past review that reasons takes a long time to tube. I am looking for a center that can facilitate that if needed. any recent reviews?
They have a terrible marketing team is one thing I’ve noticed.
Also If you have a baby eating disorder and love rules and structure this place could be what you need.
Any reviews from 2024 or late 2023?
I’m going Thursday I need assistance
Email me if you want. Just discharged
What is your email ? I’m going on Friday . I have mix feeling after reading all this negative reviews about this program . I’m flying from CT and idk if is worth it .
Hello! I was wondering if anyone has been to the Arcadia house recently and can give me a full review please. I am going soon and am really nervous. Thank you so much!!
does anyone have any experiences with their virtual iop? im a normal weight? how r they with weight restoration? what is the usual admission time , like how long is it usually until discharge?
Had anyone been there within the past two months who can give an overall review of their residential? Would you recommend? Or is dying better? Also which house is better?
dying is never better!!! don’t give up. even if you’ve tried before, even if other people haven’t liked a program, sometimes things align and it just works for you. keep trying <3
Has anyone been to the resident Al recently?
I have an assessment with reasons this week. I’m kind of apprehensive because I had an extremely traumatic experience with their inpatient. But their residential in in a house and seems to fit more of my needs. But I’m hoping and heard it’s a little better than inpatient. I have limited options because my insurance is difficult
Do NOT come here. The EDO staff is borderline abusive and entirely neglectful. If they don’t like you they will bully you. I’d advise almost any other program than this.
Do they do Ng tubes if you are struggling?
No they do not. If you don’t eat, they’ll send you to the er to get tubed
Does anyone have recent reviews for the ip adolescents? I’m admitting tomorrow, have heard some pretty bad things.
Does Reasons have apartment/housing for people who do PHP with them?
I was recommended for Reasons residential level of care last week. I have a few question that I’m hoping someone is open to answering!
I asked admissions how they decide who goes into which res house. They said it’s based on the fact that 2 of the houses are for clients who identify as female and the house doesn’t allow clients who identify as male. Is that true? That seemed like interesting criteria to me.
In terms of the 3 houses, from the reviews I’ve read on here, they all sound very different from one another and each house works better for some clients than others. I could be wrong, but that’s just the sense I got. For anyone who has been there recently, how do you find this playing out?
I have read from reviews that the groups offered are DBT, CBT, ACT, yoga and dance/movement therapy, as well as process groups. Is the program mainly rooted in skills-based groups? I’m not meaning or trying to sound annoying, I’ve been just at a good amount of programs that are skills-based and at this point in my recovery, that’s not what I need.
Admissions told me that you see your therapist 2x a week, plus a family session if needed, dietician 1 or 2x a week, and a medical doctor 1x a week. Is that still accurate? What about a psychiatrist?
I also asked admission what kinds of modalities the therapists are trained in (other than DBT. CBT, and ACT). The response I got was that Reasons has “trained somatic therapists who do things like yoga and dance/movement therapy”. She may not have understood what I was asking. I meant modalities like EMDR, any sort of modalities used to help those with attachment trauma/struggles, etc. Are any of the therapists trained in those kinds of things?
I’m so, so sorry for all the annoying questions! I’m just at a point where I have been to treatment a lot and at this point, know what works best for me and what doesn’t. Thanks for answering in advance!
Location: Pasadena (Residential)
I was recently discharged from Reasons Pasadena house and I had a terrible time there. I lasted less than a week. I’m not sure if my discharge was AMA or if it was mutually agreed that I was not a good fit for the program. Either way, I went AWOL, was picked up by the police, and transported via ambulance to BHC Alhambra Hospital inpatient unit on a 5150 hold. Here’s a list of what I liked and disliked about the place off of the top of my head. I’m happy to answer any questions.
Pros:
• High staff to patient ratio
• Maximum of 6 patients admitted per house
• Compassionate nursing staff. (***, ***, and *** were some of my favorites.)
• *** the yoga instructor is incredible
• *** the dietician is tough but fair. She worked with me to create a pre-planned meals so that I wasn’t too overwhelmed with deciding what to eat during meal prep time.
• They let you do your makeup and wear pretty much whatever you want provided it’s not too revealing. (I was told to change out of a crop top.)
• Lots of puzzles and activities to keep your mind occupied.
• Groups all day during the week so you stay busy.
• Nice backyard to sit and relax.
Cons:
• They do not support a vegan lifestyle. The dietician allowed me to pre plan vegan meals and snacks during my first week, but said they would be gradually fazed out. This naturally caused me some anxiety.
• You must wait 72 hours to repeat a meal or snack. The dietician temporarily gave me a 48 hour window to wait to repeat meals/snacks, but this was tough for me because as a vegan the options for what I was willing to eat were extremely limited.
• Alliances are quickly formed living in such a small group. It was a challenge for me to fight feelings of alienation and loneliness even with people around to talk to.
• The temperature in the house was hardly ever regulated. It was almost always too cold or too hot. You will want to bring a pullover sweater or cardigan without deep pockets (in which you could potentially hide food) to wear.
• The Pasadena house is probably the least glamorous of the 3 locations. The could use some upgraded furniture and decor in my opinion, especially in the living room.
• Terrible, terrible Wi-Fi. Best spot to connect was in the backyard for some reason.
• Learning to ask for a “flush check”. As an adult getting used to asking another sometimes younger than me adult to look at what deposited in the toilet before I was allowed to flush was an enormous source of embarrassment.
***names removed by admin per site policy
Does anyone whose been here know if Reasons residential is able to accommodate dairy free subs for dairy allergies/intolerance? Like not by taking lactaid, but full substitute dairy free milk, yogurt, cheese, etc?
If you have a true dairy allergy they will provide you with dairy free products to consume. If you are wanting dairy free products in support of a vegan lifestyle the only dairy free product they will allow you to consume is soy milk as a protein or dairy exchange.
Has anyone recently been to either the San Marino or Arcadia residential locations that would be willing to provide a review? I have heard a lot of mixed things from past clients and it seems like people’s experiences really depend on the location so any information about either of these (not Pasadena) would be super helpful and appreciated. Thanks!
