https://astersprings.com/
Aster Springs is a new eating disorder treatment center with residential locations in Virginia and Tennessee. Aster treats adult women, ages 18+. Anyone who is female-identifying is welcome, there is no requirement for having been assigned female at birth. Nonbinary AFAB patients are welcome as well. Aster Springs now offers PHP and IOP programs in Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee, and Indiana that treat all genders ages 12+. Some have housing available.
Aster Springs is part of the Odyssey Network treatment programs. Other Odyssey eating disorder treatment centers include Magnolia Creek, Selah House, Shoreline Center for Eating Disorder Treatment/Satori House, and Toledo Center for Eating Disorders (formerly known as River Centre Clinic). They also operate Clearview Treatment Center.
Any reviews or information? Please post in comments below. You can check out the FAQ and Guidelines for suggested questions. Thank you!
Glen Allen, VA Location
When were you there? December 2025
What level(s) of care did you do (e.g., inpatient, residential, PHP, IOP)? Residential
If applicable: Is it wheelchair accessible? Doesn’t look like it, but maybe they’d work with you if needed?
How many patients are there on average? 4-8
What genders does it treat? Female
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? Doctor, dietician and psychiatrist once per week, therapist twice per week, nurse at least twice per day, more as needed.
What is the staff-to-patient ratio? Almost always 1 RTC and 1 Nurse, more staff like admin, food prep, professional etc. during the day (I think all of them are trained to help with resident needs like bathroom).
What sort of therapies are used (e.g., DBT, CBT, EMDR, ACT, exposure therapy, somatic experiencing, etc.)? DBT, CBT, Music, Culinary, Nursing, Yoga, Individual, Family, Art, Nutrition Education, Meal Planning, Psycho education, Polyvagal, Skills Application, Process, Goals, and Community.
Describe the average day:
6:00 am: Wake-up, hygiene closet open, get ready for the day(bathrooms open and allowed to be locked and showers can be turned on and toilets flushed by residents)
6:30 am: Breakfast prep
7:00 am: Breakfast
8:00 am: Fill out process/checking sheets, nursing, then downtime
9:00 am: Group
10:00 am: Snack prep and snack
10:30 am: Downtime
11:00 am: Group
12:00 pm: Lunch prep
12:15 pm: Lunch
1:15 pm: Fill out process sheet then downtime
(1:30 pm: Outing on Fridays)
2:00 pm: Group
(2:30 pm: Visitation/Video Calls on Weekends Starts)
3:00 pm: Snack prep and snack
3:30 pm: Downtime
4:00 pm: Group
(4:30 pm: Visitation/Video Calls end on Weekends)
5:00 pm: Dinner Prep
5:30 pm: Dinner
6:30 pm: Fill out process sheet, then community
7:00 pm: Phone/electronics/downtime
8:00 pm: Snack prep and snack
8:30 pm: Downtime
9:00 pm: Bathrooms/Hygiene closet open and allowed to be locked and showers can be turned on and toilets flushed by residents
10:00 pm: Lights Out
What were meals like?
Everyone sat at a dining table and ate together. We played a lot of table games. Not nearly as strict as one might imagine, the only thing that even hinted at it being a bunch of ED patients (besides the corny games) was there were no napkins allowed at the table.
What sorts of food were available or served?
Breakfast and snacks were planned during meal planning groups according to your requirements from the dietician. Lunch and dinner use the plate by plate method and is the same for everyone barring an allergy or otherwise approved exception from your dietician. One lunch or dinner can be subbed with a sandwich, vegetables and dip. Even though I didn’t like all the foods, they were prepared really well, and plenty of options were available for snacks. You can add to a community grocery list. Everyone was given 16 oz of water at meals and 8 at snacks.
Did they supplement? How did that system work?
Supplemented with Boost, Breeze, or Cliff Bars. It was based off 100%, 75%, 50%, or 0% completion.
What is the policy of not complying with meals? Do most people complete their meals/snacks?
The policy is to at least sit through the meal and then sit with the supplement. If there are more than 6 non completions (finishing your supplement counts as completion) a HLOC will be discussed. If you do not sit with the food then it counts as a noncompliance and could be grounds for being dismissed from treatment. Most people finished while I was there, which was encouraging.
If applicable: Do they treat ARFID? If so, do they have a separate approach to meals for ARFID?
They do treat ARFID, but I did not witness it to my knowledge.
Are you able to eat vegetarian? Vegan?
Yes, as long as it’s not for restrictive reasons. The dieticians work with you, I was not required to eat a certain type of food that came up a lot that I’ve always hated and was given substitutions.
What privileges are allowed?
At a certain level you can go on meal outings, plan walks down the driveway, and eat your food away from the group (only saw this being used once). Generally, it’s pretty equal no matter your level which is nice. Everyone has to have staff unlock the bathroom, shut the door almost all the way but not until the door clicks, then has the staff check the toilet before they flush it. It’s still pretty private and you can use the bathroom unsupervised in total privacy in the morning before breakfast and again before bed (which was nice).
Does it work on a level system?
Technically yes, but it’s not a main point of the program.
How do you earn privileges?
Treatment compliance and then filling out a sheet.
What sort of groups do they have?
DBT, CBT, Music, Culinary, Nursing, Yoga, Art, Nutrition Education, Meal Planning, Psycho education, Polyvagal, Skills Application, Process, Goals, and Community.
What was your favorite group?
Art? A lot of the girls I was with didn’t like to talk so it makes talking groups awkward.
If applicable: Is the program trauma-informed?
Maybe, I don’t know but they probably are.
What did you like the most?
Generally I felt respected and welcome.
What did you like the least?
The hot water and heat kept going out lol. Also phone time felt way too limited for a program for adults with jobs, school, and kids. Some people got exceptions from their therapist but this was still a pain to go through. Plenty of people vaped indoors and we’d stop at the vape shop for them which felt a little uncomfortable to me. There was also the problem of being understaffed that made the residents feel like a burden. I also wasn’t a fan of how boring most of the day is. A lot of it is just time to read or watch the shared tv, there wasn’t a lot to do.
Would you recommend this program?
Most likely, but it would depend on the circumstance. I will say I didn’t notice a very big symptom reduction, I fell back into old habits within a week of being home. I’m still working on trying to recover with a virtual outpatient program.
What level of activity or exercise was allowed?
Yoga, walks outside. I was told to stop pacing after the meals haha.
What did people do on weekends?
Watch movies and visitation, extra phone time or video calls.
Do you get to know your weight?
Definitely not.
If applicable: How fast is the weight gain process?
*TW* Not sure, I gained like 10 lbs in 2 weeks. *END TW*
What was the average length of stay?
Varied, most of us left against treatment advice once we were given a discharge date. One girl had been there for over 2 months and was still there when I had left.
What was the average age range?
18-50
How do visits/phone calls work?
Visits/video calls allowed for 2 hours on Saturday and Sunday (you can have visitors both days if you want). I believe you can have up to 3 visitors at a time and the only restriction is no visitors that have been residents within the last 6 months. Other than that spouses, people you’re dating, friends, parents, kids, whoever is fine. You can call or video call or text or whatever you want during phone time each evening.
What is the electronics policy (e.g., cell phones, iPods, Kindles, laptops, tablets)?
Ugh, not enough time. I can understand not wanting people on phones during groups, but there needs to be more leniency on this.
For adolescents: Did they provide time to do schoolwork or offer academic support?
Not an adolescent but I was finishing up my semester when I went. Asynchronous work is ok, and synchronous work is allowed if it is during downtime. I will say they let me have my laptop for educational purposes during any breaks.
For inpatient/residential: Are you able to go on outings/passes?
Outings as a group once a week. Unfortunately no passes. They also try to provide transportation for religious services at least every other week.
For PHP/IOP: What support do they provide outside of programming hours?
A lot of people live in group housing who are stepping down to PHP, but I’m not sure how much support is available.
What kind of aftercare do they provide? Do they help you set up an outpatient treatment team?
They have PHP and IOP in the area at a different location. They definitely help with making sure you have continuity of care.
Are there any resources for people who come from out of state/country?
I think so. I’m pretty sure they’re willing to pick people up from the airport or things like that.
Other?
My overall experience was pretty good. If I needed residential treatment again I would return. I will say that groups didn’t always run and a lot of the day was just existing which was lame. But I truly believe they are always trying to improve and provide the best care possible.
TOLEDO, OHIO LOCATION
* When were you there? Dec 2025 – Jan 2026
* What level(s) of care did you do (e.g., inpatient, residential, PHP, IOP)? Adult Residntial
* If applicable: Is it wheelchair accessible? YES
* How many patients are there on average? 8-12
* What genders does it treat? All genders
* If applicable: Do they support the gender identities of transgender and nonbinary people? Yes, there was one trans person while I was here and they were accomedaded well
* How often do you see a medical doctor, psychiatrist, psychologist (therapist), nutritionist, nurse, etc? No med doctor, Psych x1, Therapist x2, Dietitan x1 a week. Nurse assessments twice a day.
* What is the staff-to-patient ratio? 10:1
* What sort of therapies are used (e.g., DBT, CBT, EMDR, ACT, exposure therapy, somatic experiencing, etc.)? DBT, a lot of art.
* Describe the average day:
Wake up anytime before 7:00am
Breakfast 8:00-8:30
Chill time 8:30-10:00
Snack time 10:00-10:30
Group 10:30-12:00
Lunch 12:00-12:45
Group 1:30-3:00
Snack 3:00-3:30
Group 3:30-5:00
Dinner 5:30- 6:20
Upstairs chill/electronics- 6:20-8:00
Snack- 8:00-8:30
Bedtime after 8:30
* What were meals like? They use the plate by plate method and meals are normal american with some mexican and italian. Snacks were 3 times a day and were by item amount. You either had 1, 2, 3 , or 4 items per snack.
* What sorts of food were available or served? Too much soup. Average breakfasts like waffles and eggs, overnight oats, cereal, etc. There was a lot of variety for lunch and dinner.
* Did they supplement? How did that system work? Yes, they supplemented for amount of meal uncomplete. You get a regular supplement unless you specificaly ask for juice.
* Are you able to eat vegetarian? Vegan? Vegitarian, yes. I am not sure about Vegan.
* What privileges are allowed? You can earn flushing privileges as long as you’re compliant. Once you are medically cleared, you get either a walk or 2 just dance rounds a day. You can step outside if need and in the summer there are groups outside.
* How do you earn privileges? Complete meals and snacks, and participate in therapy.
* What sort of groups do they have? Therapy groups, nursing/medical, nutrition, yoga, and art. Most are actually pretty helpful and go deep into topics.
* What was your favorite group? The crafts or one run by a therapist.
* If applicable: Is the program trauma-informed? Kind of. RC’S need more training, but therapists and dietitians are informed. Some nurses are helpful, and some are not.
* What did you like the most? Most of the staff here do care a lot which is nice. It is also very clean. Most staff memebers and teams do listen to your wants and needs and try to accomedate as best they can.
* What did you like the least? The laundry is kind of a struggle to do here, but it does get done. Most of the day is spent in one room called the group room. Groups can feel very long.
* Would you recommend this program? Yes I would, they also have a good alumni support system after discharge
* What level of activity or exercise was allowed? Once cleared by nurse practitioner, a walk or just two rounds of just dance a day is allowed. Pacing is not allowed and they will call you out for standing too much.
* What did people do on weekends? Visiting or computer time and time upstairs on the sleeping quarters.
* Do you get to know your weight? No.
* If applicable: How fast is the weight gain process? Not sure.
* What was the average length of stay? 4-6 weeks
* What was the average age range? 19-25 but some older people in their 40’s and 50’s.
* How do visits/phone calls work? You can either have an in-person or virtutal visit. The times are Staurday and Sunday at 1:15-2:45 and 3:30-5:15. Phone calls on unit phones after 6:30. There are 4 phones, so there usually isn’t competition over phone time.
* What is the electronics policy (e.g., cell phones, iPods, Kindles, laptops, tablets)? No phones allowed unless desperate need.Computers and ipads are allowed upstairs on the unit after 6:30 until bedtime. On the weekends you get your computerr ipad from 12:30-3:00, 3:30 until bedtime.
* For adolescents: Did they provide time to do schoolwork or offer academic support?For inpatient/residential: Are you able to go on outings/passes? Yes eventually. They have two group outings a month. A personal outing happens on the weekend during visiting hours, but you have be 4 weeks into treatment.
* Are there any resources for people who come from out of state/country? Yes.
ASTER SPRINGS OHIO LOCATION
* When were you there? Dec 2025-Jan 2026
* What level(s) of care did you do (e.g., inpatient, residential, PHP, IOP)? Residential
* If applicable: Is it wheelchair accessible? yes
* How many patients are there on average? 6-12 adults
* 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? I never saw a medical doctor or a psychiatrist. You see a PsychNP 1xweek, nursing 1xweek, dietician 2xweek, and an individual therapist 2x week.
* What is the staff-to-patient ratio? Usually 2 techs for all the patients
* What sort of therapies are used (e.g., DBT, CBT, EMDR, ACT, exposure therapy, somatic experiencing, etc.)? It was a lot of crafts
Describe the average day:
* What were meals like? Standard American Diet. It was honestly okay food.
* What sorts of food were available or served? Too much rice and dry bread. Normal American food with some weird attempts at ethnic food here and there
* Did they supplement? How did that system work? They did use supplements, if you didn’t finish a meal/snack, the supplement was determined by what percentage you completed
* What is the policy of not complying with meals? Do most people complete their meals/snacks? Most people completed. If you didn’t, you were offered a supplement. Most people took the supplement. You could refuse, but then nursing got involved and I assume eventually you would get referred out, but that never happened when I was there.
* If applicable: Do they treat ARFID? If so, do they have a separate approach to meals for ARFID? Yes
* Are you able to eat vegetarian? Vegan? They accommodate vegetarian but not vegan
* What privileges are allowed? You get two rounds of Just Dance per night if you complete all your meals. There was the privilege to flush the toilets. Sometimes we got to go outside if the weather was okay.
* Does it work on a level system? It was a band system. Red was the most movement restrictions. After you got good labs back, you get to yellow. Then you get the 2 rounds of Just Dance. White band is if there’s a safety issue and you can’t be alone.
* How do you earn privileges? Eat, complete your meals, participate.
* What sort of groups do they have? A LOT of crafts, but this was around the holiday season so it was more laid back. The groups were generally pretty helpful.
* What was your favorite group? I like crafts
* If applicable: Is the program trauma-informed? At times, I struggled with some staff but most staff tried to be trauma informed. The therapists were great.
* What did you like the most? The staff that were good were really really good. I loved a lot of the staff.
* What did you like the least? There were times staff didn’t intervene regarding behaviors I thought they should have and that was hard. Also, the showers got cold so fast that was tough but they said they were going to fix it. It was really hard so little movement and being in one room with so many people, but that’s kind of all ED programs. That’s not a uniquely negative aspect of this place.
* Would you recommend this program? Generally yes. There were parts that I didn’t like, but those aspects you will find at all ED programs. Very few things were uniquely bad about Aster Springs. Generally, I would recommend it.
* What level of activity or exercise was allowed? Almost none. You got TMAed for standing sometimes. But if you completed meals, you could do Just Dance.
* What did people do on weekends? Visitations happened Saturday and Sunday. If you didn’t have visitors, you could hang out. You were allowed to have your laptop but no phone.
* Do you get to know your weight? No but they would tell you if you were trending in the right direction.
* If applicable: How fast is the weight gain process? They told me 2-4lbs/week
* What was the average length of stay? 6-8 weeks they told me. But some people only stayed for 4weeks.
* What was the average age range? 18-24, but a few older adults (50s).
* How do visits/phone calls work? You could use the community phones in the evenings. And if you needed your personal phone like for 2 factor authentication they would get it for you. They let me get my phone out to pay my utility bill.
* What is the electronics policy (e.g., cell phones, iPods, Kindles, laptops, tablets)? You could have tablets, Kindles, laptops, but no cell phones. It didn’t really make sense why no cell phones if you could have an iPad, but it was nice to have the iPad.
* For adolescents: Did they provide time to do schoolwork or offer academic support? Yes. There were adults that did college virtually while I was there.
