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Beware of A Better Tomorrow
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This place misrepresented itself when I found them onliine and spoke to their intake counselors. My friend who had been doing an internship there told me that I would be placed in a very nice house and that it was the best rehab facility with the highest success rate!
Instead there was no room in a regular house (I had transferred from Aurora San Diego, where I did my detox - by the way, Aurora was a much better facility than this joke.) So I was put in a detox house, where they apparently have different rules about what meds they can administer. This was in Murrieta, California, at "Vista House" on Highland Vista Way.
The intake staff promised 3x/wk one-on-one counseling and 1x/wk with a psychiatrist.
I was not assigned a counselor until I told them I wanted to sign myself out, after 5 days. I then learned counseling sessions were 3x/wk group sessions. I never did see a psychiatrist during my stay. They would not give me my insulin until they had the original prescription for it; they did not want to give me my antabuse and campral meds, because the "nurse" on duty said the house was not licensed to give injections and certain meds. My husband had to call the main administration office and threaten legal action if I did not receive my insulin, The staff nurse was very angry with me that my husband had called the main office.
One patient there had been waiting for eight days for her hypertension (high blood pressure) meds, until she saw their own doctor. Her crime? She forgot to bring her original prescription for her high blood pressure pills when she checked in. She could have had a stroke!
My roommate was ill w/a temperature, nausea, vomiting, headache, chills, sore throat, and they didn't let her see a doc or medical professional for three days. The house manager's attitude was that the girl was faking and only wanted attention. I made her honey and lemon tea for her sore throat. They did give her two tylenol. When her father called the main office, he asked them to transfer her to a non-detox house. She was treated disrespectfully and told to pack her things; "they" were coming to get her to move her to another house. She later told me that when she got to the new house, she threw up on the carpet and was angrily told to "clean up your own mess!" She was just a young 17-year old girl, far from home and afraid. I felt they treated her very unfairly, with no compassion or empathy whatsoever.
The houses that patients are placed in are staffed by house managers and one of ours was very rude and disrespectful to the younger of the patients. There was one man there who was more affable and treated us with respect.
The program itself is very disorganized, and the staff doesn't seem to know what events or classes are happening at any given moment. If they are questioned, they say, "we'll let you know," or "I'll have to find out."
Getting sober is a serious and difficult task but it is made more difficult when patients are faced with uncooperative, judgmental, unqualified, disorganized staff members. This place needs to be investigated. Patients could die waiting for their medications.
When I had had enough of their incompetence, I called my husband (if you are detoxed you are allowed to use the telephone for ten minute calls to your family) and I asked him to come and pick me up at the main office the next morning. I was told by the house manager that I was not allowed to take my property with me, I had to leave it at the house until I spoke to my counselor (whom I had never even seen yet). I told her, "because he wants to talk me out of leaving?" and she responded, "well, that's his job."
I was harassed by this counselor who asked me if I was sure that it wasn't God's will for me to stay and what would keep me from relapsing. He tried for about twenty minutes. I was polite with him and explained that I had already had nearly 30 days sober, was on anti-alcohol meds and that I was certain I wanted to leave. Meantime, what I didn't know is that another counselor was harassing my husband in another office, telling him that it was a mistake to let me leave and that I had serious mental problems and that he should not listen to me.
In my interview, I finally stood up and told the counselor that "this interview is over, thank you." I was leaving, and I wanted my property. My husband, meantime, had to walk away from the counselor harassing him. We waited in the parking lot for almost another hour and were told that we were not allowed to speak to any of the patients, nor were we allowed to drive to the house where my property was being held. A counselor went over and got it, then gave it to us.
The office had my credit cards and debit card. I had been told that with some patients, they won't give them back their cash and cards; they insist on mailing them to you. My husband and I both were prepared to call the local Sheriff's office, should this occur. I believe that it is terrible that we would even have to think of resorting to that.
It was more like a prison camp than it was a place to get well.
I would NEVER EVER EVER advise anyone to attend this program. They seem to be only about manipulation and money. I was there in mid-March 2012.
I have filed formal complaints about ABT with the Better Business Bureau and the entity that provides their accreditation: CARF.
BEWARE of ABT!!!!!
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