I actually went to both these houses recently! (Won’t say when because I don’t want to be recognized) I think that it’s REALLY dependent on what you need. For instance, some clients did super well while others didn’t, it’s all depending on your needs. I will say I prefer Arcadia treatment wise. I love the staff at San Marino though. If you’re at least somewhat compliant and want to get better, it’ll be a good experience. San Marino really pushes getting you to be accountable for yourself, and they specifically try to not over-care for you so that you can learn to manage your own issues. So that’s great if you need the space to explore responsibility, bad if you need extra support or high needs. Arcadia is a little more relaxed, they expect you to speak up if you need things and ask for challenges, which is great if you are trying to take recovery at your own pace, bad if you’re trying to just fake it till you make it. Overall reasons res is great, but only if a part of you wants recovery. They don’t force anyone to get better, for instance there’s no consequences of you don’t finish supplements after not eating. Plus no level system or anything. Definitely worth a try
Thank you so much for responding, this is super helpful! Would you be willing to answer some more questions about each one so I can get a sense of whether they would be a good fit for me? Either here or via email, whatever would be easier, but of course no pressure if you’re not comfortable.
Anonymous, thanks again for sharing this and I don’t mean to be pushy or anything, but I just wanted to try asking again in case you didn’t see my first reply. Would you be willing to answer some more questions about the treatment? Of course it’s whatever you would be comfortable with and no pressure to answer anything you don’t want to, I would just really like to get a sense of what it’s like day to day and how meals/snacks work, stuff like that. My email is freemodrebern22@gmail.com if it would be easier to communicate there, otherwise I can ask my questions here. Let me know whether you’d be open to this. 🙂
Hi, thanks so much for providing this info. I’m going to San Marino on Monday and I’m kinda desperate for more information as far as how stuff works and goes day to day/hour to hour. I would be incredibly grateful if you wouldn’t mind taking the time to answer some of my questions before Monday? Whatever you would be comfortable with if course, just mainly related to meals/snacks/food in general and how that works, and the general carry out of the program throughout the day (like do groups actually happen, are they organized or kinda chaotic, etc) and whether they are more rigid in general or relaxed and willing to work with you. I really need this to work, I can’t afford to go into another bad treatment experience so I’m very nervous and would be massively grateful for anything else you could share. Either here or feel free to email me a response at freemodrebern22@gmail.com.
Thank you and I hope you are doing well!
When were you there?
• February 2022-late March 2022
What level(s) of care did you do (e.g., inpatient, residential, PHP, IOP)?
• I did adult Residential at the Pasadena Location
How many patients are there on average?
• Up to 6 patients per house. We had around 4-6 people the whole time I was there
Does it treat both males and females? If so, is treatment separate or combined?
• It only treats females
If applicable: Do they support the gender identities of transgender and nonbinary people?
• I know that they allow Non-Binary people because I am non-Binary and they were very respectful in using the correct pronouns and name
How often do you see a medical doctor, psychiatrist, psychologist (therapist), nutritionist, etc?
• I saw my therapist 3X a week
• I saw the dietician 2X per week
• I saw the Psychiatrist 1X per week (it was through a phone call because the psychiatrist mainly works at the inpatient unit and because of Covid he preferred to do phone calls)
• As for doctors, when you first get there they will drive you to BHC hospital to see the medical doctor but other than that you don’t really see them after that unless necessary. But there is a nurse at the house 24/7 and they are very helpful
What is the staff-to-patient ratio? 1 staff for 3 patients so 1:3
What sort of therapies are used (e.g., DBT, CBT, EMDR, etc.)?
• DBT/CBT
•ACT
Describe the average day:
What were meals like?
• 6:50AM-7:15AM- wake up, vitals weights, hygiene
•Breakfast- 8AM-8:30AM
• Process Group
•AM snack- 10AM-10:15AM (not everyone had this snack. I think it was only myself and one other client that were put on AM snack.
• Group
•Group
•Lunch- 12:30PM-1PM
• Group
• Group
•PM snack- 3PM-3:15PM
• Group
•Process group
•Dinner- 6:15PM-6:45PM
•Vitals and you can get your electronics
•HS snack- 8:30PM-8:45PM
•Allowed to go to your room, sleep, do hygiene..etcTurn electronics at 11PM
What sorts of food were available or served?
• The meals were not the greatest to be honest. Most weeks we would have leftovers from the previous nights dinner which wasn’t that great tasting. But that was dinners which is the only meal the chef cooks. All of the other meals/snacks you prep yourself.
• They had a large variety of snacks such as many different types of fruits and berries, chips, A LOT of cookie options and pastries, juices, ice cream, pop tarts, nuts, Nutella, cookie butter, Peanut butter, gummy candies, chocolates. They have a large selection of snacks and they also have a paper on the fridge where you can write in something you would like such as a certain type of fruit or cereal..etc pretty much anything and then weekly they will go out and get them. I really liked that.
•For breakfast they usually had cereals, toast, eggs, bacon, sausages, oatmeal, yogurt and granola, pancakes, waffles, and you can make smoothies.
•Lunches they had a few frozen meals you can choose from. A lot of people made panini sandwiches and other sandwiches, there’s soups, stir fry, pizza, wraps.
For each meal you use the exchange system. Most people had 2-4 exchanges for snacks. I can’t remember the lunches and breakfasts. At HS snack you can ONLY have a dessert item. A lot of people didn’t know this when going there and were caught off guard. Also, you can pick out what foods you want for each meal and snack (except dinner) but you can’t repeat those same items. You would have to wait 3 days before you can have any of those items again. They definitely encourage variety.
Did they supplement? How did that system work?
• You get one ensure if you complete atleast 50% of your meal/snack and 2 ensures if you had less than that. They allow you to supplement with Cliff bars and nuts but only if if you have a plausible reason.
What is the policy of not complying with meals?
• In my opinion they are pretty lenient for a while with non compliance. They will eventually send you to a higher level of care though or put you on a contract. While I was there one person ended up getting sent to IP after 2-3 weeks. No one was on a contract while I was there. Even though they seem lenient with non compliance, they will try to talk to you a lot about what’s going on. They may also try to raise your meal plan and take electronic privileges away
Are you able to eat vegetarian?
• Yes you are able to be vegetarian. I don’t think they allow a vegan diet, however, I’m not certain on that
What privileges are allowed?
• If you are compliant with meals and participating in groups AND if your vitals and weight are stable they allow you to go on 15 minute walks 3 days a week. It is VERY hard to get this privilege though. Only one person there got to go for walks the whole time I was there.
• They allow you to have some meals and snacks on your own. You can also order in food. You do have to pay for your own food and delivery though and they choose where you order from and mostly choose what you get from there.
