https://brightroadrecovery.com/
Bright Road Recovery is an independently owned eating disorder treatment center located in Claremont, California. It offers residential treatment, Partial Hospitalization (PHP), Flexible PHP (for students and people who need to continue working), Intensive Outpatient (IOP), and outpatient treatment for adults.
Bright Road Recovery’s residential treatment center treats only female adults and has a maximum of 6 patients. It is one of the few eating disorder treatment centers in the country that treats trauma/PTSD at the residential level of care. BRR can also treat eating disorders with co-occurring mental health disorders and/or co-occurring substance use disorders.
Any reviews or updates? Please post in comments below. You can check out the FAQ and Guidelines for suggested questions. Thank you!
REVIEW
Bright Road Recovery saved my life. When I arrived, I was purging every single day and felt completely powerless against my eating disorder. I was scared, exhausted, and didn’t believe things could ever get better.
From the moment I walked in, I was met with nothing but compassion, patience, and genuine care. Every single person there made me feel seen, heard, and safe when I couldn’t do that for myself.
I want to give a special shout-out to M******, who stood by me through the entire process. There were nights I was absolutely terrified and would text her as late as 9 p.m., and she always responded with comforting, reassuring messages. Knowing someone was there for me in my darkest moments meant everything.
Because of Bright Road Recovery, I have my life back. I am forever grateful to the staff who helped me heal when I didn’t think healing was possible. This place will always have a special place in my heart.
Could you please do a full review answering all of the questions provided in the review template?
REVIEW
Bright Road Recovery was the best ED treatment (or any mental health treatment) that I’ve gotten in my many years of on and off recovery. After being a revolving door patient 10 years ago at Renfrew in PA, I didn’t have high hopes when I was stepped up to residential from PHP because of my previous history in RTC. In the past, it felt like the only goal in treatment was to get me to eat meals consistently and then send me out the door (which is why I kept returning). Bright Road’s main priority was to heal me as a whole person and not just tick off how many meals I’ve completed. There was so much intensive and individualized care which I had not experienced anywhere else.
There is a max of 6 patients at a time, but there were only 2 other patients when I was admitted which meant there were so many more staff members than patients. I felt truly contained and cared for which is definitely what I needed at this level. That also means there is no room for sneaking around or using behaviors (like I’ve experienced at more crowded treatment facilities). It’s hard for the ED voice to hear, but so beneficial.
The staff were also the most caring bunch of people and you could tell they all wanted to be there because they wanted to help, I’ve been in places before where you question why certain people work there or if it’s just for a paycheck; every single staff member was passionate about getting us better. From the moment I stepped in after filling out my intake paperwork, I burst into tears because I was overwhelmed and the director, ****, pulled me in to a big bear hug (with consent of course) and I immediately realized it was going to be ok. It was hard for me to adjust the first few days, but the staff was there with me every step of the way. I’ll never forget my second day when I was having so much anxiety and the head nurse, ****, laid down on the ground with me and we both put our feet up on the wall and did box breathing. The staff would do anything to help you get through a tough time. There were times I was having panic attacks or feeling flighty and staff members would come in even on their days off to help me. (My therapist at the time, ****, even left in the middle of thrifting with her mom on a Sunday to come in and help me when I needed it, that’s dedication). And I can’t even count the amount of times [the director] came in just because I was freaking out, and she would either water color with me, do grounding work outside in the grass and sun, or sit on the bed and talk and let me cry – and most importantly without judgement (even when I was being a bit of a pain in the butt lol). She always had a way of helping me feel better. She even took us all out on a surprise trip to get frozen yogurt one night because she felt bad I kept missing the grocery store outings, she was the sweetest! The therapists (**** and ****) were amazing too, I’ve never been in a facility where the therapists are so immersed in the program. In past RTCs, I’m used to just having a therapist lead a group like DBT or CBT or something and call you in for the weekly session and that’s all you’d see of them, but at Bright Road, the therapists not only lead REALLY useful groups (and ask what we want to work on in group) but they also had meals with us, took us on outings, were available for check ins whenever needed, and even just hung out and played video games, did art, played card games, and we even did karaoke one morning. The MHCs were awesome too, I looked forward to seeing **** every morning, he was the life of the party, had a lot of wisdom, and and would also let me be mad when I needed to and throw ice and smash pumpkins, he felt like an uncle. Honestly I could give a heartfelt anecdote about every single staff member there, but at this point I’m just rambling.
