On therapy: types of therapy and resources to find therapists

I feel it’s very important to do an overview of the different services reviewed on this site. So that all readers can be familiar with the terms used and exactly what is meant by the different treatments. Often people have misconceptions about things, or just have never even known about them. I’m hoping that these overviews will be helpful. As always, if you have anything to add, questions ETC do so in the comments thanks!
So What is therapy? ” Therapy, also called psychotherapy or counseling, is the process of meeting with a therapist to resolve problematic behaviors, beliefs, feelings, relationship issues, and/or somatic responses (sensations in the body). ” From goodtherapy.org
I love this deffinition! It so concisely describes why someone would see a therapist. Which from that list covers all areas of a person’s life.
Thankfully, going to therapy has lost some of its stigma over the years. For many years people considered seeing a therapist (or often at that time psychiatrists did therapy as well as meds,) as a sign of “being crazy” or weak. Or only for wealthy people who had nothing better to do than sit around and talk about their problems. Like that was some kind of luxury.
Now many people realize that speaking to an objective compassionate listener, can bring clarity to whatever issues they’re dealing with as well as help bring over all insight into the person’s life. It is very common for people without any form of mental illness to use therapy for personal growth.
Unfortunately, there are still misconceptions out there. Due to the media many still see therapy as laying on a couch in a darkish room while some balding guy says “how do you feel” for an hour. Or therapy is so poorly represented as comedy that people think it’s a total joke.
All that being said I’d like to explore the various types of therapy. Many assume that all therapy or counseling is the same and that you’ll get the same results from whoever you happen to see.So that if they’re not happy with their first experience, they assume that therapy just isn’t for them. Nothing can be further from the truth!
Seeking therapy is like seeking out any doctor or specialist. Therapists are specialists in helping people with emotions, beliefs, and various other issues as stated above. Each type of therapy works on particular components. The majority of therapist combine tools and processes from different catagories.
Below is a link from the good therapy site that lists every type of therapy you can imagine! I have a bs in counseling (not that this means anything LOL,) and I never heard of some of these!

http://www.goodtherapy.org/learn-about-therapy/types

This is an incredibly extensive list. You certainly don’t need to contact a therapist having studied these terms though I’m sure they’d be impressed! It’s more about geting a feel for the general concepts and that there are big differences in ways to work with a therapist.
Cognitive behavior therapy:
“Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a short-term, problem-focused form of behavioral treatment that helps people see the relationship between beliefs, thoughts, and feelings, and subsequent behavior patterns and actions. Through CBT, people learn that their perceptions directly influence their responses to specific situations. In other words, a person’s thought process informs his or her responses.”
You’ll see this listed a lot on insurance company websites, and other search sites for therapists. Not only is it a common form of therapy, but due to the short term nature (most often completed in ten sessions or less,) and with managed care only alloting for that amount of sessions, it fits into what is available on the insurance companies end. It’s often the first step for many people of understanding what on the surface sounds simple: That our feelings and thoughts influence each other, and that is a direct cause of what we end up doing.
It’s most often used to treat anxiety and depression, because both these envolve strong emotions, and thoughts about these emotions (usually hating them!) and that leads to unhealthy behaviors. Recently, there has been a greater focus on trauma informed CBT, used to help with traumatic events.

See link: http://www.goodtherapy.org/learn-about-therapy/types/trauma-focused-cognitive-behavioral-therapy
Person centered, or client centered therapy
http://www.goodtherapy.org/learn-about-therapy/types/person-centered

So this is basically I believe like the foundation of any good therapy relationship. The therapist believes that the client knows him or herself best, knows their own situation ETC and is therefore the expert in their own lives not the therapist. This goes against the misconception that therapists see themselves as somehow above the client. Perhaps some do, and I would be very careful about sticking with someone like that. It’s important when we’re faced with difficult situations to feel that we know what works for us, often in a crisis we feel totally out of control.
So this therapy is a conversation. The person talks about what’s going on the therapist listens, actively which means that during the conversation the therapist (hopefully in a subtle way) shows the client that they’re truly listening. Through sumarizing what’s being said, or more tellingly through their energetic presence, facial expression tone of voice, just the feeling that they’re geting it. Feeling deeply heard you can open up more and start problem solving.
Psychodynamic psychotherapy

http://www.goodtherapy.org/learn-about-therapy/types/psychodynamic
This form of therapy is about looking at your past and seeing how it affects what you’re going through right now. The therapist guides you to talk about your past relationships, most basic of which is how you grew up what family life was like. And then ties that into what’s happening for you now.
In addition, the relationship between you and the therapist is used as a model. So it’s not all intelectual around just discussing your past but thhey’re able to bring those issues into the moment by observing how you interact with them. And if you can learn along with them how to change those knee jerk responses then that will over time affect other relationships.

