The facility was a large house in the Malibu Hills, and so the physical environment was nice. The psychiatrist who owns the rehab is a knowledgeable expert on addiction treatment outside (but not excluding) the 12-step modeling, including effective medications and therapies. However, I believe the treatment center, despite having the knowledge and resources to provide good treatment, was too lax and not intensive enough. my sister (and the other patients) had a surprising amount of free time outside of treatment. the treatment sessions were sporadic and located outside the house. it seems like they should have had more on-site treatment and doctors/therapists since it was an inpatient facility. it just seemed like she was staying at a nice shared vacation rental while going off to therapy a few times a week. it was extremely expensive (although her insurance covered it i believe, at least mostly). in any case, she started using almost as soon as she got out. and she had been in there for several weeks. i feel like it was one of those treatment centers just more about making money than for successfully treating its patients. but then again, so is the entire for-profit healthcare system in general. which i find disgusting. i would suggest just going to the doctor who owns it if you can, because he is a reknowned addiction and mental illness expert who understands the physiological aspects well and knows how to use meds properly for treatment (although the patient has to take them so there's always that complication). the rehab was more ike a vacation. if she could have, my sister would have moved in and stayed there forever, which is not how addicts normally respond to treatment facilities, if you now what i mean. so i would say, go to a non-profit for in-patient treatment, and see if you can use this doctor on an out- patient basis. the rehab wasn't particularly successful for my sister. and p.s. my sister, like many addicts, has been to many different rehabs over the past 20 years, and she relapsed more quickly after this one than ever before -- like within a week (in past she would relapse either several months or even years before relapsing). this facility simply doesn't provide enough therapy, particularly individual therapy, to adequately treat the addicts.
