Bayside Marin is an excellent treatment center, I'd rate it #2 in northern California…read more
At first, I didn't want to go here, mainly because of negative reviews and hearsay from an acquaintance, and corporate ownership.
But I quickly changed my mind. I came here devestated by a very traumatic year of my life, in as much of a mental health crisis as I was in a substance one. Throughout the length of my stay, I was treated with understanding, patience and compassion.
The bulk of their program is cookie cutter evidence based, but high quality.
The employees at Bayside really care about their work, and their clients, and because of this it didn't have a corporate feel, even though they're owned by Acadia.
What made this stay extra special for me was the therapy and one on one conversations I had with staff. I had the honor and privilege of working with the best therapist I've ever seen. When there's a true match with therapy it can be magical, spiritual. I have transformed into a better version of myself because of the one on one work with my therapist, whose intelligence, wit, patience, and compassion helped me to rise above and shine, despite facing some extremely challenging triggers in residential this time. When you can't fully care about yourself, sometimes you can borrow someone else's faith in you until you're able to care about yourself a little more. By the end of my stay, I felt more confident and centered than I had in a long time.
I also wanted to say, the tech supervisor helped guide me psychologically and spiritually as I faced various challenges at Bayside, and helped revive my interest in spirituality, meditation and awakening.
I had the best spiritual and psychological support I could have asked for, which I thought would be impossible after being at Olympia House in 2022. (Both are good rehabs with their unique strengths and weaknesses. I learned a lot at both, but they're not directly comparable, OH is a little more unique in terms of approach and programming. Bayside was extra meaningful because of the particular therapist I worked with, the behavioral technician supervisor I mentioned and the particular clients I bonded with.
They actually listen to client feedback and I watched them make numerous improvements over the three months I was there.
With that said, there is room for further improvement. Clients are shuffled over to the main campus from detox with very little explanation of where to go and when, which leaves freshly detoxed clients confused, angry, and feeling disrespected. I've been told they're working on fixing this problem.
Scheduling glitches do happen, but that's true of any medium or large rehab. They do their best. And also, sometimes communication can be a little complicated between departments. No place is perfect.
Gorgeous campus. Food was great. I was told this was a rehab for rich people who valued aesthetics over content, but that's not what I found here. They have some incredible talent working for them and client socioeconomic backgrounds are mixed.
2026 update: I've had to return to Bayside and things have only gotten better, taking my review from 4 stars to 5. A lot of mediocre therapists have left, replaced by excellent ones, and they have made subtle but noticable improvements to the programming. I'm SO grateful for Bayside Marin, one of the finest treatment centers in northern California and perhaps the country.
Last. I would encourage people, strongly, to ask to change their therapist if the initial assignment isn't a match. I did, and it made all the difference in my stay.