* For inpatient/residential: Are you able to go on outings/passes? Yes, but not for the first 4 weeks.
* Other? I would recommend it. It was better than most programs I’ve been to. All residentials have difficult aspects, but you’re gonna get that anywhere.
Location: Manikin-Sabot, VA
I was at the Richmond location (Manikin-Sabot – “west”) from October to November of this year (2025) – note: I copy+pasted a previous review and made edits to reflect my time there
When were you there?
October-November of 2025
What level(s) of care did you do (e.g., inpatient, residential, PHP, IOP)? Residential
Is it wheelchair accessible?
No. It’s a two-story building with a porch. No ramps.
How many patients are there on average?
It can hold up to 8 people. The milieu stay around 6-7 for the most part.
What genders does it treat?
AFAB
If applicable: Do they support the gender identities of transgender and nonbinary people?
I don’t know since my milieu throughout my stay were AFAB, who identified as female.
How often do you see a medical doctor, psychiatrist, psychologist (therapist), nutritionist, nurse, etc?
You saw your dietician, doctor, and psych once a week, therapist twice a week.
What is the staff-to-patient ratio?
1:8. Rarely 2:8
They were painfully short on RCS’s. They often had them working doubles. Very rarely there would be 2 RCS’s.
What sort of therapies are used (e.g., DBT, CBT, EMDR, ACT, exposure therapy, somatic experiencing, etc.)?
CBT, DBT, ACT, process, cope ahead, music, yoga – there was no official Community Meeting – only “community” at the end of the day were we set nightly intentions and discussed any necessary “housekeeping” things
Average Day:
6:00-7:00am: wake up and vitals
7:00-8:30am: plate/breakfast (depending on level)
8:30-9:00 meds/fresh-air
9:00-10:00am: group
10:00-11:00am: snack, fresh air/break
11:00-12:00pm: group
12:15-1:30pm: lunch
1:30-2:00pm: break
2:00-3:00pm: group (visitation on weekends starts at 2:30)
3:00-4:00pm snack, break
4:00-5:00pm: group (visitation on weekends ends at 4:30)
5:00-6:30pm: dinner
6:45-7:00pm: community (we just discussed the chores to do that day)
7:00-8:00: phone time
8:00-8:30pm: snack
9:00-10:00: hygiene, shower, meds
10:00-10:30pm: lights out.
What were meals like?
Meals were good depending on which chef was working. There was a variety of snacks foods to choose from and if you wanted something specific all you had to do was ask
What sorts of food were available or served?
There was a 4 week rotation on lunches and dinners. You were able to choose as a community what to have for lunch and dinner on Sundays. Saturday lunch was always pb&j + veg
Did they supplement? How did that system work?
Yes. It was boost plus, boost breeze, and clif bars. It worked based on a 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%. If you finished at least 90%, then you didn’t need to supplement.
What is the policy of not complying with meals? You were supplemented.
Are you able to eat vegetarian? Vegan? Yes, vegetarian
What privileges are allowed? You had a level system, but other than that, there were no special privileges.
Does it work on a level system?
Yes. orange, lavender and teal. First is orange band which just means you’re on a certain number of checks, and you don’t participate in meal outings. Lavender band allows you to go on the bi-weekly meal outings. Teal is where you get to have certain meals/snacks to eat by yourself (independent meal/snack) you could eat in the living room, group room, or on the portico
How do you earn privileges? You don’t “earn” them per se – they are based on completion, safety and anything else you might individually be working on
What sort of groups do they have? Answered above
What was your favorite group? Process, and music!
Is the program trauma-informed?
Not specifically; depending on what kinds of things you shared individually they would be taken into account – ie any trauma foods
What did you like the least?
They were short staffed re: RCS’s. It often felt burdensome to ask to use the bathroom/for a check-in because there was typically only 1 person for 6-8 women
What level of activity or exercise was allowed? If you were on a certain band, you could do some walks up and down the (very long) driveway
What did people do on weekends?
There was an outing once a week on Fridays. Every other week the outings were paid, and you’ll get 25 dollars to spend (you can also bring your wallet). There was visitation on weekends.
Do you get to know your weight?
No.
How fast is the weight gain process?
It seemed to be individualized
What was the average length of stay?
It seemed to be individualized.
What was the average age range?
20’s-60’s
What is the electronics policy (e.g., cell phones, iPods, Kindles, laptops, tablets)?
Phone time was officially for an hour a day on weekdays. 3 on weekends. If you needed your phone to make a phone call/any other legit reason they let you have it and trusted you to turn it back in
For inpatient/residential: Are you able to go on outings/passes?
Yes.
I had a really positive experience for the most part. They were really willing to work with you, and truly do care.
Location? Virginia
When were you there? June 2025-August 2025
What level(s) of care did you do (e.g., inpatient, residential, PHP, IOP)? Residential
If applicable: Is it wheelchair accessible? No, the bedrooms and nurse are on the 2nd floor and there are stairs in and out of the house.
How many patients are there on average? Max is 8. In the begining we consistently stayed at 8 and would have admissions the same day someone discharged. Near the end we stayed around 5.
What genders does it treat?Female
If applicable: Do they support the gender identities of transgender and nonbinary people? Yes! We had multiple people who were nonbinary while I was there.
How often do you see a medical doctor, psychiatrist, psychologist (therapist), nutritionist, nurse, etc?
Nurse 3x a day at least
Medical doctor 1x a week
Psychiatrist 1x a week
Therapist 2x a week
Dietican 1x a week
What is the staff-to-patient ratio? We always had 1:4 (1 RCS and 1 nurse always). During the days, there was more staff around (therapists, dietican’s, cooks, people from leadership)
What sort of therapies are used (e.g., DBT, CBT, EMDR, ACT, exposure therapy, somatic experiencing, etc.)? DBT, CBT, ACT
Describe the average day:
6:00-7:00: wake up, weight, bathroom time
7:00-8:30: plate breakfast & breakfast
8:30-9:00: community meeting sometimes and morning meds/vitals
9:00-10:00: group
10:00-11:00: plate snack & snack
11:00-12:00: group
12:00-1:00: plate lunch & lunch
1:00-2:00: free time/individual sessions
2:00-3:00: group (visiting started at 2:30 on weekends)
3:00-4:00: plate snack and snack
4:00-5:00: group (visiting ended at 4:30 on weekends)
5:00-6:00: plate dinner & dinner
6:00-7:00: community meeting/cleaning/free time
7:00-8:00: phone time
8:00-9:00: plate snack & snack
9:00-10:00: bathrooms open, meds, get rdy for bed
10:30: lights out
*weekends were a little different with less groups and Fridays we went on an outing after lunch until dinner + every other Tuesday was a restaurant outing if you were on a certain level*
What were meals like? You ate with the RCS always. We played lots of table games and talked. After your first week or so you plate for yourself but before that the staff will plate for you. Breakfast & snacks were exchange based and you made it yourself. Lunch/dinner was plate by plate and made by a cook. Saturdays lunch were always a PB&J, raw veg, dipping sauce, & cheese stick. Saturday dinners were prepared the night before in a bento box. You & the milieu got to pick what you wanted them to cook for Sunday lunch & dinner. All other meals were on a 4 week rotation. You get 1 sub meal a week that you choose during meal planning each week (sub meal is the same as Saturday lunch)
What sorts of food were available or served? We had a lot of Asian dishes, some Mexican/Indian/Italian/Mediterranean etc. You could write on a grocery list any requests you had for breakfast and snacks and they would do a Kroger run 2x a week.
Did they supplement? How did that system work? Yes, if you complete less than 90% then you have to supplement based on the percentage completed. They have Boost and Cliff Bars.
What is the policy of not complying with meals? Do most people complete their meals/snacks? If you don’t comply then you are supplemented. If continuously refusing then a HLOC may be talked about.
If applicable: Do they treat ARFID? If so, do they have a separate approach to meals for ARFID? Yes. From what I observed if you had ARFID you were allowed unlimited amount of sub meals instead of just one. Some clients had to try what they were served before getting a sub meal.
Are you able to eat vegetarian? Vegan? Vegetarian – yes. The chefs do good about subbing tofu/veggie meat
Vegan – not to my knowledge
They did accommodate gluten free, dairy free, + other allergies.
What privileges are allowed? When you get to certain levels you can get walks, restaurant outing, choose in the moment snacks, flexible snacks, and independent meals.
Does it work on a level system? Yes – orange, lavender & teal.
Orange – everyone comes in on this. You are on 15 minute checks.
Lavender – you get to go on restaurant outings biweekly, opportunity to earn walks, & moved to 30 minute checks.
Teal – have the opportunity to have choose in the moment or flexible snacks and independent meals.
Sometime you remain on 15 minute checks your whole stay even on Teal if safety is a concern and I have seen people go on restaurant outings on Orange. It all is very client specific.
How do you earn privileges? Completing and not acting on behaviors. There is a nutrition + safety aspect for all the levels.
What sort of groups do they have? Nutrition, process, ACT, CBT, DBT, culinary, yoga, expressive, music, cope ahead, goals, nursing
What was your favorite group? I loved process and cope ahead!
What did you like the most? The staff is amazing and truly cares so much. Also you are allowed to go outside anytime you want and there is a big backyard with lots of games (cornhole, bocce ball, ladders, foam darts). You have a lot of freedom here.
What did you like the least? Some of the food got repetitive.
Would you recommend this program? Yes 100%
What level of activity or exercise was allowed? If you were approved; 3 20 min walks a week
What did people do on weekends? Weekends were very slow. Visitation was 2:30-4:30 Sat & Sun. If you didn’t have visitors, we all pretty much just hung out and watched movies and played games.
Do you get to know your weight? No
If applicable: How fast is the weight gain process? About 1-2lbs a week
What was the average length of stay? 4-8 weeks
What was the average age range? While I was there it ranged from 19-68
How do visits/phone calls work?
Visitation: you fill out a form of who’s coming to visit at the beginning of the week.
Phone: on weekdays you got your phone from 7pm-8pm and on the weekends you got it from 2:30pm-4:30pm + 7pm-8pm
What is the electronics policy (e.g., cell phones, iPods, Kindles, laptops, tablets)? You get your phone at designated times (stated above), but if you ever need it for anything they will give it to you. There is a community computer you can use whenever. Kindles are allowed. I’ve seen laptops be allowed for school & iPad if no internet/wifi.
For adolescents: Did they provide time to do schoolwork or offer academic support? It was 18+
For inpatient/residential: Are you able to go on outings/passes? Yes! Every Friday everyone goes on an outing. Every other week you get $25. We went to pottery, the mall, target, movie theatre. On lavender band you go on a restaurant outing every other Tuesday.
What kind of aftercare do they provide? Do they help you set up an outpatient treatment team? They have an alumni team who checks in with you, they have alumni groups 2x a week, and they make sure you have a step-down set up (php, iop, outpatient)
Are there any resources for people who come from out of state/country? Yes, I’ve seen them pick people up from the airport, drive them a few hours to meet someone picking them up, etc
Other? This was an amazing experience and I couldn’t recommend it enough. The staff is amazing and truly cares so much. Comment any questions you have!
Thank you for this! What is their policy re: smoking/vaping?
Richmond PHP (My review for Richmond residential is in a different post).
When were you there? April-June 2025
What level(s) of care did you do (e.g., inpatient, residential, PHP, IOP)? PHP (Residential on a different post)
If applicable: Is it wheelchair accessible? Yes? Their PHP is in an office building and the building is accessible. I’m not 100% sure if the way Aster has the furniture laid out is accessible.
How many patients are there on average? Usually around 12. As few as 8 and as many as 18.
What genders does it treat? I believe they treat all genders but it was only ever AFAB people when I was there.
If applicable: Do they support the gender identities of transgender and nonbinary people? Again, I know they work with AFAB people, not sure about anyone else.
How often do you see a medical doctor, psychiatrist, psychologist (therapist), nutritionist, nurse, etc?- Met with psychiatrist and PCP together 1x/week
– Therapist 1x week
– Dietitian 1x week
– Nurse is there 3 days/week
What is the staff-to-patient ratio? 2 full-time therapists and 2 full-time dietitians. There was also an intern there who acted as an individual therapist and group leader. These 5 people led all groups and had all meals with us. There was also a front desk lady (super nice!) who led 1 group/week.
What sort of therapies are used (e.g., DBT, CBT, EMDR, ACT, exposure therapy, somatic experiencing, etc.)? RO-DBT was the only specific group. Other groups that had some substance included nutrition education, cope ahead, body image, and relapse prevention.
Describe the average day:
9:00: Fill out check-in sheets, snack sheets, and usually a journal prompt
10:00: Snack
10:40: Group
11:40: Group
12:40: Lunch
1:40: Group
2:40: Snack
3:30: Check out (usually we left at 3:15)
The groups were mostly fluff. Lots of art therapy, yoga, and music therapy. They might have been helpful for some, but we usually just goofed around. We usually only had 1-2 groups that actually felt worthwhile in a day. There was one group where we did “self-care” and just colored and watched SpongeBob.
What were meals like? Lunch innings 2x/week (Monday/Friday). Menu would be passed around during check-in. You had to order something pre-made and could not make any changes unless it was due to spiciness. BYO lunch 2x/week (Tuesday/Thursday). If you forgot, you could make something there, but in theory you would get in trouble for it. I’m not sure what getting in trouble entailed, but they were usually pretty lax about it. Cooking group 1x/week (Wednesdays). We picked what we got to make the week before which was fun. Unfortunately, we didn’t have much of a kitchen to use (countertop griddles were about the most we had), so options were limited.
What sorts of food were available or served? Meal innings were usually from a chain restaurant to keep costs down. Snacks were the same as those from residential, so they got pretty old pretty fast. A standout would be fruit snacks (including gushers) counting as a fruit item.
Did they supplement? How did that system work? YES. There was a ton of supplement. Not only would they supplement you for an unfinished meal/snack (I believe there was a limit per week), but they would supplement you for what you missed outside of programming. The problem was that there was no programming on the weekends, so most people had a TON of supplement waiting for them for Monday AM snack. You might be able to spread it out throughout the day, but that depended on who was working. Mondays were dreadful. Also, they were very picky about outside meals. There were plenty of meals I had that I thought fit the meal plan (I didn’t struggle with restriction), but the next day I would show up to supplement. My dietitian wouldn’t explain to me why or how I could have done better. It really sucks thinking you are doing the right thing but end up being punished. Luckily, they allowed me to switch out supplement for Cliff Bars.
What is the policy of not complying with meals? Do most people complete their meals/snacks? I’d say as a whole people completed snacks and completed 75% of meals. I believe they would send you back up to residential at a certain point.
If applicable: Do they treat ARFID? If so, do they have a separate approach to meals for ARFID? I believe there was someone there with ARFID. Her dietitian did a good job of working around her needs. But as a whole, I would say this program is mostly for those who struggle with intentional restriction.
Are you able to eat vegetarian? Vegan? I think so. We had someone who was vegetarian and lactose intolerant, so that tells me veganism is probably ok.
What privileges are allowed? You could go outside for smoke breaks between every group. They put a lot of trust in clients for this. In PHP you had to go to the bathroom with a group leader. Usually, it would be a group of us going, and the staff member would just stand outside the bathroom stalls (but still in the bathroom). They were supposed to look at our feet but were usually on their phones.
What sort of groups do they have? Lots of art therapy and lots of nutrition education. Again, most of the groups felt more like we were trying to just get through the day. Again, maybe 1-2 actual worthwhile groups a day (I’d say only 3 groups total a day, as I wouldn’t count check-in).
What was your favorite group? Music group! It was the same music therapist from residential, who was lovely! If applicable: Is the program trauma-informed? I’m not sure but I doubt it.
What did you like the most? Part of me loved not having programming on the weekends, but it usually ended up coming back to get me. I miss music therapy, although I’m not sure how helpful it actually was. I also liked the lunch innings (most of the time), as they caused me to try new foods (and we didn’t have to pay for them)! The head of client services and alum relations (I believe) was super sweet. Also, one of the dietitians was lovely, I miss her.