• You can prep meals and snacks on your own. No one else (neither staff nor patients) can be in there while you prep.
• You can earn “open access” which means you can go into the kitchen whenever you want day/night and get whatever you want.
Does it work on a level system?
• Nope
How do you earn privileges?
• By being 100% compliant with meals and snacks. Not engaging in behaviors outside of meals such as exercise and purging. By attending all groups and participating in them.
What sort of groups do they have?
• I think I mentioned most of the groups in one of the questions above but they have art groups, music group, yoga, and movement therapy.
• There we’re 2 process groups per day except for on the weekends. Saturday there is one process group and on Sunday there is no groups
• Cooking group. They would call 2-3 different patients in the kitchen two days per week. One day was to help cook dinner and the other time was on Fridays and it was called “baking group” where you pretty much bake desserts and eat them for HS snack both Friday night and Saturday night.
What was your favorite group?
• As for the “fun” groups I really liked yoga. I really liked process group overall. It’s not surface level at all so it does get deep and emotional which is hard but I found it to be the most helpful group overall
What did you like the most?
• I honestly loved the techs, therapists, and nurses. They were all supportive and friendly. There are a lot of groups every day but I found a lot of them really helpful. The skills they teach are helpful and I am using them at home a lot. I also liked that we’re only up to 6 clients at a time. It was a calming environment.
What did you like the least?
• I didn’t really like the dietician. I think most people with EDs struggle with their relationships with their dietician but she was really strict. I gave them documentation about being lactose intolerant but she kept saying that I wasn’t and that my body just wasn’t used to it and that it will eventually get used to lactose after having it more. I’m the end I got really sick from forcing myself to eat it and told her I am not doing this to myself. Other people have a hard time getting her to believe in their allergies and intolerances. Despite having a lot of documentation and family members speaking up she still makes people take allergy tests there.. even then she doesn’t trust it. That was really frustrating.
Would you recommend this program?
• Despite some of the programs flaws I would recommended this program
What level of activity or exercise was allowed?
• Not much. I mean you have yoga group 2X a week and movement therapy 1X a week but other than that they are pretty strict on movement. If they see you standing they will tell you to sit down and if you don’t then they will supplement you.
What did people do on weekends?
• Most of us watched Netflix, worked on puzzles, homework, art, talking, play board games and bananagrams, listen to music. We were allowed our phones for longer periods of time on the weekends so most people were on their phones a lot. Also people would take naps lol
Do you get to know your weight?
• Nope
How fast is the weight gain process?
• Around 2-3 lbs per week. It feels pretty fast
What was the average length of stay?
Most people were there for 1-2 months but it varies
What was the average age range?
• when I was there the ages ranged from 19- 74. Most ages seemed to be 20s-30s
How do visits/phone calls work?
• Due to Covid they didn’t allow visits to the house. You could contact your family/friends when you got your phone
What is the electronics policy (e.g., cell phones, iPods, Kindles, laptops, tablets)?
• they allowed all of these at certain times. On weekdays it was after dinner and vitals (around 6:45pm) until bedtime which was 11pm. On Saturdays you can have them after lunch until bedtime and on Sundays you could have them after breakfast.
For inpatient/residential: Are you able to go out on passes?
• No they didn’t have the option to go out due to Covid.
Are there any resources for people who come from out of state/country?
If applicable: How is the program responding to COVID? (Less patients, virtual programming, no visitors, masks, social distancing, etc.
• I am not sure about the resources for people in other countries. I was the only person from out of state(East coaster) and they only offered to send a cab to pick me up from the airport to take me to the house.
As for Covid they didnt allow visitors, we had to wear masks at all times except during meals and when sleeping. They put clear dividers at the dinner tables to put some separation between us. They didn’t really talk about staying 6 feet apart or anything.
OTHER:
• They do not allow vaping or smoking anymore. Their websites says you can vape but a few weeks before I got there they said they don’t allow it anymore.
• I have a friend who was just there at Reasons a LOT has happened in the past month. The main director for the Pasadena house ended up finding a new job somewhere else so management has changed. Apparently a lot of the rules have changed and some of the staff are leaving. Two techs are leaving and one nurse. I want to bring this up because even though I felt like things were ran well while I was there, things may have changed recently and I have been told that it hasn’t changed for the better. But that is just according to others. Overall I would recommend this place.
Thank you, Finn, for this descriptive review. Great write up and congratulations on completing RTC. I’m going to Reasons for residential soon (first timer) and I want to be able to go home as soon as I my weight hits whatever target the treatment team recommends. Does level of compliance factor much into when they determine a patient is ready to step down to a lower level of care, or are they more concerned with weight restoration? I’m absolutely terrified of meal planning and I’m worried the RD and I are going to butt heads a lot.
Hey Wednesdays child, thank you for the reply! I’m so glad to hear that you are going to be going to Residential soon. Going to treatment for the first time can definitely feel scary and overwhelming but it’s the best decision.
I feel like they look at both weight restoration (and health!) and level of compliance equally. I think the biggest things for them “seem” to be compliance and health- vitals/labs. Also, you don’t do meal planning when you are there. Which is kind of cool because you have to practice walking into the kitchen and making a decision right then of what you want to eat. Which I found very helpful in preparing for being at home or “in the real world” lol. So you do have some more control of what you eat than most other places. You got this! Be as open, honest, and willing as you can! Let me know if you have anymore questions 🙂
Hi! Do you know anything about how things have changed and things now?
Hi! Any updates?
Hey Finn! I was so grateful to get your review, getting reviews of residential at Reasons has been impossible the last few years. You are wonderful.
Do you happen to know how many locations there are, and what the differences between them are? At the moment I’m specifically wondering about Arcadia and San Marino, but any info about other locations would be great! Were you there with anyone who had been to the Arcadia and San Marino locations, or do you know anything about them?
I know we also have a follow up question for
you about Pasadena above.
Thank you thank you!
Anyone been here recently that can do a full review? Or at least the past year lol. Hopefully the comments pop up soon
I hope so too. I’ve started to just manually restore comments, because it is taking the hosting server too long to figure it out, and I’ve spent upwards of 40 hours these past few days trying to figure it out myself. I’m just not comfortable making people wait even longer for something that is as essential of a resource to survival as EDTR is! Yesterday I just started manually restoring posts on whichever pages people currently need. So I’ll do Reasons tonight – however I don’t think there is a recent review, so I hope someone will see your request and help us out too!