Expressive arts therapy (I went to Lesley university I love this therapy!)
http://www.goodtherapy.org/learn-about-therapy/types/expressive-arts-therapy
This is the process of using creative arts (art, music, dance, drama, writing) to explore whatever’s going on. It’s a way of bypassing your intelectual mind, which often gets in the way of experienceing emotions and having an outlet. Research has shown it’s very effective with many different populations. People mistakenly think that this kind of therapy is just play and only for kids. But anyone can benifit from using their creative side (right brain) to work with the left brain (intelectual problem solving side) to solve a problem!
Often many standard therapies won’t work with someone so overcome by anxiety, depresssion, trauma that they can’t even articulate what’s going on. The arts can literally open the door for true healing. I minored in this and could write several posts. If you have questions just ask!
So I’ve just covered the basics. Some of these are really obscure as I said and I don’t even know about them. If anyone wants to share any experiences on a type of therapy that’s not well known feel free in the comments!
Some more popular ones to look out for on the list are: EMDR (for processing of trauma,) dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), Body psychotherapy, mindfulness, holistic psychotherapy.
So you can see that the process of therapy covers a wide range of tools. And most therapists have a particular favorite or two that they lean towards, and then add others.
So finding a therapist. People say go to your doctor. I guess you could. In my experience they just hand you a piece of paper and have no idea about these people. Maybe they do and if so that’s great. I like being able to do my own research for myself or someone else. I am generally personally not comfortable with calling a place and being assigned a therapist based on a ten minute conversation and then not being able to find any information on them at all. Unfortunately if you have medicaid, or can’t afford to see someone in private practice often that’s the route you have to go down. Keep in mind just like you can change your doctor you have every right to say hey love ya but this isn’t working out LOL!
Another place to look is your insurance company. Most companies should have a directory to search. Except in IL for medicaid they say they don’t. You can search by gender and specialty and it will sometimes say type of therapy which is why it’s good to know at least the basic terms above.
The best sites are ones that provide extensive profiles. Good therapy is one of them.
http://www.goodtherapy.org/find-therapist.html
There’s also psychology today
https://therapists.psychologytoday.com/
Prices are really high. It seems the average cost per session is between $80-$150! I honestly don’t know how these rates came to be. Fortunately many therapists do realize that even the average working person still has to like pay the rent and feed their family and so does what’s called a sliding scale. It’s basically a pay range and they’ll decide what their bottom is. Sometimes it’s down to like $50.
You can get creative. There are a lot of colleges that offer free or very low cost $20 or under therapy with interns. If you do this just be careful about how they’re supervised. And the story with interns is you get one for about a year maybe two. And then you have to get another one. The good part about an intern is they’re just learning. They’re, hopefully, really excited to be doing this really wanting to help people really open todifferent ways of looking at things. The bad part about interns is they’re just learning! They haven’t even had a year of experience being on their own with their own practice, having dealt with a variety of people and concerns and having worked through difficult situations. They just don’t have that under their belt. I’ve also experienced interns through the fact that they’re in training be very much blown about by the wind of what their supervisor has to say. And have seen them make choices/ say things that I intuitively feel they aren’t comfortable with. But they’re doing it anyway.
So this has been a long enough post. I hope I’ve covered the basics. If people want further posts on this, because therapy is really an endless subject feel free to ask. If people want to submit therapy experiences awesome. This is a general mental health services blog so that would be great. A whole other layer of this is people who do have chronic mental illness seeking therapy, or less understood issues. Because that brings up a whole other set of tricky issues.
So comments? questions? go!

St. Michaels Psychiatric Unit Ireland

 

By C.

