Sunol Hills is a residential eating disorder and mental health treatment center in California. It offers eating disorder treatment for adolescents (ages 11-17) and adults (ages 18+) at two locations in California. Sunol Hills also offers mental health crisis treatment for adolescents (ages 11-17) at a third location in California. Current locations are:
- Lafayette, CA (Sunol Hills at Oakview): Residential eating disorder treatment for adolescents ages 11-17
- Sunol, CA (Sunol Hills at Ridgeview): Residential eating disorder treatment for adults (*Note: this is the newest location and is a different house than the one shown in the photos on their website)
- Fremont, CA (Sunol Hills at Fremont): Crisis Residential Treatment for adolescents ages 11-17 with behavioral health conditions (*Note: this location is not an eating disorder treatment program)
Any reviews or updates? Please post in comments below. You can check out the FAQ and Guidelines for suggested questions. Thank you!
Went here from March 2025 – April 2025 at their Lafayette location. I was only there 2 weeks. All the staff are really nice, specially the therapists (***, ***, ***). There was 4 rooms with one bed, and 1 room with 2 beds, so there would be 6 kids at the residential. Everyone got along pretty well, and made friends pretty quickly. The food was actually really good, the chef, ***, was so good! At meal times, we usually sat there quietly. For supplements, we could choose either an Ensure or a Clif bar. We had 30 minutes to finish meals, and 15 minutes to finish snacks. We got to fill out our sheets at night and choose our own snacks for the next day. The snack options were great. We went on outings on Wednesday, and got take-out on Thursday/Friday. Nobody ever complained that they didn’t like the chef’s food, and we all agreed on one place to go on outings in, so we would all be comfortable. Group therapy was ok, but therapists are really nice and supportive. Sometimes we would go outside for group if the weather was nice. For free time, we could work on diamond art, or paint, play games etc. or just watch TV. It was really chill. At night, we went to bed at 9 PM and got up around 6:30 AM to get weighed with only a gown on. We couldn’t go back to our rooms so if we wanted to sleep we would have to take naps on the sofa. For going to the bathroom, u had the leave the sliding door a bit opened, and can’t flush until a staff member checks. Breakfast was at 8 am, am snack was at 10 am, lunch was at 12:30 pm, pm snack was at 3:30, dinner was at 5:30 and bedtime snack was at 8:15. However, I didn’t stay in the program for the usual stay (6 weeks), since the doctors somehow didn’t think I was struggling with an ED when I was. They sent me to a psych unit after a 5150 hold I got put on while in there, and when I was in the psych unit, I found out Sunol Hills said i was ready to discharge. I discharged, but we had no discharge paperwork OR plan. When we tried reaching out to them, they refused to even give us a note for missed school days, and didn’t help with any of the discharge paperwork or plan after we called after i got discharged. We still have no answers from them regarding the discharge paperwork or any notes or documents they had, including blood test results or any of health related stuff. The dietician, V****, was nice but is the one who told all the doctors I didn’t have an ED when my PCP and my parents told her i clearly was struggling with one (I wasn’t the only kid that V**** had said that about). Because of that, I got discharged early because “I didn’t need any help”. I still have no outpatient help with EDs, but life keeps going.
I have a decision to make about admitting to the adult residential program and need to make it soon. Wondering if anyone has updated information/review. Thank you!!!
Experience from July 2025 Sunol Hills Ridgeview Adult location
Staff were hardly trained in eating disorder support and blatantly lacking in both academic training and experience in treating clients with trauma disorders or any acute form of psychiatric distress. The therapist openly admitted to not even having a “working knowledge of Borderline Personality Disorder” which seems like ED care 101 to me.
The facility had a single therapist who was an AMFT. The person in charge of psych meds was a psychiatric nurse practitioner. I don’t know why they didn’t staff a psychiatrist or experienced therapist for a residential center. They also did not have a nurse present 24/7.
I’ve never seen a facility set up this way. It blows my mind.
The therapy and groups were very rigid and exclusively focused on CBT with occasional DBT printouts.