This summer I intend to apply for some grants so that I can hire a designated technician for our site, rather than piecemeal. Right now I pay for everything for site out of pocket, because I’m not willing to have ads or sponsors, and I can barely afford that as is lol!
Inpatient reasons review : so I went in 2022 and just got so much worse… But I did have some good expirences with some of the reasons staff. Not all… The dietians are pretty good and the therapists. It is hard tho cuz the food is pretty bad.. at night u go to the psych ward with the pysch patients. and pysch staff who usually aren’t nice at all… and know nothing about eating disorders so good luck if u need help at night … I decided to leave ama and will not be going back … please look into other places for inpatient ..
Does anyone have a recent review for their residential programs?
I did an assessment with Reasons last week and they are recommending inpatient. I was hoping to do their virtual IOP for a few weeks. I’ve had a few traumatic experiences with prior inpatient stays (being put on holds against my will and etc.) And I am very hesitant to go to a program in a psych unit. Any recent review would be VERY helpful! Thank you
I hope we can get a recent review!
Do you know if you would be able to do just a short IP stay and do residential instead for the rest of your 24/7 treatment? (If your insurance allows.) I ask because Reasons does that sometimes, and the residential program is in small houses in the community rather than on the hospital grounds.
Thank you for your reply, and thanks to Nat, it looks like we got a recent review. Good thing too because that’s exactly what I was afraid of happening. I will definitely be looking at other options. Regarding your question, I have Medicare and it doesn’t cover Residential treatment. This is the problem I’m running into. I think Res would be helpful.
I went to reason’s inpatient, after also having traumatic experiences with inpatient(I don’t want to detour you for treatment but out of anywhere avoid reasons inpatient) I was supposed to go to their php with housing but ended up having to do their inpatient. It is nothing like it shows online. It’s in a really scary neighborhood in Los angles in one of the worst psych hospitals where your mixed with criminals and people strait from jail. Reasons is in the same area as psych and just has different rooms so psych patients and random Guys would walk into my room at night. It’s not really Ed treatment like they promise you share the same cafeteria as psych and the staff dosnt speak English or know anything about Ed’s so the food is random and is absolutely horrid and looks like prison food. They try to put you in separate rooms as the psych patients but at night the reasons staff goes home so you share the same nurses as psych and they are so fed up with the psych patients they don’t care if the psych patients go to the ed rooms. I still have nightmares from that place. My insurance refused to cover reasons so they put me in the psych part for a while and it was traumatizing they say it’s voluntary but when you try to leave they slap a hold on you and it took me days to get a court hearing and leave. I don’t know how that place isn’t shut down it’s gross their and the staff dosnt care about the well being of the people who truly want to get help.
Thank you so much Nat! I really appreciate hearing your experience and that is exactly what I was concerned about happening. But I am so sorry to hear that you had to go through such a negative experience. I will look at other options.
Has anyone tried their virtual program before? Would love to hear about it!
I got an email from reasons saying they have no wait
I want to affirm what everyone else has said. There really was no need for that comment and it is entirely unfounded. It is clear how much you care about paying it forward and encouraging others to follow the path of recovery. If you were struggling with an ED you would not have the time or cognitive space to do the amazing work you do. Thank you, Rachel.
does anyone know if they take very low BMIs? THANKS!
Do they still take medicare? No mention on their site. Do they let you have your electronics IP? If they take medicare, is it ONLY for IP or does that include any other levels?
Any recent reviews for inpatient?
Hey y’all!
I am thinking of admitting here for IP/RTC most likely, then doing a local PHP/IOP near my home. I have severe OCD and depression, which many programs can’t address much. My OCD/ED therapist recommended Reasons for that reason (haha).
So yeah, does anyone have any recent reviews? Like more of 2017/2018?
Thanks guys. Hope you are all well.
Why is there conflict of interest among therapist, dietitians and patients, possible insurance fraud, medical neglect,poor care and treatment and a therapist name X (edited for names) who breaks any and all HIPPA Laws at Reason I ask?
From ANONYMOUS:
* When were you there? various stays in IP, RTC, PHP, and IOP since 2014 (last ended dec. 2016)
* How many patients on average? In inpatient from 5-25, usually around 15-20; in RTC, 6; PHP had gotten really small, usually 1-5.
* Does it treat both males and females? If so, is treatment separate or combined? IP and PHP are both sexes and combined. RTC is all female. They actually have a little niche going with the trans community as well, which is cool.
* How often do you see a medical doctor, psychiatrist, psychologist (therapist), nutritionist, etc? You see a medical doctor at intake and as needed unless you’re PHP. Psychiatrist is every day in IP, once a week at RTC, and 3x/week at PHP. (The psych overprescribes meds, has an antiquated understanding of EDs and does not communicate with the rest of the team, yet he is often the person to advocate for you to insurance). There is a different psych for the new highland park house but he’s just as bad, although more careful with medication. Therapy 3x/week and extra family session if you want, 2x/week in PHP, 1x in IOP. Dietitian 2x per week, 1-2x in PHP (extra only if needed), 1x in IOP
* What is the staff ratio to patients? Horrible in IP. Usually 1-7 or so but they all stay in their office so it ends up being 1-20 or 0-20. In RTC it’s the opposite. Sometimes there are more staff than patients but usually 1-3.
* What sort of groups/therapies do they have? (DBT, CBT, EMDR) etc? Mindfulness, process groups 1-2x daily (and more, as many groups turn into process), yoga 2-3xs/week (the yoga therapist is amazing), dance therapy 2x/week, relationships, DBT, CBT, ACT (in RTC), trauma resilience (in RTC), nutrition, nursing, body image
* What were meals like? You’re given 30 minutes for meals, 15 for snacks. Everyone checks in with their exchanges, hunger level and emotions before eating. Staff eats with you. At IP/RTC you have 5 minutes of mindful eating at the beginning.
* What sorts of food were available or served? IP and PHP has awful hospital food, like the worst I’ve ever encountered, and a lot of the meals are the same. You get the choice of two entrees or a sandwich once a day. RTC food is amazing with lots of choices during the day to make (supervised) on your own and nightly family-style dinners.
* Did they supplement? How did that system work? Less than 50% eaten was two ensure plus, more than 50% but not scraped clean was one ensure plus. Some staff would give a regular ensure if you ate more than 10-25% but it wasn’t consistent
* What is the policy of not complying with meals? Nothing happens unless you get put on a contract. They love contracts there. They might take away cigarettes, but if you don’t smoke they might just kick you out.
