This program treats only children and adolescents. Any current reviews? Please post in comments below. You can check out the FAQ and Guidelines for suggested questions. Thank you!
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Overlook Eating Disorder Program at Atlantic Health
- June 22, 2012
- Adolescent, Child/Adolescent Specialty, Children, New Jersey, USA Treatment Center
- 28
I attended around mid-2023, and from what I experienced, I would not recommend this program to anyone. While they did succeed in weight restoration, they were unable to support the psychological aspect.
As a patient, I constantly felt invalidated. Every time I expressed a concern, such as my stomach hurting or worrying about weight gain, I was told that that was “the eating disorder talking.” Rarely did my therapist have a response different from that, and my comments were brushed off. My voice was not heard in my own recovery. At times, I wondered if I was going crazy because none of the adults supposedly aiding me in recovery seemed to understand where I was coming from. Treatment providers often threatened patients with a higher level of care when any form of resistance was expressed, which fostered distrust in patients. I understand that an eating disorder is a complex mental illness to treat; still, proper support and motivation are a necessity.
This brings me to my next point: the therapists, psychologists, and doctors made little effort to build trust with patients. Conversations I had with my individual therapist were shared with my FBT therapist and eventually made their way back to my parents, even though I was promised privacy in my individual sessions. I remember one time I mentioned a boy I liked to my individual therapist, and my FBT therapist later shared it during a meeting with my parents as “proof” that I was readjusting to a “normal” adolescent lifestyle. This was not only unnecessary, but I was also mortified at the time. I often lied to be discharged from the program earlier, swallowing the excessive portions and promising to myself to relapse as soon as I was released. Many of the other patients shared the same mentality. It held true for me; when I was discharged, I shed most of the weight I had gained. Without trust between a patient and a provider, genuine recovery becomes unattainable.
Many restrictions were established; my parents were instructed to supervise me 24/7 to watch for exercise or purging, and at one point, my door was taken away. This strained my relationship with my parents; I still struggle with transparency when it comes to them.
It’s worth mentioning that before the program, and even when I was deep into my ED, I maintained good grades and stable friendships. During the program, from what I believe was due to the intense psychological pressure, my grades plummeted- affecting my GPA, which made the college application process difficult- and I lost contact with lifelong friends.
This program was extremely traumatic. Even 3 years later, I have panic attacks whenever I have to go to the doctor and I can’t fathom meeting with a therapist. Recently, I went to a dermatologist appointment and left in tears because the office reminded me too much of the doctor’s office from my time at Overlook.
I have been completely discharged for 2 years now, and I have been maintaining a healthy weight. Even now, I struggle with intuitive eating. Overlook did not support me in recovery, and I strongly suggest considering a different treatment center.
My daughter was in this PHP for about 6 weeks. I wish we had pulled her out sooner. The program is emotionally abusive and generates more fear and trauma around recovery. Their only motivation is proving that FBT is the only way to recover. In spite of all the “empowering” messages all over the walls, they make decisions based on their ego, not the patient’s needs. Go anywhere else.
I attended this program in late 2023, and although I do not think it was as terrible as some of the older comments, it wasn’t good either. they completely take away all control you have around food, and make your parents in charge, which really strained my relationship with them. they focus on physical recovery before mental recovery, which I can understand can be necessary if you are malnourished, but it is extremely traumatic and so hard. I was in the program for 7 weeks and thought most of the staff were good, but some were terrible and made me feel worse. the meals are huge which could be necessary for weight gain but we had no time to eat them. there were daily check ins where everyone lied. most groups were helpful, but I felt pressured to share everything, and nothing was confidential. everyone knew everything about each other. I think it was helpful in getting recovery started, but they just go about it wrong. if you show any resistance, they threaten higher level of care. I knew 3 people who got sent out. after I got discharged I spent 9 months in outpatient where I would fake weigh ins and lie to get discharged. my parents think it was a great program and while I think it did its job, it was extremely traumatic and I dont know how effective it was. I know most of the staff currently there so feel free to ask about specific people and the program, as I was there pretty recently
Hi! i’m currently a patient at this center and i feel that i’m getting worse not better. you are completely right about the food and relationship with parents, and i’ve been here for less than 2 weeks and my therapist has already talked to my family about sending me to a residential program. one person i’m really wondering about is danny*, we have him occasionally for a music group, and he accused me of having no motivation in front of all the other patients, and just me! is this a one off situation or has this happened before? i understand we are supposed to be open in group but for me, this is just embarrassing. thank you so much!
