Most abusive treatment center I, and other clients who are now my friends, have been to. They forgot to feed us one day, allowed sick clients to portion our food, our night staff would sleep on the job, our nurse would sleep on the job, they didn’t tell parents when one of their teenagers passed out, girls who have never self harmed before learned to self harm there, we were body shamed and verbally abused by specific staff members, we were told our weight and calorie intake, most of the staff members were 18 and fresh out of high school when a degree is required to work at a treatment center, our “dietitian” wasn’t even a licensed dietitian, half of the time we weren’t allowed to go outside, we never did any sort of outings and the most we were allowed was a 10ish minute walk a day. We didn’t have any board games, access to internet, TV, or anything substantial to keep us entertained. Clients were allowed to control and harass one another, staff members would actually join in at times, the director had a public porn account, keep in mind she works with minors, one of the staff members drowned a baby bird. Keep in mind one of the 5 star ratings [on other sites] is from M** B**, the owner, and half the reviews are fake. If you want to see reviews from actual clients (the reviews are HORRENDOUS), check out https://edtreatmentreview.com/eden-treatment-center-las-vegas/. I’m currently in therapy for PTSD from this treatment center. We would sustain self harm injuries so severe here that I still have permanent scars and we were not taken to the hospital. Some girls had holes in their arms and were only given a bandaid. The staff members are abusive here and they do not care about you, they just want to profit off of you. DONT go here.

Buckle up, guys. I’ve been avoiding writing this for a while, since Eden was so traumatizing and I blocked the whole thing out of my memory as soon as I left, but it’s been gnawing at me. This place needs to be shut down, it’s horrific what they do. Obvious trigger warning here, this stuff is intense. Sorry. Here goes:

-When were you there?

September-December 2021

-How many patients on average?

6-10 between 3 rooms. Three rooms had 2 beds, and one had 4.

-Does it treat both males and females? If so, is treatment separate or combined?

They only treat those assigned female at birth, though they do allow trans/nonbinary individuals…as long as they were assigned female at birth.

-How often do you see a medical doctor, psychiatrist, psychologist (therapist), nutritionist, etc?

We were supposed to see our individual therapist 3x/week, dietitian 2x, psychiatrist 1x, and get labs drawn 1x. I saw my therapist an average of 2x/week, and would sometimes have to pull another therapist into a side office to discuss my issues as my therapist was rarely available. Administration rarely responded to emails–I had to quit my job back home while I was on RTC, as the doctor on staff wouldn’t respond to my emails to send medical records to HR and extend my medical leave. I gave them 2 weeks to do that, emailing every day, and still nothing. They allowed for family sessions with both the dietitian and therapist if you requested it, which was nice. My parents came for a visit one weekend, and my therapist was willing to do a combined session in-person, but there’s another issue there I’ll cover further down.

-What is the staff ratio to patients?

2 therapists for the house, 1 dietitian, 1 nurse (though there was a daily period of a few hours when there was no nurse on duty), and a maximum of 2 “counselors” (severely untrained care techs).

-What sort of therapies are used? (DBT, CBT, EMDR) etc?

No therapist was trained in EMDR, so they’d sometimes refer patients to a specialist. They did this with a patient that had the most severe case of OCD I’ve ever seen, promising her an OCD specialist that would come to the facility 2x/week to help. When I left, that patient had been there almost 3 months, and had only seen the promised OCD specialist twice. The pride and joy of administration at Eden was the program director’s twice-weekly psychodrama sessions. These were helpful in a lot of ways, and I really appreciated it when these groups worked out, but they often got extremely triggering, and there was little to no cool-down time or processing, and they were always scheduled before lunch or snack. You can imagine how awful that combo is. With my individual therapist, I had quite a few sand tray sessions, which were very helpful. I have my own beef with her, as she was often very aggressive and dismissive in her approach to group therapy, and most patients genuinely feared her. She meant well, but would often challenge residents unnecessarily and fail to explain why. At one point, the second house therapist was transferred to the adolescent building, and we didn’t get a replacement for a few weeks. Lots of patients were left with only one session, if any, with a therapist each week during this time.

Describe the average day:
-What were meals like?

