Prosperity Eating Disorders and Wellness is an intensive outpatient and partial hospitalization program in Virginia. It uses a large number of different therapies and treats a wide variety of disorders. Any reviews or information? Please post in comments below. You can check out the FAQ and Guidelines for suggested questions to answer in reviews. Thank you!
• When were you there?
Reston, VA, location, December 2024 to February 2025
• What level(s) of care did you do (e.g., inpatient, residential, PHP, IOP)?
Adult PHP
• If applicable: Is it wheelchair accessible?
No. The staff and program also are not accommodating to people who have disabilities that are not obvious.
• How many patients are there on average?
4-8 in adult programs when I was there
• What genders does it treat?
All
• If applicable: Do they support the gender identities of transgender and nonbinary people?
Yes, they are very supportive of this
• How often do you see a medical doctor, psychiatrist, psychologist (therapist), nutritionist, nurse, etc?
Psych NP: 1x week; Primary therapist: 2 60-min sessions per week; Primary dietician: 2 30-min sessions per week; no medical doctor on site, psych NP coordinates as needed; Family therapy with adult clients depending on their situation
• What is the staff-to-patient ratio?
1:4
• What sort of therapies are used (e.g., DBT, CBT, EMDR, ACT, exposure therapy, somatic experiencing, etc.)?
DBT, RO-DBT, ACT, exposure
• Describe the average day:
8-9:30: Arrival, vitals, breakfast
9:30-10:30: First group
10:30-11: 15-min break + a.m. snack
11-12: Treatment hour (individual sessions or free time to read, homework for students, etc.)
12-1:30: Lunch + 15-min break
1:30-2:30: Second group
2:30-3: 15-min break + p.m. snack, dismissal at 3 p.m.
• What were meals like?
30 min for meals, 15 min for snacks
2 meals, 2 snacks in PHP
They use the plate-by-plate approach, and meals are served plated. (Usually once a week they do a plate-your-own lunch, which is like a buffet.) There are no choices for meals except aside from three dislikes. Twice a week they have BYO lunch, which can be anything provided it fits in the meal plan. A tech or dietician will check it for meal plan compliance, and they will give options to supplement if anything is missing. We often played trivia or table games. The techs in general are great.
• What sorts of food were available or served?
Breakfast: Oatmeal, yogurt, fruit, eggs, egg sandwiches, cereal, sausage, milk, juice
Lunch: Sandwiches, burgers, casseroles, chicken nuggets, veggies, mac & cheese, pasta
Snacks: Cheese & crackers, PB & crackers, pretzels, fruit, milk, juice, pudding, hummus & pita chips, yogurt, granola bars, nuts
• Did they supplement? How did that system work?
Yes, with Ensure / Boost. The dietician / tech determined the amount based on completion amount. They left the room and returned with supplement. There is 10 min to complete after meals, 5 min after snacks. Clients may work on supplement throughout the day. It is not uncommon for people to finish breakfast / lunch supplement after p.m. snack.
• What is the policy of not complying with meals?
Many people continue to supplement until discharge. If clients are finishing supplement they will work with them. If someone consistently refuses or does not complete supplement, their team may discuss HLOC.
• Are you able to eat vegetarian? Vegan?
Vegetarian, yes. Vegan, no. Vegetarian meal plans rely heavily on meat substitutes (Morning Star Farms, Beyond Meat, etc.)
• What privileges are allowed?
Choosing snacks
• Does it work on a level system?
Not really. For adults, the levels primarily apply to bathroom observation, which is determined by the primary dietician depending on symptoms (some people have flush checks, counting at first; some never do)
• How do you earn privileges?
The only privilege is choosing snacks. The primary dietician determines when clients chose their snacks.
• What sort of groups do they have?
Diet culture, body image, RO DBT, cooking, movement, metaphors (this involves watching reality TV), relapse prevention, weekend review, music
• What was your favorite group?
Honestly, I did not find the groups particularly helpful. They rearranged the schedule when I was there and removed the one group I did find helpful.