Name of facility/ agency/ person and location
St. Michaels acute psychiatric hospital, in cork city, ireland.
Helpful initial contact person if known
Phone country code if outside ireland, followed by 214271971, ask to be put through to st. Michaels ward.
? When were you there? year/s or month/s
I’ve been here many times since 2006
Disorders treated? (if a hospital/ facility has multiple programs for different disorders would love to hear different perspectives on each track!)
Treats all major psychiatric disorders, including depression, psychosis, substance abuse, alcoholism, bpd, etc.
How is program funded? (insurances accepted, financial assistance, medicare, Medicaid?)
the programme is run through the HSE, both private pay and people who have a medical card are accepted.
How many residents in the program at one time?
There are 50 people on the unit at any given time. Its mixed both women and men.
Length of stay?
Anywhere from a week to a couple of months depending on a persons situation.
Staff to resident ratio?
Not sure but there are always about 5 or 6 staff on at day time on each side there are two sides acute, and sub acute, and similarly at night there are two females on duty for each side acute and sub acute and 3 or 4 males divided between both sides.
Do you have your own room/ roomates?
Generally there are six beds to a room, but some rooms have four beds, or two beds.
General environment of the facility, cleanliness etc
its very clean, there are cleaners who come every day to clean the place. The environment is generally a good atmosphere, occasionally there are things happening on the ward, but this only happens if certain patients are admitted.
Food? Variety/ quality menu plans etc
The food is not great. There are no menus. You just have one choice to pick from although you can order a sandwich if you dont like the meal. There are 3 meals provided in a day, and also snack time for tea and fruit or crackers and cheese.
Groups/ types of treatment offered?
List/ describe groups/ treatment types if able.
There are many groups offered. These range from groups run by psychologists like mindfulness, wellness and recovery, to informal groups like the patient peer support group, and the community meeting held once a week. There are also art groups and social outtings held weekly.
How often do you see therapist, psychiatrist, medical doctor?
There is always a medical doctor on call. You see your psychiatrist at least 3 times a week. There is no individual therapy, but you do work one on one with a key nurse, they are meant to come in each day to check you are ok and discuss issues with you and most of the time they do this.
Is there a level system/ one to one, line of sight ETC?
There is one to one if a situation warrants it, we call it specialing. There is an observation ward for more severe cases, sometimes when people first get admitted they get placed in the observation ward. The acute side is reserved for more serious psychiatric cases, in sub acute there is more freedom to move around.
What priviliges do you have?
Activities recreational, outings/ passes?
the unit is not locked. people are allowed electronics, if people start to recover they are allowed to the shop in the hospital, or if they are smokers are allowed downstairs to smoke by the front door, this is up to each persons individual consultant psychiatrist though to make these decisions. Sometimes people are allowed out for the day with family, or out to get a coffee etc.
Helpfulness of staff? Availability, can give first names but not last names.
There are mostly always staff available. MOst of the staff are friendly and approachable. There are a few who are just moody and its obvious thy hate their job or are in it for all the wrong reasons.
What did you like most?
There was one night nurse Marie, she is my favourite nurse in the hospital. She went out of her way to do things for me, she was so caring and kind. She would take time to talk to you if you were crying or having a particularly bad night. She would bring me cups of tea food etc. She has been nursing for years and is a wonderful caring kind person. She makes the hospital a better place.
What did you like least?
I dont like it when the rooms have to be searched because certain patients go out and bring drugs or alcohol back in with them. Then we are all subjected to searches of our stuff. This does not happen too often though and I really think once they know a person has done this in the past they lean toward not letting them out again if they are admitted to the hospital a second time.
Is there a willingness to work with people with additional disabilities? (blind, deaf, autistic, sensory processing, physical ETC)
Yes, definitely. I’ve been in hospital with a deaf person, and I am blind, and I’ve known other blind people who’ve gone there. I’ve also known someone who was seriously obese and she was there and the staff were really helpful.
Would you recommend this program to others?
Yes. its a good short term option.
Treatment planning/ discharge/ aftercare?
on discharge you either get an appointment to see your own psychiatrist in the community, but more often people get the home based crisis team, this team calls to their house, sees them for a couple of weeks after discharge while they are still getting used to their home routine. After a couple of weeks usually 3, they get referred back to their own psychiatrist again.
Other comments?
Overall I would rate the hospital a 4 out of 5. Its a good short term option. some people have longer stays but this is rare. Most patients are in and out within a matter of weeks.

Sharon Healthcare woods SMHRF

Sharon Healthcare Woods [Google map]
3223 W. Richwoods Blvd.
Peoria, IL 61604
Phone: 309-685-5241
Fax: 309-688-5746
Executive Director: Bobby Ford
E-Mail: bford@sharonhealthcare.org
I look forward to reviews.