Absolutely chaotic. Breakfasts were on a seven-day rotation, things like cereal, bagels, oatmeal (don’t get me started on the oatmeal). Lunch and dinner were prepared in a Kosher catering kitchen offsite, and the diet techs would pick it up in insulated bags before each meal. They’d then portion out the food according to individual meal plans and microwave them before serving. The kitchen was open-access, which is a big point of pride for administration. It was nice to feel like the house was normal (it really was a house, in a residential neighborhood), but there was very little supervision. The kitchen was supposedly “off-limits,” but nobody would really do anything if you were in there unless they were actively preparing meals. More than once, I walked into the kitchen while the food was unsupervised and threw away parts or all of my meals or snacks. Nobody noticed or cared. There was no structure to meal sizes, and it was impossible to form any sort of plan based on portion amounts or regularity. Before and after each meal, we’d do our “pre-” and “post-” check-ins, where we’d state our hunger/fullness levels 1-10, emotion, and whether or not we needed/received support. There was no follow-up on any of these check-ins from staff. Often we were left helping each other, as patients, while the one staff member did what she could. The understaffing was ridiculous, and the few staff they did have had no idea what they were doing. One day, I was struggling with a meal and scraping the spread off my bagel, and the staff member loudly pointed it out and said “I’ll just give you less that time.” I never had a normal amount of spread again after that, and I haven’t been able to do it myself, either. I gained fear foods at Eden.

-What sorts of food were available or served?

They did well with food availability and variation, which I liked. Some examples of meals included potato and rice stew; chicken fingers with potato pastries; grilled salmon with asparagus and rice; Greek salad with quinoa, a bread roll, and a bowl of zucchini soup; tuna salad wraps/sandwiches with potato chips and fruit; grilled cheese with tomato/zucchini soup; a burrito stuffed with rice, beans, vegetables with a side of salad and chips; and chicken breast with rice and zucchini. As a Kosher kitchen, the proteins were almost exclusively chicken and fish. Sometimes we’d have beef or beans, but it was mostly the first two. We ate tons of rice, and the servings always felt extremely excessive. I always left meals very full and uncomfortable, and I had to beg the nurse for Miralax or something to help me with bowel movements, as I could barely move after not going in over a week when I first got there. Then, I only received one small dose per day, and had to continue to beg them to let me continue taking it.

For snacks, they provide daily lists that patients choose from the night before. These included things like celery with hummus, popsicles, pretzels with nutella, toast with honey, sweet potato chips, roasted edamame, yogurt with nuts and fruit, ice cream bars, or bananas with almond butter. Per day, patients were allowed to choose two of the same snack, and there was little to no encouragement to step away from safe snacks. The entire three months I was there, I ate celery with hummus twice a day, and never ate fear foods. The dietitian knew this, but she didn’t do anything to help me challenge this.

Breakfasts were similar to snacks. They were on a weekly rotation, and you could write-in preferences: you could choose between the cereals and oatmeal packets available, the flavor of bagel and spread, etc.

Every meal would include a caloric beverage (milk or juice), no matter what. Breakfast was served with both. Though I see the idea behind normalizing drinking calories, there was no process for working through the challenge, and I haven’t had a caloric beverage since I discharged last year. Patients were allowed to choose the juice or milk option (apple, cranberry, grape, orange, and dairy, oat, or soy), and any of these could be put on an “exclusions” list. They claimed this was for preferences, like if a person really didn’t like a certain food, but people with eating disorders will take any excuse to refuse certain food groups. People could put up to 5 things on their exclusions list, including whole groups like pasta, potatoes, rice, etc. In addition to exclusions, if a particular meal was hard or uninteresting, patients could sub for a sandwich meal instead, with 2 sides of their choice.

On Fridays, we had cooking class. One patient each week was allowed to bring in a recipe that followed Kosher guidelines (no pork, no mixing dairy with meat, etc.), and we’d all cook together with the dietitian or dietary aids. Sometimes we’d make breakfast foods, like scones or overnight oats, and sometimes desserts, like cupcakes or donuts. There was no requirement to eat the food made during cooking class, but they’d save the leftovers for a few days if patients wanted to write them in for breakfast/snack.

-Did they supplement? How did that system work?

Rarely. Meals only needed to be 75% finished, and patients could remove breading/oil/crumbs from their food with no punishment. If a meal was 50% finished, patients would (maybe) get half of a supplement, and less than that was a full supplement. The calories didn’t match up at all, and the patients who regularly supplemented were visibly losing weight. There was no intubation, and no restrictions in privileges when meals were refused or restricted.

