Summit is now part of Eating Recovery Center of California.
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2011
I feel summit was wonderful. The staff are really dedicated and truely care about each person. They were very strict which is what I needed. I loved all group, especially process group. Being monitered the whole time I was there helped too. I had a very caring therapist, she helped me alot. I wish I still had her. I really loved being at summit. I feel my needs were met, and it was time for me to focus on recovery, and not have to stress out over work. The things I didnt like about summit is I think they pushed way too much food on us and didnt take peoples size into consideration. I didnt like being rushed through the program, its not taylored to each person. And I didnt like being so attached to the staff and care that when it was time to leave it was so hard for me. I felt understood and cared about and it was so hard to leave and let go. But summit helped me a ton. I dont regret going.
Day treatment:
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When were you there: 2005-2006, IOP and Day treatment
Describe the average day: IOP was 9 hours a week- it consisted of an hour or two of nutrition, about 5 hours of group, and 2-3 hours of individual therapy. Depending on what they felt your needs were, they would assign you to different groups and some people would have to do meals there.This was the rough day treatment schedule:
7:30am- vitals with the nurse
8-9am- breakfast (yes a full hour)
9-10:30- group
10:30-11- snack
11-12:30- group
12:30-1:30- lunch
1:30-2:30- individ therapy
2:30-3- evening planning
3pm- go homeWhat were meals like? Really basic- we’d go grocery shopping on Monday to buy foods for the week’s menu.. it was mostly sandwiches with the occasional frozen chicken bowl type of thing. Everyone had to sit in the kitchen until everyone was done eating.. which was ridiculous because you have an hour so that got old really fast. Also, the staff doesn’t really eat the same foods. A lot of them were on diets so they would pull out lean cuisines or salads and eat those as they fattened the patients up.
What sorts of food were available or served? see above
Did they supplement? How did that system work? You could supplement whatever you wanted for the most part. When I was there, there were a few girls who basically lived on Boost. They never ate their food and for some reason, that was ok. not like that’s eating disordered or anything..
What privelages are allowed? smoke breaks, cell phones.. you can’t go to the bathroom on your own.
Does it work on a level system? Not really
What sort of groups do they have? Process groups, art therapy, yoga, food and feelings, meal outings
What was your favorite group? process group
What did you like the most? when we would do morning snack at Starbucks
What did you like the least? The meal planning- it’s on exchanges but they didn’t have a set way of figuring out what an exchange consisted of. Some of the staff would go by calories, others would measure portions, some would eyeball portions, and some would decide based on the grams of carbs/fat/protein. It was very confusing and irritating because something that counted as 2 grain exchanges all week, would suddenly switch to one exchange on Friday because one of the bitchy staff members didn’t get laid the night before. Also, it bugged me that there were staff members that were clearly eating disordered.
Would you recommend this program? no
What level of activity or exercise was allowed? it depended on where you were at in your treatment but for the most part, exercise was allowed.
What did people do on weekends? the program was mon-fri
Do you get to know your weight? yes, you get weighed every morning.
How fast is the weight gain process? depends on what you’re at.
What was the average length of stay? i think people stayed in day treatment for about 6 weeks. I was in IOP for 14 weeks before my insurance kicked me out.
What was the average age range? mid- 20′s. They have a separate teen program.
What kind of aftercare do they provide? Do they help you set up an OP treatment team? They’ll give you a list of shrinks but that’s about it. They kicked me out of day treatment (thank god) and that list was all i got.
How many IP beds? How many patients in PHP or IOP? IOP is huge- like there’s prob about 50 people in it but on 3 different tracks. I think there were about 10-15 people in most groups. I think day treatment was limited to 10 people at the time but there were usually only about 6-7.
January- March 2012 and December-January 2015
I was there when it was both summit and about a year and a half after it was taken over by ERC. I told myself I would never return after my experience with Summit but this Winter my therapist completely without warning or previous discussion threatened to no longer see me if I didn’t admit( I later came to find out she had many personal and professional ties to ERC). She assured me it was very different and a PHP program following the ground breaking model of ERC. It makes me sick how since Sac has a very small ED community that they have been able to get every therapist to shill for them. Reading the reviews of ERC in Denver pretty much confirmed how it is a crappy program with genius marketing.
I completely agree with some of the previous commenters that it is appallingly disorganized. High turnover, staff never knows who is supposed to be leading what group and it is laughable that they are vigilant about inconsequential things but can’t keep track of their patients. I would often leave for lengthy periods throughout the day and go to Starbucks. My biggest problems with the program as a whole
1. You are treated like a child and a lot of the therapeutic staff is incredibly condescending. I am 27 years old and those of us(up to 50s ) are treated as if we are dumb and incredibly optionally stunted.
2. They ALWAYS assume you are engaging. It made me angry and hurt when those instances were rare. I always admitted it but I stopped doing that bc I didn’t see the point if they believed that in the first place
3. They are very anorexia oriented. Very little attention is given to bulimia or binge eating. I felt awful for the normal weight bulimics and patients with BED. They also moved anyone who was at a normal weight through very quickly. I saw how stigmatizing and unhelpful this was to them. We are sick regardless of weight.