What did you like the least? My experience at residential was ok, but at PHP ended up making me worse than when I started. I think one of the biggest problems I had with Aster Springs PHP was the staff. If I had a continuation of staff from residential, I feel like my experience would have been very different. It was hard having to start from scratch again, especially since I never vibed with my PHP team.My dietitian refused to work with me to try to achieve my goals. As someone who didn’t struggle with restriction, I (along with my outpatient dietitian) advocated for a different approach to the meal plan. I brought it up with my dietitian often, and she refused to go away from her model. I will say, as soon as I talked with the other (head) dietitian (casually one day), she seemed to understand my concerns, and my meal plan immediately changed. My dietitian’s approach felt very cookie cutter, and while it worked well for some, it did not work for me at all. At first I thought my concerns were unwarranted, but after talking with my outpatient dietitian and a different dietician at a new PHP, they feel appropriateAlso, my therapist and I did not really bond. I know this is a risk you take going into any treatment facility, but it was frustrating because I knew my residential therapist (who I loved) wanted me to have someone else. I think we would have had a better chance to bond if we met more than 1x/week, which I felt like was not enough at all. I met with my outpatient therapist more often than that at one point. We could ask for check-ins, but I was told that I was “asking for too many” when I submitted 3 in one week. Instead of trying to work with me in PHP, they seemed intent on sending me somewhere else. I understand where they were coming from, but it was frustrating as they seemed like they were just looking to get rid of me.As I mentioned, most of the groups didn’t feel like much. Some of the journal prompts were good, but very focused on restricted-based behaviors. It was frustrating that I was basically paying to rewrite my own journal prompts so they would reflect my struggles. It was really frustrating going to program 6 hours a day and often only getting one useful group out of it.Lastly, there was little to no weekend/night support. They technically had a dietician on-call (on Recovery Record), but interaction was sparse. The break was kinda nice, however, the repercussions (in the form of the boatload of supplement) that came on Monday were ridiculous. I went from a lot of support in residential to practically none in PHP. I felt like there needed to be a smoother transition.
Would you recommend this program? Honestly, no. If you struggle mainly with restriction and are not in a larger body, this program could be ok for you. But from my experience in other PHPs, this PHP sometimes just felt like a waste of time. Lots of the groups were fluff and you barely got to meet with your team. I would definitely not recommend this program to anyone who deals with anything other than restriction or is not in a larger body.
What did people do on weekends? We were on our own, which was nice but also sucked. I felt like they didn’t give us enough resources to succeed on the weekends, but then would get mad at us for not doing well. Sometimes it felt like I was being set up for failure.
What was the average length of stay? 7-9 weeks
What was the average age range? When I first got there, it was primarily college-age patients. However, when I left, it was mostly an older crowd. It really fluctuated.
For PHP/IOP: What support do they provide outside of programming hours? As I mentioned earlier, barely any. Technically, an on-call dietitian on Recovery Record on the weekends, but communication was scarce. And when you inevitably didn’t do well (since there was little/no preparation/support), you couldn’t check in about it without possibly being sent up. I felt like most of my sessions were dealing with trying to plan ahead than trying to process what had happened the week prior (we usually just glazed over them).
What kind of aftercare do they provide? Do they help you set up an outpatient treatment team? They put everyone in a GroupMe group chat, so technically, there’s that. It’s very active, so I have it muted. I’m sure I signed something saying I could be in it, but it still feels very HIPAA-weary. I believe there is also nightly meal support on many nights out of the week (for discharged patients only I think).
Are there any resources for people who come from out of state/country? They have a “cottage” you can stay at. Cottage is a pretty nice word for it. It’s right next to the east residential location, which is about 15 minutes from PHP. If you don’t have your car, you will need to catch a ride to program. I had to give my roommate a ride every day. The cottage was pretty dirty and felt like it hadn’t been fully cleaned in a while. When I got there, the sheets were dirty, and I had to deep clean. There were also tons of bugs (mostly crickets and spiders, including a giant wolf spider). Lastly, the cottages were $100 a night, which adds up pretty quickly, along with the fact that you are also paying for groceries (breakfast, dinner, HS snack, and weekends). I believe Aster would cover some of it when needed, but that was rare. Other programs I have stayed at have been cheaper for nicer accommodations.
This review is for Richmond Manakin-Sabot (West) Residential. I had a very different experience for PHP, so I have a separate review for that.
When were you there? March- April 2025
What level(s) of care did you do (e.g., inpatient, residential, PHP, IOP)? Residential (PHP review on different post)
If applicable: Is it wheelchair accessible? No. All bedrooms and nursing are upstairs, plus there are stairs to get in/out of the house
How many patients are there on average? Max of 8, at one point there were only 3. I believe it is busier over the summer.
What genders does it treat? FemaleIf applicable: Do they support the gender identities of transgender and nonbinary people? I believe they treat anyone who is AFAB, however, I am not 100% sure. It was always cisgender women when I was there.
How often do you see a medical doctor, psychiatrist, psychologist (therapist), nutritionist, nurse, etc?PCP: Meet with Nurse Practitioner 1x/week (she travels throughout all Richmond programs)Psychiatrist: Meet with Psychiatrist 1x/week (she travels throughout all Richmond programs)Therapist: 2x/weekDietitian: 1x/week (could split into 2 30-min sessions)Nurse: Morning/Night, and there was one there throughout the day as needed.
What is the staff-to-patient ratio? We only ever had 1 RCS (recovery care specialist) there at a time, so 1:8. I was told that they used to always have 2 RCSs if there were more than 5 people, but since they were short-staffed, we only ever had one. Even though there were only 8 of us, I felt that 2 RCSs were needed, as they were in charge of bathrooms, some of the cooking, and checking in with clients. It was sometimes hard to find someone to talk to. Also, they were supposed to do night rounds (every 30 minutes, I believe), but those never happened.
What sort of therapies are used (e.g., DBT, CBT, EMDR, ACT, exposure therapy, somatic experiencing, etc.)? I believe just DBT, ACT, and CBT. Technically, an outing 1x week, but it didn’t feel like an exposure, more like just a way to get out of the house. In theory, there were lunch outings as well, but only 1 while I was there.
Describe the average day:
6:00: Wake up and Vitals
7:00: Make breakfast if you are on self-portioning
7:30 (usually closer to 8): Breakfast
9:00: Group
10:00: Snack
10:30: Break
11:00: Group
12:00: Lunch/process
1:30: Break
2:00: Group
3:00: Snack
4:00: Usually RCS group (in theory, self-care, mindfulness, or art)
5:00: Dinner
6:30: Community/cleaning
7:00: TV/phones
8:00: Snack (usually had while watching TV in the group room)
8:30: TV/phones
9:00: Bathrooms would open so you could take a shower, vitals
10:00: Lights out (I usually stayed up until closer to 11 doing homework)
What were meals like? Low key the food was so good! The chef who was there was spectacular. She was gone for 2 weeks and we all cheered when she returned. However, she was not there on the weekends, so the food then really sucked. More on that below. You made your own breakfast, which some people liked, but I hated. You made it as soon as you got off staff portioning (usually 1-2 weeks after being there). You also portioned your own snacks. Breakfast and snack were based on the exchanges model, which was not helpful for me and made meals very confusing. Plus, my outpatient dietitian did not agree with how they categorized some of the foods via this model.
What sorts of food were available or served? A 4-week rotating schedule with lots of variety from lots of different cuisines! Most of it was very good. You got one substitute meal a week in which you could make either a meat (turkey/ham) sandwich, pbj, or grilled cheese; however, you had to make your own. The chef was not there over the weekend (I believe just Friday and Saturday but possibly Sunday too), so those meals really sucked. One time, the food was so tough that it broke my permanent retainer out of my mouth. There were some times where the RCSs definitely made our food wrong and we had the wrong meal (for example, soup with nothing but meat in it (it was supposed to also have veggies and noodles)). Again, I felt like this could have been helped if they had more than 1 RCS at a time. Also, Saturday lunch was always sandwiches. Usually pbj. I believe Saturday nights were usually soup. Sunday was themed lunch and dinner, so we got to pick what we had. Very fun, but sometimes they didn’t play out as expected. It really depended on who was working that night. If you talked with your dietician beforehand, you didn’t have to eat fish, which was relieving, as that is not a taste preference. Also, you could sometimes ask to have a different type of veggie, but that again depended on the RCS. I also wanted to mention that the kitchen was always open, so you could get something whenever you wanted (however, it didn’t really feel that way since an RCS was always watching).
Did they supplement? How did that system work? Yes. I never supplemented while I was there, but I believe it was based on percentages. However, it was very subjective to the RCS. There was one RCS that would let people go and say they had reached 90% completion (what was required) when they had barely reached 50% (I don’t think she works there anymore). I also remember a time when a girl almost completed her meal and the RCS marked her down as 20%. Some RCSs were more strict on it than others. It was often frustrating for my fellow patients as their plates could look the exact same, but one would be made to supplement and the other marked as 90%. Very very subjective system that seemed to often cause a lot of stress.
What is the policy of not complying with meals? Do most people complete their meals/snacks? I believe you get a certain number of refusals a week before they consider inpatient. Completion was only 90%, which was nice (for example, if you didn’t like a certain thing on the plate), but caused lots of turmoil (mentioned above). If applicable: Do they treat ARFID? If so, do they have a separate approach to meals for ARFID? I never met anyone with ARFID while I was there, however, I doubt they would (at least well) based on my experience there with binge eating disorder (more below).
Are you able to eat vegetarian? Vegan? Vegetarian- yes. Vegan- I’m not quite sure. However, there was someone who kept Kosher and they worked well with that.
What privileges are allowed? You get your phone during visiting hours on the weekend. When I was there, everyone was able to take evening showers, even on their first night, which surprised me. You could check out your razor/other sharps early on as well. The other main privileges came with walks and portioning. Once you got to a certain level, you could walk to/from the mailbox (which was a long way), however, people rarely got there before insurance cut/rarely did even when they got to that level. Everyone started on staff portioning, but after 1-2 weeks, you went to measuring cups. During this, you also started making your breakfast and snacks. After 1-2 weeks of that, you went to eyeball. Most staff members were super chill with that, but some RCSs were a lot stricter. For example, one made me put back a pinch of banana bread when I was overportioned (even though it wasn’t), while another allowed me to get an extra handful of M&Ms. Again, very inconsistent.
Does it work on a level system? Technically yes, but the differences between the levels were so slight that most people didn’t even bother. Everyone started on orange. Then there was lavender, in which you earned the ability to go on lunch outings. However, they were short-staffed when I was there, so we only went on 1 lunch outing over 5 weeks (it was supposed to be 1x/week). The last level was teal, and I believe the only other privileges with that were getting to walk to the mailbox and having some solitary meals/snacks. Every level had the same bedtime, shower time, sharps privileges, phone time, and bathroom observations.
How do you earn privileges? You go up levels by filling out a sheet and giving it to your team. It was pretty easy.
What sort of groups do they have? DBT, CBT, Nutrition Education, art therapy, music therapy, culinary group, nursing group, relapse prevention, yoga (most people (including me) slept through this group with no consequences). The last group of the day was almost always RCS group. Depending on the RCS, we really didn’t do much. I probably watched the same documentary about 3 times while I was there. From what I have heard, they have gotten better though.
What was your favorite group? Cooking group was fun, educational, and the chef is just fabulous! Music group is a close second.
If applicable: Is the program trauma-informed? Not really sure, but I would lean no. Other programs I have been to are definitely much more trauma-informed.
What did you like the most? The clinical staff (therapists and dietitians) were great! I really loved my team and felt like I got a lot done with them. I wish we got to meet with them more often. The nurses were also super sweet. There was a lot of nutrition education, and I did get a lot from that. It was also nice because the milieu was so small (max 8 people). I also enjoyed all of the freedom; however, it was definitely a slippery slope, and I felt like some people got away with too much. It seemed like the rules were a lot stricter in the past, but had gotten lazy/lax over time. Definitely a very casual environment, but I’m not sure it was the best for everyone.
What did you like the least? I really did not get along well with some of the RCSs. There was one that didn’t follow the rules, but to my knowledge, she does not work there anymore. I also didn’t like that we had flush checks the entire time we were there. It felt a little excessive to still have them after 5 weeks. Other programs that I have been at follow a level system with this, and I appreciated that. However, there were times when the RCS just said to flush without checking (again with the inconsistency). Also, RCS groups and the weekends were usually not great. RCS groups often felt lazy and rushed together (sometimes they were ok), and weekends were very chill. Also, we had to wake up at 6 AM every day (even on the weekends), which I did not appreciate (especially since breakfast wasn’t until 7:30. Usually, I would wake up, go get vitals, get dressed, go downstairs, then go back to bed for an hour. Lastly, as a plus-size person, not all of the furniture/spaces felt super comfortable (in particular, I had to ask for different towels since none of theirs worked for me, which was humiliating). It felt like there was definitely a bias there.
Would you recommend this program? My overall experience with this program is that it was fine. Nothing spectacular, but nothing outlandishly bad either. The house was super nice, but I believe the Glenn Allen house was smaller and not as new. My main gripe with Aster Springs comes in PHP, which I have put in a separate post. I would say if you struggle with mostly restriction (or maybe purging) and are in a smaller body, this is a decent program. However, my main struggle was with bingeing, and I did not feel like the staff knew a ton about that. I got somewhere with my team in 1/1 sessions; however, I often felt left out in groups because I didn’t deal with restriction. I often had to add in my own experiences in order to get something out of them. So if you are comfortable speaking up and questioning how their lessons apply to non-restriction, I would say you can get a decent amount out of Aster Springs. However, if you don’t really struggle with restriction and don’t want to speak up in groups, you won’t get a lot out of them and won’t find them helpful. However, I would recommend this program for those struggling with restriction.
What level of activity or exercise was allowed? We had yoga 1-2x/week, however, people usually slept through it. At the highest level, you could go on walks to the mailbox. While I was there, there was a patient who compulsively exercised, and the staff didn’t usually stop her, which was super frustrating and triggering to others.
What did people do on weekends? Wake up was the same time, which sucked. You got your phone during visiting hours, which was nice. I would say most people got visitors, but if you didn’t, you would still get your phone during this time. You weren’t supposed to go on social media and only use it to call people, but no one stuck to that at all. We still had some groups on the weekends, but they were led by a PRN therapist, RCSs, and nursing, so they were usually pretty chill. The rest of the time, there was a lot of sleeping.
Do you get to know your weight? I never learned mine; however, I believe you could do a weight exposure if you talked to your team. That was definitely rare and not the norm though.
What was the average length of stay? I believe 4-6 weeks but insurance tended to cut early and a lot of people AMAed when I was there.
What was the average age range? Usually, most of the milieu was 20-30 y/o with 1-2 people over that. Definitely leaned younger.
How do visits/phone calls work? You had to fill out a visitation request form, but usually they were approved. In theory, we were supposed to only do phone calls via the 4 landlines at the house, but they were always “broken” (sometimes actually, sometimes we just told staff they were), so the RCSs would let us have our electronics. They claimed they were fixing them, but the phones were broken the entire 5 weeks I was there. In theory, we were only supposed to make phone calls on our phones, but people also texted, facetimed, went on social media, etc with no repercussions.
What is the electronics policy (e.g., cell phones, iPods, Kindles, laptops, tablets)? I mentioned the phones above. As for everything else, you could usually get them at night when you got your phone. I was also doing school while I was there, so I would usually get my computer at night as well. Otherwise, all electronics were locked up. We got them from 7-9:30. I could have my Kindle, Nintendo Switch, and iPod (mine connected to my Spotify but did not have internet connection) at all times. There was also a community computer for everyone to use.
For inpatient/residential: Are you able to go on outings/passes? We had an outing 1x/week and once you got to a certain level, you could go on a weekly group lunch pass. However, I do not believe you could go on independent outings (I never saw anyone do it). The group outings were on Friday afternoons and switched between paid/unpaid. For paid outings, Aster Springs would give you $20 to spend; however, you could bring more money if you wanted to. We went to places like a pottery place and Dave/Buster’s. For unpaid outings, we would go to places like Target. We could still buy stuff, but Aster wouldn’t pay for any of it. We often did our PM snacks out and about on these outings. There were many times that we stopped by a vape store on the way home from outings so people could stock up. We didn’t have to go in, but that felt strange to me and sometimes made me uncomfortable.
