Alsana is a national treatment center with a number of locations across the country. Alsana Treatment Centers offer many levels of care across their locations. These including residential treatment, PHP (day treatment), IOP (Intensive Outpatient), transitional living/supported living, and virtual treatment. Virtual treatment options include both PHP and IOP. Every location treat adults of all genders aged 18+. They no longer treat adolescents. Westlake Village and St. Louis also treat Type-1 Diabetes in eating disorders. Most, if not all, locations can accommodate ethical veganism.
Note: Alsana used to be called Castlewood.
Please post here for general Alsana discussion! For location specific questions, please post on the relevant location page, but then you are welcome to post here as well so that more people see. Please also post here to discuss and review virtual treatment at Alsana!
Double posting is fine, if you’d like to post a review or question both on this page, and also on a location page, to make sure it gets seen.
Update as of August 2021: At the request of many community members, we are currently in the process of updating Alsana’s review page to make it easier to navigate!
This page will remain as is, for general Alsana discussion and reviews, and for discussing/reviewing Alsana’s virtual treatment options including PHP and IOP.
All location-specific reviews/questions/discussions will be migrated to their applicable sub-page:
- Alsana California (Monterey, Santa Barbara & Westlake Village)
- Past reviews/discussion about Alsana & Castlewood California locations will be moved here.
- Alsana Birmingham (Alabama)
- Past reviews/discussion about Alsana & Castlewood Birmingham locations will be moved here.
- Alsana St. Louis (Missouri)
- Past reviews/discussion about Alsana & Castlewood St. Louis-area locations will be moved here.
Review of Alsana’s Virtual IOP
I completed three months of Alsana’s virtual IOP before I was discharged. It was …okay. I wouldn’t say it’s completely bad, but it’s definitely not good either. I did like the way the program was set up and how the groups were conducted/the info in the groups. There’s definitely fixes for the program, but to be fair I feel like that was to be expected on the basis that it’s virtual. My main qualm was my therapist. I think she was a therapist in training, but she really didn’t seem to know what she was doing. I felt like as a psychology major in college, I was essentially doing my own therapy and just using her as a medium to therapize myself, if that makes sense. My dietician was awesome, it seems like Alsana has a MUCH better team of dieticians than therapists. My dietician was the only person who knew I wasn’t ready to discharge (I was lying about being ready) but my therapist discharged me anyways.There was only one therapist during my time there (she led a Monday group) that I was like she actually seems like a legit therapist.
The schedule was pretty much you would log on and then have 15 minutes before first group. Some groups were wayyyy better than others. For some groups I was like jesus why am I here. Then you have 20 min to prep dinner, and you show them your plate and eat and show them your plate after. There is zero accountability here. You can easily act on behaviors. After dinner there is one more group then you log off.
Your dietician makes you log meals on recovery record and do blind weigh ins through a numberless scale. This was the only semblance of accountability this entire program has. But again, easy to fake if you really want to.
All in all, you kinda get what you put into it. If you’re not committed to recover, you won’t. It’s not like residential or in-person php where you have people to make you be on track.
I did this program because I have a full-time job I can’t just up and leave to go to residential. I should’ve just figured out how to go to residential. I relapsed with 3 weeks left in the program completely undetected by staff (besides my dietician’s suspicions) and as soon as I discharged I just went back to the exact same behaviors I had been doing. It’s like I never went to treatment. This is NOT for someone deep in an ed looking to start treatment for the first time. I’d only recommend for people stepping down from a higher level of care or maybe people who are partially recovered but need an extra boost or a false sense of accountability.
Any other questions I will try to answer!
Hi all! I was talking with my dietitian today and heard some fabulous news – Alsana is supposedly working to make their programs more neurodivergent-friendly, especially in terms of preferences. I say supposedly because I haven’t been able to fact check it, but still. I know when I was there at the Luna location in Westlake Village, they were pretty decent about it, though my therapist “specialized” in neurodivergence and EDs. The dietitian at Luna was also pretty flexible, which I really appreciated.
I just wanted to give this update because I know a lot of programs are strict with their few “dislikes”, which can be very unhelpful for us neurodivergent folk (and in general, but still).
My time at Alsana was one of the hardest and most important seasons of my life. I didn’t come in fully ready for recovery, but the team met me exactly where I was. They balanced compassion with accountability in a way that made me feel safe, but also challenged.
**** and **** especially made a huge impact on me. They were consistent, patient, and genuinely life changing to me. On days when I felt stuck or overwhelmed, they gave me guidance and kept me accountable. They helped me feel heard while still encouraging me to push through the discomfort that recovery requires. That kind of support meant more than I can put into words.
Alsana’s approach worked for me. They truly looked at me as a whole person. It’s not easy work, but it’s real work. I left with tools I still use and a stronger sense of trust in myself.
Recovery is messy and nonlinear, but I’m grateful I had programming like this to help me recover.
Subjective experience does not answer factual questions about what the program is like and how it operates for EDTR community members who are currently seeking treatment.
Please answer the questions in the provided review template to provide a factual, objective full review.
For example, you mentioned programming. What are the groups offered? How many people attended? How many groups per day? Did you attend groups on the weekend? What level of care are you talking about? Was this in-person or virtual treatment? If it was in-person, what location did you go to?
Can you share specifics about the schedule, policies/procedures, and what Alsana’s “approach” looks like in action? It’s hard for me to gauge from more vague generalities whether a program will be the right fit for me, so that’s why I’m asking for very concrete and specific information so I can assess for myself if it would fit my needs based on the facts.
I just started the virtual php and it seems like a pipeline for the residential program. Not allowed to ask for support in a meal because “we are not therapists or dietitians” I had a meeting today with my therapist dietitian and director saying due to all the things I am juggling perhaps this might not be a great fit- The response was not lets help find you a better fit (Mind you I am living out of state to do this program and work) but rather lets try and get you to residential. They started this literally on day 2 and it’s now been almost a full two weeks. Has this happened to anyone else?
Currently at PHP in Westlake. In the past 2 weeks we’ve tripled in size. It’s completely chaotic. I have witnessed and experienced going backwards in my recovery. I don’t feel like I am being helped as I am getting lost in the noise of new clients in a tiny space with no additional staff. People from corporate have come along to assist and that seems to just be making matters worse. I have been there 3 weeks and still don’t have a complete treatment team. My dietician is leaving and I have not met the new one. I also came here bc they offer family/support therapy – but again – I’ve been here nearly 3 weeks and that has not happened. I understand that my recovery is up to me, but how do I maintain it when stepping down from residential was such a massive leap that I never felt ready for? Insurance cut me early. I don’t know— I feel like a dollar sign. I feel like I don’t matter.