I didn’t see a single trauma group or discussion about how trauma can relate to eating disorders.
My experience here was a stark contrast to every other ED residential I’ve been to. My outpatient treatment team was appalled by the “treatment” provided here, and even they have never dealt with a residential as obtuse as this one.
I’ve heard better things about the adolescent house, and I did see a therapist that was stationed at the other house that seemed to be reasonable.
Frankly, I’m baffled that they are able to run like this.
Dietician was great though.
Recent reviews of the adult center?
Is there any reviews for the adult location that are recent ?
does anyone have any recent reviews on sunol hills, lafayette location?? i’ll be going there soon but haven’t heard any recent reviews. anything is appreciated.
Has anyone attended the Sunol Hills residential treatment in Lafayette? I’m considering options for my 17-year-old trans son, high-functioning on the autism specter. Thank you!
I would not recommend having your child receive treatment here. Their therapists are barely able to provide quality care for “standard” ED patients let alone care for someone on the spectrum and being trans. Back when I was there, a majority of their therapists were new to EDs. The staff is also very very VERY young and do not recieve proper ED training and lack ED awareness. The mental health workers and nurses are NOT equipped AT ALL to be providing quality care to any clients on the spectrum. They allow the kids/clients to walk all over them with some staff even trying to be friends with the clients which in turn means they aren’t providing quality care as the professional boundary is now lost. There have been times when there has not been any nursing staff and medications are pre portioned & they ask the UNLICENSED mental health workers to just hand the cups of meds to the clients. How they have not been shut down by state is beyond me.
Review of Sunol Hills Ridgeview (adult facility) and Sunol Hills Oakview (adolescent facility) by Anonymous
*originally posted as reply on client general forum —> 2023/10/18 at 4:40 pm
Hi! I have been to both Sunol Hills Ridgeview (adult facility) and the Sunol Hills Oakview (adolescent facility). I have mixed feelings about Oakview. When I went, I noticed that some of the staff weren’t well trained. There were some staff members who you could tell really cared but then there were some that you can tell obviously didn’t. There were a lot of ED related behaviors that patients did that passed over the staff’s heads. At Oakview, there were shared rooms and personal rooms. They also accepted patients with NG tubes. Oakview did not allow phone time but they did have a specified time for school time. The dietician and lead nurse were so incredibly understanding and personable. I personally did really benefit from Ridgeview. We went on many outings including exposure therapy outings. If you were 21 or older and smoked/vaped, you were able to do so during specific times depending on how you were doing with your meal plan. You were allowed electronics such as your phone or computer at the end of the night. Ridgeview also had shared and personal rooms. I really enjoyed the therapists and the dietician at Ridgeview as they were extremely caring and kind. The food at both residential facilities were pretty good and the chefs that made the food were so wonderful. At Ridgeview, you were allowed coffee/tea once you finished your breakfast. You were also given some freedom when choosing meals and snacks. You were allowed to have 3 different dislikes at both facilities. For example, if one of your dislikes that you chose was tomatoes, then would not have to eat the tomato on your burger. I hope this helped!