What kind of aftercare do they provide? Do they help you set up an outpatient treatment team? They have PHP/IOP
Are there any resources for people who come from out of state/country? I believe they would help pay for an Uber to/from the airport
Overall, if you struggle with anything other than restriction or are in a larger body, I would not recommend Aster Springs. Residential was ok, but I sometimes felt very isolated and left out. The main reason why I would not recommend Aster Springs to those not struggling with restriction, however, is actually for what comes after residential. PHP was extremely isolating and ended up making me worse than when I started residential. Most people who went to residential there also did PHP there, so if you are planning on that path and don’t struggle primarily with restriction (or are in a larger body), I would not recommend. I know my friends there who did struggle with restriction have found Aster Springs helpful. The staff was either really good or really bad. From what I’ve heard, they have made some changes since I left, which is good. I feel bad bashing this place, as my time in residential, personal team, and some of the RCSs were good; however, in comparison to other programs I have gone to, it felt very disorganized, short-staffed, and less professional. I feel like they have the potential to be good, but should not advertise that they treat conditions that they do not know much about.
I went to the Manakin Virginia location (West) of Aster Springs at the beginning of 2025. I did residential and PHP. I was told the estimate was 4-6 weeks, that’s definitely not true unless insurance cuts you. I was in res for 8 weeks and it would’ve been longer but it was not helping me so i left.
The approach at aster is great if you are HIGHLY motivated to recover and ONLY struggle with restriction. if you have any complusions you struggle with in secret i would not suggest coming here because they do not keep an eye on you. at night and during visitiation I was able to spend 1-2 hours completely alone with the door shut (after telling them i have super strong compulsions) which was incredibly unhelpful for my recovery. plus there was clients doing exercise in plain sight as well with little redirection. if you struggle with movement, aster just will not be helpful. its hardly even brought up. i was completely shocked by the lack of attention given especially because i would tell them everyday how much i wanted to move. they also give little attention to the bathrooms sometimes at night/morning.
when it comes to food, they only make you eat 90% of your meals, which this privledge was taken advantage of. everyone would just leave the scariest part of the meal behind and they wouldn’t question it. plus they don’t have any consequences for not completing, so i really struggled with completion. there was little encouragement from almost all of the employees to finish, they just said nothing sometimes. i was able to make very little physical progress here because of this. they’d give you supplement but they didnt really care if you drank it or not.
they were very understaffed when i was there. there was one RCS for all 8 of us which made it impossible for them to really provide us support or watch us because they were busy doing housekeeping stuff. plus they had no one to clean the house, so they expected us to vaccum, clean our rooms, etc. and the place was so gross. the common bathroom we all used was so gross and no one would clean it so we eventually did. as a paying customer, this was unacceptable. plus cleaning can be complusive for a lot of people with an ED. i felt that some of the staff literally had no idea the tendencies of EDs and were just there for the vibes.
i also want to add that the medical doctor there was not good. she would make comments about clients bodies and was just so unhelpful none of us would want to tell her any problems we were having. when a client got sick, they had no idea what to do with her and just put her in her room for multiple days, and then later decided to add the roommate in there too AFTER she had spent multiple hours around everyone else, and then they were just stuck in their room with no support or programming.
i did enjoy that we got to go on outings on fridays, but often they were so understaffed they couldn’t give us the full amount of time and that was so annoying. i met great fellow clients there and am thankful for my forever friends but the residential experience got me nowhere. the client return rate at aster springs is genuinely concerning, sooo many people came back within a year.
The PHP program was better, I was set on 4 weeks there but ended up doing 9 bc it takes so long to progress here. We had groups all day that weren’t that good, very repetitive and boring and the therapists are eh but I loved my dietician. we got meal innings twice a week which was a helpful challenge for me. it just takes so long to get treatment at aster so if you don’t have multiple months, don’t do this program. i also do not suggest staying at their PHP housing, it caused a lot of conflict for the people who did it. the IOP is literally just PHP but you get to leave 2 hrs early or come late, yet they expect you to squeeze in outside therapy and dietician. I saw no point in their IOP bc they give you no clinical support.
i highlighted mostly just bad stuff about aster. there is good points to it but i genuinely regret coming here. i feel like i wasted a lot of time and it has not set me up for success. the food is pretty good, they let you have some freedom, some of the staff is really sweet, but overall just not worth the investment. they do not give you a lot of family therapy or preparation to discharge because usually you just get cut from insurance bc it takes so long.
I second this review sooooooo much! Aster might be helpful for some, but it was a big yikes for others. I didn’t even think about the return rate, but it was very concerning. Also second everything about PHP!
Location? Tennessee
When were you there? Early December through early January
What level(s) of care did you do (e.g., inpatient, residential, PHP, IOP)? Residential
If applicable: Is it wheelchair accessible? No. Steps throughout the whole building to get from room to room (therapy offices, bedrooms, kitchen, etc.)
How many patients are there on average? Maximum of 8. They always had a waitlist and filled spaces the next day after a patient was discharged.
What genders does it treat? Female only.
If applicable: Do they support the gender identities of transgender and nonbinary people? I am not sure. There were only female-identifying patients while I was there.
How often do you see a medical doctor, psychiatrist, psychologist (therapist), nutritionist, nurse, etc? I was there over the holidays. The staff was scarce. There was only one therapist for all of us in PHP and Residential, there was a dietician for the first week I was there and then there were multiple fill-ins who never communicated with each other. Medical doctor once a week unless you were pulled for something else during their planned time to see you then you wouldn’t meet with the doctor until the following week. A psychiatrist once a week. Therapist twice a week. Nurse daily.
What is the staff-to-patient ratio? One RCS to eight clients= 1:8
What sort of therapies are used (e.g., DBT, CBT, EMDR, ACT, exposure therapy, somatic experiencing, etc.)? I only had four sessions when I was there due to staff being on vacation and holidays. The groups rarely happened; if they did, they were not “mandatory,” and patients chose to sleep during the groups and were never encouraged to go. If they were, patients would sleep in groups with no redirection.
What were meals like? The meals were nice. There was an incredible Chef who came in after a week of staying here. There was plenty of variety.
What sorts of food were available or served? Anything and everything. You asked for it; you received it. Grocery runs daily, and meal planning groups on Fridays.
Did they supplement? How did that system work? Yes. Supplementation was based on a certain percentage of completion. 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%. If you completed 90% or more, you did not need to supplement. Be careful, though, because ED will try to use this as an excuse to try to restrict as much as possible without needing to supplement. Some RCS would consider 50% completed 90%. At the end of the day, if you choose to cheat the system, you are only cheating on your recovery. You could supplement with vanilla or chocolate boost or any flavor of cliff bar.
What is the policy of not complying with meals? Supplement based on completion. You have 30 minutes for each meal and 20 minutes for each snack. You have 20 minutes to supplement for meals, and 10 minutes to supplement for snacks.
Are you able to eat vegetarian? Vegan? Vegetarian, yes. I am not sure about Vegan, but I am sure they would allow it.
What privileges are allowed? There is a level system: three colored bands. Depending on which color band you have depends on how much independence you have. You get checked on less and trusted more, I guess. At the end of the day, there were privileges given, including yoga and walks, but only if you were medically stable or not. That is what they cared about the most.
Does it work on a level system? Read above.
How do you earn privileges? Completing meal plans and complying with the system
What sort of groups do they have? If they actually did the groups, they would contain DBT, CBT, ACT, nursing education, culinary, self-care, mindful movement (yoga, walks), arts and crafts, art therapy
What was your favorite group? The groups really didn’t happen. There was really only mindful movement, which was walks or yoga, which were nice. They brought in an outside staff member for yoga who was wonderful.
Is the program trauma-informed? The one therapist working, ***, seemed like she would have been helpful with trauma, but once again, she was barely around while I was there. However, there are no trauma-specific therapies offered.
What did you like the most? I appreciated the freedom we had around food, choosing food, plating food, etc. And the other clients helped me the most out of everyone.
What did you like the least? The program is so poorly run. The executive director could not handle any kind of feedback. Anytime anyone advocated for themselves, she would shut it down and never entertain change or help.
Would you recommend this program? The one in Tennessee, absolutely not. It was the most disorganized treatment center I have been through. There is a handful of good staff, but there is no communication, and there is very little that is individualized for the clients. Their approach is very much one-size-fits-all. They also do not know how to handle clients who have any kind of medical instability. They did not have the knowledge to deal with and treat poor lab results or hypermetabolism.
What level of activity or exercise was allowed? You could honestly walk around as much as you wanted, and no one would say anything. But there were two times slotted for walks and yoga a week.
What did people do on weekends? It was all changing while I was there. Once you were on the highest level of band, you were allowed to take an Uber out for a certain amount of time. This all changed my second week and then you were only allowed to go out on one of the two weekend days for two hours with a friend or family member.
Do you get to know your weight? No, but if you asked you were able to know your weight trends.
However, some nurses were really bad at keeping computer screens open with weights and numbers on them.
How fast is the weight gain process? They mentioned 2-4 lbs a week when necessary.
What was the average length of stay? Client depending. They let clients go a lot sooner than they should have.
What was the average age range? 20-30ish
How do visits/phone calls work? Only allowed phone calls after 7:30. Visitation on weekends for two hours each day and on holidays.
What is the electronics policy (e.g., cell phones, iPods, Kindles, laptops, tablets)? No cell phones or any electronics other than MP3 players. Laptops were allowed if school was necessary, and they almost never asked for them back.
Did they provide time to do schoolwork or offer academic support? They allowed time to do schoolwork; you could pretty much do school at any time you wanted (groups, free time, nighttime) as long as it was not during meals, therapy, or dietician sessions.
Are you able to go on outings/passes? Read above.
What kind of aftercare do they provide? Do they help you set up an outpatient treatment team? I am not sure how this process worked because I stepped up to a higher level of care.
Are there any resources for people who come from out of state/country? I had to pay for my own Uber from the airport.
Thank you so much for this review. I am supposed to admit to the Tennessee location this Friday, 2/7 and I have some concerns after reading this review. Do you happen to know if it was this bad even not during the holiday season? Also do they program PHP patients with Residential patients or is the therapist just shared between them all? When the groups were ran, were they all worksheet based or were they discussion/process based? This is so different from what admissions told me and I’m concerned, so thank you for any feedback you may be able to give. Thank you so much for what you have already contributed!
I will write a full review once I leave Aster Springs, but I’m currently at the Tennessee program and can honestly say it has been such a good experience for me. They do have a full time dietician now and she’s great. They allow a lot of independence which is exactly what I needed and the staff here care so much. I can’t even put words to it. This is the only treatment center that I feel seen as an individual, and not just as a patient file. Again, I’ll write a full review once I discharge, but I hope that helps a little! (not to discredit the previous review at all, just wanted to add my experience during a non-holiday season)
Would you be willing to connect? I’m considering admitting soon. I am curious if it feels closed in/closterphobic or if it’s a very open space. I also have ARFID and unsure of how they cater ?
Of course! Please let me know any questions you may have and I’ll do my best to answer them! To answer the ones you’ve already asked:
1.) It’s a very open space. The Res building in Tennessee is very long with lots of little nooks and cozy rooms. Theres a main area that’s a refurbished old chapel where most of the groups take place and it’s pretty big with very high ceilings! Overall, very homey and spaced out and you can go outside whenever you want to! There’s also a screened in patio with chairs and things out there!
2.) There’s a chef who cooks lunch and dinner. Dinner is reheated, but the chef makes it that same day. I know they have an ARFID protocol that lets you sub out 5 meals instead of the typical 1 per week. The sub meal is either any type of nut butter/jelly sandwich or a turkey/ham sandwich with fruit and chips for either option. Unfortunately, at least in Tennessee, there is only one option for each meal (other than the sub meal). Breakfast you do get to pick whatever you want, as well as snacks (as long as it follows your meal plan)
I hope that helps a little but please send any other questions you might have my way!
Thank you SOO much that’s so helpful….
-Did they cater to dairy free and vegan clients?
-Could you have boost breeze or kate farms for supplement ?
-What was the fluid policy (ie hot tea at meals or snacks and/or water bottles) ?
-Coffee and condiments allowed?
-age group of the milleu?
Thank you so so much!!!!
Of course! I’m happy to help in whatever way I can!
1.) They don’t accommodate veganism, but you can be vegetarian there. They can accommodate dairy free as well, but they most likely will want documentation of sensitivity or intolerance.
2.) They do have Boost Breeze! I’m not entirely sure about Kate Farms. I know they can get other supplements for people who need them, but I’m not sure about Kate Farms specifically. You can also supplement with a Clif bar (they have a decent amount of flavors).
3.) You can have hot tea or coffee two times a day at any meal or snack before 3pm! They will pour water in cups for you at meals and snacks. But they also give you a clear purple reusable water bottle when you get there that you can fill up anytime! You just can’t have it at the table during meals and snacks.
4.) Condiments are allowed, but they recently changed the rule that condiments cannot be out on the table, so you have to put your condiments on your plate in the kitchen before your plate goes to the table. They also do allow hot sauce (I know a lot of places don’t, so I figured I would mention that!)
5.) Currently the average age is probably like 25 ish. Most people are in somewhere in their mid to late 20s, but there are a few people that are older as well!
Please let me know if you have any more questions! I’m happy to answer them!
thank you so much!!! the concerns i have are with sharing a bedroom with 3 other people and having no phones… has it been rough and do you feel crowded?
oh yes – and what is the bathroom policy ?
Of course! So at the Tennessee residential two of the bedrooms have 3 beds total and then one of the bedrooms has 2 beds total. Each bedroom has its own bathroom with a shower. Some of the beds are queens and some are twins. The bedroom upstairs (3 beds) tends to be only patients that have been there for longer and/or aren’t struggling actively with ED behaviors.
The phone part is hard, but they do have like 5 handheld phones you get to use in the evening! They also have a desktop computer that you can use anytime and they will give you your phone to login to your email or for things like that. Also, on the weekends is visiting from I think 2:30-4:30pm. But if you don’t have an in-person visitor you can fill out a form to FaceTime on your own phone during that time (you can do both days or just one). Most people will also send texts during this time, they don’t really pay much attention.
Right now, it’s a little crowded but not too bad. The residential is currently full at 8 people, but someone is stepping down in a few days. People also have the option to PHP at the residential building and come from 9am-3:30pm. So right now there are 2 people that are also there for PHP, to make 10 total.
If you don’t want to do PHP at the residential building they also have a PHP/IOP building that’s about 25 minutes from the residential building. They do also have PHP with housing. Housing is $100 a day at a cute house across the street. But if you have a reason, they are known to reduce or even waive the fee for a certain time frame.
Also, one of the therapists there is the best therapist I have ever had. The other is very nice and usually deals with the younger clients. The dietician is also amazing, as well as the executive director. Hit or miss with techs, but there are some really good ones. Same with nurses!
I hope that helps! Please send any more questions my way!
Hi- I was recommended Aster springs for inpatient.
1. how does meal planning work? Is it exchange based then you chose your food from there? Or does everyone eat the same thing but different amounts according to meal plan.
2. Can someone give examples of snacks?
what is their smoking/vaping policy?
I was at the Richmond location (Glen Allen) from January to March of this year (2024), and I wanted to write an honest review. I feel like the google reviews do not reflect this treatment center accurately.
Location: Glen Allen, VA
When were you there? January-March of 2024
What level(s) of care did you do (e.g., inpatient, residential, PHP, IOP)? Residential
Is it wheelchair accessible? No. It’s a two-story building with a porch with no ramps. I’ve known people who were refused treatment due to their disability/disabilities.
How many patients are there on average? It can hold up to 8 people, but my milieu was primarily around 5 people.
What genders does it treat? AFAB
If applicable: Do they support the gender identities of transgender and nonbinary people? I don’t know since my milieu throughout my stay were AFAB, who identified as female.
How often do you see a medical doctor, psychiatrist, psychologist (therapist), nutritionist, nurse, etc?
You saw your dietician, doctor, and psych once a week, therapist twice a week.
What is the staff-to-patient ratio? 1:4. We always had 2 staff in the house when I was there.
What sort of therapies are used (e.g., DBT, CBT, EMDR, ACT, exposure therapy, somatic experiencing, etc.)?
LOTS of DBT. There were also nursing education groups (which actually was nothing most of the time because the nurses wouldn’t run anything), art/music therapy, CBT, culinary, self-care, etc..