Lastly, besides the amazing staff, I will say the thing that really puts Bright Road above the others is their focus on treating trauma. I didn’t know until being there that the trauma is the root cause of all the symptoms and I would not truly get better until working through that. Like I said before, every other place I’ve been to just wanted meal compliance, but Bright Road was really dedicated to getting to the root. This was the first place I was exposed to EMDR which I found SO helpful and is something I look for in future treatments. I did AMA after about 2 months because of real-world stressors like work/finances/etc but I’m sure if I stayed and completed the program at Bright Road, I would be miles ahead of where I am now. However, the 2 months there was enough to get me back on the right track, I have good days and bad days now instead of 100% bad days, I feel a lot less guilt around certain foods thanks to the exposure snacks/meals, and I’ve seen a decrease of symptoms. I wish I was able to stay, but I will always have a lot of gratitude for this place.
And special shout out to ****’s dog, Grace!!! She always made me so happy, even if she always stole my socks
Would you be able to do a full review answering all the questions in the template?
REVIEW
I came to Bright Road as my last hope. No other treatment center would take me and I was not doing well medically or mentally. They took me in and immediately I could tell this was going to be so much better than any other experience I’ve had in residentials.
At Bright Road, they will do anything it takes to get you to eat. They will support you until you finish even if it takes hours. They don’t take no for an answer and restricting becomes not an option. I needed this so bad to get me to where I am now. I needed to be “forced” (but not actually forced) to eat so I could be nourished enough to decide I want to recover.
They supported me through 8 hour long panic attacks, autism meltdowns and *TW* serious SI. *END TW* They are so individualized with their approach. Each patient gets different treatment depending on what they need to succeed. And they will do anything to make sure you succeed.
The staff is incredible. Everyone is so supportive. I’m doing the best I’ve ever been after being at Bright Road and I’m so incredibly grateful for the staff. They saved my life.
is the program wheelchair accessible and ADA compliant? Do you think they’d be equipped to help disabled patients? It’s totally okay if you don’t know the answer! Is there a staircase or second floor? If there is a second floor, is there an elevator ? Would a disabled person in a wheelchair be able to get around easily? It’s fine if you don’t the answer! I just thought it couldn’t hurt to ask, thanks !
Would you be able to do a full review answering all the questions in the template?
REVIEW
* When were you there? 2024
* What level(s) of care did you do (e.g., inpatient, residential, PHP, IOP)? residential
* If applicable: Is it wheelchair accessible? I think so
* How many patients are there on average? There were 3 others when I was there.
* 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? Medical doctor 1 time a month (more if needed), medication 1x a week, therapist 2 or more times a week, RD 1 time a week (or more for body image sessions)
* What is the staff-to-patient ratio? I don’t know. Staffing is good—usually at least 1 therapist and at least 1 RD there during day, plus other staff
* What sort of therapies are used (e.g., DBT, CBT, EMDR, ACT, exposure therapy, somatic experiencing, etc.)? DBT & EMDR, in my case. Not sure about everybody else.
Describe the average day:
* What were meals like? Meals are good. The nutrition assistants usually prepare meals and they are good. There are usually 2 or more staff eating with us. We played games and conversations are usually pretty fun. I liked the environment that they make at the table. We laughed a lot and sometimes we’d even sing songs. It made my anxiety better and the staff is really supportive about any redirections. I had a hard time with some behaviors and my therapist and dietician helped me come up with a plan so the staff could support me at the table. It worked and din’t make me feel like I was failing if I had a hard time. Meals are timed like other places, but you can get extra time if you want to keep trying and can’t do it in the time allowed. They will support you by having another staff member come sit with you and eat with you. They will do nice things like watch a video or show you something on the computer or just talk or play music to help distract. I liked getting help to make progress. It made the meals easier to do. I eventually started doing a lot better and was able to eat almost all meals with in the time limit and I almost never had to supplement by the time I left.