Not good. Virtual PHP. Maybe better than nothing, but not really sure. The ‘skills lab’ is often just watching videos or listening to podcasts over zoom. I can’t believe my insurance is paying for this.
I struggle with BED and during a supervised meal I wasn’t hungry, so I asked if I had to eat. The person supervising didn’t know the answer, and was just IMing someone, copying and pasting my questions. She said I am supposed to eat. I asked how that makes any sense with my BED (along with BN) and she asked if I wanted to talk to my dietician. I said yes. Nothing happened. WTF!
Update on my review from a month ago. It’s even worse than I thought at the time, and I may discharge AMA.
The program is basically solely focused on acute stabilization, not treating the underlying illness/PTSD/etc.
My dietician is unhelpful and downright rude at times. I’ve requested a swap to a different dietician (there are 4 or 5 of them) and at this point they’re just ignoring the request. They aren’t giving me a reason why I can’t switch, but they’re also not facilitating that switch. Love some gaslighting!
Yesterday we spent an hour taking an enneagram test, which…sure I guess could be helpful to someone? But why not ask us to do it on our own and discuss or write about it instead of using valuable time in group?
Today we spent an hour talking about hustle culture, which was so incredibly helpful because we hadn’t done so since Monday.
The PHP program is literally just IOP x 2, so this is expected I guess. But first of all why are you even leading a session on hustle culture? Second of all…see first of all.
Yes, you read that right: we spent two separate sessions within the last three days speaking about hustle culture. While I can sorta see how it can connect — if I’m really reaching — two full sessions in two days on it?
Gimme a break.
That is horrible…
Has anyone been here in RESIDENTIAL within the last couple of months (preferably at the Monterey location) that would be willing to answer some questions for me?
Hey so I was at the Monterrey location and the Santa Barbara location and by far would I recommend the Monterrey location they tailor to your need the dietitian was amazing and cool for was fresh and we would always go on outing and would explore the beach and have group as well!
How often would you go to the beach? And could you be outside whenever?
3-5 times it was really nice and yeah for the most part yes only when we had groups you had to go and if you where on ops you have to be in site of the staff !
Hello! I saw someone asked this question below, but there were no replies. I’m wondering if anyone has ever done or knows someone who has done the 2-week intensive program. I am thinking about looking into it for myself, but wanted to see if anyone has experience with it or knows anything about it. Thanks so much!
when I was at Alsana Birmingham, severa patients came with the intention of doing this, myself included. Only one patient actually left after the 2 weeks. They had a full outpatient team with scheduled appointments made before arriving at Alsana for the 2 weeks. Those appointments were for as soon as the 2 weeks were up. The patient was a minor with supportive family involvement and a need to return to public school. The person also had an intake with a IOP local to them scheduled before admitting to the 2 week program that occurred as soon as they returned home.
if you intend to try it, you will need to have all of that stuff step up before heading to Alsana or they will use your lack of stepdown care and aftercare supports as a reason that you need to stay longer and refuse to discharge you unless you leave AMA.
Other differences were that patient transferred from a PHP that wasn’t helping them and used the 2 weeks at Alsana to finish PHP and then transfer to an IOP back home.
Others like myself, came to Alsana PHP intensive (it’s the same as regular PHP, not more intense) from outpatient. I was in PHP for 2 weeks, they would not step me down or discharge me. My parent agreed to one more week of PHP and after 3 weeks of 12 hr a day/7 day PHP, my parent began to accuse Alsana of not being effective when they asked for a 4th week of full PHP. My parent refused and Alsana stepped me down to 7 day big IOP (meaning 7 hours or so). After a couple weeks, I was back in PHP for a 4th week. My parent said that was the last week of PHP no matter what. Alsana told my parent that my estimated stay was 18-24 months to return to outpatient, and that it would take that long to get to 2 day IOP. I was in IOP 5 days a week once I left after 4.5 months. I had to transfer to another facility (with overnight staffing) because my mental health was so poor for another 2.5 months.
I would not recommend it. I also don’t recommend Alsana. I relapsed with SH during treatment there, received zero medical care for it, have permanent physical damage from that neglect, and it was not addressed in therapy as tied to my ED. If you have trauma connected to your ED or not, this place is extremely invalidating. They are not trauma informed.
Of clients I was with who came with the intention of short stays of 2-4 weeks (other than the one minor I mentioned at the beginning), the shortest stay was 9 weeks and that client had to leave AMA to go back to work. The longest, I’m not sure because it was longer than 18 weeks, which was me leaving AMA. The person who stayed 9 weeks came intending to stay for 4 weeks. I came with a plan to stay for 3 weeks and it ended up being 18 weeks AMA to leave then. The person was still there when I left that had come for the 2 week intensive was there over 5 months. The only other people who did 2 weeks of PHP were clients in IOP for months who needed to step up for 1-2 weeks a few times, then drop back to IOP. One person did this when they were going through a loss. There were 3 clients who did that. One was in IOP for 6-9 months after coming from IP, res, and PHP elsewhere. Another was in the PHP/IOP for 8 months. The third was there over 1.5 years with 2-4 week breaks several times to maximize their insurance days.
Unfortunately I 100% agree with everything said here. The “2 week intensive” is a way to get more patients in the door and keep them much longer (to the point of forcing AMA discharge).
And either way, Alsana’s program is extremely lacking, especially when it comes to meal support, accountability etc. Behaviors are rampant and mostly ignored by staff.
i know plenty of people who did, they all ended up there much longer. this was monterey location.
I’m a current Alsana patient- We found out that Birmingham will be consolidating/combining the PHP/IOP office building suite into Fitz (the Residential building). I believe the move is estimated to occur in July. Similar to the changes in St. Louis- the meals/programming will be completely separate between the HLOC’s. This move will also make the PHP/IOP apartments MUCH closer to programming.
Has anyone done Alsana’s 2-week relapse prevention program? It’s not available virtually in my state but I’m willing to travel to St. Louis or Birmingham to do it in-person if it’s worth it. Trying to avoid needing a res stay and this looks like it could be a good option.