Albany Care

Name: Albany Care
Location: 901 Maple Ave, Evanston IL
Phone: 847-475-4000
website: http://www.albanycare.com
program funded: medicaid, medicare, private pay, private insurance. Monthly SSI resident only gets $30.

When were you there: Late november 2013-present

helpful contacts: Elizabeth or Josh in admissions/ admin office, Jonathan in social services
Admissions process: Reffered by hospital. Someone from facility comes and does interview. Facility to facility transfers can also happen. You can’t just walk in off the street. But a person, or friend or family therapist ETC can call to see about how to get in if not in the hospital.

Disorders treated: Mood disorders (depression, bipolar disorder), generalized anxiety disorder, post traumatic stress disorder PTSD, some personality disorders, substance abuse, is able to treat mild self-injury, psychosis/schizophrenia

How many residents in the program: Capacity for 400. Probably roughly 200 to 300 at one time.

building layout environment: front lobby, admin offices nurses office Dr. office, little theater” (big room used for watching tv, nightly movies other activities. Dining room, comissary, all on first floor.
Floors two through five have resident rooms, nurse’s stations, PRSC offices.
Seventh floor activity floor, library exercise room, activity offices, smoke room can also smoke on fourth floor at times, and outside. ETC
General physical environment: very clean. If there are any problems such as bedbugs, problems with furniture ETC cleared up right away. Very good facilities, (maintaince) and housekeeping staff. Narrow hallways but not as bad as smaller facilities
Three elavators often break down due to improper use by residents.

Resident rooms: Almost all rooms three or four person. Very few double or single rooms. Every person has key to room. Will have new key made promptly if lost. Quality assurance coordinator, and case managers make every effort to match compatible roomates. Room changes can happen often if things can not be worked out. So pritty flexible on this.
If in a three or four person room you get a nightstand which you can lock. Part of a closet and part of a dresser.

Staff availability: Staff constantly available. Certified nursing asistants 24/7, as well as nurses one on each resident floor all day and two at night. Psychiatric rehabilitation service coordinators (PRSCS or case managers) on 12 hours a day 7 days a week.

Treatment plan: Once admitted treatment plan starts right away. You are assigned a PRSC and they do a full assesment of your life symptoms and goals. Write up a care plan which is revised every three months. With a meeting with your PRSC, nurse and activity worker. Minimum stay is three months. Wide range of resident lengths of stay. They do encourage when posible that people transition to community moving on program facilitates this.
What treatment is available: You can see Caseworker whenever you need to though you might have to wait as they’re very busy with residents constantly knocking on their door. If your caseworker isn’t available you can see another one. Most try to set up check in times once a week. Very responsive to crisis situations.
Medical doctors come once or twice a month. See once a month if in outpatient treatment program, once every two months otherwise. Psychiatrists come once or twice a month. Can see once a month or once every few months. For all doctors staff can put on list to refer and see as soon as possible. You have a right to change your dr.s. Setting up appointments with specialists is also tricky due to lack of communication at times. You can make your appointments so that’s the best. Especially with dentist.

Groups: weekly groups include: depression management, anxiety management, problem solving, family issues, art therapy (not lead by certified art therapist,), music therapy (again not lead by MT), Laughter group, understanding voices, anger management, DBT (small group by referral only, not lead by certified dbt therapist), conflict resolution, group for people who have been in jail, substance abuse group.
Individual therapy: Will set person up with outside therapist. Also connects people to outpatient IOP/ PHP programs in the area. Can (rarely) see Jonathan eastmon for therapy if desired, specific to the person.
Is there a levil system/ one to one/ line of sight?
Yes no levels. But if a person does something like smokes in their room, is very agressive, self-injury, could use money to buy things harmful to self or others suicidal, certain things can happen.
Restriction: Always happens for 24 to 48 hours after admission from hospital. Otherwise restriction depends on the individual situation. Some people have very high support needs and are not allowed outside without staff but I imagine this is as a last resort. If on restriction can still go outside for smoking, or walk to the store (nature walk)
Room searches: Are supposed to happen every so often. There are contraband items: weapons/ drugs obveously alcohol, sharp objects especially for agression/ self-harm. No meds in room even tylenol/ ointment. Food must be in plastic containers to avoid bugs/ mice.
If there are issues with things perhaps being in rooms, like a self-injury case / drug user room searches will be done more often.
One to ones: If someone is in crisis will be put on one to one or monitoring with staff. Mainly in PRSC offices talking about the situation and next steps. This could be for hours or only a little while.
Observation room: Every 26 numbered room is the observation room facing nurse’s station. Door must be all the way open or cracked. Residents in there are in situations as stated above (SI, fighting, smoking in room, drug issues) Basically a protocol measure. Staff aren’t exactly watching you the whole time.
Hospitalizations: Psych is called after any crisis. It is up to them whether hospitalized, facility can recommend but know psychiatrists who have gone against recommendations for or against it. Very easy transfers to hospital. No having to spend forever in the ER.