* What sorts of food were available or served? Lots of variety, but favorites are sometimes brought back —we loved tacos! Some people have allergies and you can have some dislikes. They try to make the meals for everyone similar so it isn’t as triggering if someone needs something different. They didn’t really let us know what the menu was in advance. They did take requests if we really liked a meal. They barbecue a lot and make most meals fresh. There are lots of snacks and they would take our snack requests so when they ordered or shopped for food, they would try to get what we wanted. If we made special requests they would try to make it or get it for us. It wasn’t always possible or something, but they tried to make meals good for us. They didn’t seem to have meals on any rotation. I think they put a lot of effort into finding new recipes to try out. They want patients to have variety of foods.
* Did they supplement? How did that system work? Yes to supplements. They make their own shakes if you can’t eat or finish the meal. The shakes are good, so it doesn’t feel like being a failure if we can’t eat the meal.
* What is the policy of not complying with meals? Staff will support you to either have the meal or drink the supplement. They work with each patient individually if they are struggling to complete the meal. This program will really actually help you to stop restricting.
* Are you able to eat vegetarian? Vegan? Yes–both.
* What privileges are allowed? Depends. They are pretty strict but they will help you with treatment goals so that privilege requests are part of your treatment plan. Two coffees per day, one caffeine, one decaf.
* Does it work on a level system? No. They work with you to help you figure out what kinds of things you want and how to do them in a healthy way to make progress in your recovery.
* How do you earn privileges? The more progress clients are making the more the team will allow you freedoms that are important to you. Usually passes are the privileges the clients want.
* What sort of groups do they have? Different types–process groups, dbt, activities, nutrition groups, activity groups. Groups are good but I liked the individual sessions most. On the weekends they often have an art group that’s kind of fun.
* What was your favorite group? I prefer process groups, but they have a bunch of different groups based on what’s going on with patients.
* If applicable: Is the program trauma-informed? Yes–they do EMDR therapy.
* What did you like the most? I felt like the team really cares about the patients. They didn’t let me get away with anything! They were caring about how they stopped me from acting out.
* What did you like the least? I wish I had my own room, but we weren’t in our rooms that much, so it wasn’t that big of a deal. Just a preference.
* Would you recommend this program? Yes. First time I got help after all the other programs I went to.
* What level of activity or exercise was allowed? Each client had a different plan, so it was up to the RD how much exercise a patient was allowed. When I was on weight restoration I didn’t get to exercise. After a while they would do walks with me and other mindful movement.
* What did people do on weekends? Visits, outings, activities. Relaxing and visits in the afternoons. We played games, nintendo and watched movies. Sometimes staff would come in to do projects with us. Weekends are pretty relaxed.
* Do you get to know your weight? Not for most of the time I was there. It was an exposure with my therapist and RD to help me get ready to step down to PHP. That was hard but at least I was able to prepare myself.
* If applicable: How fast is the weight gain process? For me, any weight gain was scary so anything was too fast. But everyone on the team is so supportive. Recovery is hard but they do make it as easy as they can for clients.
* What was the average length of stay? I don’t know.
* What was the average age range? 20s – 40s.
* How do visits/phone calls work? The team encourages visits, so those are usually approved. They happen on the weekends. Phone and electronics time is 7-8 at night.
* What is the electronics policy (e.g., cell phones, iPods, Kindles, laptops, tablets)? No phone or visits for 2 weeks. You get to use the house phone for phone calls. After that you get your phone at night for phone time.
* For inpatient/residential: Are you able to go on outings/passes? Yes, if the team agrees that an outing is safe and will help with recovery.
* 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? They helped me get set up with a PHP near my house.
* Are there any resources for people who come from out of state/country? I don’t know.
* If applicable: How is the program responding to COVID? (Less patients, virtual programming, no visitors, masks, social distancing, etc) I know the staff tests for covid everyday to make sure patients are safe.