Hi J! I just posted above, but I’m also considering the 2-week program. Curious if you ever pursued it any further and had any experience or got any more info about it. Would love to hear if so!
Hi! I did actually end up doing the 2-week intensive in St. Louis. It’s just 2 weeks of their regular PHP or IOP. I ended up staying a third week, and they’ll really push you to stay for longer. I found it generally helpful but for me, the work I needed to do wasn’t realistically achievable in just a few weeks. I’m now at a different PHP. Happy to answer any specific questions or do a full review!
Does anyone know if Alsana (Missouri) have a waitlist?
I actually have answered my own question, There is not a wait list.
??? Hashtag Boss mode! Thank you for sharing the update SD
Does anyone know if Alsana offers scholarships for treatment?
Anyone have recent experience with the Terra house in Thousand Oaks and/or Santa Barbara and able to compare or offer info? I’m set to admit to Terra on Monday but I thought I was going to Flora and now i’m pretty terrified as I don’t have a lot of recent info for Terra and I don’t know if it will be a good fit (whereas with Flora I felt a lot more comfortable/prepared). Same with Santa Barbara as I have the option of going there as well. I’m really desperate for information and it’s really urgent so if anyone at all is able to provide insight I would hugely appreciate it! Sorry to rush/put pressure on it, I’m just really desperate.
Alsana California Santa Barbara residential has completely new staff and has basically shut down there PHP/IOP in Santa Barbara. Just FYI. My opinion of Alsana is low they do not give straight answers to anything. I have been to other treatment centers before but this one really bothers me with the level of deception.
*post moved here from general Q&A forum by admin
Hi Anonymous, have you been to Santa Barbara since the staff turnover? I was looking at going there (between there and Thousand Oaks) but if things have gone downhill since I want to make sure I avoid that location. If you could give any more detail about what’s different or if you know someone that’s been there since then that could share, I would hugely appreciate it!
i’m looking to join their virtual (treatment) as i have been dealing with overeating-borderline binge my entire life (i’m now 30). I reside in TX, does anyone have experiences they can share from doing it virtual? how was it?
Agree – I had a bad experience.
Can you share why? Saying you had a bad experience without any context is harmful to those searching for treatment.
Sorry, thought I was just responding to someone but it doesn’t look like I did. My review is below – it’s under Anon and starts “I was going to write a full review using the suggested questions, but I feel it would be more beneficial…”
Let me know if you have any specific questions though! Happy to help however I can.
Thanks. I was there in 2014 and had some similar experiences. Honestly, had a better experience with the program under the old owners when it was Castlewood, not Alsana. Many people disagree, and that’s fine. CW STL 2007-2008 helped me begin BN recovery. Alsana Birmingham avoided treating trauma, stifled independence, and kept me in arrested development. I regret going, and relapsed much worse a few years later. If anyone wants to see my review it’d be under K or Anon for dates May-Oct 2014 when Birmingham location was called Castlewood at the Highlands.
I would recommend Alsana to people who live locally, can continue work/school, keep their own living arrangements for PHP/IOP, and have their own outpatient providers (esp for trauma or substance abuse if you need it as Alsana won’t work on that in depth with you). There’s a supportive 12 step community there (Birmingham) if that helps you.
I think we might have been there at the same time. Don’t give up. It took me another 5 years past 2008 to finally get in real recovery. At that point I was 44 years old and had my ED for 30 years.
Its sad that rebranding caused Alsana to avoid trauma treatment. So many people with EDs have trauma issues.
In 2008 in STL or in 2014 in Birmingham? Yeah, before the rebrand it was the only place that did dual treatment like that. The reason I have an ED and never stay well is unresolved severe trauma. In 2008, I couldn’t verbalize any of it. A few years were really fuzzy. How did you achieve your full recovery?
In 2008 STL. I was there from Feb 2008- Feb 2009 in day treatment. stepdown and IOP.
I was in res mid Dec 2007 to mid Mar 2008, then stepdown for a few weeks, then day treatment. I left AMA at the beginning of May 2008, relapsed after a couple weeks and had to come back to res later in the summer. When I came back the DCS were really unfair and blew a comment I made when upset out of proportion and kicked me out instead of reminding me what I needed to do to in that moment to get through feelings that would pass.
I’m sorry they treated you that way. Some of the DCS were great some were not.
I have severe trauma too, and Alsana(Castlewood) before the rebrand, was the first place that ever was able to help both ED and trauma. The symptoms get so entangled.
As far as how we recovered honestly I just got so sick of being sick. In 2012 I had relapsed again, my insurance sucked and like many on here now it took me well over a year to find a treatment center that would accept my insurance and co -morbid diagnoses- CPTSD and DID. By that point, I was so sick and desperate to feel better, that I was willing to do whatever it took. I also had the realization that it wasn’t my body’s fault that I had been abused, and that I was treating my body like my abusers by punishing it for needing food/love/rest.
It also meant really commiting to sitting with being uncomfortable in a weight restored body, and not using restriction to feel better. For me that took a couple of years. Another piece of that was giving up all food rules and limitations. Essentially listening to my body’s needs and wants- even if that meant eating brownies for breakfast and ice cream for lunch, for a period of time. That part was scary, but now I’m able to keep previously ‘forbidden’ foods that I used to binge on, around without any compulsion to overeat or avoid because we know we can have it if we want it.
Recovery, especially after years of ED is hard but it’s not harder than staying in the hell of restriction/ binging/ purging and weight obsession.
I wish you the best and hope you find treatment that’s helpful. If you ever want to email, Id be happy to give you my address.
* because of DiD we tend to use we/I interchangeably sorry for any confusion
I don’t want to post my e-mail here, but Rachel can see it. I would like to connect over e-mail with you.
Our email is [redacted]. Let me know when you have it so I can ask Rachel to remove it. Our first initial is [redacted].
Hi, I’ve got it and will contact you via email soon.
Thanks, looking forward to hearing from you.
Rachel, could you remove my email when you get a chance?
Thank you.
Done! I also redacted the initial, to be safe. You all rock, L.
Thanks Rachel!
Update: Most if not all of Alsana’s locations currently have availability (both residential and PHP).
castlewoodvictimsunite.org
If there is anyone that has been here recently could you message me? Am going next week but have some questions, thanks in advance and hopefully I’ll hear smth from someone soon 🙂
Which location?