* Are you able to be a vegetarian? Yes but not vegan
* What privileges are allowed? Coffee/soda/tea, full movement in dance and yoga, and the occasional mindful walk in RTC.
* Does it work on a level system? Nope
* How do you earn privileges? Comply with meal plan and be medically stable/at a certain %ibw (seems to depend on individual)
* What was your favorite group? Yoga, and not just because it was movement. The yoga teacher pushed you to listen to your body/mind/emotions, knew a lot about trauma and allowed for holistic healing. Plus she gives awesome mini-massages.
* What did you like the most? There are some amazing people who work there. Also, the food in RTC is delicious.
* What did you like the least? The idiot psychiatrist. It was also a gamble whether you got a good therapist or bad one. They have some reeeaaally bad ones now. Most people hate having to sleep on the general psych ward in IP (it looks nothing like the pictures on their website) but I didn’t mind.
* Would you recommend this program? Probably? I don’t know, to be honest. At one point it was really good but they are just not hiring informed or skilled staff as much anymore and BHC (where IP/PHP is located) is incredibly understaffed.
* What level of activity or exercise was allowed? Either meditation, light movement or full movement, depending on following meal plan and weight/stability. All of it’s pretty light, though. I’ve seen a couple people get more movement outside of scheduled groups but it’s rare.
* What did people do on weekends? Not much, there are a few groups but you end up sitting around and watching tv a lot unless you have an outing or visitors.
* Do you get to know your weight? No
* How fast is the weight gain process? 2-4lbs/week
* What was the average length of stay? Varied a lot. Tricare people stayed months and months in IP/RTC. Most people stayed 1-8 wks in IP, 4-10 wks in RTC and a few months each in PHP/IOP
* What was the average age range? 18-80, depended on group. They did have kids age 8-18 in IP/PHP that were separate.
* How do visits/phone calls work? You get your phone after 7pm on weekdays (7-845 in IP and a little longer in RTC) and after 3pm on weekends, except during sessions or meals and snacks. Visiting hours are the same as when you get your phone.
* Are you able to go out on passes? Rarely in IP, but definitely as you move through the program in RTC.
* What kind of aftercare do they provide? Do they help you set up an OP treatment team? They’re supposed to but you will probably end up doing a lot of it yourself.
* Are there any resources for people who come from out of state/country? They offer an all-women, 6-bed transitional living for PHP/IOP. It’s expensive but there are scholarships that are fairly easy to qualify for.
*Other? PHP runs from 10am-630pm, 6 days per week (Saturday is 9am-230pm). IOP is combined with PHP morning or evening, 3-6 days per week.
What degree of medical instability can Reasons Adult IP accommodate?
IV saline and tube feeding, fall risk, chronic heart conditions/dysautonomia?
If not, what higher level of care is your recommendation?
Can anyone review their PHP?
I was there in 2015 Horrible experience I left against medical advice or AMA’d. The place was horrific. There wasn’t room for me and so I slept in the psych ward area it was actually very scary people screaming and yelling I felt unsafe. I had no treatment plan no food plan was explained to me. I was addicted to laxatives and those medical issues were not even addressed. I had no support or actual real therapy it was crap. The problems that need to be addressed as an anorexic were never addressed. Now I’m 6 months in an almost full recovery, knowing what I know now about anorexia and the disorder as a whole, that treatment facility has no idea what it takes mentally or how to support mentally a human being with the disorder. I left flew home and continued treatment via a program called vsee online with a doctor in california she saved me.
The out of control environment and the wishy washy staff were so unhelpful. They were not on the same page and actually you would think they just picked the people off the street and asked them to come help. They weren’t caring certified professionals as I would think. The gentleman program head tried to manipulate myself and actually my husband when I was trying to leave. It was overall tramatizing
I would not recommend it unless they have had a program overhaul. I have had bad dreams and the thought of the place makes me feel uneasy. I know this sounds like a bashing post however I almost died several times after leaving a place that said they were capable of helping me and was not. I know the seriousness of anorexia and it’s reprocussions. Please research before jumping in with both feet. It will benefit you more. Goodluck to anyone who is recovering or going through this disorder you have never been alone and I wish you the best.
I was recently an inpatient at Reasons for 2 months and the program helped me a lot and all the staff were great. It’s a hard program but I’m glad I went. Other programs I’ve been to didn’t help, but Reasons did.
Currently supporting a family member who is at Reasons now. If you have any questions post away and I will answer as best I can. I am recovered myself and have a close family member who went through the Emily program, so I am no stranger to ED and the challenges presented during treatment.
yes i may be going there. can you please provide an email address to contact you at for questions as opposed to going back and forth on the forum? perhaps we can even have a phone conversation if you would be willing. i am grateful for your post!
best, jen
I know this wasn’t directed toward me, but I myself have been through treatment at Reasons multiple times over the past 4 years (at every level of care), and I’m more than happy to answer any questions you may have. It can feel crazy intimidating to go to a program you’re not familiar with, so please don’t hesitate to contact me. If you’d like to reach out, my email is kelc_b@yahoo.com
Can you talk to me a little about it? I’m interested in going to IP but little worried after reading the reviews
Me too!
Sandra are you there? I have so many questions for you. Please let me know how we can be in contact! Thank you.
Hey there, I am heading down tomorrow to visit my family member. Been there more times than I care to count. Questions??? Ask away! If you care to keep it private let me know and I will give you my email.
Hey Jen, I’m heading down this weekend to their residential program; the inpatient program has been completed! bagusateayam@yahoo.com…drop me a line or post here. Look forward to answering your questions; currently doing my assigned “homework” as a family member. It’ intense.
Hi Sandra,
I am interested in the Residential program (not inpatient). What are the criteria for admission? And how is PHP different from Res? What is the policy for electronics? Taking online classes? How does the food and exercise work? Can it be individualized? Do they accommodate vegans? Are there any self care opportunities like to get a massage? Outings? Thank you!
Hi Sandra,
My nephew is currently hospitalized for an eating disorder.The hospital is planning to send him to reasons IP. Do you familiar with the IP? I heard it was a lock unit
does reasons take medical?????
Reasons now has a professional page where you can ask questions directly to the staff. The professional forum is found on the right side.it’s still building. I’m going to post your comment on their professional page and see if they can help you out. Thanks.