Food: Honestly not that great! Breakfast hot and cold cereal. Toast, eggs, mostly every week pancakes, french toast, coffie cake. Often food is cold when you get it. Certified nursing asistants act as servers. Often very chaotic in dining room. For lunch and dinner you get a substitute if you don’t like the main meal. If you don’t like either sandwiches or fruit plate (fruit often over or under ripe, cottage cheese, and jello) Honestly try to use money to buy snacks!
Money out of SSI: $30 per month. Anything like birthday money, family sent money is fine. For a check paying job I believe you would be able to keep $50 every two weeks not sure. In house work program not sure what they pay not that much. Since 2014 facility is your payie so you can’t have your check in bank account and pay rent that way.

Activities: Outings to walmart, target, burger king, other restaurants. Can take a small group of people in van. Daily activities: bingo, card and other games like pool and ping pong, movies every night, tv always on in the theater, arts and crafts, beauty group (get nails done etc), socials every night in dining room, albany choir, computer lab, might be missing some

What did/do you like the most? Some staff here have been awesome! Get individual therapy with Jonathan eastmon, good guy to try to connect with some people love him some people don’t. He genuinely tries his best. As do asistant clinical director, director of nursing, C.N.A.S and prscs. If you get a good PRSC they’re really envested in your individual treatment and working with you on what you feel is important. You have the right to change PRSCS. Quality of groups depends on who runs them. Had good experience with some groups in the beginning run by specific prscs.
I love that you don’t have to worry about meds or Dr. appointments. As that’s handled for you. Love that I have a double room with best friend, took forever to earn that. Love that they were open and able to work with self-injury.

What do/did you like the least? The food! Crowded hallways elavators breaking. Facility could be physically laid out better to help with this. Sometimes I don’t feel like staff tries hard enough to stay on top of residents with poor hygene, agression or stealing. Then again I know there’s only so much you can do. Don’t like activities. Wish there were cats LOL! Don’t like high staff turnover especially for PRSCS. Making appointments could be less chaotic.
Is there a willingness to work with people with other disabilities: Yes can work with medical issues up to a point. Residents on walkers/ walking canes are there. Deaf residents, clinical director can sign and some other staff will learn. Blindness of course!
Would you recommend this program? Yes absolutely! IL is the only state that I know of that has specialized mental health rehabilitation facilities. For people who only have medicaid, and this state of things in the mental health world where any other long term (or even short term) residential programs are totally inaccessible to those not with private insurance or rich I think it’s a great program. People are in a safe place where staff tries their best. There will be improvements coming.
Would love to hear others reviews or questions.

Specialized Mental Health Rehabilitation Facilities SMHRFS in IL

I feel it’s important to do an overview of certain types of services before starting in with specific ones, especially if the program/ service is not well known or only in specific states.
IL is (I believe) the only state to offer a type of long term residential care for those with severe mental illness who need a 24/7 level of care specifically focused on mental health treatment.
Sticking to the facts is important here so I will provide deffinitions and further resources to simplify things rather than discussing any oppinions on the subject of this type of care itself.
I struggled to find something user friendly. A lot on the DHS department of human services site was meant for providers specifically. Found good information on a facility website:
Specialized Mental Health Rehabilitation Facilities
SMHRF’s can offer several different levels of care which may include a:
*Triage Center
*Crisis Stabilization Unit
*Recover Rehabilitation Unit &
*Transitional Living Unit
I apologize I am unable to find a list of all SMHRF facilitys. Will edith if I find such a list.
As the information above said the system is restructuring it’s services which takes qhite a while. They’re moving from an intermediate care facility to this model which is more client centered and has a variety of care options right under one roof. I will post updates on this post, through the comment section on changes.
For now I and others will be reviewing facilities as they are with a reminder that changes are coming.
I hope this gives an introduction to this type of care. Feel free to ask questions.