*admin note: EDTR has a no names policy, but i am making a temporary exception here for special circumstances. the question would be hard to answer without a name, so i’ll wait to redact it until after this lovely community member receives an answer (and hopefully validation from the community as well!)
hey! i want to start out by saying that i’m so sorry you’re experiencing this and you are not alone. i was a patient in july 2023 and unfortunately i also had a similar experience. i know the staff member you are talking about and i had both good and bad experiences with him. he was somewhat cold towards me when i first started, then he got nicer during my second and third week there. i don’t think he ever called anyone out in groups while i was there, i would definitely tell someone you trust (preferably your parents b/c the staff there always assumed we were lying to them) that this is happening. if you feel that you are getting worse it’s probably not the right program for you. i felt the same way while i was there. i was only there for three weeks; my treatment team started mentioning residential at the end of my first week, then decided i had to go at the end of my second week. i was really devastated but residential saved my life. although they claim that fbt is the only effective way to recover, their program is so incredibly flawed. the only thing it did was strain my relationship with my parents. your struggles are completely valid. pls feel free to reach out with an update or just if you need someone to talk to.
hi so sorry for the late reply i haven’t been checking this site much but i completely understand your concern with that staff member, i had a similar experience. he would be nice at times, but would also make me feel terrible and openly call me out for struggling in front of everyone. i don’t think he is properly educated on how to deal with eating disorders because he would openly mock me in groups and if i went into extended during meals with him he would ignore me until i finished. he also outright said he was trying to make me cry because i told him i hated crying in front of people. so sorry u dealt with this and hoping you are doing better now
I’m scared now. Do you know any specific Dr or therapist would recommend in this program? Ladies in front desk look nice but so far some of staff include drs/ nurse practitioners look no have compassion for sensitive patients
the front desk ladies are so sweet, my favorites were the nurses, k and a but idk if they still work there. my individual therapist was r and she was great, but my fbt therapist was m and i hated her so much. she was so blatantly mean to me in sessions and did not help at all. one of the therapists, z, was so sweet and although i didn’t have him personally he was in groups a lot and helped so much.
Review of PHP (Partial Hospitalization Program)
I attended this program back in 2016 so this may be out dated, however, if it is anything like it was when I was there, I would recommend avoiding it at all costs. While I can appreciate that the program did help with weight restoration (eventually), the psychological tole it took on me was rather devastating. I was in the php program for roughly eight weeks, which were quite possibly the worst eight weeks of my entire life. The food was pretty gross, which was expected given it was hospital food, but the portions and restrictions around meal times were insane. You had 15 minutes for snack and 35 minutes for meals, which would have been fine if the portions weren’t so large. For instance, I remember having three hot dogs, two bowls of fries, a bowl of chips, two brownies, ice cream, and 16oz of cranberry juice for lunch one time. Now the food sucked, but just for reference, it was completely impossible to eat in such a short time frame without feeling ridiculously sick. Furthermore, they wouldn’t let you just chat at lunch, they’d force you to play games which made it really hard to eat super quickly as well. If you didn’t finish your meal within time, they’d take you to a separate room, you’d be threatened with higher care, and be shamed by the staff for the remainder of the day.