* Other? I decided to write this review because none of the other programs I went to worked. This program helped me with my trauma. I was scared to talk about it at first but when I started to see how my trauma was making my ed worse I knew I had to talk about it. EMDR works and helped. Some days were hard but they never made me feel alone. When I was feeling my worst they helped me, even if it took all day. When I was stuck, I also got sessions with my therapist and dietician together to support me more when I was about to give up. The staff cares! If you want to get better BRR can help. They are strict but they aren’t mean. You can get better there.
On wow thank you so so SO much for writing your review!! Your review is going to help so many people. EMDR in a residential program – finally! As you probably know, EMDR is a common request people here have when looking for residential treatment, and it has been such a road block for many people who want full recovery but need that evidence-based trauma treatment while in an ED treatment safe space to get there. On behalf of EDTR, eternal thanks.
I’m updating this BRR page based on the info you provided. If there are any additional details you think would be helpful in the page’s description of Bright Road Recovery, please reply and let me know so I can add them!
By the way, a bonus of having your recent review and thus my being able to update the page is that it should all start showing up in Google search results now. Hopefully the center’s website will show up as well! When I searched for it yesterday to add, the website was hard to find. I actually couldn’t find it at all, only their Instagram page. I literally had to guess what the url might be in order to find the site. Obviously this really deters people from contacting it to ask about their program. In this way, your contribution will directly help Bright Road Recovery’s online presence, and as a result facilitate access to care too.
Glad I could help! Thanks!
I was wondering when you actually went there. I may going there soon and was hoping it was recent.
Thank you so much for this! I am in communication with them about admitting soon and this was so helpful! Do you know what their smoking/vaping policy is? Also do you know if they have any requirements in terms of weight or vitals for residential? Thank you again for your review!
@Emme They do not allow vaping at all. No one was smoking when I was there, so I don’t know if they allow smoking. I don’t know their admission requirements. You can ask them. They do want certain labs and tests like ekg. I think they make sure you are medically ok. You can ask them what the rules are. They’ll tell you upfront
Hi! Do you mind discussing the bathroom policy? Are you watched? Can you go alone?
REVIEW
I have been to a lot of treatment programs in the ten years I’ve been trying to recover from my eating disorder. I don’t feel like I got the help I needed until I went to Bright Road. This place saved my life.
I was in their residential program for 6 weeks during the darkest time of my life. Bright Roads completely turned things around with my eating disorder. I got so much one on one attention it was amazing. I felt really cared for at BR and the nutritionist was AWESOME. So was the woman who runs it she really cares. I am really shocked to see the other review here and felt compelled to post this because of it. I know they deal with some tough clients but I truly saw nothing but grace and care with everyone no matter what. It was a great experience. This staff is compassionate and they know what they are doing. It’s the first time I felt like a treatment center really cared about me.
The other big difference is that I got help for my trauma. Unlike other programs I’ve been to, I got to work on a lot of my past traumas. Sessions with my therapist and nutritionist were great. When I was really having a hard time, sometimes I got to meet with them both at the same time. That helped me alot.
Everyone was really kind to me and all the patients who were there. My time at BRR changed my life, and I feel like I got tools and confidence to step down and continue my recovery journey in PHP. Thank you to Bright Road for helping me and for showing me that I wasn’t beyond hope.
Would you be willing to do a full review with the questions/prompts on this site? There is a desperate need in the community right now for centers that focus on trauma alongside EDs
Sure I can write a full review. I saw the list of questions somewhere here.
I agree. I needed trauma help at the same time.
They also offer outpatient therapist and dietitian sessions, which is what I did because they don’t accept my insurance (Medicare) for PHP/IOP. The therapist was covered, but I had to pay for dietitian sessions out-of-pocket. Still, my dietitian there was very compassionate and knowledgeable. The PHP/IOP/Outpatient building is a historical colonial-style house in Claremont, CA with meeting rooms both upstairs and downstairs, which are all nicely furnished and decorated. (**NOTE: The stairway is a bit narrow, and there is no elevator.) They have a dedicated art therapy room, several group and individual therapy/meeting rooms, a dining room, and a modern kitchen where meals are prepared for PHP/IOP patients. Their residential program house is located a few blocks away. BRR also offers a free weekly support group on Zoom for anyone struggling with an eating disorder (you do not have to be a BRR alumni). The group is called EDSIE (Eating Disorder Support Inland Empire). Info available on Instagram @edsie_support
Thank you Valorie!!