Trilogy Behavioral Health Inc.

Name: Trilogy behavioral Health
Location:   1400 W. GreenleafChicago IL  60626

northside main location, offices/ programs around the city.
Website: http://www.trilogyinc.org/

pone number: 773.508.6100 (main)

Services: Case management, individual and group therapy, primary care clinic, residential program, Beacon drop in center Other (someone let me know if I missed something)
when   wereyou there? July 2012- March 2013 (off and on) Services I used: Primary healthcare clinic, case management, PSR (psychosocial rehabilitation) program, individual therapy

Disorders treated: Mood disorders (Depression, bipolar ETC) Anxiety disorders, psychosis/ schizophrenia personality disorders self-injury, , trauma (not sure if they’ve had a DID client before), substance abuse.

Admissions process: Call intake number or come by to apply in person. Intake worker will call back in a few days for an appointment. Bring any and all personal information you have (insurance card, state ID, mental healthcare or medical records ETC) That said if you don’t have any of these things you can just walk right in and they’ll help you get all benifits from scratch and look up any hospitals/ programs you were at with a release form. Then you’ll have a very long assesment to determine your goals and what programs you would benifit by. You’ll be matched with an RC recovery counselor and there are different levels of case management depending on people’s needs. Most people take part in groups or the health clinic or drop in center. The center really is flexible and well rounded in that it can serve people from homeless, to someone just needing therapy. And they can help you get medicaid started find housing ETC.
Day treatment program (PSR)
How many clients in the program? It’s say maybe forty. You signed up for individual groups and so didn’t have to be there the whole day. In each group probably no more than ten people.
Groups lead by several different staff and student interns. Attendance is strongly advised, I believe three absences in a quarter (eight weeks) and you had to stop the group for that quarter. Also some therapists were stricter than others about five minute rule if you weren’t there by five or ten minutes in you were out of the group for that day. All this is done to keep the groups with regular members and to avoid disruptions. And staff are very understanding and work with people if this is a problem.
Groups available: The schedule changes every eight weeks but over the few years (on and off) that I was there it’s basically the same stuff.
Groups are: Coping with anxiety and depression (separate groups for each), DBT, (also have to meet with an individual DBT buddy), mindfulness meditation, art, general support group, trauma processing group, understanding schizophrenia exercise walking group, Drama therapy, working with clay, creative writing, sandtray, movement, music (only offered once,) men’s, women’s and young adult psychotherapy, health coaching, symptom management, assertiveness, readers group (reading plays!), games group, mental illness and substance abuse, anger management. I might be missing something!
Treatment plans: Ongoing. You meet with your RC at least once a week to check in, sometimes more depending on level of case management. I believe plan is updated every few months.
Length of stay: open ended. You can come for one specific service or take advantage of multiple services. Can come for a few months or many years off and on. It really is a supportive community and they’re very understanding. Many people need this structure in their day and they realize that.
Food”: There was a group that goes once a week to a little lunch cafe. There is food in the beacon drop in center but you have to buy for like fifty cents or a dollar. Wish they provided meals.
Physical environment: Clean as far as I could tell. Sometimes you had to sit on uncomfortable plastic chairs. But it always smelled ok. There was a lot of construction when I was last there so they totally moved rooms around and added spaces. So that was chaotic but temporary.
Staff: Liked pritty much all of them. The people in the primary healthcare clinic are amazing! All Licensed practical nurses, one of the MDS is also a psychiatrist. Works well with other hospitals geting you in to see specialists.Very kind answers all health questions. Knows how to work with someone who might be anxious depressed or have trouble articulating due to illness.
In terms of RCS I felt lucky too. They have a team aproach in that you have your assigned RC but if they’re not there you can see others on that team. Corey (female) was great, advanced to team leader and may still be there.
Therapists who lead groups: There was an amazing therapist named Greer. By the time she left she was a certified drama therapist. She ran all creative arts things and was very qualified and comfortable doing so. Unfortunately she’s left now. I would have hated to have to say goodbye. Others were okish. Interns were nice and eager to learn. I don’t know if they’ve filled the creativity hole Greer left and know for me her work was the best but they could have changed things.
What did you like the most? Greer and her groups, the student interns, the health clinic. The case management especially when I wasn’t living here, they would come to my apartment and take me shopping and for haircuts. And they came several times to see me when I was first hospitalized.
What did you like the least? No meals and having to spend money on one little snack. Some of the groups got repetitive some of the therapists weren’t very personable or flexible. I wanted to have DBT group and meet with my DBT buddy the same day due to transportation issues and they would not allow that and so had to drop the group. I didn’t like the staff turnover for the RCS as well as therapists sometimes. The one person they put me with for individual therapy I didn’t click with. But that’s a personal thing
Would you recommend this program to others: Yes! For a place where probably a huge number of clients have medicaid they do the best they can. It’s community mental health. But it’s very caring and they try their best. Long waiting lists for psychiatrists and so got shoved off to a really bad one outside the facility. But yes. You get the basics: group, individual therapy, case management, excillent primary care and it’s open ended so could become a real solid support.
I look forward to others reviews and questions.