The staff were exceptionally cruel, all of them included. The staff who led groups and meals were mean and it was pretty common to be shamed in front of the group for eating too slow/too fast, not wanting to share in group, etc. They also would talk about fad diets and how disgusting the food we were forced to eat was in front of us during morning check ins. My therapist, B***, was genuinely neurotic. We would barely speak during sessions and we typically ended up sitting in silence. Additionally, she accused me of secretly exercising at nights in my room and made my parents install a camera in my room. When it showed I was very much not doing that, she claimed I had hacked the camera, which thankfully my parents did not believe. She also talked to my mom about higher levels of care numerous times which confused my mom as everyone else told her I was progressing well. Furthermore, she called my mom to say I’d be dismissed and then when the day came said I was a liar and so was my mom, so my mom actually ended up pulling me from the php program then. We had a similar situation with the outpatient services and my parents pulled me early as well due to the staff lying on numerous occasions.
Additionally, my doctor was cruel. I believe they made it a rule no one could just leave after I did and I think she resented me for it somewhat because the last time I saw her she told me I’d never fully recover and I’d be dead by 20, even though I was very close to weight restoration and a far better mental state than I had been in program, which sent me on a pretty horrible relapse. Thankfully my parents were outside the door and heard, but she refused to apologize to me about this. I was never dismissed from the program officially, but my mom told them I would not be returning.
On the plus side I met some amazing people in the program with me who have become life long friends, but as far as a program goes, I’d recommend just about anywhere else. My friends in inpatient before told me they wished they could go back over being at this program, mainly because of the staff.
Anyways, I am fully recovered now (jokes on my doctor), but this program did not help me. But if you are reading this, you’ve got this and sending love!
Ugh I’m sorry you had such a bad experience. Can you do a full review?
I went here for like 1 week but it was so bad.it was such a bad environment, the group I was in was always crying and just sad in general (they had been there for 4-9 weeks) when they did leave they went to higher care which left me and 3 other girls alone and scared. The girls could never finish in 35 minutes because of how large their portions were ([redacted***]) which was way too much since they were still in their refeeding stage. Was traumatic for me and even more for those girls who ended up in higher care. They did not respect my parents wishes of gluten free food either. they gave me icecream which I cannot have because of my dairy allergy. When we were not eating we were sitting down doing nothing . The nurses and therapists did nothing to help any of us.
***numbers/description of food redacted by admin to avoid triggering comparisons
I attended Atlantic health centre for eating disorders about 5 months ago and lemme tell you one thing…it was horrible. Staff was unhelpful and very triggering as well as the groups that always made some of the girls cry. Me not understanding these peoples proplems, always had to play therapist because the staff here didn’t know what they were doing. We were forced to sit in our chairs for hours without doing anything fun…a huge difference from the fun, school setting. They also assume what eating disorder you have. Because I have celiac disease and a love for sports, these idiots thought I had anorexia and forced me to be with other girls who ACTUALLY had that disease. The food there was absolutely gross like hospital food and we were forced to eat everything in 35 minutes no matter how much the portions were. We had no choice in what we ate since our parents chose our meals and there were hardly any allergy friendly options. Me, having celiac disease, would always feel sick and even had to go into a separate room after throwing up where they yelled at me and told me it was all my fault. The dieticians didn’t understand the fact that I WAS CELIAC even after my mother’s cries and pleads that I always felt sick. Not only where we never able to do the little things such as shopping or going to the zoo but choosing our own meals at home. My mom knew that I would’ve probably killed myself if she did that to me, so we would always do some fun things together like a normal child would. One time the dietician put cottage cheese in my omelet and then when I told my mom how disgusting it was she of course confronted this lady, and she said I would never and said I was lying.
I stayed at this horrible hell hole for about 7 weeks of complete torture when they sent me away to another eating disorder treatment center. That’s the only thing I’m grateful for because they knew that I was different from the other kids and would even make sure that I was properly hydrated and fed without any gluten. I felt so much safer and happier there ?. Sometimes they would even take me outside to play soccer with the nurses or go for runs once my weight was steadier. I will always remember the trauma from overlook but will always be thankful for them sending me to a more caring place.