Average Day:
6:15-7:00am: wake up and vitals
7:00-8:00am: breakfast
8:00-8:30: fresh air/break
8:30-9:00am: community meeting (again, usually nothing)
9:00-10:00am: group
10:00-11:00am: snack, fresh air/break
11:00-12:00pm: group
12:15-1:30pm: lunch, processing
1:30-2:00pm: break
2:00-3:00pm: group (visitation on weekends start at 2:30)
3:00-4:00pm snack, break
4:00-5:00pm: group (visitation on weekends ends at 4:30)
5:00-6:30pm: dinner
6:45-7:00pm: community (we just discussed the chores to do that day)
8:00-8:30pm: snack
10:00-10:30pm: lights out.
What were meals like?
Meals were actually pretty good depending on which chef was working there. You have to sit the full 45 minutes for meals, and the full 20 minutes for snacks, which was excruciating if you had smaller snacks or breakfast. It does not take 45 minutes to eat a sandwich.
What sorts of food were available or served? There was a 4 week rotation on lunches and dinners that never changed. There was a wide variety of meals. My favorites were the curries, butternut squash pasta, and enchiladas. Lots of cuisines from different cultures. Saturdays were always PB&Js for lunch with raw veg, and soup for dinner. You and your fellow clients could choose what you wanted for the Sunday meal and they’d make it. We’ve done gyros, sushi bowls, curry (lol), etc.
We had A LOT of side salads, which was just lettuce and your choice of dressing. I dreaded the million times per week we had salads. They’d go on a run to Kroger twice a week and they had a grocery list that we could fill in, so you could have literally anything you wanted for snack as long as they could pick it up. We had nerds clusters, loft house cookies, any cereal you could imagine, and you can even ask for anything from the Kroger bakery like apple fritters. Lots of chobani/chobani flips, variety of fruits, etc.. They didn’t get food from a food service like most places. You had one sub meal per week which was either a PB&J or turkey sandwich with raw veg. There were also cookie shakes, which were usually shakes on top of meals or snacks. They’re actually pretty good. Made with like, Oreos and stuff.
Did they supplement? How did that system work? Yes. It was boost plus, boost breeze, and clif bars. It worked based on a 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%. If you finished at least 90%, then you didn’t need to supplement.
What is the policy of not complying with meals? You were supplemented. Your first week was a grace period regarding refusals, and I think you couldn’t have more than 6 refusals a week after that. If you refused too many, then inpatient would be in discussion.
Are you able to eat vegetarian? Vegan? Yes! I am vegetarian. I will say, though, that my portion sizes had to be bigger because of the “different proteins used.”
What privileges are allowed? You had a level system, but other than that, there were no special privileges.
Does it work on a level system? Yes. I don’t remember the colors but you had 3 different bands. The first week you’re on band 1, which just means you’re on a certain number of checks, and you don’t participate in meal outings. Band 2 allows you to go on the bi-weekly meal outings, and I think you’re allowed on walks now(?). You have a tad bit more freedom. Band 3 is where you get to have certain meals/snacks to eat by yourself (except there was literally nowhere to go except the table across the kitchen).
How do you earn privileges? N/A,
What sort of groups do they have? Answered above
What was your favorite group? Culinary or nutrition, they were the most interesting groups there that were actually interactive. I talked through more ED related things in nutrition than I ever did in any other group.
Is the program trauma-informed? NO. This place deals with EDs and EDs only.
What did you like the most? The beds if I’m being completely honest. They were comfy as heck. I also loved every single BHA there.
What did you like the least? This place picks favorites when it comes to patient care. I was ignored whenever I was struggling, and my team would show no remorse or care towards me.
Would you recommend this program? No. If you’re not the perfect patient, then it’s a low chance that they’ll help. I was dealing with a lot of outbursts and anxiety/intrusive thoughts, and they didn’t have any compassion or patience with me. I was struggling, and my team would just walk past me. They had also told a friend of mine that was thinking of coming there that her “mental issues were too much to deal with”.
What level of activity or exercise was allowed? If you were on a certain band, you could do some walks.
What did people do on weekends? We had an outing once a week. I loved going to the Richmond SPCA. Every other week the outings were paid, and we’d get 20-25 dollars to spend (you can also bring your wallet). And of course, there was visitation. Other than that, nothing much. Sometimes we could convince the BHAs to let use sit in the living room to watch TV while eating snack or lunch.
Do you get to know your weight? No, but they would tell me my trends if I asked.
How fast is the weight gain process? I think 1-2lb a week. Very standard.
What was the average length of stay? 4-6 weeks on average. A lot of people AMA’d while I was there.
What was the average age range? around 18-23. Glen Allen usually housed the younger adults, the other location had mostly the older adults.
How do visits/phone calls work? Visitation was allowed on weekends, we had a landline that was available from after dinner up until snack. They were supposed to be for 15 minutes, but no one really paid attention.
What is the electronics policy (e.g., cell phones, iPods, Kindles, laptops, tablets)? You weren’t supposed to have your personal electronics, but I had schoolwork at the time, so I was allowed my personal computer and phone (for Duo Push) at certain times to do work. That means I still went on social media anyways.
For inpatient/residential: Are you able to go on outings/passes? Yes.
My personal experience was not good, like mentioned above. Does that mean it will be a poor experience for everyone? No. I do, however, feel like there’s a mold to be put in here. You have to be a certain type of patient in order to flourish here, or else it doesn’t do much.
If you guys have any further questions about my experience, let me know! I’m an open book 🙂
Hi, I was deciding between this place and CFD Richmond and was wondering what you thought of the staff in general and if you thought, ultimately, it helped you with your ED? Or if you would recommend a different space in specific? There is such a lack of info out there lol
Location: Glen Allen, VA
When were you there? April 2022
What level(s) of care did you do (e.g., inpatient, residential, PHP, IOP)? Residential
Is it wheelchair accessible? Not at all. Lots of stairs. The group rooms span two floors, so patients have to climb them at least a few times daily. Not ADA compliant.
How many patients are there on average? I was there when they had just opened, so it was small. About 5, I think.
What genders does it treat? AFAB
If applicable: Do they support the gender identities of transgender and nonbinary people? I believe so. I use they/them pronouns, and they were very supportive.
How often do you see a medical doctor, psychiatrist, psychologist (therapist), nutritionist, nurse, etc? I had a terrible experience, but I was only there about three weeks. Doctor once. Psychiatrist twice. Therapist once. Dietician once. Nurses daily. I believe some were on vacation, and the doctor was sick. There just weren’t enough staff.
What is the staff-to-patient ratio? Roughly 1:5. I was there when it was new, so there weren’t many patients. However, most of the time, clinical staff wasn’t there. They just came for groups. But…J*** ran the show. We were supported as long as J*** was there.
What sort of therapies are used (e.g., DBT, CBT, EMDR, ACT, exposure therapy, somatic experiencing, etc.)? In all honesty, I didn’t see much evidence of anything but DBT. My experience was only in groups. All I received in individual therapy was part of a biopsychosocial. I left when self-advocacy didn’t result in therapy or dietitian sessions.
Average Day
What were meals like? Pretty standard issue. Not great, not awful. You chose from menus. Few accommodations.
What sorts of food were available or served? Dinner didn’t allow for many options other than what was on the menu. Breakfast and lunch had a bit more flexibility. Only one sub meal per week at the time I was there. There was a lot of negativity surrounding use of the sub meal, so I felt pressured not to use it…and I didn’t. You were expected to justify why you wanted to use it and then pressured out of it, so I felt like it shouldn’t have even been offered.
Did they supplement? How did that system work? Boost was used. Partial completion resulted in credit.
What is the policy of not complying with meals? Noncompletion results in supplementing. Not sure what happened after that. Procedures weren’t fully established when I was there.
Are you able to eat vegetarian? Vegan? You may have been able to, but I was pushed not to.
What privileges are allowed? N/A – I was there when no one was allowed to go anywhere anyway.
Does it work on a level system? I believe so. I didn’t stay long enough to figure that out.
How do you earn privileges? See above.
What sort of groups do they have? DBT, Art, Nutrition, Medical, Culinary
What was your favorite group? Culinary. I don’t know if *** is still there, but he is incredible. I’ve been to multiple programs where he works, and his patience and compassion are unmatched. Far better than clinical staff in building relationships, listening, and generally treating patients like human beings.
Is the program trauma-informed? Definitely not. Staff tried to be nice enough, but their approaches were still carceral in nature.
What did you like the most? It’s clean. Front-line staff tries to listen to/support patients even when the corporate model of eating disorder treatment doesn’t.
What did you like the least? It felt very, very corporate. They called it a “business” multiple times per day. Patients cleaned the house, including pretty high-impact vacuuming, every week. I thought this was weird for ED patients. We were told we needed to keep the group rooms clean for tours from the “higher-ups” at least three times daily. It felt like we were in the way, even though we were the reason the “business” even existed.
Would you recommend this program? No. My case is unique, so it’s worth contextualizing. I’ve been to a lot of treatment programs and haven’t received adequate care in all but one of them. While AS tries to be different (and I do know there are a lot of good people there), it was just like all the other programs…they get you in, and they don’t pay attention to you unless they deem you worthy. At the time I was there, there weren’t enough therapists or dietitians to meet patient needs. I only saw my therapist and dietitian once in three weeks, and that was only after I kept advocating.
What level of activity or exercise was allowed? Short walks were allowed at a certain level.
What did people do on weekends? There were expanded visitation hours and a few unstructured groups, but because of Covid, not much.
Do you get to know your weight? No.
How fast is the weight gain process? Not sure.
What was the average length of stay? A lot of people left early when I was there, so not long.
What was the average age range? At the time I was there, it leaned young…about 20-25.
How do visits/phone calls work? Visitation was allowed on weekends.
What is the electronics policy (e.g., cell phones, iPods, Kindles, laptops, tablets)? No personal electronics. There was a communal computer, but since two-factor was needed to access most things, most of us didn’t bother. Staff would try to help, but it was such a pain for them and us.
For inpatient/residential: Are you able to go on outings/passes? Not at the time due to Covid.
What kind of aftercare do they provide? Do they help you set up an outpatient treatment team? In my case, none…but I left early and set up my own aftercare. They were unwilling to communicate with my treatment team, so I had to use evening phone hours to coordinate with my team.
Are there any resources for people who come from out of state/country? Not sure.
If applicable: How is the program responding to COVID? (Less patients, virtual programming, no visitors, masks, social distancing, etc). I was there in April 2022, so they got a pass on protocols…but I felt targeted for choosing to wear a mask. When I stopped wearing it, I got sick. It took me months after discharge to recover from the Covid I contracted in their care.
*An important note: My guess is a lot of the issues I experienced (outside of lax Covid protocols) were due to the fact that they opened too early and without adequate, licensed (or at least pre-licensed) staff. My hope is they have rectified at least some of this by now. I share my experience here because I am an almost-40 professional and it’s remarkably difficult to find IP/RES ED treatment that compassionately accommodates and supports this population. I ultimately decided to do recovery from home with my team and return to work a bit sooner, but I do want to acknowledge the fact that AS did at least listen to me when I discharged. They assured me they would address my concerns with future patients. I’m hoping they have.
Thanks for writing this! Which location was this? I think it’s important info that I want to take into account.
The original location, Glen Allen (VA).
Richmond (Glen Allen) Residential review
When were you there? August 2024
What level(s) of care did you do (e.g., inpatient, residential, PHP, IOP)? Residential
If applicable: Is it wheelchair accessible? Not really–steps to get into house, two story house w/nursing and group room upstairs. Two bedrooms on first floor, two bedrooms on second floor.
How many patients are there on average? 8 beds total. While I was there, the census ranged from 5 to 8.
What genders does it treat? Female-identifying or AFAB (if not female-identifying)
If applicable: Do they support the gender identities of transgender and nonbinary people? I believe so? I am female identifying and AFAB but there was another client there that was nonbinary and their pronouns were respected. The staff is also incredibly diverse, including with respect to gender identity.
How often do you see a medical doctor, psychiatrist, psychologist (therapist), nutritionist, nurse, etc? Medical doctor (NP): 1x/week, psychiatrist (psych-NP): 1x/week, therapist: 2x/week, dietitian: 1x/week. You were also generally able to arrange to check in with your therapist and/or dietitian outside of your scheduled session times.
What is the staff-to-patient ratio? During the day when everyone was around, it was probably close to 1:1. There is always at least one RCS and one nurse on at all times, sometimes two RCS (we generally had an overnight RCS, an RCS that would work 6:30-2:30, an RCS that would work 11-7, and an RCS that would work 2:30-10:30)–so never more than 1:4.
What sort of therapies are used (e.g., DBT, CBT, EMDR, ACT, exposure therapy, somatic experiencing, etc.)? DBT, CBT, ACT, expressive, music, polyvagal
Describe the average day:What were meals like? You filled out menus every Friday for the upcoming weekend and the following week. You had to fill-in what your plan was for breakfast and your snack selections, as well as when you intended to use your sub meal. Unless there was an extenuating circumstance (ie they were out of what you had planned), you generally had to stick to what you had written down. Breakfast was your choice (to meet your meal plan) and, once you were able to plate your meals, you would also get to make it. Lunch and dinner were the same for everyone (unless you were a vegetarian/had other dietary restrictions) unless you had add-ons on your meal plan. As you moved towards discharge, you would also get the opportunity to do “choose in the moment” snacks and/or breakfasts where you didn’t write out in advance but instead could pick from your options as you prepped. You had 40 minutes to complete meals (could clear at 30 if completed) and 20 for snacks. Pretty typical treatment meal environment–lots of table games. RCS ate with you, generally the same meal. Completion was considered 90% or more finished at meals and 100% for snacks. I really appreciated that 90% was considered completion–this felt way more normal to me than 100% and left room for taste preferences. While I was there, the milieu was very recovery focused which made the table atmosphere really positive.
What sorts of food were available or served?
–Breakfast was your choice to meet your meal plan–all sorts of things were available: eggs, bacon, sausages, bagels, bread, english muffins, yogurt, cereal, granola, hashbrowns, poptarts, etc. You could also do smoothies though they generally liked to encourage you to have at least part of breakfast be something you’d have to chew.
–Lunch/Dinner were both prepared by the chef and menus were on a 4-week rotation. With the exception of Sunday meals, the menu was the same at both VA res houses. Saturdays were always PB&J for lunch, something simple that RCS could reheat for dinner. Sunday meals were voted on and picked by each house (while I was there, I remember doing acai bowls, spaghetti and meatballs, cous-cous salad). A lot of variety and generally really good (honestly the best food I’ve been served in treatment). You had one sub meal you could use per week if something just wasn’t your taste preference. The chef was also great about getting to know the clients in the house and adapting things to their specific preferences–for example at one point, the house largely preferred non-red meat so she swapped in more poultry and seafood for us. This will give away who I am entirely but, whatever, this is a positive review: I’m allergic to cow’s milk protein–I HATE vegan cheese, like 10/10 will drink a supplement before I will eat vegan cheese, but I’m not allergic to goat cheese–so she made sure that whenever possible, she would use goat cheese on my portion. I was also impressed by the amount of fresh fruits and veggies that were available/served to us.
–Snacks were your standard snack foods: crackers, cheese, yogurt, cereal, chips, dips, hummus, bars, baked goods (that you generally were involved in making during culinary group each week!), etc.
-They put in two grocery orders per week and the grocery list was always available to add things to. Generally they’d do their best to get anything you requested, even down to preferred brands. I really liked this aspect of it because it helped the process feel more applicable to real life.
Did they supplement? How did that system work? They were in the process of updating the supplement/completion system when I discharged but yes, they did. If you were less than 90% for meals/100% for snacks, they would supplement based on completion, per food group remaining. They used Boost Plus or Boost Breeze for supplementing. If you had a verified medical reason (ie a dairy allergy) why you couldn’t use Boost, they used Kate Farms.
What is the policy of not complying with meals? If you completed with supplement, they viewed it the same as completing with food and really emphasized this point which I REALLY appreciated. So many other programs have made supplementing feel like a punishment which never made sense to me. If you were refusing supplements (I believe the limit was 6/week), they’d have a conversation with you about needing to step up to a higher level of care.