• If applicable: Is the program trauma-informed?
Somewhat.
• What did you like the most?
Many of the other clients were lovely. Most of the support staff were great. This is one of the few remaining centers that is not owned by private equity, and so they can individualize treatment and keep programs small. They did seem to bring up issues related to social justice and trauma related to diet culture often. I appreciated this as someone with atypical anorexia.
• What did you like the least?
Many of the therapists were great but had limited experience. Overall, I think the program and curriculum lacked substance. The adult program was adapted from the adolescent program and is directed toward very young adults. In one group, a therapist read aloud from the RO-DBT manual for therapists. There is one group focused on watching reality TV and then discussing how the cast could have handled issues differently.
• Would you recommend this program?
If you need to be in treatment, I wouldn’t not recommend it. I do not have other recent treatment experiences for comparison. I do recommend thoroughly considering other treatment options.
• What level of activity or exercise was allowed?
The primary dietician determines this for each client. For movement group, clients must complete 100% of nutrition for that day to participate. Any outside activity or exercise the dietician’s discretion.
• Do you get to know your weight?
Unsure. I never asked.
• If applicable: How fast is the weight gain process? N/A
• What was the average length of stay?
I believe 6-8 weeks seemed average. They did not seem to push clients out before they were ready (unless insurance was an issue)
• What was the average age range?
For adults, mainly early to mid 20s with the occasional client in their 30s or 40s when I was there
• How do visits/phone calls work?
Clients can usually check their phones or make emergency calls during breaks between meals / snacks and groups. They will usually work with clients if there are pressing issues that require checking one’s phone (I had a vet issue, someone had a family issue, etc.)
• What is the electronics policy (e.g., cell phones, iPods, Kindles, laptops, tablets)?
Phones are discouraged outside of breaks. Kindles / iPads are fine for reading during breaks or treatment hour. Laptops were okay during treatment hour for students.
• For PHP/IOP: What support do they provide outside of programming hours?
They say to call 911 or go to the ER for emergencies outside program hours
• What kind of aftercare do they provide? Do they help you set up an outpatient treatment team?
PHP clients typically step down to IOP. They have some outpatient providers, but these services are limited. They recommend outside outpatient providers if needed.
I will likely be admitting to the adult PHP in Reston soon. I’m curious if there are any recent experiences?
I was in adult IOP over the summer. I was pleasantly surprised by the program and the therapists and dietitians. however, the clinical director left in August, and I’m not sure if they’ve replaced her yet (also, she was by far the best therapist there)
edited to add: just looked at the website and it looks like a lot of people have left since I was there. Idk how this will impact PHP (as in – are there enough therapists to run enough groups to occupy the entire day)? But also, they keep their programs really small, so maybe they’re making it work. FWIW, I know and like 2/4 current therapists (and one is just okay, not bad but not great, idk the last one) and I liked all 3 of the dietitians. One of them can come off kinda strict but actually knows her shit and does really care, one of them I don’t know as well but has generally good vibes, and one of them was my dietitian while I was there and is good, but could be a bit scatterbrained at times. But they were all good at meal support.
I just saw that Prosperity seems to be offering virtual IOP for college students in Virginia and Maryland? https://prosperityedwell.com/virtual-intensive-outpatient-eating-disorder-treatment/. Not a lot of info about it on the website but they also posted about it on their Instagram page. It seems like a great option for those in college who want to continue their studies while receiving treatment
Let me know if you have any questions!
does this location accept Medicaid in VA and or offer VIOP ?
As far as I’m aware they don’t accept any form of Medicare or Medicaid
what is a SCA? Im new to ALL of this
Single case agreement.
No
The Charlottesville location closed while I was working on my full review which I’m extremely sad about!! They opened a new location in Norfolk. If the other locations are anything like the Charlottesville one I would highly recommend them. Sometimes IOP was virtual due to COVID or snow and the locations were combined for that, and it seemed like the same sort of philosophy? I can try to answer questions but tbh it’s probably totally different at the other locations because I don’t believe many/any of the staff from Charlottesville moved. I might be of more help if people have questions about adult virtual IOP because I was probably in it for a good 3+ weeks cumulatively?
hi! i am likely admitting to their adolescent PHP program soon and was wondering what the philosophy and programming, etc was like when you were there? i know you did the adult virtual IOP but any information would be helpful since there aren’t a lot of reviews on them online!