I’m so sorry you had such a difficult experience. Do you mind sharing where you transferred to and the other differences in care?
I was sent to Penn medicine and from the time that I got there, the dietician knew that I was Celiac and would always make sure that there was zero traces of gluten. We were also allowed to walk around the building that we were in instead of sitting in chairs for hours on end. Groups were actually fun and we made crafts to put in our rooms. I even made really good friends with some of the nurses!
I hope that helps on why this place was much better. ?
If your parents were the ones choosing your foods and your mother emphasized with you having Celiacs, how on earth were you still served foods that trigger Celiac’s? That’s rather concerning!
I’ve never understood why programs are unwilling to complete food allergy medical testing either!
I hope you are recovering now after the transfer to the other program.
This Is probably extremely dated as I went there in 2011 but I feel so justified seeing that I was not alone in how traumatic that place was.
That place made me so much worse. They achieved their goal of physical weight restoration, but the mental scars they left I am STILL working through in therapy to this day. I STILL find myself anxious anytime I eat in a group setting because I expect to be insulted, and to have every action I take analyzed to the extreme. They gaslit me into thinking everything I did was a sign of mental illness.
My current therapist is helping me deal with the trauma from that place, to learn that sometimes my thoughts and feelings are just that – thoughts and feelings rather than a diagnosis or a behavior to be punished.
They push family based treatment, completely ignoring the high prevalence of dysfunctional families in adolescents with eating disorders.
Feeling physically ill after eating massive quantities of disgusting food was a “behavior” .” It wasn’t about nutrition so much as it was about stripping teenagers of basic human dignity. Anything to make them more comfortable was a “behavior.”
I was publicly called out multiple times for my “behaviors” such as being grossed out by a crunchy, dry orange, being in pain from having my braces tightened and not eating fast enough. Not eating my food the “right” way.
You’d think frequent, small meals would be better for weight gain however that is seen as a behavior. Only 3 massive nausea inducing meals are acceptable.
You were not allowed to express your discomfort. Positive affirmations were shoved down our throats like the disgusting food they made us eat.
Genuine food preferences were treated as eating disorder behavior.
I fell back into disordered patterns years later, but ignored them due to the fear of ever being in a place like that. It was not until I finally saw a therapist who I connected with, who listened to me and validated my own experiences and allowed me to talk about the trauma that I endured under the guise of “treatment” that I ever have been able to understand why I got an eating disorder in the first place. It never was about the food, but the facade of forced happiness in that dystopian summer camp that made me learn to hide my feelings for fear of consequences.
it has been immensely freeing to finally be listened to and allowed to talk about my experience. Places like that need to be shut down.
Does anybody have an updated review??
Does anybody has a recent review??
Does anyone have any updated reviews?
I’m wondering the same. Does anyone have an updated review?
I was a patient a year ago. I am fully recovered. But, to rephrase that, I am STILL a patient. This program really “cares” about your recovery. They care so much, that 5 months after being discharged and having a great state of mental health, they schedule appointments so they can spend 3 minutes to check vitals and weights and charge you more money. This is my second program. I was first in a mental institution, and as bad as that sounds, this was much worse. Sure, being in a mental institution with an eating disorder but in the same ward with Schizophrenic patients screaming they want to die is bad, but here in Overlook, it’s worse. If you have self confidence issues, it will be worse. The staff constantly belittles you. They will talk about patients to other patients, like school gossip. They will discuss your plans in front of everybody to hear. If you have any dietary issues, Ex: Lactose intolerance, Vegetarian, Vegan, etc. That will have to change. They will force food down your throat that you can not eat. My family does not drink milk, it was checked off on my diet plan, but they tried to force it. I ended up getting too aggresive and having to be moved and “restrained.” They lie to you saying “Well, we called your guardian and they said you do (eat/drink so and so) “which is completely false. If you say anything of your opinion, they will say that is ED talking, and will not let you say anything. God forbid you say you need more time to eat, they look at you like you just said you killed someone. a [number redacted] calorie meal is very hard to eat in 30 minutes, but they do not care. I understand this approach may work for some, but it does not work for most. The patients here are so depressed. Groups here are utter trash. No options, and you do check lists to monitor your mood, which does nothing. Everybody checks off that they are 100% so they don’t have to explain their personal shit in front of 10 other people. Anything you say in therapy is written down later, for EVERYBODY in the program to know about. Tell your therapist, and ironically the lady at the front desk will know too. Maybe even the yoga instructor. Yes, the Overlook hospital is a very nice place, just not this program: For this price, I would put my money and effort somewhere else. It will be a lot more beneficial.