Are you able to eat vegetarian? Vegan? Vegetarian, yes. Vegan, I’m not sure–I’m inclined to say they’d do their best to accommodate you but they’d likely challenge it.
What privileges are allowed? Not many. You can earn walks (literally down the driveway and back–nothing exciting), plating your own meals, choose in the moment snacks/meals, independent snacks/meals. When you’re close to discharge, you generally get to move into the master bedroom. While there aren’t a ton of privileges, there is also a LOT of autonomy allowed and nothing ever feels punitive.
Does it work on a level system? Kind of? There are three band colors, orange, lavender, and teal, that in theory mean something but even after being there for 5 weeks, I’m not entirely sure what. Everyone starts on orange which primarily means you’re on 15 minute obs; you fill out a simple application to move up to the next band.
How do you earn privileges? By band color? maybe? Honestly, I’d just ask for the things I was interested in trying and generally, as long as I had a good (non-ED) reason for it, it could happen.
What sort of groups do they have? CBT, DBT, ACT, music, body image, process, nutrition, culinary, yoga, coping skills, expressive
What was your favorite group? Music! The music therapist that came in was really fantastic and great at reading what we needed each week–and open to shifting plans to meet us where we were.
If applicable: Is the program trauma-informed? not specifically but I wouldn’t say they’re not trauma informed either?
What did you like the most? How much I was treated like an adult and a person and not just an eating disorder. Also how open they were to feedback and always seeking to improve the program. ALL of the staff (not just the clinical staff–literally EVERYONE) were genuinely invested in each client and making sure they were able to get what they needed from the program. There was so much individualization–all you really had to do was ask and they’d find a way to make it happen. When I admitted, I was SUPER jaded–I have been to a large handful of other programs and, while I had heard good things, I figured Aster Springs couldn’t really be all that different. Yes, I was pushed and had hard times (hell, I signed two 72s while I was there!), but I was always met with compassion from staff and never once felt like they didn’t hear or believe me.
What did you like the least? Weekends were ROUGH. They were actively working to improve them when I discharged but they really dragged on. There was generally no clinical staff on site on weekends so groups were either RCS-led (they were “self care” or “open art” so were completely unstructured) or run by nursing and were generally a simple worksheet or they just didn’t happen. Also some of the weekday groups, particularly the CBT/DBT/ACT groups, could feel really basic/repetitive–especially if you have been through treatment a few times. This was also something they were actively working to improve.
Would you recommend this program? YES. yes, there were flaws and things I really didn’t like but it’s also the only program I’ve ever discharged from that I’d be willing to go back to if I ever needed it. Just feeling like I was seen as a person–not just an eating disorder, or a check from an insurance company–really was a game changer.
What level of activity or exercise was allowed? Not much. You could get approved for walks down the driveway!
What did people do on weekends? Again, not much. A few times we were able to get an additional outing–twice to a local park, once to a mall–but that was very much staffing and milieu dependent. Otherwise visitation was from 2:30-4:30. If you didn’t have a visitor, you were able to use your phone during that time.
Do you get to know your weight? nope!
If applicable: How fast is the weight gain process? completely unsure
What was the average length of stay? I’d say 4-8 weeks? But definitely client dependent. They were very willing to work with you if there was a specific date that you needed to be out by (within reason).
What was the average age range? When I first admitted, the average age in the house was probably around 35 (30-50 years old). When I discharged, the average age was probably closer to 20 (18-50 years old).
How do visits/phone calls work? Visitation on weekends 2:30-4:30, land line phones available after dinner each day. I think there were like 5 phones available which was great–you never really had to wait to make a phone call.
What is the electronics policy (e.g., cell phones, iPods, Kindles, laptops, tablets)? Generally you can’t use anything with the ability to access the internet. I had my laptop to attend a a virtual therapy group once a week, another client was taking an asynchronous class that she had her laptop to do at selected time. If you don’t have a visitor, you can have your cell phone on weekends during visitation hours. If you have kids, you are also able to use your phone/laptop more frequently to facetime as well. There is also a computer available in the living room that everyone can use to check email, online shop, etc. as well.
For inpatient/residential: Are you able to go on outings/passes? Kind of. Once you’re on lavender band, there’s a restaurant outing every other week that you go on. ALSO every Friday, there’s an outing that EVERYONE gets to go on–every other week it’s paid (up to $25). For this outing, the house gets to pick where they want to go. For paid outings, we did a used bookstore and paint your own pottery; for unpaid, we did TJ Max and Target. We also once got a surprise Starbucks outing, and a weekend trip to the park and the mall. If you’re interested, you can also ask to do additional meal outings or grocery shopping with your team.
For PHP/IOP: What support do they provide outside of programming hours? I didn’t do their PHP/IOP but I know there is housing available.
What kind of aftercare do they provide? Do they help you set up an outpatient treatment team? I already had an outpatient team set up but, if not, they will help you find providers. They also have alumni support groups available weekly.
Are there any resources for people who come from out of state/country? They will assist with transportation.
It was like pulling teeth for my team to convince me to even consider admitting to res again. I had a whole list of “demands” that had to be met before I’d even consider doing an assessment with somewhere. From the start, Aster Springs was like “sure, no problem, we can work with that”–even when I tried numerous times to back out during the admissions process, they were like “that’s ok, just give us a call when you’re ready, but we’ll also check in with you in a few days.” I didn’t want to go because I’d already had SO MANY really terrible experiences in treatment and I was terrified that another one was going to be the final straw and I’d just never recover. From the moment I got there, I felt so much more at ease. During our last session, my dietitian asked what they had done differently to make it such a better experience and honestly, the truth is that they literally just treated me like a person going through a tough time. It wasn’t anything earth shattering, they just actually cared. It’s a little horrifying that that alone made such a difference but it really did–more than anything it helped me find hope in the process. When we’re used to being seen as our eating disorders, it’s really easy to just hide behind them and get stuck but being seen as a person let me speak up for and advocate for myself and what I needed to make sure I was getting from treatment.
This is sooooo helpful, thank you! If you know, could you explain the difference between the two VA residentials? Are they both in Glen Allen? Is one for adults and one for adolescents? I’m confused by that!
They’re both essentially the same—both max of 8 clients, 18+. They’re probably the 10 minutes away from each other. Most of the staff works between both houses with the exception of the therapists, who are at one or the other.
The Glen Allen house is the “original” and is slightly smaller. The Manakin house opened more recently and is a slightly bigger house (but still is a max of 8 clients). I think the Glen Allen house is credentialed with more insurance than the Manakin house, simply because it’s been around a little longer but otherwise they are virtually identical.
Jeffersonville PHP/IOP review
When were you there?June 2024-present
What level(s) of care did you do (e.g., inpatient, residential, PHP, IOP)?PHP, IOP
If applicable: Is it wheelchair accessible?Yes
How many patients are there on average?5-8. I think the most they can have is 10
What genders does it treat?All genders
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?PHP: nurse for vitals daily, dietician 1x a week, therapist 2x a week, psychiatrist 1x a week
IOP: nurse for vitals 1x a week, dietician 1x a week, therapist 1x a week
What is the staff-to-patient ratio?There’s really only 5 staff members at the moment. The clinical director, the therapist, the nurse, the dietician, the admin person, and one other person who I’m not exactly sure what their job is. The therapist and clinical director lead most of the groups.
What sort of therapies are used (e.g., DBT, CBT, EMDR, ACT, exposure therapy, somatic experiencing, etc.)?CBT, DBT, ACT
Describe the average day:
8:45-9am: arrive and vitals
9am: group
10am: snack
10:15am: group
11am: group
12pm: lunch
12:30ish: break
1pm: group
2pm: break
2:15pm: snack
2:30pm: reflection and check out
3pm: leave
PHP stays for all 6 hours, IOP comes for 3 hours and they let you choose which hours you come in. I liked to do 10-1 so I got a snack and lunch.
What were meals like?Everyone eats at a table together with the dietician. It’s pretty chill. We’d usually play games or play music and talk. 30 minutes for lunch, 15 mins for snacks, but they’d give you an extra minute or two if you were finishing up.
What sorts of food were available or served?Lunches all came from local restaurants, except on Fridays when we did cooking group and we’d cook our lunch together. Restaurants were on a 4 week rotation. For snacks, there’s tons of stuff like granola bars, yogurt, applesauce, fruit, cookies, chips, crackers, cheese sticks, hummus, cereal, pop tarts
Did they supplement? How did that system work?Yes, they’d supplement based on percentage. A majority of the time, people completed. The dietician would check in with you near the end of the meal if it looked like you were struggling/weren’t going to finish and she’d get you the boost.
What is the policy of not complying with meals?Not sure. They’d probably talk about stepping up if it was a consistent problem.
Are you able to eat vegetarian? Vegan?Vegetarian yes, vegan I don’t think so
Does it work on a level system?No
What sort of groups do they have?DBT, ACT, CBT, Expressive Arts, Health for Self (led by the nurse), yoga, nutrition, process, Resilience in Recovery, cooking, media, I’m probably forgetting some
What was your favorite group?Process. I love a good process group. Also expressive arts was often fun.
If applicable: Is the program trauma-informed?Sure, I’d say so
What did you like the most?The staff are wonderful, especially the therapist. She’s amazing. I like that it’s a small program so you get to know the staff and other clients really well. I also liked the variety of groups.
What did you like the least?I didn’t like that we didn’t do breakfast. Every other PHP I’ve been to has included breakfast, I’m not sure why Aster doesn’t. It could also be a drawback that there’s only one therapist and one dietician if you happened to not vibe with one of them.
Would you recommend this program?Yes! There are two treatment options in the Louisville/Southern IN area and having been to them both I’d say this is the better one.
What level of activity or exercise was allowed?Depends on the individual
Do you get to know your weight?Nope
If applicable: How fast is the weight gain process?Unsure
What was the average length of stay?6-8 weeks in PHP, maybe 4-6 weeks in IOP?
What was the average age range?Right now the milieu skews a lot younger. I’ve been the oldest by a number of years the entire time I’ve been there, and I’m 25. The youngest ones are 15.
What is the electronics policy (e.g., cell phones, iPods, Kindles, laptops, tablets)?No phones during groups or meals but they’re pretty lax with it
For PHP/IOP: What support do they provide outside of programming hours?You can message your team on Recovery Record whenever if you need support and they’re usually really good at responding.
What kind of aftercare do they provide? Do they help you set up an outpatient treatment team?I came in with an outpatient team already, but they’ll give you recommendations
Are there any resources for people who come from out of state/country?I know someone who stayed at the Ronald McDonald house while they were there, but I think that’s all they can offer in terms of housing right now.
Other?This is the best program I’ve been to. I find the groups generally helpful even though I’ve been in treatment before and I really like the staff. It’s been hard being the oldest, not gonna lie. If you’re older than 20 and considering going here just know you might be surrounded by teenagers. I don’t love the fact that we order out every day for lunch because that’s not super realistic for real life, but it’s helped me challenge fears around restaurant food.
Full review!
When were you there? April-June 2024
What level(s) of care did you do (e.g., inpatient, residential, PHP, IOP)? Residential
How many patients are there on average?
5-8
Does it treat both males and females? If so, is treatment separate or combined?
female only
If applicable: Do they support the gender identities of transgender and nonbinary people?
im non-binary and at first pronouns were not respected but after conversations were had they got better at it.
How often do you see a medical doctor, psychiatrist, psychologist (therapist), nutritionist, etc?
medical NP- once weekly
psych- once weekly
therapist- twice weekly
dietitian- once weekly
could request more check ins if needed!
What is the staff-to-patient ratio? Idk but usually 1 or 2 RCS
What sort of therapies are used (e.g., DBT, CBT, EMDR, etc.)? dbt, CBT, ACT, art therapy, EMDR depending on your therapist
Describe the average day: wake up, weights, get ready, breakfast, free time, group, snack, group, lunch, free time, group, snack, group, dinner, community meeting, free time, snack. The day was pretty chill and the weekends had more free time but there are tvs with streaming services and always stuff to do! Great art supplies that are available always.
What were meals like?
plated yourself after a week, 4 week rotating menu, 40 min meal 20 min snacks.
What sorts of food were available or served? All different and a lot of snacks. You can put things on the grocery list
Did they supplement? How did that system work? Complete 90-100% at meals none and you supplement what you didn’t complete.
What is the policy of not complying with meals? If you really don’t progress they’ll send you out but that rarely happens.
Are you able to eat vegetarian? Yes
What privileges are allowed? Walks
Does it work on a level system? Kind of- band system and really the only privileges are walks and independent meals
How do you earn privileges? Complete and participate in programming
What sort of groups do they have? Art, yoga, dbt, CBT, act, process, cope ahead, RCS group, mindfulness, process.
What was your favorite group? Tbh I loved all but ones with C is my favorite like ACT and process because we got deep. I missed most of P’s groups
What did you like the most? The staff and how compassionate they were
What did you like the least? Took a long time to get walks
Would you recommend this program? YES! OMG they have been the best program out there that I’ve been to. So accommodating to individual needs, compassionate, willing to work with you! Best staff and had fun. They will challenge you a lot. It wasn’t easy but so worth it
What level of activity or exercise was allowed? Walks(you have to earn it) and yoga
What did people do on weekends? Sleep lol and visitation outings on Fridays
Do you get to know your weight? No
How fast is the weight gain process? Depends on the person and meal plan
What was the average length of stay? 4-8 weeks. 8 weeks was on the longer side. I would’ve been there a weeks or so longer but insurance stopped paying
What was the average age range? 19-30
How do visits/phone calls work? House phone and get phones for FaceTime on the weekends if you don’t have visitors
What is the electronics policy (e.g., cell phones, iPods, Kindles, laptops, tablets)? Computers and phones allowed on some occasions and on weekends for FaceTime. They have a community computer
For inpatient/residential: Are you able to go out on passes? We do outings for fun. Every other week you get $25 to spend and on lavender band you do a meal putting
For PHP/IOP: What support do they provide outside of programming hours?
What kind of aftercare do they provide? Php and IOP. With housing Do they help you set up an outpatient treatment team? Yes they are very good about continuing care
Are there any resources for people who come from out of state/country? They have housing for php
If applicable: How is the program responding to COVID? (Less patients, virtual programming, no visitors, masks, social distancing, etc) some of us got Covid and we all tested, isolated for a few days, wore masks, just stayed in our rooms.
Other
this program is great. They really want to see you succeed. You do have to be willing to put in the work and they do challenge you quite a bit. There will always be someone to talk to! They are good at accommodating autism and adhd to the best of their ability. The only problem was the noise level of the other clients that clients and staff tried to get them to quiet down but it wasn’t received. You got this! I was wanting to AMA the first 2-3 weeks because I didn’t think I needed to be there but I’m glad I stayed!
This is fantastic! Thank you thank you for posting. Based on what I’ve been hearing it sounds like Aster Springs is one of the best programs out there right now, certainly one of the most solid! A lot of really reliable and some truly fantastic treatment centers closed down in the past couple years, I’ve been so worried about what will happen next. It’s a relief how well Aster Springs has come into its own! Which location did you go to? I’ll add the location label to the top of your review and pin it.
I 1000% agree it’s one of the best! Virginia res!
Thank you so much for this! I have been in contact with admissions at the Nashville location and they have been so helpful and supportive in trying to get me in. I was definitely starting to have doubts based on some earlier reviews but this gave me a lot of hope. Which location were you at?
Also, if you are neurodivergent- there is a therapist in the Nashville location who has tremendous experience with those clients and there is also another therapist at Virginia php who works with the community too.
they are LGBTQ+ friendly and we had pride day this past Monday!
TYSM, this is so helpful! Could you talk more about bands? I’ve never heard of that before
Thanks for the review! How was the food, is there a chef?
Recent Full Review of Adult Residential (Richmond, Virginia)
When were you there? September-November 2023
What level(s) of care did you do (e.g., inpatient, residential, PHP, IOP)? residential
How many patients are there on average? There’s 8 beds, but usually was between 3-6 of us in the house I was at (there’s two houses).
Does it treat both males and females? If so, is treatment separate or combined? It does not treat males
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, etc?