I did Adult IOP at the Charlottesville location, but it wasn’t virtual. It was in person before COVID in 2017-2018. I can give you a review if you want, but I’m not sure how helpful it will be because it was in person, and in Charlottesville, and four years ago pre COVID
I’d be really curious/interested to hear about your experience in adult virtual iop! thanks in advance!
did you ever get any follow up on the virtual program?
I would love to hear more about the virtual PHP and how that worked!
As far as I know they do not have virtual PHP at this time
Yeah, from what I understand they stopped doing virtual now that covid is “over” which really really sucks because so few virtual treatment centers are licensed in Virginia. Since Veritas also closed their VA location, afaik for adults living outside NoVA, Richmond, or Norfolk it’s basically just Within which is only an option for those with really good insurance or who can afford extensive out of pocket costs, or Rock Recovery which isn’t an actual treatment center but an outpatient provider that offers some groups that are similar to one night of IOP (Rachel I would still like to potentially see a page for them if possible since there are so few options in this state). I really, really wish Prosperity would bring back their virtual IOP because although they don’t work with my current insurance, they work directly with a LOT more insurances than Within does. If anyone knows of treatment options for adults in VA outside of NoVA, Richmond, or Norfolk please let me know because although I don’t need a HLOC atm and hopefully never will again, it’s just depressing thinking about how few options there are here. Sorry for the kind of downer comment. I hope you can find something that works for you Lisa.
does ANY place have Virtual IOP ( I am in VA ) that takes medicaid ?
I unfortunately don’t know of anything, someone else may. The only treatment centers I know of that takes Medicaid for VA adults are Reflections at Dominion and SCA with some managed plans at Sheppard Pratt, but neither of them have any virtual options nor IOP. I thiiiiiink Veritas and Viamar do SCA with some Virginia medicaids for Res but Veritas no longer has a presence in VA and I think Viamar is either all in person now has virtual only in FL? Rock Recovery is not a full IOP but they have virtual options. They don’t take Medicaid (or any insurance except for providing a superbill to send in for reimbursement iirc?) but they offer very generous scholarships and seem to really care about making it affordable for people. If you can afford the scholarship rate they offer you (mine is a stretch but doable) it may be the closest thing to VIOP you can get on VA Medicaid unless someone is aware of something I am not, unfortunately. Their groups are very good just only one night per week.
And what is rock recovery ?
https://www.rockrecoveryed.org/
Ask on client general forum, more people who might know about options I don’t will see it there
I wonder if Renfrew’s virtual treatment program is an option! If they aren’t contracted with VA Medicaid, you may be able to get a Single Case Agreement. They also are a nonprofit, so you may be able to get financial assistance if you can connect with the right person there.
https://renfrewcenter.com/at-home/overview/
Looks like Monte Nido virtual PHP AND also a virtual IOP will be coming to VA soon! That might be another thing to look into. Monte Nidos often do Single Case agreements with Medicaid (a number of our community members have experience with that part!) — https://www.montenido.com/for-the-client/virtual-programming/
this is REALLY hard to lace anything that might help you from home like a virtual IOP ect – Im not sure what SCA is ? And how that works? I will look at Rock Recovery — do you also think Renfew
may help?
With some insurance, if there is no suitable treatment in state you can use your benefits in a nearby state. I’ve done this with MO Medicaid. It might be something to research or advocate for with your current insurance co.
Oops I thought I had made one for Rock Recovery! I even did a bunch of research into them a few months ago in order to do so. Thank you for the reminder! I will do so this week and reply with the link here once I do.
would love one for rock recovery thanks ! Just looking for some at home add ons to my treatment team and what they are doing for me-