Does anyone know if Alsana offers NG tubes?
No they do not.
Alsana’s virtual IOP (V-IOP) and PHP (V-PHP) programs are currently licensed in the following states: AL, AZ, CA, CO, FL, IN, MO, TX
Please DO NOT go to Alsana Huntsville Location. I had several issues with the program and ended up signing myself out after a week. I am happy to answer any questions, the main issues were DCS staff, food supply shortages, mismeasuring supplements, boundaries being crossed, Hippa Violations, lack of rule enforcement across the board, and nursing not responding to medical concerns.
I agree!!
Same experience!! Don’t recommend.
Does Alsana still have the “Recovery Refresher” Two-Week Summer Intensives? It is still on their website, but the site says offered through August 2021. The only other place I know of that offers anything like this is UCSD. I know my last relapse could have been prevented with something like this.
Yes, I’m almost positive they do still offer it. I just got an email about it a few weeks ago (I ended up on their email list when I reached out about it last summer but never followed through because I couldn’t get enough details about what programming actually entails).
Curious to find out if insurance covers recovery refreshers. Has anyone tried the 2 week program?
Has anyone been here recently, like since all the staff turnover? I know about all the horrible stuff that happened, by my therapist has said that it’s under completely new administration now. I like their philosophy in theory, at least from what I’ve seen on the website, but I’ve had bad treatment experiences in the past and I can’t handle being traumatized again.
Which location are you looking at?
I guess really any of them, I would assume Castlewood would be the worst of them, given all the things that happened there in the past, but I could be wrong.
They are all known as Alsana. By Castlewood, do you mean the St. Louis locations?
[comment removed at its author’s request.]
It’s much more helpful to the EDTR community when people share a full review here on the site, rather than (or in addition to) offering to chat individually with people. Many people would like to know about the program.
What do you mean they do not have enough nutritional or medical support in Residential care in the AL program? Why did you feel it wasn’t well run? Answering the review questions available here in EDTR will help the whole community, including people looking for treatment a week, a month or a few months from now. Emailing one person about your experience is not helpful to everyone else using EDTR, and is not the purpose of this website.
I totally agree—I keep seeing so many posts about emailing privately, but that’s not what this site is about, IMO. We need more reviews here for everyone to see. I understand if there is a tidbit of private information someone may only want to disclose to one person, but overall, it’s really important to post more full reviews.
Agreed, Riley! <3 It makes me sad to think about all of the people down the line who want to recover and who will visit a review page only to find no reviews, just evidence that there once was someone here who could have helped, but that they got there too late and now access to the information is gone.
Rachel, is there anything you/the EDTR site can do to minimize this?
These comments clutter the site, and make it difficult to find any information. They are distracting IMO, it’s gotten so out of hand, that EDTR would be better with a banner stating that isn’t in line with the site mission, posts containing personal contact info and offers to email/DM an individual won’t be approved in lieu of posting questions and reviews for the full EDTR community.
Someone else could create another way for these 1 to 1 connections to occur outside of EDTR. There isn’t anything inherently wrong with it…it just doesn’t belong here and is causing EDTR to be full of “I’ll email someone” instead of “here’s my experience from X facility”
It seems we all need to remember the mission of the site (my words, not exactly it) is making treatment information accessible to all people living with eating disorders who desire improved quality of life, health, and pursuit of recovery. The influx of offers to DM/email with individuals increases barriers and segregates us.
I hope people read this and consider the ways offering to DM/email negatively impacts the community as a whole, and restricts access to information about treatment. If people in the community want to be helpful, posting on EDTR for ALL people to read is the way to do it. Offering to email and DM is not inclusive, it divides and separates this community. It could contribute to people feeling less than, undeserving, or not sick enough. I hope others will feel comfortable to share their views about this.
The thing is there are some things that people may need to know that shouldn’t be public due to triggers, such as minimum BMI/medical criteria questions. I don’t think contact info should be totally disallowed. What if another page similar to client general forum was added for people asking/offering 1 to 1 convos?
I get it, anon. I don’t think the 1 to 1 convos should be completely banned, just not mixed in with general questions or treatment reviews. There isn’t currently anywhere where these convos belong on the site.
Seems like a good idea to have a separate page for the 1 to 1 convos, which could be for the triggering information, or to connect a person admitting to treatment with a person who attended the program.
One of the great things about EDTR is the ability to post about your treatment experience anonymously. This also makes it impossible to tell if people who post the 1 to 1 stuff also reviews.
If someone has posted a review, then goes to a separate 1 to 1 page to offer to talk to people, I’ve got zero issue with that. It’s more that if someone is not comfortable to post an anonymous review, then it’ seems inappropriate for them to be attempting to support a vulnerable person pre-treatment in an unmonitored 1 to 1 connection off the EDTR site.
These are all great suggestions and wonderful points! Thank you K. I will try to put up a banner as soon as possible. I’d love to hear yours or others’ thoughts on what the wording should be. Another solution would be to do something like include a checkbox on the comment box, where people confirm that they are not posting contact info in lieu of writing a review or asking/answering questions on the site first. Thoughts?
I also have been working on a way to archive or redact older posts about contacting so that they don’t clutter the review pages. This is a tricky area, because as we all know, part of what has ruined Google reviews and Yelp reviews of treatment centers is the ability of the sites to remove posts at will. But rest assured I am working on this.
Hi Riley, thanks for sharing your opinions on this issue. It’s super frustrating. I hope it improves.
Thank you Anon! I appreciate your help. You, or anyone, should feel free to comment this whenever you see a situation where only one individual will be able to learn about a program rather than the whole community. Especially when (a) you notice posts on a treatment center’s page trending towards people only offering to share reviews or answer questions off-site rather than sharing reviews or answering questions on the site, or (b) when the only new posts on a center’s page are offers to talk off-site. I made the deliberate decision to overhaul EDTR so that it is easy to stay fully anonymous when posting, and added the ability to receive automated notifications to a private email about new replies and comments. This was to help people to be able to write reviews on the site, talk about their experience on the site, interact with those seeking treatment on the site, and to answer questions on the site. I wish more people would take advantage of this.