Psych: once a week
Med: once a week
Therapist: twice a week
Dietician: once a week
Therapists and dieticians are really good at providing check-ins if you ask for them too, you just have to express to the RCS on duty that you need one
What is the staff-to-patient ratio? There’s always one RCS and one nurse, and during the day other staff members like dieticians, therapists, etc. are around too. So at minimum 1:2. There was a couple of times where we were short a nurse and one nurse was split between the two houses, but it wasn’t that big of a deal
What sort of therapies are used (e.g., DBT, CBT, EMDR, etc.)? DBT, ACT, CBT, music therapy, culinary group, creative groups, and probably others I don’t remember
Describe the average day: wake up for weights, breakfast then morning meds/vitals, and then various groups between snacks and meals until dinner. After dinner is basically free time besides evening snack. Your individual sessions will happen when other groups are going on, you’ll just get pulled from them
What were meals like? there’s a four week rotating schedule for lunches and dinners with a good variety of meals. You choose your own breakfast and snack things. On weekends Saturday’s are sandwich Saturdays (pb&j for lunch and either chicken salad or tuna salad for dinner) and on Sundays clients get to pick the meals, it alternates between the two houses so you get to choose every other Sunday.
You get 40 minutes for meals and 20 minutes for snacks, and the RCS on duty will eat with you.
What sorts of food were available or served?
For breakfast oatmeal, toast, bagels, cereal, oatmeal, eggs, yogurt, hashbrowns, waffles, fruit, etc.
For lunch and dinner it would be a variety of things from mexican food, fish, black bean burgers, veggies cooked different ways, spring rolls, chili, chef salads, etc.
For snacks there was fruit and dried fruit, baked goods, pretzels, yogurt, chobani flips, ice cream, granola bars, chocolate covered nuts and regular nuts, jerky, chips, hard boiled eggs, goldfish, etc. On Monday’s when you do meal plans you can mention if there is anything in particular you would like to have- a certain cereal, a certain flavor of yogurt/ice cream/etc, and they would try to get it in the next grocery order
Did they supplement? How did that system work? Yes, if you didn’t eat 90% or more at meals or 100% at snack you would have to have boost
What is the policy of not complying with meals? Supplement
Are you able to eat vegetarian? Yes
What privileges are allowed? On teal you can go on walks, but other than that you don’t really earn any privileges as time goes on
Does it work on a level system? They have a band system- orange, purple, teal. They honestly don’t mean much though.
How do you earn privileges? I guess the band system?
What sort of groups do they have? Music therapy, culinary group, self care group, yoga, and we’d go on an outing once a week. And of course the therapy/nutrition groups
What was your favorite group? Music therapy! It was the highlight of my week every week. *** makes it so enjoyable and it is a really nice change of pace from all of the heavier therapy groups
What did you like the most? The staff are absolutely incredible. They care about you, like genuinely care. They help you work through your thoughts and challenges, and want to see you do better. If you take some steps back they help you address them and want to come up with solutions catered to you as an individual, not something they think should work for anyone. The staff really make Aster special
What did you like the least? Weekends are so boring. There’s essentially no groups on the weekends- technically there’s a couple scheduled but noone ever really does them. There wasn’t a lot to do besides diamond art, read, and watch disney movies, so if that wasn’t your thing, then time went by really slowly.
Would you recommend this program? Absolutely. There are a few flaws as any program would have, but Aster Springs does so much right
What level of activity or exercise was allowed? we had “yoga” (really light stretching) twice a week. Your treatment team might approve you to do light stretching on your own when supervised by staff, as well as earning walks on teal band
What did people do on weekends? People could have visitors for 2 hours, but other than that, just whatever you could to entertain yourself and make time go by
Do you get to know your weight? No
How fast is the weight gain process? I don’t know, I’m assuming it depends on the person
What was the average length of stay? 4-6 weeks
What was the average age range? I’d say 20-26, but there was people outside that age range as well
How do visits/phone calls work? you can make phone calls in the evening off of the house phones, and on weekends you can have visitors. If you live out of state you can facetime on the weekends instead
What is the electronics policy (e.g., cell phones, iPods, Kindles, laptops, tablets)? No phones/anything that can connect to the internet for things. But they do allow mp3 players, ipods, and they let you have handheld video games too (like a switch). If you need your phone staff is really understanding and will let you get it though, you just aren’t allowed to use it for any form of social media
For inpatient/residential: Are you able to go out on passes? You can’t go out on your own, but we went out weekly as a group and as a group you get to pick what you wanted to go do for the outing
What kind of aftercare do they provide? Do they help you set up an outpatient treatment team? I already had an outpatient team, so they connected with them to go over things and established my first appointments back for me
Are there any resources for people who come from out of state/country? I’m from out of state and they picked me up from the airport, other than that I’m not sure what other resources would be needed?
No laptop at all? How good were they with communicating with your outpatient team?
First off, thank you so much for your review! I was wondering if you happen to know if all locations do music therapy? If not, I know it says Richmond in your review but I wasn’t sure, it looks like there are two residential locations in Richmond? One says Richmond-Glen Allen and the other says Richmond-Manakin Sabot. I know it probably sounds silly, but music therapy is so helpful for me and when I saw that you had a great experience with music therapy there, I thought maybe it would be a good fit for me. Thank you!!
**FULL REVIEW OF ASTER SPRINGS**
When were you there?
January to March 2023
What level(s) of care did you do (e.g., inpatient, residential, PHP, IOP)?
Residential
How many patients are there on average?
6-8
Does it treat both males and females? If so, is treatment separate or combined?
Female
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, etc?
Weekly with dietician & psychiatrist
Weekly x 2 with counselor
What is the staff-to-patient ratio?
Typically 1 to 4 ratio
What sort of therapies are used (e.g., DBT, CBT, EMDR, etc.)?
DBT, CBT, ABT
Describe the average day:
*Meals & groups*
What were meals like?
3 meals & 3 snacks eaten in dining room
What sorts of food were available or served?
Variety of food
Did they supplement? How did that system work?
Supplements are given based on how much is left on your plate
What is the policy of not complying with meals?
If you refuse 3 meals, I believe, you’re at risk for being discharged for non-compliance
Are you able to eat vegetarian?
Yes
What privileges are allowed?
See next question
Does it work on a level system?
There is a levels system using different colored bands. Privileges are given based on your band level. You can request the next band by filling out a form.
How do you earn privileges?
See above answer
What sort of groups do they have?
Body Image, Nutrition, Trauma, CBT/DBT, Art Therapy Music Therapy, etc
What was your favorite group?
Process Group. It gave patients the space to express how things were going within the program
What did you like the most?
Staff, support, treatment team
What did you like the least?
Weekends could get boring
Would you recommend this program?
YES!!!
What level of activity or exercise was allowed?
It depended on the color of your band
What did people do on weekends?
Several groups, a lot of free time
Do you get to know your weight?
No
How fast is the weight gain process?
Depends on the individual’s meal plan
What was the average length of stay?
4-6 weeks residential and 4-6 weeks PHP
What was the average age range?
19-45
How do visits/phone calls work?
Allowed to make calls 7–8pm and 8:30-9:30pm
Visiting hours are from 2:30–4:30pm on weekends
What is the electronics policy (e.g., cell phones, iPods, Kindles, laptops, tablets)?
No electronics allowed. Cell phones are only used to make aftercare appointments
For inpatient/residential: Are you able to go out on passes?
This depends on band level
What kind of aftercare do they provide? Do they help you set up an outpatient treatment team?
PHP, IOP, and they help you set up an outpatient team if you don’t have one
Are there any resources for people who come from out of state/country?
Yes
If applicable: How is the program responding to COVID? (Less patients, virtual programming, no visitors, masks, social distancing, etc)
Not applicable
Any updated reviews? It would be super helpful! Thanks
There is an inadequate number of ethical, responsible, qualified, and compassionate professional clinical staff to supervise and implement individualized treatment plans for clients.
The person you are replying to was asking for a review, and this isn’t a review. Can you please say more? Here are the guidelines for writing a review: https://edtreatmentreview.com/faq-and-guidelines/
To make it easier, we also have a review template:
When were you there?
What level(s) of care did you do (e.g., inpatient, residential, PHP, IOP)?
How many patients are there on average?
Does it treat both males and females? If so, is treatment separate or combined?
If applicable: Do they support the gender identities of transgender and nonbinary people?
How often do you see a medical doctor, psychiatrist, psychologist (therapist), nutritionist, etc?
What is the staff-to-patient ratio?
What sort of therapies are used (e.g., DBT, CBT, EMDR, etc.)?
Describe the average day:
What were meals like?
What sorts of food were available or served?
Did they supplement? How did that system work?
What is the policy of not complying with meals?
Are you able to eat vegetarian?
What privileges are allowed?
Does it work on a level system?
How do you earn privileges?
What sort of groups do they have?
What was your favorite group?
What did you like the most?
What did you like the least?
Would you recommend this program?
What level of activity or exercise was allowed?
What did people do on weekends?
Do you get to know your weight?
How fast is the weight gain process?
What was the average length of stay?
What was the average age range?
How do visits/phone calls work?
What is the electronics policy (e.g., cell phones, iPods, Kindles, laptops, tablets)?
For inpatient/residential: Are you able to go out on passes?
For PHP/IOP: What support do they provide outside of programming hours?
What kind of aftercare do they provide? Do they help you set up an outpatient treatment team?
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)
Other?
?Full Review?
When were you there?
July 2022
What level(s) of care did you do (e.g., inpatient, residential, PHP, IOP)?
Residential
How many patients are there on average?
8
Does it treat both males and females? If so, is treatment separate or combined?
Female
If applicable: Do they support the gender identities of transgender and nonbinary people?
Unsure
How often do you see a medical doctor, psychiatrist, psychologist (therapist), nutritionist, etc?
Weekly with dietician & psychiatrist
Weekly x 2 with counselor
What is the staff-to-patient ratio?
Claim to have a 1 to 4 staff-to-patient ration but this was not the daily practice while I was there
What sort of therapies are used (e.g., DBT, CBT, EMDR, etc.)?
DBT, CBT
Describe the average day:
Meals & groups
What were meals like?
3 meals & 3 snacks eaten in dining room
What sorts of food were available or served?
Variety of food
Did they supplement? How did that system work?
Unsure — this was not reviewed with me during admissions process
What is the policy of not complying with meals?
Unsure — this was not reviewed with me during admissions process
Are you able to eat vegetarian?
Yes
What privileges are allowed?
Unsure — this was not reviewed with me during admissions process
Does it work on a level system?
Unsure — this was not reviewed with me during admissions process
How do you earn privileges?
Unsure — this was not reviewed with me during admissions process
What sort of groups do they have?
Most groups led by resident counselors and a few groups led by therapist-in-training/social worker
What was your favorite group?
Process group when clients participated
What did you like the most?
Process group when clients participated
What did you like the least?
No structured groups on weekends
Would you recommend this program?
NO
What level of activity or exercise was allowed?
Unsure — this was not reviewed with me during admissions process
What did people do on weekends?
Very unstructured and unsupportive on weekends
Do you get to know your weight?
No
How fast is the weight gain process?
Unsure — this was not reviewed with me during admissions process
What was the average length of stay?
Unsure — this was not reviewed with me during admissions process
What was the average age range?
19 – 25
How do visits/phone calls work?
Allowed to make calls 7 – 8pm and 8:30 -9:30pm
Visiting hours 2:30 – 4:30pm on weekends
What is the electronics policy (e.g., cell phones, iPods, Kindles, laptops, tablets)?
No electronics allowed
For inpatient/residential: Are you able to go out on passes?
Unsure — this was not reviewed with me during admissions process
What kind of aftercare do they provide? Do they help you set up an outpatient treatment team?
Unsure — this was not reviewed with me during admissions process
Are there any resources for people who come from out of state/country?
Unsure
If applicable: How is the program responding to COVID? (Less patients, virtual programming, no visitors, masks, social distancing, etc)
Other?
Unsure
Curious what makes you overall not recommend the program?
Were you allowed to put food requests on a grocery list?
Did you prepare any of your own snacks and meals?
Could you have coffee?
Could you have gum?
Did they have yoga or movement group?
Did they incorporate creative arts therapies into the groups?
We’re there any outings offered while you were there?
Thank you!
Hi so it’s been a couple months since I was there so things may have changed given it was a brand new program but I’ll give what I experienced!
Were you allowed to put food requests on a grocery list? Yes within reason of course. They were very good about this
Did you prepare any of your own snacks and meals? Yes breakfast was always make ur own and meals were semi make your own. Usually there was a set main dish but you plate yourself and get any sides
Could you have coffee? Yes 2 caffeinated and then decaf later if it was available
Could you have gum? no
Did they have yoga or movement group?yes yoga and you could get approved for walks just down the driveway
Did they incorporate creative arts therapies into the groups?not really, there was one group where we did art but it was all pretty basic
We’re there any outings offered while you were there?not when I was there because they were still trying to figure out protocols but one client did go out on a pass while I was there
Full Review
I’ve been debating commenting on Aster Springs. I was there when they opened In February [2022] and I know a lot has changed since then. There were definitely struggles as they tried to figure out how to do things but the majority of the staff was great. Ultimately I ended up having to leave for a higher level of care but I would have continued with them if they had let me stay. It was sometimes disorganized but they were brand new and I think they can work things out.
*Again I want to mention that I KNOW things have changed so all of my feedback is only based off my time there when they had just opened*
They are an 8 bed facility for women that is currently only operating as residential. They have plans to open PHP up next year with a transitional house nearby for clients to spend the night. It was very small when I was there obviously but I think 8 people is a lot for their current setup if you are also going to be bringing in PHP clients. I really appreciated my therapist but I know within a month she was gone. Apparently the other therapist and a dietitian left too, which feels like a bad sign to me. I think they were trying to hire more and utilizing telehealth for the time being.
Like I mentioned, the majority of the staff (at the time) were great. I was not a fan of my dietitian but I know she’s gone. There was one direct care staff that was not good with us but most were great. Truly some amazingly kind people do work here and I hope Aster is able to keep them.
Although they do have pre-planned meals (ie oatmeal on Monday, toast on Tues) I found them very willing to make adjustments and tailor it to your preferences. Almost everything we requested was purchased. I’m not sure they will always continue doing that or if it was just easier given the small size when I was there. I appreciated that staff ate with clients so it felt more normal. 2 coffees were allowed before 3pm. They supplemented if you did not complete. One of the big struggles I had was inconsistency with portions and exchanges. I would hope they cleared up the confusion by now but it was beyond frustrating to have different staff (even between the 2 dietitians) saying different things. Half the time it seemed like direct care staff and the chef were just guessing. The chef was pretty cool though. You have cooking group with him and he was very open to feedback and suggestions.
They weren’t doing any passes or outings yet but the plan was to start soon once the van they purchased was available and not on backorder. About twice a week someone came in for yoga and art. You were allowed a walk to the mailbox if you met criteria and visitation was allowed on the weekends. No electronics allowed, which sucks, but they have a few cordless phones for calls. Free time in the evenings was mostly just watching tv.
The psychiatrist is over Zoom and an NP* popped in when needed. They are NOT suited for more medical needs so expect the NP to send you to the ER at the drop of a hat. They are also not suited for anyone with accessibility needs as you go up and down the stairs multiple times throughout the day since the group room and nursing station are upstairs.
All in all, I do not regret my time there. It just ultimately was not the right level of care for me. I will be interested to see how they grow and if they can keep up
* admin note: for those who don’t know, NP stands for nurse practitioner. a nurse practitioner is a nurse with an advanced degree and advanced clinical training. they are licensed to perform most but usually not all of the basic clinical duties of a medical doctor, such as diagnosing illnesses and prescribing medication.
Thanks for clarifying NP! Also, some of the tags are wrong. They do not treat males (nonbinary is ok), they are only residential currently, no substance abuse treatment, no Christian track, and it’s located in VA not PA.
You’re welcome! And thank you even more for pointing that out!! I had meant to fix the gender and location tags, but apparently only fixed them in the summary. And those two are critical! For non-binary clients, do you have to be assigned female at birth? And very good to know about the Christian track/optional focus, some of the other Odyssey networks have those so I thought this one might too. I definitely will take off the substance abuse one asap too. From what you could see so far, how are they with any other potential co-occurring mental health conditions (especially depression, generalized anxiety, PTSD, OCD, and NSSI)?