I was a patient a year or two ago at this program, and although i am recovered now, it is one of the most dreary and depressing places possible. The food sucks, as it’s hospital food but if you have any good allergies, it sucks for you, get over it. If you didn’t like something, sucks for you, if you believe you got the wrongn tray, and i assure you it happened many many times, they would do nothing about it and argue with you. If you were vegetarian, book you no longer were, even if your whole family had always been. You had thirty minutes to finish meals, which would be fine, but if your having three hot dogs, almost a bag of fries, rice, mashed potatoes, half a cup of ice cream, and 20oz of milk, you feel sick to your stomach every day. The variety of food sucked and the majority of staff were cruel as well, often yelling, and almost force feeding. They also often made comments such as, “take bigger bites, don’t eat that together, your eating too fast, too slow,” in front of the other patients, making you feel embarrassed and ashamed. You also had to scrape and even lick your plate clean of crumbs, which i understand if there are huge chucks of food, but if there is only tiny crumbs that we’re there when you got the plate, that’s ridiculous.
Enough about the food, the staff? I was petrified to say anything wrong in front of them. At one point my therapist told me they were “thinking of new plans,” and of course i was scared i would be moved into higher care, although there was nothing i could do about it, as we were all basically under 24/7 watch. Not only did my therapist not mention this to my parents, she went on to tell my whole group what these plans were as well, at a group disscussion the day three new patients joined us. Then she later told my parents, whom were furious and were going to pull me, until they said they could not and that i would die if they did so. Although i was on an insanely high caloroific intake, i was only gaining about 1 1/2 pounds per week, where as they wanted too. They told my parents I was exercising in my room at night, I assure you i was not, or i was purging, another lie. By the time i had come to leave PhP it had been ten weeks, way past their “4 week program” length stay, and everyone i was with took atleast 6/7 weeks to get out. I stayed for IOP for three nights, and that was the end of it from my parents who pulled me due to a therpaist calling my mother, saying i would be released that day, then saying to her face the next day i could need to go back into PhP and had made no progress in my recovery what so ever. Lovely, right? The worst part was on that same day, right after i had been told i had made no progress although i was about five pounds from being weight restored and my mental state was doing so well, I felt like i had achieved nothing and was obviously pissed off. So some choiced words were said. We stayed for the iop meal and then left, my parents both fuming. I had a friend who was in program for a while after me, who told me the staff were talking shit about me behind my back, and told everyone they could no leave like i did. My mental state has been fine ever since i left that hell hole, and my recovery moved on much faster after. The only thing good about that place is that, I would never dream of relapsing as that place was so horrid and sent me into major depression.
I had a similar issue..hope your doing well love ❤️
I was there in 2013 and it was horrible. Things seem to have changed from the 2011 comments. My meal plan was ridiculously high and my parents practically forced 6000 calories down my throat because the dietician told them to give me as much food as possible. I wasn’t allowed to play hockey for over a year, even when I got healthy, and that led to me being even more severly depressed than I was before. They force your body to recover before your mind, I gained almost 4lbs a week. I was worse of when I came in mentality wise and hid food at every meal, faked weigh ins etc, they were completely unhelpful and their Family therapy had nothing to do with family, just taking away independece from the kids and not listening to them at all. it was the worst, thank god I did a different program.