-What is the policy of not complying with meals?

See above.

-Are you able to be a vegetarian?

Yes. I followed a moral vegan diet, and they were very helpful with acknowledging and respecting that. The meals I received were adequate and balanced, though I had to take initiative into my own hands more often than not to get balanced snacks.

-What privileges are allowed?

Privileges are largely unchecked. Both the front and back doors of the house were unlocked at all times, and patients could spend as much time outside as they wanted. There was a camera out back, and pointing at the front porch, but they didn’t seem to check the footage ever. Patients would often go outside and do jumping-jacks or other exercises without consequences. The back fences were also very low, and it would’ve been really easy to AWOL. One time, since they refused to send out my mail, I even climbed the back fence and ran to the mailbox down the street to send a letter, then returned over the fence without anyone seeing or knowing I had left. Another patient I knew had left and been walking away for 30-45 minutes before anyone noticed she was gone.

As far as other privileges, we’d get our phones for 30 minutes in the morning and 4 hours in the evening, then all day Sundays. FaceTime or phone calls were allowed any time. We could wear things like belts, bracelets, necklaces, earrings, drawstrings. We could shave with real (not electric) razors in the showers without supervision. Showers were available mornings and nights. There were designated “smoke break” times, but no one ever followed the schedule, and staff didn’t care. Patients could leave to the back patio with a box of cigarettes and a lighter any time, as they could keep those items on their person. Rules were constantly changing. One day we could have bags on the unit with journals and books, the next we had to keep them in our rooms. One day we could hold the stuffed animals we’d got on an outing, the next day they had to be stored in the staff office until discharge. Things went missing all the time, including packages ordered online. Staff would confiscate items unannounced and put them in the office where they would be lost to the void. Missing items included toothpaste, curling irons (we could use heating products any time), water bottles, yoga mats, stuffed animals, personal journals, clothes, you name it. There was no computer available, but you could be on your laptop during electronics time.

-Does it work on a level system?

They claimed so, but there were very few incentives for moving up. The only thing I can think of is that, at a certain level, you could prepare your own snacks in the kitchen.

-How do you earn privileges?

There’s no system for this.

-What sort of groups do they have?

There was little to no structure to groups. The best ones available were when they brought in a specialist from outside the facility, which were yoga and hypnotherapy. For some reason, there was also an acting class, where a professional living in LA would FaceTime the house every week to read through scripts. The day staff would lead groups sometimes, like “life skills,” but they’d often be underprepared and clueless. A few of these groups I remember included making “self-soothe” glitter toys in ziploc bags, and asking the vegan residents why they cut animal products out of their diets. Wild. Sometimes we’d go to equine therapy outside the facility, but for a “weekly” scheduled group, I didn’t even get to go 5 times during my 3 months there. Other groups included open process, psychodrama, and a dietary group that was always the same. There was no curriculum or structure followed for things like DBT/CBT/ACT skills, 12-steps, or relapse prevention. As a Jewish facility, they follow observations of Shabbos and other Holidays. The restrictions on these days included electronics access, physical exertion, use of microwaves or ovens, and drawing or writing. That meant that groups which required presentations or videos were impossible, and we couldn’t do art or writing assignments either. I was there during the High Holidays, which was a string of almost a week’s worth of Holiday days over the course of a month. Treatment these days was extremely limited, and we were bored more often than not. I appreciated the observance of Judaism, especially for the Jewish residents, but they did very little to compensate for the restrictions on these days.

-What was your favorite group?

I really enjoyed hypnotherapy, as the specialist they brought in showed a lot of genuine care and respect for us. However, it was a common occurrence for patients to skip group and sit on their phones in the other room. On more than one occasion, I was one of two patients, if not by myself, in the group.

I also liked psychodrama, but there was a severe lack of processing before or after the intensity of the group. Many patients would be visibly panicking and crying, and we’d just be escorted into the dining room for a meal.

For the most part, the groups entire facility was incredibly lacking in structure or organization

-What did you like the most?

Trauma bonding with other patients over the inhumane lack of care for us was nice. I made some really close friends as we helped each other through flashbacks, self-harm, night-terrors, seizures, and panic attacks while staff were busy. It was also fun when we’d schedule free-activity time on the weekends to clean our rooms and bathrooms, as the janitorial staff seemed to forget they existed. We’d turn on music and get out all the chemicals and cleaners, and party it up as we bleached the showers and floors, swept under our beds, dusted, mopped, and scrubbed everything so we could use the bathroom without stepping on clumps of wet hair and toenails.