Can anyone further enlighten me on the center? Are the pictures really accurate on where the adult women sleep? Is the center able to cope with self harm issues and how do they go about doing that? What if there is suicidal thoughts what are the protocols to keep the patient safe?
I’m strongly considering Reasons, for treatment of bulimia, are there any good reasons not to go there?
I have been to Reasons inpatient unit twice and I cannot say enough good things about my experience there. Now it is not a fancy center nothing pretty to look at, but the treatment that I received was top quality. I have been in and out of treatment centers for the past 12 years. It has been 6 months this week since I left Reasons and I have been eating disorder free for the first time in my life. Reasons has a wonderful staff of very knowledgeable eating disorder professionals who really seem to care about you as a person and work hard to meet you where you are. I would highly recommend Reasons to anyone who is serious about getting past their eating disorder.
Any recent review would be really helpful. I may be going here next week.
I’m going to Reasons next week and I have never been to a program like this before. I was kind of hopeful and even excited after seeing the web-site but I read all the reviews on here I feel really discouraged. I am going for treatment for bulimia and im so anxious about the issue of exercise.
Questions:
Will i be able to exercise while im there besides yoga and short walks?
Is the food really THAT bad? They have healthy options right???
and are they going to monitor my restroom use…as in watch me?
Any recent reviews?
There have been several recent reviews. I doubt much has changed over the past few months.
ETA: do you have any specific questions that you would like answered perhaps?
How often do you meet with a therapist?
It depends what level of care you are–in residential, you meet with your individual therapist three times per week. In PHP/IOP, twice a week. I think inpatient is also 3 times, but I’m not sure, as I was never IP at Reasons. That said, whatever level of care you’re at, your therapist will be leading other groups as well, and will generally be around. I’ve seen Reasons therapists to be incredibly good about being willing to “check in” if you’re having a hard time and don’t have a scheduled session that day.
When you say “residential” are you talking about the house that is apart from the hospital? If so, were you a patient there recently?
Yes, I’m talking about the house, which is in a nice neighborhood in Pasadena, nowhere near the hospital. I was a patient there last February-April. I’d never been to treatment before and was terrified, but was extremely impressed by the program and the staff…would recommend Reasons hands-down to anyone seeking help for an eating disorder.
I would love if you could do a full review, KB! Could you speak to the foods/meals served and schedule?
hey so I’m heading to REasons this week and was wondering how much freedom the ED patients had during the day (being able to go outside etc), I’ve been to the other treatments where its lockdown I’m just hoping the meals are do-able. and not 100% constant watch (anorexic only)
meals?
outings?
any help is appreciated thanks!
Reed
hey this is Reed,
I’m heading to reasons this week and was just wondering about an update for how the meals and staff were?
do they let you go outside?
is it decent food?
do we get to choose from cafeteria still?
excersize?
I’m trying to choose between EDR Denver or reasons
any info will help
THANKS!!
Reed
feel free to email me – havealittlefaith13@yahoo.com
Hi! I was very recently at Reasons so I can tell you some stuff. Have you been there before?
You do still go to the cafeteria, but you bring your food back to the EDU to eat (in the smelly gym). The food is not the best (think high school cafeteria), but you have options (a choice of one of 2 entrees for lunch/dinner plus you can always get a sandwich… well, once a day). Breakfast is pretty much up to you, there are tons of options– cereal, bagels, muffins, eggs, etc. You pick your food on the spot according to your exchanges for that meal. Meals are 30 min, snacks are 15. There are lots of varied choices for snacks.
Staff… not sure when you were last there, but overall I was pretty pleased with the staff. All of the therapists were very competent and most of the unit staff were pretty cool. There are 3 dietitians and they’re all pretty good/fair. No one really likes the program director but he rarely interacts with clients much anymore. The psychiatrist is a little odd but nice enough. I don’t think we’re allowed to say actual names here, otherwise I would recommend certain therapists. 🙂
The closest thing to exercise you’ll get is yoga 2-3x/week and the corny “dance movement” group once a week.
You can go outside between groups or meals and after program ends (7 pm during the week, 3pm on weekends). You can have your cell phones after program as well. Basically you are on the EDU all day (from 7:45am-9pm) and you’re really just on the psych unit to sleep. You can actually spend a lot of time outside if you so choose (and considering how freezing it usually is inside, a lot of people do this!).
You are kept pretty busy during the week with lots of groups but there is more downtime on the weekends. On Saturday there is a multi-family group but when I was there it was rare that many family members showed up.
Once you’re medically stable and have been there at least 2 weeks (I think) you can go on the Thursday outings which consist of lunch and afternoon snack out somewhere. The restaurants were usually pretty challenging but it was nice to get away from the hospital for a while.
Good luck!
Pre-2012 Reviews
*Note: BHC Alhambra’s Eating Disorder Center used to be operated by the Bella Vita. It is now a different program and is operated by Reasons,
*The program has both a residential and inpatient program? Perhaps someone who has been to both or either could give us some insight?
Bathrooms are locked and supervised during use (staff flushes the toilets). When you 1st get there, you are on 24-hr obs. When the treatment team feels like you are ready, they will reduce you to 3 hr (they only check/flush for you if it is within 3 hrs of a meal/snack), 2 hr, 1 hr, no obs. They do it slowly.
Laptops and cellphones can be used after program hrs (usually after 8 M-F. Saturday afternoons, and Sundays are mostly free). They do have a desktop comp that can be used in between groups.
You do blind weigh ins
Meal plans are individualized and really depend on the person. They are willing to work around digestive problems and allergies, etc.
They offer ensure/ensure plus. They supplement for food that isn’t eaten and some people have them on their mps if they are on weight gain.
Weekend outings vary depending on what people want to do and scheduling. We went to the movies, Color Me Mine, on picnics, got mani/pedis, and there was always a target or CVS trip.
Passes just depend on the individual. Around my 10th week there, they started sending me out on my own (others got to go sooner than me, I just wasn’t ready). They also like to have you go out with your family or friends if possible.