I feel like some of the newer reviews on this page are kinda sus. There’s all these glowing reviews, but only one of them has actually taken the time to do the full template and do a full review. And some of these over the top glowing reviews kinda sound like ads. I’m not sure all of them are actually written by former patients
Completely agree. Full reviews using the provided template are requested and usually there is no follow through. Makes me wonder if clients are pressured to write good things about the center by staff after reading about how close staff are like coming in on days off and things that idk how appropriate that is. Worry about boundaries, increased client dependency, clients not developing skills as fast due to over extension/availability of staff. Is it sending a good message to clients? Like to put others before your own self care…
Until there are objective reviews following the template, I’m skeptical and see these posts as subjective and not helpful for individuals here at EDTR who are currently looking for treatment since these “reviews” do not provide any factual information about the program.
Agreed. Follow up questions are never answered and requests to provide a full review are ignored. And all the overly glowing new reviews are all pretty recent. It seems really sketchy to me. It makes me wonder if they’re even left by real patients, or if employees are leaving reviews pretending to be patients. If they are from former patients, maybe they’re asking patients they know had a good experience there to leave reviews when they’re discharged.
I can’t comment on Bright Road in particular, but I will say that as a prior patient at other ED programs (e.g. CFC, Alta Bates/Herrick, Alsana, etc.), I go through “phases” where I feel able to interact with this site, and others where it’s too triggering for me to be here. So there will be multi-month delays in my responses, and that’s not because I’m a bot, it’s just because I’m trying to preserve my recovery and know that engaging too closely with ED content can be really detrimental to my progress. So I’d really encourage y’all to be open to considering other reasons behind why some folks may have a delayed response time re: follow-up reviews, since it won’t always be due to manipulative reasons!
I don’t think people are being manipulative. The issue isn’t that people are taking too long to respond. It’s that most of the reviews appeared around the same time, don’t follow the template, are overly glowing, and written like ads.
Specific to Bright Road, a few months ago I asked the owner if she would be willing to let current patients know that we would really appreciate it anyone could write a review of their experience after discharging, since we had high interest but few reviews. So I’m positive that that’s what is happening here. Also remember that the template isn’t required for reviews, nor is answering follow up questions.
Oh, ok, thanks for letting me know! I thought it was odd that they all appeared around the same time, so that makes sense! Thanks for letting me know!
I know the template and follow up questions aren’t required. That wasn’t really the issue. I probably should have left that part out of my comment because the issue I had wasn’t with the template not being followed or follow up questions not being answered.
The Issue I had was that the reviews seemed overly glowing, and not very objective. That was the main thing that made me suspicious, not them not answering follow up questions or using the template. I probably should have left that part out of my comment, because that wasn’t really my main point, which was that the reviews seemed overly glowing and overly praising the program, and not very objective.
Any reviews from this year?
I will make one
Yea i went this year it was definitely hard adjusting but the team there will make you comfortable even the clients there you will have free time before dinner and after you will need to be there for 2 weeks to be able to use your electronic (the days go by fast) but the first two weeks you can use the office phone i think around 7-8pm. But anyway the staff there are nice and your team is too but they also give you tuff love cause they know you can do it and even when you feel like giving up there right behind you pushing you to get there
Can someone do a review from this year for the adult residential I really can’t find a reputable place for adults with good outcomes
Have you called them? You can get a good idea of how they are over the phone. They will tell you like it is. I haven’t been there in a while, but my experience was good. They are strict but nice about it.
Bright Road Recovery – hands down the best!
Have you been?
Could you do a full review answering all the questions in the template?
Does anyone have a recent review? The info given so far sounds really good, but I know that things can change quickly.