4. The direct care staff is by and large great but a lot of the therapists are lazy and phone it is during groups. They also repeat every module on a three week loop. I do have to say my individual therapist was great.
5. If you have any personal problem with you treatment or simply are having a bad day, get used to the stock phrase of “that’s your eating disorder talking”
6. The medical staff: I could go on about this for a long time. One nurse is great …the other is a nightmare: rude, uncaring and accuses you everyday of ED behaviors. The doctor is the most uncaring and patronizing professional I have ever come across. I complained of intense abdominal pain every day and he told me it was anxiety or adjusting to refeeding. I ended up with a burst appendix a month after I ended the program. Not to mention he is the biggest creep ever and I filed a medical complaint. One of the dietitians is awful. She doesn’t spend much time with you and is very cold. She also wasn’t very knowledgable. I saw a few girls get sent to Denver bc they lost some weight due to a hyper metabolic refeeding state. There is another dietician, Jaimie, who is amazing and the best thing about the program. She left for a while but I heard she was coming back in February.
7. There is a lot of repeat patients. Of course that may be true for any program due to the nature of the illness.
8. You have a bad day or a tiny slip up and they send you to Denver. They threaten it constantly and I have come to think that is their MO.
9. Their intake and insurance department completely misrepresented the program. I am still fuming that both times they contacted my outpatient team right after meeting me without a release on my part. As a result, I was left with having to search for a new time for a whole after discharge. They come across as very caring during the intake but it is just a game and I have found out they tell everyone that they want to get you in tomorrow or they don’t know if they will be able to accept you.
The positives
1. The other patients – both times I found it to be a very supportive environment and never felt their was any competition
2. The MCs. They always made my day. They normalized meals and allowed for humor. They treated us like people and never made us feel like we were being babysat.
3. Jamie
4. It seemed like the adolescents adjusted well. We could hear them laugh and it seemed to make up for what they were missing by being out of school
5. This seemed like a program that was helpful to those who hadn’t had an ED for very long and had never been exposed to DBT, much therapy or knowledge about their eating disorder. I don’t think it is good for those with a long history, education around their ED or need some more depth to their treatment.
thanks for the great and objective review, i really appreciate it! blessings on your journey.
No longer Summit — changed hands to Eating Recovery Center (ERC) of California over a year ago. The executive director recently left (within the past month or so). Can’t do a review as I was never a patient there; live in area. Lots of other turnover, including dieticians? Maybe that is where the review about it being unorganized comes from.
WOW, I am surprised to hear that, I think Summit is the best treatment center i have ever been in. When I was there in 2010, I loved it there. The therapists were very loving and caring. i tried to get away with stuff, but they were on my ass. I use to cut with paper clips, and they found out, and some how always knew when I had a paper clip on me, even if it were in my pockets. i think them being strict is what I needed, they even founf me when I hid cuz i didnt wanna eat, was still full from previous meals. When I was there there was two parts of the building that were used, section A and section B. Section A had all the group rooms, offices of some therapist and jenifer and lisa P. The main office was there too, part B had the kitchen, the art area, therapist offices, dr office, weigh in room and one group room and a den. So I thought A would think I was with B and B would think I was with A, and I could get away with hiding, but they caught me. My therapist was like a loving mother, and she new me so well, couldnt hide anything from her. best therapist I have ever had. But i can agree that they always assume you are trying to engage when your having another issue. i would get so much anxiety over all the food we had to eat that a lot of times I wouldd throw up in the kitchen, and they thought I was doing it on purpose, it was my anxiety over food, they isolated ne every time and once forgot about me inthe den, so thats why I hid. they forgot to give me lunch. The MA got really mad at mefor throwing up in the kitchen. made me clean it up. Just laid on the couch and covered my face with a pillow for an hour. I think though, its n ot their fault that they have to rush us through treatment, its the stupid insurance companies who dont understand that treatment takes time, so yeah we are rushed, and they dont take size into consideration, I am 4 11, very petite, and small, and Ihad to eat as muich as everyone else. But thats all I didnt like, their 100% monitoring is what I needed. i feel they were very dedicated to my recovery, and I felt cared about and taken care of. Sorry you had such a bad time, maybe its changed since I have been there.
I have attended eating recovery center of california, formerly summit outreach program, for some time now. Having been to many programs across the country, I have experienced my fair share of treatment ups and downs. I am a believer that while one program may not work for one it may save the life of another, which is why I feel the need speak out against this program in particular. Overall, this program is the most unorganized of professionals I have ever encountered. The miscommunications run rampant, preventing continuity of care. Admissions staff misrepresents the program very much, claiming it is something that it’s not. Therapists by and large are incredibly condescending. Medical staff is lazy and would rather choose to believe you are engaging in disordered behaviors behind their back than look into real medical issues. Their philosophy on food is whack. They believe the eating disorder is on one side of the spectrum, and they believe if they consistently challenge you and serve unhealthy meals on the other side of the spectrum that when you leave their program you will land somewhere in the middle. Their claim to individualized treatment is a farce. I would not recommend this program to my worst enemy.