Schedule:
7:00: wake up
7:45: breakfast prep
8:05: Bfast and clean up
9:00: deep breathing and process
10:15: snack prep
10:30: snack/ clean up
10:30: group
12:00: lunch prep
12:20: lunch/ clean up
1:00: group
3;15: snack prep
3:30: snack/ clean
4:00: group
6:00: Dinner/clean up
7:00: Goals Group
break until snack
9:15: snack prep
9:30: snack/ clean
You prepare your own breakfast, lunch, and snacks. They always have lots of cereals, waffles, eggs, meats, many cheeses, different breads, veggie protein options, spreads, hummus, nuts, fresh and canned veggies/fruits, regular and soymilk, yogurt, and more snack options than you can imagine. If they don’t have something, then just ask about it, and they can usually get it. Dinners are family style where one patient and a diet tech prepare the meal. You serve yourself according to your mealplan (you have to check in at every meal, so they know that yoy have what you need). There are always staff members in the kitchen while you are preparing things to help you out and to make sure that you are following your mp.
They don’t offer massages, but the yoga instrustor gives us a little one when we finish up our practice.
Exercise varies. If you are stable, they offer yoga twice a week and mindful walks. Some patients are allowed to take 15 minute walks on their own and I’ve seen patients be able to use exercise videos. It really varies.
There are 6 beds available
The first time I was there for 12 weeks, and 6 the 2nd. Most people get 4-6 weeks, but it’s all up to insurance.
They do offer family therapy.
The RD is amazing. She’s tough, but she knows what she’s doing and she really cares.
Good luck!!
It’s a really good place
2011
I have been IP twice at BHC and both times it was a great experience for me overall. The first time I was scared at first and it was actually a year ago this month for seven weeks. The second time was in Oct for a month. I met alot of really good people and became close friends- and the staff (who were awesome) helped me warm up pretty quickly. The program I thought was great (saved my life), the food was better (although def not five star) than any other hospital I have ever been to, the rd’s were outstanding, and the therapists were great (for the most part). I didnt like the lock down although we did have more freedom on the ED unit than anyone else in the hospital so that is what kept me sane from feeling like jumping over the walls. I had to remember that I was IP and not Residential so it was going to be locked down…. I wasnt too fond of the amount of down time we had on some days, but then again on other days, it seemed to be so emotional and back to back I couldnt catch up. The groups were good but could be better– some groups got deep and some were just blah. I didnt like how meds were so freely given out- that is one thing I would say is the downfall of any IP program really…. it happened in another one I was in as well- not BHC. I would definitely say that BHC is the best program I have ever been to. ! I would say to give BHC a try and follow the program with an open mind, because I went to another one in Torrance recently because they have a Trauma program as well and it was horrible (well, the ED program was horrible, not the Trauma program). I missed BHC everyday I was there.
When were you there: June-Aug 2012
I waited a few days after leaving to write this review because I was really upset about my experience and wanted the review to be as fair as possible. I won’t repost the schedule because the ones already up there are relatively consistent with what was going on when I was there. I will note that the schedule changes every week but they are pretty good about staying close to it. Having that said…
The PROS:
STAFF: The majority of the (edu) staff and therapist are really great, they genuinely care about the patients and treated us well. The program is not “punitive” per se. There are alot of therapists and staff throughout the day till about 7pm.
MEALS: if you don’t finish they will give you a boost but if you don’t drink it they don’t treat you like crap or take away your phone/smoking privileges like some other places I’ve been. They don’t redirect little things at the table and always eat whatever we eat. Patients walk to the hospital cafeteria as a group & you have a meal plan with exchanges on it. It’s up to you to meet your exchanges & you can have whatever you want, but if you don’t get enough they will send someone back to get it.
FOOD: They do allow you to bring outside food. So for example if you like a certain food and someone will bring it to you the dietitians will evaluate it for exchanges and you can have it.
Randomly… the meals are eaten in a gym… Kinda Eww & if the meal runs over and another unit comes in at the same time it’s possible that you’ll get hit by a ball or have the random psych patients ask for your food!
Dietitians: All three were really nice and the meal plans were “do-able”.
PRIVILEGES: They have a computer you can use during certain times. You can also have your phone & laptop but beware that although they say you can use the internet there is no Wifi unless you skim it from the preschool next-door. You can use the one on the unit but it’s hella slow.
DAY UNIT: Patients sleep on a wing of the adult psych unit & we had our own “day room” there (which is really nice). They take you off the sleeping unit to the EDO unit after breakfast and you don’t have access to your room until 9:30pm. The day unit is pretty nice. You can go in & out w/o having to ask & they have some meals/groups outside.
Programing: The groups were decent, although a vast majority of them turned into “process” groups it worked out because we had a really cohesive group of patients who were for the most part very supportive/protective of each other. The therapist did a pretty good job with at-least starting the groups as planned and they were all nice.
CONS: This is where I (& many others) had a very difficult time with seeing the positives of this program.
FOOD: The cafeteria can be a very upsetting experience because the food is LITERALLY CRAP! I mean like corn dogs, lasagna, chicken fried steak & the like. They do have a sandwich as a fall back option but if you eat to many they will start to restrict you from having more then one a day. I lived on PB&J pretty much the whole time.
MEDICAL CARE: If you’re not medically stable DON’T go here… actually scratch that! I WAS medically stable when I went there & after a few weeks… I wasn’t. I’m not sure if it was the refeeding of the Doc who had little to no experience working with eating disorders but either way it wasn’t good and many of experienced multiple health issues that we brought to the Dr.s attention that went ignored. An example of this is I injured my knee on monday at 8am. My whole leg swelled up, foot went cold & I was in a great deal of pain. I asked REPEATEDLY to have ice and a brace (because I knew what was wrong) and by 1pm the following day I had not received either. I ended up going to the ER & I was given crutches & an immobilizer. Another example was that my roommate was having allergic reaction to a med THEY prescribed her. We all watched for three days as she turned redder & redder, ran a fever over 102 and couldn’t get out of bed. We (the patients) knew she was having an allergic reaction but they (the drs) did nothing to help her. Finally after 3 days of sharing our “concerns” they took her to the ER & shockingly it was as we had suspected. Now she’s stuck having to pay hundreds of dollars for an ambulance ride because THEY poisoned her!
TREATMENT TEAM: The treatment team is comprised of all the therapist, they have team meeting once a week and rarely tell the patients what is discussed or decided about treatment unless they are upset about something. It’s very hard to gauge your progress because positive feedback is not provided w/o having to prompt for it.
ADMISSIONS: The people in admission are nice but the info they provide is routinely inaccurate and problematic. They tell you that you can have/use things that you later find out you can’t, an example would be things like telling patients they could bring a razor and then finding out that you can’t actually use a razor (even under supervision), so imagine body image issues with refeeding and hairy legs/armpits to boot! Patients end up having to order an electric razor online or beg someone to pick one up for them. Its an additional cost of at least $30 that people aren’t prepared for. This is just ONE example of all the wrong things they tell people.