welcome and review guidelines

Hello,

My name is Sam. I’m a young mental health and disability advocate. I struggle with chronic mental illness (depression, generalized anxiety, PTSD, self-injury history) and am also blind. I’ve gone through many types of treatment: standard individual and group outpatient therapy, psychiatric units, day treatment/ intensive outpatient, and now live in a long term specialized mental health rehabilitation facility.

Finding services is so hard especially if you’re on Medicaid. Regardless websites and profiles are written by the provider or marketing people.  Even the testimonieals    re aprobably edited. This doesn’t give a person honest feedback about these places and practitioners.

I am forever grateful to the author/s of  Eating disorder Treatment   review

http://www.edtreatmentreview.com/usa-treatment-consumer-reviews/general-comments-and-questions-forum/

I have reached out to them and  am hoping they will help me admin or give tips!

The organization and attention to detail of the site is just amazing!

So I’m borrowing about everything she’s done but with different words of course!

Review Guidelines/ topics

In reviewing anything please remember the following. Everyone will have their own  opinion. A program or even individual provider (because people are always changing!), can be very different over time. Which is why it’s important to put the year you were involved and for how long. Something more than a few years old  has hopefully changed for the better by now! People say restaurants and stores can be reviewed but never therapists! I disagree. Everyone asks one another how they felt about a certain provider/ place when someone mentions it in person. And there are few places to find any such information online. I think as people we can take advantage of the fact that getting a lot of information about a place in one place ( a moderated blog) is worth knowing to take everything with a grain of salt or a whole bottle!

Please be as respectful as possible in all reviews. You can be totally  honest without being insulting or swearing, not allowed! Instead of saying  someone was amazing or this person was abusive  please state in more detail what it is that made you feel that way. This gives specific pros and cons for people to consider and ask further questions about.

If you want to start a post on a topic: please  contact Carol Anne or I

https://mentalhealthtreatmentreview.wordpress.com/contact/,fill out Let us know a bit about the place you’re interested in starting a post on website is good, and we will create that post. You can comment on any post started, will be starting a few tonight!

Here are some questions to get you thinking when  writing a review. Feel free to not use these questions or to only answer those that apply.

In general for each category:

Residential, inpatient unit, crisis residential, long-term care

Name of facility/ agency/ person and location

Helpful  initial contact person if known

?  When were you there? year/s or month/s

Disorders treated? (if a hospital/ facility has multiple programs for different disorders would love to hear different perspectives on each track!)

How is program funded? (insurances accepted, financial assistance, medicare, Medicaid?)

How many residents in the program at one time?

Length of stay?

Staff to resident ratio?

Do you have your own room/ roomates?

General environment of the facility,  cleanliness etc

Food?  Variety/ quality menu plans etc

Groups/ types of treatment offered?

List/ describe groups/ treatment types if able.

How often do you see therapist, psychiatrist, medical doctor?

Is there a level system/ one to one, line of sight ETC?

What  priviliges do you have?

Activities recreational, outings/ passes?

Helpfulness of staff? Availability, can give first names but not last names.

What did you like most?

What did you like least?

Is there a  willingness to work with people with additional disabilities? (blind, deaf, autistic, sensory processing, physical ETC)

Would you recommend this program to others?

Treatment planning/  discharge/ aftercare?

Other comments?

 

 

For day treatment, partial hospitalization/IOP same as above, leaving out residential parts.

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oSe Will be trying to come up with a sensitive and well thought template for reviewing individual providers so stay tuned and feel free to help with suggestions on this.

Any thoughts/ questions and ideas about the site as a whole should go in the comments section under this post.