Hey Rachel, I posted as Anon, changed to K (first Initial so it’s less confusing). I’m getting tired of commenting to tell people that same thing over and over. If someone reads how to use the site, it’d be clear offering to email someone is not appropriate. I’m bringing this up because the site is so cluttered with these comments, and a few people keep redirecting people who do this, but it doesn’t do much. I made a few suggestions. It’s a waste of my time to keep redirecting individual comments. Im tired of doing it and frustrated by people not bothering to make any effort to share, just saying they’ve been to X and will email someone if they ask. Read the site instructions, and don’t bother to post if you can’t follow them. I’m close to leaving this community over this.
K – I’m sorry to hear you think it’s a waste of time to redirect people. I personally do not think it is. But everyone has different ways they prefer or have the capacity to use their time. In no way was I pressuring you to keep commenting. Hence the “feel free.” I was simply saying to you but also to everyone reading that anyone should feel free to comment about this without having to worry about whether it’s okay to do so. Most people appreciate when someone lets them know they can actually help even more people recover when they post on the site rather than only offer to let people contact them with questions!
To me, every single person who offers to speak off-site is probably also up for posting answers and reviews on the site, but they just don’t know that doing so will be more helpful. Nobody is perfect, and many people just come to this site for a short period of time. They really want to help! No one posts here who doesn’t want to help. So who are any of us to expect or demand them to know the entire history of the site or read the entire review site before posting? When someone is feeling brave enough to post in any given moment, the last thing I want to do is to run out the clock on such a special, beautiful, important and potentially life changing moment of bravery for both the poster and the readers by being aggressive up front about who is “worthy” of posting here. Further, writing a full review takes a long time. If we limit the people who post to only those who can write a full review at that exact moment, we limit the number of reviews we get.
On a more personal note, I am one person. I do all of this work because this is what I believe I am meant to do in life. Faith and her mother entrusted me with this site before she passed away, and I consider that to be the greatest gift and greatest charge I could ever be blessed with. I spend 25-30 (often more!) hours a week admining this site, and not only is all of my work done for free, but I pay for everything myself (despite the fact that I am poor) so that we don’t have to have ads. But I can’t do it alone. I simply do not have enough time. Whenever you or anyone else pitches in, it makes me feel supported. It makes me feel proud of EDTR. It makes me feel like at least one more person will find recovery as a result of each redirect. It makes me feel like we are all in this together. You have been an enormous blessing to EDTR for so many years. And I am not perfect. My life is not perfect. In the past month I had two friends pass away (unrelated to ED), was diagnosed with POTS, had a whole ton of my mental health claims denied by my health insurance, meaning now I have to appeal them, and did not receive a grant I was hoping to get to help me with site expense. I have actually already been working on a way to address how cluttered the site currently is. Our volunteer tech guy, Scott, is helping me, as well as our volunteer copy editor Jonathan. I would prefer not to have assumptions made about what is going on behind the scenes, whether on the site, for me, or for anyone else who visits here.
You need to take care of yourself first and foremost. There is nothing wrong with taking a break from the site! Many people who are regular contributors, and many of our EDTR community members who give a lot of their time to this site (whether they have been on here for 10 years or 10 days) take breaks. But please, no matter how you feel and even if you need to take a break or to leave, I need you to check your judgments at the door, and refrain from bringing such negativity and toxicity to the site. Because that is against the site mission too.
Rachel–is there any way we could create a donation page for here, possibly with Faith and your story? I think if more people knew who founded the site and the amount of work involved, and the fact it was a passion project, maybe even little amounts of money would come in? I know people couldn’t be averse to at least having a way to help. Just a thought! And if not, I’d like to donate!
I appreciate your reply, Rachel.
You’ve given me a lot to think about. I do think taking a short break from EDTR would be good for me. I’ve been thinking from my own experience too much, which isn’t fair to others in the community or who will come here in the future. It does make me seem very judgmental, even though I don’t want to be.
Deep down, I want to help, and wanted to start a convo to see if others had ideas of how to make navigate changing information on the site. Another member offered a wonderful suggestion (no idea if it’s feasible in the future), to have a separate page for necessary 1 to 1 connections.
I’ll need to remember that I don’t need to remind every single person how they can help with a review, because others also do that. I can also help by asking a few questions when someone shares about having attended treatment. That would express interest and allow them to share a little more if they’d like.
I’ve incorrectly assumed people knew what review questions were, and it helped to read the varied experiences people are coming to EDTR under. What I thought is wrong. I need to work more at accepting what is, and not judging. I feel embarrassed about my behavior and want to be friendlier and more supportive.
I’m very sorry to those in the community who might feel judged or hurt by what I wrote. Please feel that you can call me out, correct me, and share your opinions if you would like to. It will help me gain perspective and understanding.
Rachel, is there a way to delete your own comment? So people can delete their offers to speak individually if that’s not helpful?
You can just email me and tell me what you would like deleted! admin@edtreatmentreview.com Actually a lot of people do this. Many people will leave up their offer to speak individually for awhile, and either add a review (even 5 sentences counts as a review) when they have the chance, or will request it be taken down later once it has been up for a couple weeks so that it doesn’t clutter the site.
I would say if Alsana is your only option, go to the alabama location. they have a better php which will help during step down from res. i went to the STL locations in 2020/2021 and would not recommend.
Does anyone have a review of Alsana Santa Barbara php
I need input about these 3 locations for treatment of BED, SUD (sober 3 months), and trauma:
Zelda in Birmingham,
Hawthorn in St. Louis, and
Huntsville,
please.
I also cannot find specific information about the physical space at Zelda. Please share any details.
Thank you.
* cross-posted by admin from the alsana birmingham review page
Anybody know anything about Alsana Juneberry location
https://edtreatmentreview.com/alsana-stlouis/ There are some posts about it here!
I was there not too long again, what would you like to know!
Has anyone been to the Santa Barbra res recently?
How do meals/supplementation work?
It is by percentages. If you eat 50% you will be supplemented for the rest with 50% boost. They don’t do dislikes, and you have a few sub meals a week but you can’t use multiple in one day.
Has anyone been to alsana for php preferably Santa Barbara or have reviews on how php works in person or the hours and meals
Hi! Does anyone know what the meal plans look like for Alsana programs? Basically if they are individualized or if everyone is required to eat the same thing? Also what is the policy for lactose intolerance. Do they make you eat dairy with lactaid or will they provide alternate options to accomodate?
For anyone who has been, which location do you feel is the strongest?