What is the policy for bathrooms, electronics and *** supplement
June 2022 Review of Sunol Hills adult facility by Nat
*originally posted as reply on client general forum —> 07/26/2023 at 2:31 am
since I was there for two days I have only a limited review. This is from June of last year a few months after they opened so hopefully they have changed a lot but, the first few days no electronics but then they give you electronics for 1-2 hours a day. No coffee, no smoking or vaping, they have a thing called table rest (which is why I left) where if you don’t finish a meal or snack you sit at the table until you finish the supplement or you can’t leave from the table at all until you finish that supplement. So if you refuse a supplement you will sit at the meal or snack you will be there for hours. The food was ok not the best it was a new program like I said when I went so it was a huge complaint again it hopefully changed. But they would just be random things or left overs and one option for everyone staff was not very aware of Ed stuff or it wasn’t like the best food or like what I was use to at other Ed treatment places. Limited snack options but you could request things. The house was very old and it was in the middle of no where. They would do outtings a few times a week. I have a picture of the schedule too but will put it below, the schedule was
7am, wake up, vitals, getting ready
8:30-9 breakfast
9-10 group (expressive arts/or a process group or community meeting)
10:15-10:30 snack (monday is exposure snack)
10:30-11:15 (goals group, community group, cbt, relapse prevention, body image or mindful walk)
11:20-12 (nutrition group, core Ed, dbt, mindfulness or on sat/Sunday chores)
12:30-1 lunch
1-2 school/freetime
2-3 mindful walk, mindful yoga or sat/Sunday outting
3:15-3:30 snack
3:30-5:30 free time
5:30-6 dinner
6:15-7:30 free time/ visiting/ tech time
7:30-8pm psycho-Ed group/mindful drive(thursday) free time or self care group
8:15-8:30 pm snack
8:30-8:45 snack menus
8:45-9 reflection/check out group
9-9:40 peer group/mindfulness
9:40-10:15 bed
hopefully someone has a better review since I went a year ago but hope this gives you an idea. It’s a lot newer and when I went there was a lot of issues and there was a lot of conflict and clients trying to advocate to change the many issues because it was new so it possibly has gotten a lot better (hopefully).
….
The “private rooms” are why I went because of my ocd but there is only two private rooms the rest are shared. I would make sure you inquire first because I assumed that too but ended up in a double.
….
Originally it was an adolescent program but then they made it an adult program.
but they have 3 houses the houses in the pictures on the website is not the adult Sunol hills Ed house which is very misleading (pictures of the beds, milieu etc on the website Is pictures of their adolescent house in layfette. The adult Ed house and milieu doesn’t look anything like that for sunol hills which I assume why they use the layfette house pictures.) Their Ed house is in sunol hills and is very old and run down. I can only speak for their Ed adult house as of june2022. But In general the info is misleading. A lot of it is referencing the Ed adolescent layfette house.
They had a lot of issues being a new program when I went. It was very messy and there was no nurses on staff half the time and not Ed knowledgeable floor staff. But I’m hoping with a year since I’ve been there they improved
hi when you say table rest is it only for you dont finish supplements or does it count for anything else? and what supplement do you mean thanks
I have a couple questions about Sunol Hills. Does anyone have experience with getting state-funded insurance from another state to cover residential here? Secondly, is the adult location able to accommodate NG tubes, or is that just the adolescent location?
Has anyone heard anything about Sunol Hills residential in CA? Thanks!
I was there ! in the Sunol Hills one. I was there for only a day (not the best program) but could do my best to answer questions. It’s a lot newer I went there right when they opened so there was a lot of issues
There is not a lot of info on the web, so anything you can tell me would be great! The usual info in reviews would be great ie about the rules of the program, the food, the staff, what the day looks like, any privileges, the rooms, electronics, etc. why did you think it was not the best program? thanks again!
since I was there for two days I have only a limited review. This is from June of last year a few months after they opened so hopefully they have changed a lot but, the first few days no electronics but then they give you electronics for 1-2 hours a day. No coffee, no smoking or vaping, they have a thing called table rest (which is why I left) where if you don’t finish a meal or snack you sit at the table until you finish the supplement or you can’t leave from the table at all until you finish that supplement. So if you refuse a supplement you will sit at the meal or snack you will be there for hours. The
food was ok not the best it was a new program like I said when I went so it was a huge complaint again it hopefully changed. But they would just be random things or left overs and one option for everyone staff was not very aware of Ed stuff or it wasn’t like the best food or like what I was use to at other Ed treatment places. Limited snack options but you could request things. The house was very old and it was in the middle of no where. They would do outtings a few times a week. I have a picture of the schedule too but will put it below, the schedule was
7am, wake up, vitals, getting ready
8:30-9 breakfast
9-10 group (expressive arts/or a process group or community meeting)
10:15-10:30 snack (monday is exposure snack)
10:30-11:15 (goals group, community group, cbt, relapse prevention, body image or mindful walk)
11:20-12 (nutrition group, core Ed, dbt, mindfulness or on sat/Sunday chores)
12:30-1 lunch
1-2 school/freetime
2-3 mindful walk, mindful yoga or sat/Sunday outting
3:15-3:30 snack
3:30-5:30 free time
5:30-6 dinner
6:15-7:30 free time/ visiting/ tech time
7:30-8pm psycho-Ed group/mindful drive(thursday) free time or self care group
8:15-8:30 pm snack
8:30-8:45 snack menus
8:45-9 reflection/check out group
9-9:40 peer group/mindfulness
9:40-10:15 bed
hopefully someone has a better review since I went a year ago but hope this gives you an idea. It’s a lot newer and when I went there was a lot of issues and there was a lot of conflict and clients trying to advocate to change the many issues because it was new so it possibly has gotten a lot better (hopefully)
Thanks for the all the information! I think the selling point for me was really the private rooms because of past trauma. Hopefully others who have been there more recently might have a better experience. But I can definitely see why you left.