I believe assigned female at birth only. However, I will also point out that there was a nonbinary client there with me who went by they/them and multiple staff were constantly misgendering them as she/her despite the client correcting them many times.
I would say very basic treatment for other co-occuring conditions. You would be able to talk to the psychiatrist about it but I wouldn’t say it would be a strong point of theirs.
Thank you
They actually take all identifying females. Do not have to be born female. Two there when I was there. All the RCS staff are amazing. They have a great team!
Accurate, would you be willing to write a full review? It would be extremely helpful!
To make it easier, here is the template:
When were you there?
What level(s) of care did you do (e.g., inpatient, residential, PHP, IOP)?
How many patients are there on average?
Does it treat both males and females? If so, is treatment separate or combined?
If applicable: Do they support the gender identities of transgender and nonbinary people?
How often do you see a medical doctor, psychiatrist, psychologist (therapist), nutritionist, etc?
What is the staff-to-patient ratio?
What sort of therapies are used (e.g., DBT, CBT, EMDR, etc.)?
Describe the average day:
What were meals like?
What sorts of food were available or served?
Did they supplement? How did that system work?
What is the policy of not complying with meals?
Are you able to eat vegetarian?
What privileges are allowed?
Does it work on a level system?
How do you earn privileges?
What sort of groups do they have?
What was your favorite group?
What did you like the most?
What did you like the least?
Would you recommend this program?
What level of activity or exercise was allowed?
What did people do on weekends?
Do you get to know your weight?
How fast is the weight gain process?
What was the average length of stay?
What was the average age range?
How do visits/phone calls work?
What is the electronics policy (e.g., cell phones, iPods, Kindles, laptops, tablets)?
For inpatient/residential: Are you able to go out on passes?
For PHP/IOP: What support do they provide outside of programming hours?
What kind of aftercare do they provide? Do they help you set up an outpatient treatment team?
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)
Other?
They are actually keeping up so well a new house is opening in a few weeks. They are doing great things for the community and all the same RCS staff from the beginning are still there and it’s truly a blessing to RVA!!
Has anyone done the Ohio Residental?
Does anybody have any recent experiences in the Richmond/Virginia location? On the fence between that and CFD and would love to know about any experiences
Hi! Does anyone know what the current cell phone use policy is for the RTC in Virginia? Also if I would be allowed to bring a kindle?
No personal phones allowed unless briefly to get passwords. Sometimes they allow you to FaceTime with family on the weekends if you’re not local. They have a couple cordless phones you can use during specific times in the evenings and on weekends. No Kindles if they can access the internet but they have 1 house computer that can be used during above mentioned phone times
They let me have a kindle that had wifi but did not have internet access. But otherwise what Emma said is right. When I was there they were lax on letting people use the house computer briefly during the day to check emails and such but phones were harder to get. Weekends we got our phones 2:30-4:30 during visitation.
Admin Note: This review is suspicious as to whether it was actually written by and posted here on EDTR by an actual former patient at Aster Springs, per the site purpose of “treatment center reviews from people who have actually been there.” If the author does indeed meet that criteria, they are welcome to resubmit their review in a manner that follows the site guidelines and this note will be removed.
I recently completed the PHP program at Aster Springs, and it was a truly transformative experience. The staff genuinely prioritize understanding each individual’s journey with compassion and respect. I appreciated how inclusive and supportive they were of all identities; it created such a safe space for everyone to express themselves. The treatment approaches were tailored to my unique needs, enabling me to confront the underlying issues of my eating disorder more effectively. What stood out most to me was the sense of community and belonging among participants, which I had never experienced before in previous programs. I’m incredibly grateful for my time there, as it helped me pave a path towards recovery that feels authentic.
DYING that Guardian Fence Company left a review
Hahaha oh girl SAME. They legit even included the link to their company website with their name! When I woke up the next morning I thought I must have dreamt the whole thing. I logged back on and it was still there waiting for me. I swear I almost fell out of my chair I was laughing so much.
Given how stressful this site can be sometimes (mostly for you!) I am so grateful this ridiculous bit of shenanigans could make you laugh. I wonder if it’s a bot or something. Maybe the new world of AI is….fence companies purporting to undergo eating disorder care? Next up: a roomba with a need for CPTSD treatment and inclusive restrooms in an inpatient environment.
Oh please, no actual former client writes like that. It could be a review about any treatment center.
Anyone have a recent review of the Nashville res? I tried to go in January, but they still weren’t established with insurance etc yet. I’ve heard it’s more “up and running” now?
Same, I am thinking about going.
Anonymous- Have you by chance found out anything more? I haven’t, other than that as of a couple of weeks ago they have a waitlist (not sure how long).
Does anyone who has been here find that it was HAES aligned? I did my intake recently and they asked if I would be willing to be tube fed if under x bmi. I told them I wasn’t near that bmi and they go oh I know but I have to ask. I know it’s the parent company who I did the intake with, but it felt kind of strange to assume that a bmi would be the only thing to dictate or not dictate needing an ng tube.
I have a friend who was denied admission there for being *TW* “too obese” *END TW* so I’m not sure how Haes they actually are.
Any sense on how open they would be to a shorter term symptom interruption focused stay? For a variety of reasons, staying beyond 2-3 weeks is an impossibility for me.
Hi! I haven’t been but I’ve been in contact with the admissions coordinator for the Nashville location for the past few months and to me it seems like they would want a longer commitment- it’s not an IP facility, so it has the whole residential, taking the step down process feeling that I don’t think a shorter stay (like less than a month) would work with that kind of process. They have been super attentive/responsive though to my specific situation so maybe if you talked to someone about what you’re wanting to get out of treatment they would give you a better idea!
They told me today that a five week stay in res with no php would be okay
hello! I am thinking of admitting in the next 2 weeks. Is there a chef, and how is the food?
They’re not disability friendly. They told me they couldn’t accommodate my mobility issues. They also said they wouldn’t be able to provide me a shower chair in the shower or help me shower. And they said my Autism is too severe, so I’m not sure how Autism friendly they are either
How good are they at treating people in larger bodies?
Wondering the same thing
I was at the Virginia location in 2024 and there were many clients in larger bodies with me. I did not see size discrimination and there were staff in varying body sizes as well. As all treatment centers are these days its very restriction focused in groups but there were clients with other disorders. There were clients struggling with binge eating who were allowed to practice self regulating (leaving food/ getting more). I would not recommend the program for ARFID but in general it felt HAES aligned.
Would you recommend this program to someone who struggles with BN and is in a larger body, or is it not really that tailored to binge eating? How is monitoring of bathrooms?
I feel like the program can be helpful to someone with BN. I personally struggle with AN-R so I am not speaking from personally experience just observation. I felt like they were more willing than other places to customize someones treatment. As I said before not so much with ARFID (lunch and dinner are the same for everyone. Limited sub meals). But with BN I have seen many people get a lot out of it. Bathrooms are unlocked first thing in the morning for showers/hygiene. Then during the day you have someone doing flush checks until you are on a higher level and then I believe you can get off flush checks (but I can’t quite remember the rules around that).
When I was there (~6 months ago), there was a wide array of body types represented amongst the clients and the same is true of the alumni group. I also really appreciated the diversity of bodies amongst the staff. Programming very much focused on the consequences of malnutrition, not solely on the consequences of low body weight, and they very much emphasized set point theory and HAES. They also very much focused on weight trends when formulating meal plans—I did not admit with weight to restore (relative to my “normal”—not just “oh, I wasn’t underweight”) but as soon my metabolism kicked on and there was a downward trend, you betcha I got meal plan increases until it stabilized again.
I’ve been to programs where I definitely felt like I was treated as in less need of treatment because I was not underweight—that was very much not my experience at Aster which was really refreshing.
Are they good at treating BN or BED or do they really only treat restrictive ED’s?
How is the food? Is there a chef?
Food is great! You get one sub meal a week which is a sandwich if you don’t like what’s being served. There is a chef who does lunches and dinners. The snacks are what people put on the grocery list.
Was this at the Virginia location?
Thank you so much! I should be admitting next week. The last tx center I was at the food was horrible. So wanted to get an idea before I commit. Thank you!
Location: Nashville
I just got off the phone with admissions about questions about the program down in Nashville.
It is 95% wheelchair accessible with a step here or there, but bathrooms and spaces are.
8 residents, all female identifying.
HAES, All foods fit, type programming.
meal plans are individualized.
No tubing.
weekly outings decided by the residents.
no personal phones but there are landlines are certain times that it can be used.
there is a community computer for bill paying ect in the main area.
DBT,CBT,ACT, exposure, creative, music and other experiential therapies.
Visitors on weekends
Non completion=Supplement. 20 min to complete.
Aftercare- Php with opt transitional living for out of state and iop.
I have a friend who’s been here and she highly recommends it!
I’ll be going in a month!
has anyone been to the Tennessee location?
Any recent updates? I might be going Monday. Do you get to go outside?
I have not personally been there but a friend of mine was there up until a couple of weeks ago and had a really positive experience. And yes she said they could go outside.
Aster Springs now has multiple locations and they now also provide PHP, IOP, and virtual IOP in addition to residential. Some of the PHP/IOP locations offer housing for clients.
These are the old Selah House PHP/IOPs, just under a new name
Thank you! I didn’t know that, that’s definitely good to know. So it’s not actually adding an additional eating disorder treatment option to that region, it’s simply called something else now. Which locations used to be the Selah House PHP/IOPs? Selah House and Aster Springs are currently owned by the same company, so I wonder why they changed from being associated with Selah House to being associated with Aster Springs.
There was no Selah House in Richmond, so that is new. Veritas closed their doors for PHP/IOP last year I think, so it is the only thing in central VA that I know of for residential, PHP, or IOP. It’s definitely needed here and Veritas was a terrible program.
But, all the treatment centers under Odyssey but with different names, just looks like maybe they are trying to get them under one name?
Hi everyone, I am looking to enter a treatment facility for residential care in the near future. I have not needed treatment in nearly 20 years and things have changed! I am torn between Aster Springs in Nashville or Fairhaven Treatment Center in Cordova. If anyone has been to either of these places recently and can post their experiences, I would be very grateful!
Fairhaven! So individualized for a residential program and has great trauma management. They saved my life in its entirety.
Hi! I’ve had a couple good friends go to Fairhaven in the past year & they had positive things to say, and my own experience of their admissions process / conversations with their executive director made me feel good on how they handle trauma care. But I always recommend going to executive leadership with any concerns before admitting — any place worth investing your recovery journey in should absolutely be able to give you substantive answers. Also, my old therapist runs the PHP/IOP for Aster Springs in Nashville! So while I haven’t been there as a client, I know she’s been trying to educate her staff on nervous system-informed approaches to eating disorders & all things trauma-related. She’s one of the safest humans I know, and even as the director, I know she welcomes questions if you’re worried about anything specific.
I Was supposed to admit to Fairhaven next week but I received a call today saying that they aren’t taking new clients because they are closing. Looks like I’m going to Aster Springs!
Has anyone had experience with the new residential Aster Springs in Nashville?
I’m wondering if anyone has a recent review of Magnolia Creek? I don’t see many recent posts on that specific page.
Rachel- Aster Springs has recently opened a residential in Nashville, TN too.
Has anyone been here recently? I’m looking for a HAES focused place that will teach me how to make /plate my own food, teach me to cope with extreme hunger, how to eat intuitively, and quit over exercising.
I was in Aster Spring from January to March of this year (2023). I have never been in a residential program quite like this one. It’s in a large house, with a limit of 8 women at one time. The bedrooms are large, with very comfortable beds. The atmosphere is very home-like. Staff is amazing and very knowledgeable about eating disorders. This program literally saved my life.
Did you go to aster Springs in Virginia or Nashville?
Which location did you go to? @ali
Could someone please do a recent review on this program? Daily schedule, staff, privileges….thank you!
can you have your phone here?
hi! i just talked to admissions and they don’t allow phones but they have landlines you can use.
I’m on the 2-3 week waitlist for Aster Springs… Now I’m questioning if I want to go…
i had an awful experience at selah house and was wondering if this was a better experience for any of you? i’m really hopeful as i’ve read so many great reviews about aster springs. also, what is the bedroom setting like? 2 beds, 1, or more? thanks! 🙂
They have 4 bedrooms and they all have 2 beds each.
I was there right when they first opened and it was ok. I’ve also been to Selah and I think Aster is better. Unfortunately it wasn’t what I needed so I got discharged but I think they are pretty ok. If you scroll down I wrote a full review at the time
Please see my posts on the pages for Toledo Center and Magnolia Creek for this company. It’s the same company (Odyssey Behavioral) – they just have different names for all their facilities so you can’t connect them.
I was in with patients who didn’t even realize that when they were transferred out to a “different” facility it was really the same old crap in different setting (except the “new” one had an overnight nurse on staff) (which according to CARF guidelines means they can offer residential care) (yep, that’s about it takes) Overnight nurse? Yes you can accept acute patients for round the clock care. No overnight nurse? You can only do PHP.
I will post a review later, but after 8 weeks in this program, it has been the best for me from like 5 different places I’ve gone to. Were you at Aster or just the other ones? Can you post your own review on Aster, Im mostly curious about the issues you experienced (obviously different people like different things, but I’ve been recommending Aster left and right since I left there).
Sarah, I was at the company’s Toledo Center and I advise against all this company’s facilities for many reasons and will try to list a few. 1) The CEO was completely non-responsive to multiple attempts to resolve issues in both calls and emails. 2) Their turnover in critical patient care positions, like therapists and nurses, was high and continues to be high, which is likely to cause disruptive trauma to an already-traumatized population. 3) So many lies, some I can prove, some I cannot, but dangerous in my opinion to risk trusting anything they say. (Listing these, though I am very willing, would be one very long depressing post.) 4) Most importantly, there is no physician on site at any of their facilities because they all share the same physician. I hope that explains and if you would like me to extrapolate on any of it further am most agreeable to trying.
Hi Sarah! We have a couple people who want to learn more about Aster Springs, any chance you could post your review? I know the full reviews take a long time to write, so even just a paragraph for now about what you’ve liked and how the program is structured would be super helpful!
Hi Lisa! As you know, I appreciate the work you do researching Odyssey. For informative posts like this, please preface the post by saying that you haven’t been to the treatment center so that people know you are discussing your personal experience with and knowledge about the company in general, not your personal experience with the actual treatment center/location whose page you are posting on. It is too confusing/misleading/dangerous otherwise.
Rachel, I appreciate your reply and that it is public to help others gauge my words. On one hand I disagree because for more than half the patients I met in Odysseys clinic we came out worse off, were set backwards, and had so much more work to do with fewer resources to do it. On the other hand I understand what you are saying, that any treatment is better than no treatment, and in lifesaving situations I agree it is true. I have to thank you for giving me a voice even if taking issue with what I said and you are incredible at monitoring this site which helps more than any other resource I’ve found (like google reviews etc) Thanks for all you do
any recent reviews??
https://edtreatmentreview.com/aster-springs-virginia/comment-page-1/#comment-19898
thank you for pointing out non wheelchair accessible
Yes agreed, thank you Sunshiney! And thank you Anonymous for bringing this point to my attention. Wheelchair accessibility should be in the review template, so I’ve just added it.
Oh my dear lord, how are so many ED programs not ADA compliant? I can name a number that were not wheelchair accessible, and that is so inappropriate for so many reasons! This shouldn’t be a question because it should just be assumed that they are?!!?
SERIOUSLY! That’s why it wasn’t a question! It wasn’t until a few months ago when someone asked me to add it as a tag that I even realized the depths of this issue. I had the EXACT same reaction as you!! I find it absolutely disgusting that it’s necessary as a question, and I’m hoping that maybe we can effect some change in the treatment world by calling attention to the violations of a right so simple, there is an Congressional Act for it (the ADA and the more in depth ADAAA).
I’ll make a post on the Client General Forum asking which programs aren’t wheelchair accessories, so we can start a list — S can you reply with the programs you are talking about once I do?
It is like can regrow my legs to go to treatment
absolutely!
I truly need this list
As an individual semi-ambulatory but still in a chair.. and seeking treatment after a HORRIFIC experience with a program down in Texas with inaccessibility and ablism. I would love to know a list of places to avoid (sigh)