Hi Erin!
I’m happy to chat with you about Alsana – I can give you my email!
I was at the Birmingham location residential. I did not have a good experience at all there but have heard better things about the California locations.
The meal plans are not super individualized, everyone eats the same meal and the same portions for the most part. You can have a few “sub meals” but that is just a choice of 2 sandwiches.
Again, happy to chat more!
Annie
Thank you! Yes I would love to talk with you about your experience if you have the time!
Absolutely. My email is anne.m.sexton1@gmail.com or instagram is @girlmovingforward.
Just messaged you on instagram!
Hey Annie,
I sent you a DM via Insta because I’m also interested in learning more about your experience w/Alsana. I have an Assessment call w/them today. Hope this is okay! 🙂
Alsana is on my list of possible choices as well. I emailed you, I hope that is ok!
Does anyone know if they still allow coffee and gum? Also are there outings and passes allowed?
They allow both
Hello,
Does anyone have any recent reviews/experience with Alsanas virtual PHP. I am supposed to begin this week and to be honest i’m scared shitless and have no idea what to expect. I’ve heard such mixed things about alsana in general and next to nothing about their virtual programming. Can anyone give me any ideas or what it’s like at the moment and if it’s a good program? If it helps you to have background on me I’m a college aged person living in the east. This is my first time in a hlc and Ive been making pretty good progress on my own in the last few weeks.
People should be aware that the entire Alsana company including its board members and parent company, The Riverside Co., are named in two federal lawsuits filed in February of 2022. The Lawsuits include complaints of mismanagement, improper hiring and training of staff, civil conspiracy and fraud. This affects virtual PHP too. You can read more about these lawsuits on http://www.castlewoovictimsunite.org and http://www.alsana.org.
Hi, we’re you ever able to get the information you needed about alsana’s virtual programs?
Note: At the request of many community members, we are currently in the process of updating Alsana’s review page to make it easier to navigate! This page will remain as is, for general Alsana discussion and reviews. All location-specific reviews/questions/discussions will be migrated to their applicable sub-page:
Monterey, Santa Barbara & Westlake Village –Past reviews/discussion about California locations will be moved here.
St. Louis-Ballwin Area & St. Louis-Pacific Area — Past reviews/discussion about St. Louis locations will be moved here.
Birmingham — Past reviews/discussion about Birmingham location will be moved here.
Please excuse any mess as we make these changes behind-the-scenes! We will try to finish splitting this page as quickly as possible, but in the meantime feel free to continue to post here, to post on one of the new location-specific pages, or to post on both. Double posting is fine, if you’d like to post a review or question both on this page, and also on the location page, to make sure it gets seen. Our Admin will make sure everything ultimately ends up in the right spot! 🙂
Just an FYI – the villain in the Castlewood/Alsana scandal moved across the country & got a license to practice in California, still treating EDs – yes, it can be legal – i.e. the founder of “my” local ED clinic, the Toledo Center for Eating Disorders, had his license revoked in Canada for sexual abuse of patients. So he crossed the border down to Michigan & worked at the same university that harbored the famous gymnast-abusing doctor – they kept that doctor over 2 decades – but they got ousted this ED psychologist within only 5 years – he fought it & even won but they STILL refused to rehire him – so he crossed another border south into Ohio & opened up this ED clinic – sooner or later he did it again & eventually Ohio revoked his license. I’m just trying to illustrate that terrible, terrible clinicians can even be reported & prosecuted & have their license revoked & still practice somewhere…here’s where the Castlewood doc is now: https://harmonyplacemonterey.com/
Does anyone happen to know if their residential accepts people with NG tubes?(already placed)
I don’t believe so.
Does anyone know of a virtual program that has Php just on the weekdays? I have children and I only have childcare on the weekdays. I am on the waiting list for renfrew. Alsana is covered in the state I live in but will have no flexibility even though their website says Php can be 5-7 days. I sent a message to veritas. ERC and monte nido require weekend hours as far as I can tell. I just feel like no one wants to help me and this is the only way I can get help :(. Thank.
any reviews for the adolescent program?
I spoke to them a couple days ago, and they no longer have an adolescent program. I’m not sure when they got rid of it, or if the change to only treating adults is permanent.
When I was at Birmingham last fall, they allowed an adolescent in the adult program since they didn’t have an adolescent program going yet.
Whatever you do. Do NOT use this program. I came out physically sicker. Mentally not trusting anyone. They don’t care about the client just money. It’s a mess. And their meal plans are insanely huge especially for someone who is coming in restricting heavily .
Staff is strange and gaslighting is heavy
Don’t do it.
Run for your life. Literally
I had a similar problem. As soon as I voiced that I felt I wasn’t being treated effectively they threatened to step me down or discharge me due to “insurance” even though insurance was still paying no problem. My team now agrees that they just compounded on my existing trauma with medical trauma. I’ll probably have to go back to treatment somewhere. Most of the people I was in with had similar problems so I’m reviewing my legal options. They just stole my money and made me more sick. It’s not okay.
Which location?
Birmingham.
Alsana’s Virtual IOP
I can describe the virtual program a bit as of August 2020
IOP is generally 5 days a week for 4 hours, either 1-5 EST or 4-8 EST. I’ll just describe the early IOP schedule.
1pm meal
2 pm group ( core/ ED group/ yoga/ spirituality)
3 pm meal
4 pm group( menu planning/ skills group/ gender/ sexuality)
For meals you have a general meal plan like 3-4 fuel groups and foundation fat. Your not actually told this before your first day so it’s pretty terrifying and you are told that your first meal should be what you think is appropriate.
So at start of hour you get 20 minutes to prep. Check in and show your plate. Convo is pretty good. There are normally 2-3 staff in the meal . With last 5 minutes you check out , show your plate and say how you feel. There isn’t much feedback or challenging during the meals but the direct care write everything down so my guess is if you aren’t finishing then it will come up in your private sessions.
Hi, did you continue us with the IOP Virtual? How do they monitor weight for virtual? Most virtual programs offer the patient their own therapist and dietitian for treatment.
Did you have to go to a PCP regularly to have vitals and weight monitored?
If you needed weight restoration, did you the the program supportive enough to accomplish that?
Ty for your time.