I have been a patient with Overlook EDU twice in the past year and both times found the staff, doctors, and program to be very good. The doctors and staff to which patients are assigned are overall warm and well-educated, they definitely know what they are talking about and with that are able to handle each patient to their own needs. I always felt very supported and comfortable in groups and in my individual sessions (like with my therapist or doctor).
I also like the after treatment and think that is run very well. After stepping down from PHP to IOP my treatment team worked well with me to keep up with what I needed to in order to continue being stable and healthy. Following my time in the IOP program I was still able to see the same therapist, nutritionist, and pediatrician (I did not need to continue seeing the psychiatrist) on a weekly basis, and for that I am really grateful and happy about.
I would overall say the program is well run and the staff and doctors are really there for each of the patients to help them in their stages of recovery, to make sure they are supported for recovery.
2011 Reviews
When were you there:
May 2011 – October 2011
Describe the average day:
ok this is really confusing because there are different schedules. on mon, wed, fri, it goes from 8 am to 4 pm. on tuesdays and thursdays it goes from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
What were meals like?
listened to music, played games. the counselors didn’t eat with you so that was kinda awkward, they just stared. after meals you go around and say if you had any thoughts or rituals and how you’re feeling now.
What sorts of food were available or served?
hospital food. breakfast was a bunch of cereals (cheerios, raisin bran, etc) and pancakes/waffles (the frozen kind) with scrambled eggs, milks, yogurts, bacon, PB, butter, etc. lunch/dinner was like veggie cheeseburgers, lasagna, vegetable quiche, turkey and cheese sandwiches. for snacks it was ice cream, oreos, lorna doones, muffins, etc.
Did they supplement? How did that system work?
yes, if you don’t finish a meal you get supplemented (plus extra…so you’re better off just eating). but if you’re on a super high meal plan you can get supplements added (like one or two Ensures per day) instead of getting more food.
What privelages are allowed?
don’t really remember…not much, since it’s a day program. i think you could close the bathroom door on level 3.
Does it work on a level system?
yup, levels 1, 2, and 3.
What sort of groups do they have?
body image, DBT, check in, family group, relapse prevention, etc.
What was your favorite group?
i liked just general process group the best where we could talk about anything.
What did you like the most?
my THERAPIST! she was AMAZING. she’s still my outpatient therapist. also the bonds and friendships that i formed there.
What did you like the least?
the fact that they really don’t know what they’re doing. it’s a new program and people got away with a lot of shit there. hiding food, purging, etc. it’s kind of a madhouse, ED wise to be honest.
Would you recommend this program?
not really. i mean it was very hectic eating disorder wise. there’s so much to get away with it’s not really helpful. i think they need a couple more years of experience. and stricter rules. the staff there doesn’t seem to know what’s going on a lot.
What level of activity or exercise was allowed?
a LOT. when i first got there i was below 70% ideal body weight and they still let me do 1 hour of intense yoga each day….plus i got full exercising privledges back as soon as i hit my goal weight.
What did people do on weekends?
go home, it’s a day program.
Do you get to know your weight?
not while i was there but i think they changed it to now you can know if you want.
How fast is the weight gain process?
pretty slow, only 1 or 2 pounds per week.
What was the average length of stay?
i’d say about 1 or 2 months. pretty short term in PHP (partial hospitalization) and for about another 6 weeks in IOP (Intensive outpatient program)
What was the average age range?
adolescents only
What kind of aftercare do they provide? Do they help you set up an OP treatment team?
yup
How many IP beds? How many patients in PHP or IOP?
no IP beds (although you can be hospitalized in pediatrics). and 8 for PHP, 8 for IOP.
I’m leaving a residential treatment program and I need to have a dietician when I come home…I used to have S** as my dietician like two years ago but I didnt find her that helpful…is there another dietician in the EDU at overlook who I could ask to see? help please!!
This poster currently recommends a dietitian here. Please contact for the information since we have to stay away from exact names. Thanks!