-What did you like the least?

I felt completely ignored and unacknowledged for the vast majority of my stay at Eden. Day staff had no understanding of talking patients through urges or struggles. One of my friends had severe OCD, and another had a seizure disorder, and they were never referred to other levels of care. One of these friends also suffered from pica, and would often be found locked in a closet pouring body wash, dish-soap, or aerosol cleaners into her mouth. I was never encouraged to challenge fear foods or rituals. The actual occurrences of outings were hit-or-miss, and extremely disorganized when we did get the chance to go. Things went missing or got stolen. There was no monitoring of bathrooms (I remember one counselor refused to look in the toilet before letting us flush because she told us it was gross, so you can imagine what people got away with there). The supplementing system was unenforced, and patients regularly lost weight while on weight restoration. Administration at Eden left every single patient in the dust–one time, my friend was having a severe flashback, trembling and sobbing, and the nurse left her alone on the couch until she came out of it. The best part is that, though they were obviously understaffed and completely clueless, Eden administration did their best to make sure every bed was filled as soon as it was emptied. They cared about our money, not us.

-Would you recommend this program?

Absolutely not in a million years. You couldn’t pay me all the money in the world to recommend some poor, struggling soul to enter this deathtrap.

-What level of activity or exercise was allowed?

Once or twice daily walks with staff, pool time on weekends, unmonitored jumping-jacks/sit-ups/mountain climbers/push-ups/anything you could think of in the backyard, entire nights unsupervised with closed doors in the bedroom for any movement you want.

-What did people do on weekends?

Short outings on Sundays, lots of movies and extra electronics time. Saturdays are the Jewish Sabbath, so those days were mostly napping. No consistent groups on weekends.

-Do you get to know your weight?

No, but they weren’t very careful with showing or discussing numbers among staff in front of patients.

-How fast is the weight gain process?

Meal sizes were absurd for all patients, regardless of starting place or maintenance needs. There was no increase/decrease process, either. I’d say about 2-3 lbs/week.

-What was the average length of stay?

Probably 8 weeks, though I was there 3 months. Multiple patients I know of have had stays over 6 months.

-What was the average age range?

19-30.

-How do visits/phone calls work?

They are unmonitored. As long as you have a cell-phone (there is no landline available), you could make calls during any electronics time. I had visitors on RTC twice, with very different experiences both times. I got to spend 5+ hours in a private office with my parents three days in a row when the came for a visit, but I only got 2 hours supervised with my best friend one day a few weeks later. One patient, who was a local, got visits from her husband and service dog every evening. They were both unvaccinated for COVID, and there was a breakout in the house the week after I discharged from RTC.

-What is the electronics policy? (ex: cell phones, iPods, Kindle, laptop, tablets)

More detail above, but again: 30 mins in the morning, 4 hours in the evening. All day Sundays. Laptops and other small electronics were allowed during any of this time.

-Are you able to go out on passes?

Occasionally, the dietitian would take patients out on food passes, but it was more often that she’s just pick up takeout to eat at the house. I never saw patients get to leave the facility with family members of friends.

-What kind of aftercare do they provide? Do they help you set up an outpatient treatment team?

None. I didn’t leave with any sort of meal plan. I thought this might have been because I’d been in treatment before, and knew how to organize one, but another friend of mine who hadn’t been before was also discharged without any aftercare plan. On PHP, patients are provided with a new therapist/dietitian, but there is no followup after discharge.

-Are there any resources for people who come from out of state/country?

My parents and I worked our tails off to get an insurance plan that would cover Eden, as I live out of state and had other treatment centers within my current plan, and the admissions director was extremely helpful in reserving a bed and helping me feel that there was a place for me. That was the most active involvement I got from any staff at Eden, and I didn’t hear from that woman ever again..

-Other?

Please, please don’t go here. There have to be other options. This place is dangerous. There is unsupervised access to sharps, chemicals, and other potentially harmful items. There is unsupervised access to the back and front yards, and patients can and do leave at will. There is little communication between or from staff. There is no training. There is no consistency. There is no support. There is no reliability. There is no safety. If your life depends on Eden, go somewhere else.