Has anyone been here more recently? I am considering going here, though I must admit I’m a bit scared about the fact that they will just sit with you if you don’t finish a meal or supplement. I know I need to surrender though and I wonder if this place would help me to do so. I think I like that it is a small, independent business rather than owned by a big company. Pros and cons always. Any recent reviews would be greatly appreciated!
Answers to a couple questions I asked Bright Road Recovery’s director (BRR is a small therapist-owned and run treatment program, so the director is also a licensed therapist):
* Do residential clients get experience plating and cooking?
Our RTC patients get some experience with cooking and plating. We tend to incorporate that into their treatment plan toward the end of treatment, when other goals are met. We have found that many patients want to be in the kitchen for reasons related to the eating disorder and sometimes OCD. However, when patients have moved more into a recovery-oriented space, we incorporate food prep and plating, as well as other independence-building activities.
* Do you do single case agreements?
We are willing to do single case agreements to the degree that the patient’s insurance will cooperate! We will do whatever we can to help a patient obtain the treatment they need.
Is Bright Road Recovery still open? Their website looks down and I couldn’t get anyone on the phone (though it was pretty early in the morning)…
It is! They are on Pacific Time, so maybe try calling again after 10am PT (1pm ET/12pm CT)?
I have been in contact with them as recent as yesterday! I would suggest sending an email via the link on the website. The admissions coordinator M is very responsive once she has all of your info!
Has anyone been here recently besides the one person who has left multiple glowing reviews?
Does anyone have any recent reviews?
I have tried to work with this place 3 times over 3 years and all 3 times their management goofs things up. I give up! If you call for an appointment to determine if this is the right place for you, they will ask you to fill out multiple forms and they want to charge you $140 for a therapy session. I know nothing about the therapist and I was told I was coming in for an assessment to determine what I needed, but then it turns out to be a therapy session.
The first time I went in, I was introduced to a green new therapist that couldn’t have been older than 22 years old. I am a man in my 60s. How do we possibly relate to each other? How could she possibly understand my journey?
The 2nd time I signed up to be there, I was told it they would get me into the program in January but they wanted to start with online therapy and a dietitian. After 6 sessions with the therapist, he informed me that he was taking a sabbatical and leaving. Oh and by the way, in January they told me that their program was full of women with issues with men and they could not bring me in. So why did I pay for therapy and a dietitian for a program that I can’t get into? It felt like bait and switch.
The 3rd time I tried to get in was this week. Again, I was told I would come in for an assessment so I filled out multiple forms and credit card information and there was a 12 o’clock online call set up. I logged in at 12 PM and no one joined the call. When I sent an email to the therapist she replied with, “someone told her that you didn’t want therapy so she didn’t login. She concluded by wishing me good luck on my journey. Hey, how about, “I’m sorry, something got mixed up. Can we reschedule?” Frankly, if these people worked for me, I would fire them!
I believe that the owner, *****, is probably a very good therapist and expert in the area of treatment, but the people she employs are truly disappointing. The problem is you have to work through her team to get help and they don’t seem to have a lot of interest in helping people.
I looked up the reviews on Indeed to see what employees were saying and it was ugly. Many employee complaints and comments about unqualified workers with high turnover.
If you are seeking real treatment (and I truly understand your pain), it’s my opinion, based on multiple experiences, that this is not the place to go. I wish you all the best in your journey!
Michael
I’m so sorry they put you through all that bs.
And I just want to say that as a woman with extreme trauma issues, some of the most helpful treatment I had was in groups with men.It showed me that men aren’t the problem, people who abuse children are the problem. Unfortunately many men have trauma too.and need treatment just as much.
I don’t mean to double post about this, but I’m looking at admitting here at the rtc level next week and I can barely find any reviews so I’m a little desperate for more information from clients who have been there. Anything would be super appreciated! Thank you!
I would be very interested in a recent review of the residential if anyone can provide some info asap? Thank you!
Has anyone been here and able to provide a review (specifically residential, but PHP/IOP as well if no res experience–just some insight into the program and the way they do foo/meal plans and stuff)?