Here is what I wish I would have known prior to flying across the country and devoting a month to…read morebeing at Mental Health Residential:
This program is misleading and not what it presents itself to be. There is palpable dysfunction and incongruence in the cultural, systemic, relational and energetic dynamics of this program.
INTAKE/ARRIVAL: Upon arriving at MHR, I learned that I would be the only client there for at least a couple of days and that the therapist was out of town so it would be 6 full days before I'd get to see her in-person. Additionally, the acupuncturist/Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner was on leave and it was unclear if/when he would be back. None of this was communicated to me prior to my arrival.
THERAPY & GROUPS: If/when you receive the "sample schedule", know that all of the groups listed there are not being facilitated by therapists or clinically-trained professionals. I was at Mental Health Residential for 32 days. During that time there was one group led by a therapist. One group. That one group happened because I asked and advocated for it multiple times. Your access to clinical, therapeutic support is limited to 2-hours per week via 1:1 therapy sessions. Of the 168 hours in a week, two of those hours are with a therapist at a mental health program.
With the exception of the yoga, sound bath and tai chi classes, the groups are facilitated by young, inexperienced behavioral technicians, if they even happen. All of the behavioral technicians, including the 3 members of the "leadership team", are under 30 and, as far as I gleaned, only one has prior experience working in mental health. There is no lack of kindness and heart from these folks, however, they are not able to create a therapeutic container given the lack of experience and training.
An example of this is that one morning we had a group with 2 of the staff -- one, a behavioral technician and one from the "leadership team". During this group, all 3 clients expressed suicidal ideation. Our vulnerability and cries for help were met with "thank you for sharing" responses from the staff and then we were dismissed from the group to occupy ourselves for the duration of the day.
PROGRAMMING: There were multiple days where there was zero programming offered. My way of coping was to read multiple 600+ page fantasy novels. Another client walked 5-10 miles every day around the residential neighborhood where we were situated. And the third client alternated between reading and watching TV. One of the clients started referring to our experience as "DIY mental health" which felt appropriate given how a majority of the time we were left to our own devices.
It became clear to me within my first week of being there that this program is best described as babysitting, where clients are simply being kept physically safe (knives are locked up, medications are administered by staff, etc.) In my experience, emotional safety and true healing require relational attunement and presence, meaningful structure and opportunities to be empowered and grow towards something -- cultivating skills and learning new things. This was not on offer during my time at MHR.
FOREST BATHING: On the welcome packet, the first page after the table of contents is a description of "Shirin Yoku" which translates from Japanese to "forest bathing". When I saw this on MHR's marketing handout prior to committing to going, it meant something to me. It felt like a sign that I was headed to a place that would offer the practices and uphold the values that align with my own. Throughout my 32 days at MHR we did not have a single forest bathing experience. For some folks this may not seem like a big deal, however, to me, it encapsulates how the powers that be behind Mental Health Residential are really good at presenting a picture of a healing sanctuary that is not in integrity with the reality of what is being offered. It is the mental health comparable version of "greenwashing". It is deceptive, misleading and harmful -- especially considering the exceptional level of vulnerability people who are seeking services like MHR are navigating and showing up with. For me, getting myself to MHR and leaving the relative safety of my home environment was a big leap and required that I trust what I had been told and have faith that I would be caught and held well. I was not well-held and my primary support people throughout my time at MHR continued to be my mom and mentor who I connected with by phone.
PSYCHIATRIC CARE... I've reached the maximum for this review. Here is a link to the doc where the full review is housed: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Y7Y_YCKaGupVaPRnQ_4h6FagCpiTl5w9SqTGfhU0rE4/edit?tab=t.0