RANDOM RULES & INCONSISTENCIES: This is one of the biggest problems (aside from the director himself) with this program. Rules change frequently and tend to be enforced based on the staff members mood and the patient involved. Patients often don’t know they “broke” a rule until they are redirected which can be distressing because patients were often on edge and afraid of being redirected. The effects of the inconsistent rules coupled with the lack of positive feedback left many of us feeling like we couldn’t do anything right.
PROGRAM DIRECTOR!!!! All that said and the single WORST thing I would say about going to Reasons is about the Program Director. I won’t say his name but I will say a few things… 1st he’s disgusting rude, 2nd he’s incredibly unprofessional and 3rd he’s not a licensed psychologist in the state of CA (based on the Board of Psychology’s website) and should not be interacting with patients. Examples of why I would say this would be his assertion that positive feedback for patients is not necessary because it’s not going to be available when patients leave so they should just figure it out on their own and multiple instances of observing his interactions with others… He actually cursed at a patient in a group!!!
So yea, that’s my experience at Reasons. As long as the director is there I wouldn’t suggest the program to ANYONE but if they replaced him then I would suggest the program. I think the only reason I lasted there as long as I did was because of the other patients. We kinda banded together like “we’re all in this together” and that was the most therapeutic experience I can attribute to Reasons.
I’m adding a few more questions to my above list…
-What does “bathroom obs” consist of exactly? I always have extreme anxiety peeing with someone watching me or even with the door cracked. It is so bad sometimes I just CAN’T PEE at all, to where some places have bent the rules for me to save my bladder from exploding (yeah seriously). It never really gets better in time for me. Or does “bathroom obs” just mean they are locked and the staff flushes for you but doesn’t actually WATCH you (which I also find bad but I can deal with a little better).
-Are rooms private or do you have a roommate?
-Does everyone eat 3 meals/3 snacks a day or can it be adjusted individually? I’m just thinking if you are eating 6x/day and on anything more than 1hr obs you are pretty much on locked bathrooms all day, because there is only so much time in between each meal and snack. :/ How quickly do they usually lower obs? (I know this may seem petty but my pee anxiety is always such a big issue and interferes with me being able to relax and focus on treatment).
Would love to hear more about the food aspect of the inpatient program… how much freedom you get to plan your own meals/number of options for each meal, how calories are increased, consequences for not finishing and/or refusing supplement, time limits, etc. Also, do they go by an exchange system or is it calorie-based?
Thanks!
Bathrooms are locked from 8:30a till 9:30p. You have to count if you have a history of purging but when you move up to level 2 you don’t have to & usually restricting Anorexics get taken off counting pretty quick then you just have to count after meals. I was off counting the second day.
The rooms are doubles you have one roomie.
3 meals and the snacks are based on the person. it’s the exchange system & you can pick your own foods there is no after meal observation. don’t finish = boost, meal plans are increased based on the person. 30 mins for meals & 15 for snacks.
Hope this helps… Good luck!
I have some questions about the *inpatient* program at Reasons. Maybe it’s just my computer but their program website is really hard to navigate… I can’t scroll up and down on the pages so it is pretty useless.
-Are ED patients housed on the same unit as general psych patients?
-Are adolescents and adults together all day for groups and such?
-“You prepare your own breakfast, lunch, and snacks” — really? In inpatient? Does “prepare” actually mean you make your own food or like, put it together yourself rather than just choose items from a menu? That sounds more like something you’d do in residential, so I’ll assume the first review was about the residential program… in that case, how does food work inpatient? Are you free to choose items from a menu or at least specify “dislike foods?” Do they start everyone on the same amount of calories when they come in, and how fast (or based on what factors) do they increase?
-Do you lose privileges for not finishing meals on time or refusing a supplement for missed portions of meals? Do you lose privileges for not gaining weight at a specified rate?
-Are you weighed every day, and is it always blind weights? Can you at least request to know if you are gaining/losing/maintaining?
-Are cell phones and laptops allowed on the inpatient unit?
-Will they let me have regular phone sessions with my outpatient therapist? This was apparently a problem a while ago with one of my therapist’s clients who was there… they didn’t want her to have contact with members of her outpatient team, which seems odd to me. Hopefully this has changed.
Thanks! It would also be great to get a recent full review of all the standard questions for the inpatient program, if possible.
I can answer this. I was there may-july 2012 and I signed out against medical advice because of how shitty it was.
-Are ED patients housed on the same unit as general psych patients?
–Yes. They are the most entertainment you’ll get while there. You return to the lower risk adult psych ward at 9:30pm, and leave at 7:15am
-Are adolescents and adults together all day for groups and such?
–NO. As an adult you are not allowed any contact with the adolescents (although they are in the same building and you will see a lot of them). But for legal/liability no interaction is allowed.
-â€You prepare your own breakfast, lunch, and snacksâ€
–Hell no. You go to the cafeteria for meals. They offer 2 different entrees and dietitians will tell you what counts for what (you fill in your other exchanges with stuff from the salad bar etc) and the cafe workers serve you. Snacks come from the snack closet…typical packaged things and fruit.
–Meal plans…everyone starts off on the same one usually and they increase it depending on your weight progress.
-Do you lose privileges for not finishing meals on time or refusing a supplement for missed portions of meals? Do you lose privileges for not gaining weight at a specified rate?
–There are really no privleges to lose or gain. If you don’t eat you have to sit with a replacement shake (Ensure or Boost) but they really cant make you. If it becomes a habit they may send you off for tube feeding. If you dont gain weight (regardless of whether or not you are eating 100%, your meal plan goes up.
-Are you weighed every day, and is it always blind weights?
–Yes and Yes. You are weighed on the psych ward byt the nurse there in a gown. You can’t see your weight, they won’t tell you. You’ll know if you are gaining if they don’t increase your meal plan.
-Are cell phones and laptops allowed on the inpatient unit?
–NO no cell phones or laptops after 9:30 when you go back to the psych ward. You can have them from 7-9 on the ed unit.
-Will they let me have regular phone sessions with my outpatient therapist?
–I’m not sure. I would make sure to work that out with them and your outpatien therapist BEFORE going to the program.
Hope this helps.