The “private rooms” are why I went because of my ocd but there is only two private rooms the rest are shared. I would make sure you inquire first because I assumed that too but ended up in a double.
Thank you Krissy for posting about this program! I hadn’t heard of it, so I’m creating a review page for Sunol Hills now. And thank you Nat for the info! According to their website the residential program is in a 6-bed house, but I can’t tell if adolescents and adults are together, or if they opened a second house for adults. Do you know?
So originally it was an adolescent program but then they made it a adult program.
but they have 3 houses the houses in the pictures on the website is not the adult Sunol hills Ed house which is very misleading (pictures of the beds, milieu etc on the website Is pictures of their adolescent house in layfette. The adult Ed house and milieu doesn’t look anything like that for sunol hills which I assume why they use the layfette house pictures.) Their Ed house is in sunol hills and is very old and run down. I can only speak for their Ed adult house as of june2022. But In general the info is misleading. A lot of it is referencing the Ed adolescent layfette house.
They had a lot of issues being a new program when I went. It was very messy and there was no nurses on staff half the time and not Ed knowledgeable floor staff. But I’m hoping with a year since I’ve been there they improved
Thank you thank you Nat!
Krissy/Nat, I finally finished making the review page for Sunol Hills (https://edtreatmentreview.com/sunol-hills-california/), so I am moving this thread there so everyone can see this excellent info.
Hey all! Just wanted to let you all know that I used to work at Sunol Hills and would NOT recommend either Oakview or Ridgeview for any patients looking to recover. The staff are all young and untrained. Pro tip: read job reviews when you are looking to go somewhere or refer a loved one. What the staff has to say, says a lot about what goes on behind closed doors and how it translates to care. Good luck!
Cosigning on what this person above said.
hi when you say table rest is it only for you dont finish supplements or does it count for anything else? and what supplement do you mean thanks
I’d also be interested in a recent review
Hi! I have been to both Sunol Hills Ridgeview (adult facility) and the Sunol Hills Oakview (adolescent facility). I have mixed feelings about Oakview. When I went, I noticed that some of the staff weren’t well trained. There were some staff members who you could tell really cared but then there were some that you can tell obviously didn’t. There were a lot of ED related behaviors that patients did that passed over the staff’s heads. At Oakview, there were shared rooms and personal rooms. They also accepted patients with NG tubes. Oakview did not allow phone time but they did have a specified time for school time. The dietician and lead nurse were so incredibly understanding and personable. I personally did really benefit from Ridgeview. We went on many outings including exposure therapy outings. If you were 21 or older and smoked/vaped, you were able to do so during specific times depending on how you were doing with your meal plan. You were allowed electronics such as your phone or computer at the end of the night. Ridgeview also had shared and personal rooms. I really enjoyed the therapists and the dietician at Ridgeview as they were extremely caring and kind. The food at both residential facilities were pretty good and the chefs that made the food were so wonderful. At Ridgeview, you were allowed coffee/tea once you finished your breakfast. You were also given some freedom when choosing meals and snacks. You were allowed to have 3 different dislikes at both facilities. For example, if one of your dislikes that you chose was tomatoes, then would not have to eat the tomato on your burger. I hope this helped!