The Bella Vita is now closed.

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Several of the women I was with in the PHP program went through the RTC program, too. And they all spoke so highly of it. From their comments, I can say:

-The meals are prepared by a chef, who is apparently wonderful.
-The counselors are all top notch, experienced, and clearly dedicated and caring.
-The treatment is individualized and personalized for each person. The program is small, which allows more personal attention for each patient.
-The staff genuinely care about each patient and are there to support and encourage them.
-The environment is generally supportive and encouraging. Even when people are having a bad day, there is always something positive and uplifting to walk away with.
-The program is very intensive and well structured. There is always something to do/something scheduled, so it doesn’t feel like the entire day is structured solely around food (which is the experience I have had at other programs).
-Like the rest of the Bella Vita programs, the RTC program uses a very holistic approach to treatment. They incorporate a variety of therapy approaches including (from what I remember) CBT, DBT, drama and play therapy, nutritional education, process group, individual therapy, art therapy, etc.

I may end up going to the RTC program later this year. The girls I was in PHP with have really encouraged me to try to the program. And they had such positive things to say about it. I loved the PHP program, so I imagine RTC would be even better.

I did IOP at the Bella Vita in Spring of 2008. The main building is a beautiful separate building with a small garden/fountain area on the outside, and an encouraging, relaxing design on the inside.

The groups and therapy are great, but I found that the nutritional aspect was too focused on “healthy” eating for me and it was very triggering to me as I was stepping down from an IP/PHP with a focus on normal eating. People were allowed to use light products for their fats, and sometimes eat obscenely bizarre food combinations. The dietitian at the time was a recovered anorexic who I think was still holding on to some of the habits. I don’t know if she’s still there, but I was NOT a fan of her. Also at the time I was there the medical monitoring was lacking. When I completed IOP and went home from college for the summer, I ended up in IP for being medically unstable. But I know for a fact this has changed. Dr. Pitts terrified me, but she isn’t too involved in the day-to-day so I would worry about that.

I do KNOW there have been many changes to the program since I was there, so I don’t want to write too much about what I disliked at the time given that my guess is a lot of those problems have been solved. I still see my therapist on an outpatient basis and she’s awesome.

They have outpatient, IOP, and partial. You bring your own food, and have restaurant outings once per week. The day is packed with groups and individual sessions, and there is a lot of focus on DBT. Weigh-ins and vitals twice a week. They do treat adolescents. And more recently they have added a fully supervised transitional living house that clients can stay in during partial or IOP to have a more residential, supported experience.

The Bella Vita used to operate BHC Alhambra as their inpatient, but Reasons runs that program now and they are totally separate.