How old and experienced are the nutritionists, therapists [in PHP/IOP]? I’m so frustrated with treatment centers only having super young staff. They lack the life experience and confidence sometimes and are hard for me to connect with. While some may be green and do a good job, most are at a loss for words when I struggle with adulting stuff.
Hi, I have not been there but I know at least one amazing therapist who is at least 40 years old there.
It is vitally important that I personally testify that the Castlewood Treatment Center, now known as Alsana has done enormous harm to numerous patients and their extended families. My family was basically destroyed after sending our daughter for treatment of a relatively minor eating disorder to the Castlewood Treatment Center, under the direct care of [names redacted by admin, per site policy] in 2011. Very soon after her arrival Castlewood encouraged her to alienate her family members and this was particularly distressing since family therapy is the empirically supported approach to eating disorders. Instead, to treat her eating disorder, Castlewood used several “memory recovery techniques” including; powerful psychotropic drugs, hypnosis, IFS – parts therapy, regression therapies, guided imagery, literal dream interpretation, journaling,”drama therapy”, and even peer pressure from other patients. According to statements made by several experts in eating disorders, use of these controversial treatment modalities is not the standard of care for eating disorders primarily because patients are malnourished and vulnerable to psychological damage.
The Clinical Director and Co-Founder encouraged our daughter to remain secluded at Castlewood for months, during this time she withdrew more and more from her family and the world around her and sank deeper and deeper into the inward-directed rituals of recovered-memory therapy. It was an extremely controlled environment where she was bombarded with strange ideas and encouraged to search for buried memories and hidden alter personalities. Over time, she became disturbingly worse, to the point of suffering. Eventually a diagnosis of Dissociative Identity Disorder (previously known as multiple personality disorder) was suggested by one of her therapists. [Her therapist] even convinced our daughter that she would die if she left Castlewood. It was like her mind was in a virtual train wreck. . Bizarre and implausible beliefs were developed in the course of her treatment at Castlewood. While under the influence of various medically prescribed psychotropic medications she was coerced into believing that she endured horrendous physical abuse, the kind of abuse that should have left lasting physical scars, and that she was sexually abused by more than 50 different individuals including family members, coaches, lawyers, and policemen. She came to believe that she operated an underage prostitution business from her home, that she was high level drug abuser, and that her family members were aware of all of this abuse and did nothing but laugh at her. The only thing more tragic than actually being subjected to this kind of abuse is to believe it happened when in reality NONE of it is true
After [name redacted] and other Castlewood Staff encouraged our daughter member to cut all ties with us, the remainder of my heart-broken family was devastated by her false and impossible allegations of abuse. Before destroying my family and attempting to ruin our reputation, [names redacted] should have sought out independent validation of her claims, especially the more bizarre and less than plausible stories that emerged. Yet no attempt whatsoever was made to vet or verify ANY of the ridiculous claims she began making as a result of their terrible and long debunked “therapeutic” techniques.
Luckily, however, the officials in our state were compelled to look more objectively at these claims of abuse. My family and I were thoroughly investigated by the Special Victims Unit of the State Police, Child Protective Services and Family Court Judges. After many months and several hearings we were officially cleared of any wrong-doing. Beyond being cleared, not a single portion of any of the hundreds of abuse allegations were supported. After almost a year of intensive investigation one lead investigator looked at my husband and said simply, “Sir, there is absolutely nothing here.” A simple sentence that summed up the entire horror story. Sadly, this did little to restore the broken ties with our Castlewood-damaged family member, with whom we remain estranged from to this very day.
At first we believed that we were the only ones enduring this hell, but slowly others came forward with similar experiences from Castlewood and [name redacted]. There were four civil lawsuits filed against Castlewood, all claiming similar stories of wrongdoing and malpractice. Sadly these cases were each settled out of court with gag orders, probably for large sums of cash. Unfortunately, these victims are now bound to an agreement that they will never disclose the facts of their case to the public-at-large. Even still, victims continued to come forward and we learned of over forty individuals that suffered similar fates after treatment at Castlewood. We founded a support group called Castlewood Victims Unite and discovered truly, that we were NOT alone in our suffering. .
Therapy should be a very gentle exploration and unburdening of problems, not cause a fresh gaping unhealable wound. Therapy should never manufacture delusional problems and horrors for the patient. Today my family member is left in an untenable psychological state, one that is much worse than when she began treatment with The Castlewood Treatment Center, aka Alsana. Their treatment caused serious damage at great expense. I am aware that some patients actually have been helped by treatment at Alsana Castlewood. I am grateful for this. But it does not change what happened to my family or the more than 75 other families I know about. As a result, I encourage anyone seeking treatment to get help, but to look at other less invasive options before signing into residential treatment. My family will never be the same as the result of our alsana Castlewood experience, but if I can warn folks and perhaps prevent some other family from going through what we did, I may rest a little easier. Since I am the paying client, I feel my input is relevant here. Buyer beware!
*Names redacted by admin, per site rules*
Wow. Just…..wow. I have had two very close friends, very different people with different life histories, go to Castlewood (one) and Castlewood-transition to Alsana (the other) and BOTH have “discovered” severe abuse while there, stayed at the facility for months and months, gone back multiple times, created divisions with their families….the list goes on that is in common with what you named. I’ve always been suspicious that something weird happened there because I know so many people who have gone back multiple times and stayed a year or more. UGH. I am so very sorry for what happened to your family and my mind is just spinning about the implications of everything.
I did a lot of research on Alsana when it first opened and does not appear to be Castlewood rebranded. The owners and leadership are completely new. Much of the staff is new. All of the people who were accused of abuse and neglect were fired. Alsana kept the centers closed for over a year while they redid the protocols and programming and recertified under CARF. My personal experience has been good, but was only with the locations in Southern California (residential, PHP, IOP) so can’t speak directly to the St. Louis and Birmingham facilities.
Alsana’s Virtual PHP
I have participated at Alsana PHP virtually as recently as August 2020.
I am in Central Standard Time Zone, so I went from 11:45 am until 6pm CDT. For meals you would mute your sound and your camera and have 25 minutes to prepare your meal or snack (depending on your time zone). This takes absolute accountability on your part. If you elect not to eat or not what’s in your meal plan, you will not be held accountable in any meaningful way. You may be taken to task in a private session, but certainly not in group. If you don’t finish, same thing applies. It’s all on you. If you are struggling way more and can’t achieve finishing meals more than say, 75 percent of the time right now, I would recommend a brick and mortar treatment location at this time. The one thing that makes meals difficult is that – depending on the time zone – a person in California might be on snack while you’re eating a huge lunch. Then an hour and a half later, vice versa. It can kind of mess with you a bit. But you get used to it.
You can’t ever be off camera during group. This is a good thing. The groups are still typical and vary depending on the day (core, ED, relapse prevention, CBT, DBT). All appointments are via zoom with your treatment team, as well. I don’t find that to be an issue.
My major complaint isn’t with my treatment team or the programming at all. It was the admissions process and then the virtual programming director. They yanked me around. A lot. I’m not sure how I could have prevented that. The admissions counselors didn’t seem to know what the heck was going on.
Wondering is anyone found the virtual program helpful? Do they work with Vegan’s?
They do work with vegans, if it’s for ethical reasons and you have been practicing veganism for a year or longer. Most people in virtual end up being sent to in person at one of their locations across the country. They have a pretty good set up in terms of structure. They have you get the numberless scale that sends weights to your dietician and pretty strict guidelines around meals.
I was wondering if anyone can speak to the virtual iop php that Alsana is doing now and how it works w meals and snacks and groups
I’m specifically interested in their virtual program
How long did it take to get admitted? Would you recommend it?
STAY FAR AWAY FROM THIS PLACE!! My 25 year old daughter just spent two weeks there until insurance stopped paying today. Unfortunately, frequently, insurance companies will stop paying before full recovery has been achieved. Castlewood (Now Alsana,. Name changed after lawsuits…..found on Google) immediately kicked my daughter out by giving her 30 minutes to gather her things and leave. I just scrambled to get her an Uber in the middle of nowhere while she stands out on the road in the cold. They were extremely rude to me (53 year old mother) and eventually stopped taking my calls. With an addiction problem and eating disorder since age 14, my daughter has been in a few treatment facilities over the years. Sad, but reality. We’ve always been treated with care and respect by other treatment centers, as it should be. Castlewood (Alsana) got their $20,000+ from the insurance company and once the money stopped, they IMMEDIATELY showed how cruel and uncaring they really are. So, I felt I should alert people of this so they can steer clear of this place when researching where to send their loved one for help. PLEASE DON’T ALLOW THESE PEOPLE TO TREAT YOU OR ANYONE YOU KNOW WITH ZERO RESPECT OR CARE.
Thank you.
When did this happen? Was it before they had the lawsuit or after??
I have heard so many other good things and I am confused because I thought the new management was A+
I paid for and sent my daughter at Alsana, Balwin, MO., aka Castlewood Treatment Center because we wanted help with her eating disorder. They changed their name in an effort to avoid bad publicity from numerous lawsuits, but don’t be fooled, they are the same company with many of the same “therapists.” Our daughter developed false memories of abuse and was misdiagnosed with Dissociative identity disorder (DID). It has ruined our family and left our daughter in a much worse position than before she sought treatment. Since then we have heard from several recent patients and staff who have reported experiences of abuse and maltreatment. Please visit us at http://www.alsana.org to interact with nearly 100 people who have suffered as a result of treatment with this facility. Be very informed and do your research before entering into treatment at any Alsana facility!
Also, what facility was your daughter in??
Hi Dean, are you comfortable sharing which location your daughter went to?
Cross-posted by Admin:
Can anyone leave a review on Alsana Monterey res?
I was a nurse at the St. Louis location and you are right! We would be working and all of the sudden a client would be cut and they would let us know sometimes with less than 15 minute heads up. We immediately had to get medications together to discharge the client quickly. It was a horrible feeling to have to do to someone but the director is cold and self-serving.. It was the weirdest and most toxic environment I have encountered as a nurse. I left quickly when I witnessed serious things being swept under the rug. Look at google and Indeed employee reviews for more info about this. Also see Victims of Castlewood/Alsana on Facebook.
I was wondering how they treat people with dissociative identity disorder? How do they work that into eating disorder treatment?
[cross posted by admin from Alsana’s “Ask The Treatment Center” page]
Rayette,
I recovered from a 30 year history of AN/BN with CPTSD and Dissociative Identity Disorder. For many years I cycled in and out of ED and trauma programs. because most programs treated the disorders separately. I would get kicked out of an ED program because my trauma symptoms caused too much interference. I would get asked to leave trauma programs because I couldn’t eat enough to maintain a healtghy weight.
It wasn’t until I entered Alsana(when it was Castlewood), that both my eating disorder and trauma were addressed simultaneously. What was helpful for me was CW’s understanding of how the two disorders are intertwined. At first because I was low weight, the focus was on getting me eating regularly. CW allowed trauma patients to initially avoid foods that were triggering because of past abuse. As I became more comfortable eating, they would re-introduce a trauma food– I might try it in a session with my dietician first, before having it at a meal. Then the staff was also very good about being able to help me process my reactions or manage flashbacks. CW at that time was very focused on dealing with the underlying issues that contributed to the eating disorder, in addition to stabilizing weight and food intake.
I hope that helps answer your question.
*cross posted from Alsana’s Ask the Treatment Center page*
I am wondering if you sign people for involuntary stays if a patient tries to leave?
Do you treat males? If so, is it at a specific location or how are they worked into the program? Also, do you work with single case agreements with Medicare or Medicaid from out of state residents? How big is the population at each location? Thank you.
I’m not Alsana, but I can say that they do treat males. The facilities in different states take different insurance, so the Medicare/caid situation may differ from house to house. The houses take between 6-12ish people.
Why have you changed your name to Alsana without acknowledging the change? Your website acts as if Alsana has always been around. Is this just a way to get rid of all the negative associations with the Castlewood name without actually addressing the issues with your programs?
Castlewood is now Alsana and they’ve acquired multiple new locations. Their website acts as if they have always been Alsana- there’s no mention of the name change or the fact that they were bought by The Riverside Company in January (the press release on Riverside’s website says Riverside plans to increase sales and marketing, increase capacity at existing locations, and add locations AKA make more money). Alsana’s website has years worth of quotes and blog posts from “Alsana alumni,” even though Alsana didn’t exist until very recently. I can’t say why they quietly changed their name, but it certainly seems sketchy to me. If you are considering going to Alsana, I would recommend you read the reviews for Castlewood and you ask them how their programs and policies are different from Castlewood’s.