This review is to warn family and potential clients of the many downsides of Sanctuary Centers. I was there for 5 months, January of 2011 - May of 2011. Even though this is being written long after my stay, I see a review written on Yelp dated 12/20/24 which shows that not much has changed over the past 15 years. First off, as with other reviewers, I immediately disliked the director, Lisa Moschini. I found her to be abrasive, egotistical, and confrontational. Next, here is a message that I emailed to my parents after I had been living at Sanctuary House for 4 months being treated for bipolar: The reason for this message is to express my INTENSE desire to move out of Sanctuary House ASAP!!! My therapist at the Sanctuary House Arlington Day Treatment Center knows this, and you know I've been unhappy living here for various reasons for some time now (at least a month??) What my therapist at the Sanctuary House Arlington Day Treatment Center nor you, Mom & Dad, know is what happened today: after dinner, my chore was to wipe down the dinner table. In doing so, I found myself cleaning up large chunks of food (chicken & rice) from the floor where another patient had sat. Ggrrr. I informed staff, and was told that she should be cleaning up her dinner area in the future. I then went upstairs to take a bath. There were chunks of a patient's menstrual blood on the bath mat. Again, I informed staff about the mess, and staff assisted her in cleaning up the bath tub & mat. Still, as you might imagine, I was not too excited to use the tub after that. I waited until the bathroom was clean and went in to draw a bath. At 11pm, I went to bed. I woke up at midnight to my alarm clock going off--I have no idea how, but my alarm was somehow cleared and set to midnight. I shut it off and, at first, was going to go back to sleep. I got up & re-set my alarm (a task that is a pain in the butt with the alarm clock here...it's tedious and takes a long time, especially in the dark so that I don't disturb the schizophrenic woman who is my current roommate). And then, I got anxious--what if I overslept and missed the morning meeting? I would be placed on restriction. I CANNOT handle going on restriction!!!! Being confined to the house (instead of doing movement outside which is so integral for my health) is completely counterproductive. This infantalizing punitive system does way more harm than good. These things may seem minor to you. For me, though, I just can't deal with any more unpleasantness in my living environment!!! I am tired of asking 20 year old psychology student staff for my medications in the morning & at night. I am tired of asking staff if I may please use my 'contraband' items (perfume, razor, tweezers, cuticle scissors). I am tired of informing staff that other clients aren't doing their chores or are being messy. I am tired of doing chores. I am tired of being put on restiction if I have food in my room, am late for a morning meeting, or who knows what else. I am tired of signing in & out every time I want to go somewhere. I am tired of asking for money & turning in receipts. And, I am tired of having 11 roommates who all suffer from a mental illnes!!! The poor quality food here and constantly smelling smoke from the patients who smoke cigarettes isn't helping either. My patience, tolerance, and compassion for people in this house are GONE and I detest the person I have become in this house--ill-tempered, annoyed, and paranoid. I do not know how much longer I can take being in this house. I am trying my best, but quite honestly, would LOVE to flee. As far as 'graduating' goes: 1) I'd like to think that I could graduate by June 1st, but there is no guarantee of this (and from what my therapist said yesterday when we spoke about this, my chances may be slim). 2) Even IF I got a firm promise that, as long as I don't change my meds & keep up my 20 'community hours' per week, I'd be able to graduate June 1st I STILL don't know that I can hack living in this house until then--I am at my wits end with this house. 3) The Arlington Day Treatment Center is a joke. Spending my day being told to 'draw a picture of what anger looks like' is a task for a kindergarten, not for someone who is an adult. Thus, at this point, I could really care less whether or not I 'graduate' from Sanctaury. I honestly believe, throughout my entire being, that I will feel MUCH BETTER when I am no longer living here--my living at Sanctuary House is making me miserable!!!! *A final note: in all of the reviews on Yelp and Google, there is not a single one about a positive interaction with Lisa Moschini. And, I am happy to say that since leaving Sanctuary House by their defined 'AMA' (Against Medical Advice) I was able to rebuild my life. I work, have a husband, and a huge community of friends. Recovering from bipolar can be done! read more

Sanctuary is the prime example of amazing mental and co occurring disorder therapy and as well as the people who make up this very caring environment .Anyone who says anything negative is simply ignorant and doesn't accept the program and the problem's they Face read more

This review is to forewarn of the life threatening treatment protocols that Lisa Moschini the director and Vice President of the Sanctuary Centers of Santa Barbara required in their standard of care. My son immensely disliked Lisa Moschini as he said she was callous and cold hearted with her ongoing message, "you will always be sick and have to be medicated for life". That is the motto at The Sanctuary where all the programing is about adhering to their diagnosis and neurotoxic medication regime. It was obvious she disliked my son as who in their right mind would demand he take a handful of pills every night making him morbidly obese and present with drug induced dementia plus other metabolic adverse effects. Antipsychotics shrink the brain worsening the very symptoms the drugs are supposed to alleviate. She wasn't willing to discuss my concerns by phone so I wrote in a letter to her along with many books on this important subject matter including, The Zyprexa Papers, signed by the author Jim Gottstein Esq., a personal friend. Lisa routinely tried to persuade my son not to listen to my position on all things psychiatry. Her interference didn't change the fact he was always in close contact with me by phone and text messages. Lisa Moschini only sided with the paying parent who footed the bill of his lengthy stay that only worsened his condition. They refused to address his life long video game addiction. Lisa disregarded this important detail about my son. She said, "we would have to agree to disagree" and from that point on she excluded me from being involved in his care. A very cold blooded move. Stonewalling me put my son at further risk. He continued his video gaming addiction while they increased his prescriptions past the maximum recommended dosage creating the lethality. They had him on the antipsychotic Clorazil that carries 5 Black Box warnings. They maxed him out far exceeding the maximum recommended dosage. In addition they included Risperdal and Lexapro. Then she further increased his risk of dying by demanding he accept 4 Covid booster shots. A lethal combo of prescriptions that lead to a predictable disaster that easily could have been avoided. But I did not fit into her limited view of mental illness so I was left behind, left out of all treatment decisions and left with one less child. All of this at $16k a month. A half million dollars when it was all said and done, a jar of ashes. They did nothing to increase my sons quality of life. They did not properly support him to volunteer, take college courses, get a job, exercise, or better his nutrition. No reintegration back into society. No recovery groups to address his video gaming addiction. Just drug him senseless and useless. How could anyone expect him to function at a higher level when they overdosed him for 4 straight years until his body collapsed, sudden death!. The Sanctuary Centers psychiatrist and medical director Eli Katz continually wrote the prescriptions that destroyed my son and his future. Really what was your desired effect? You should have built on his interests, his talents, not just leave him to rot. Your cookie cutter approach of one size fits all of over medicating destroys lives of our most vulnerable. This month would have been his 33rd birthday. With all the time, attention and money at the Sanctuary Center he had no meaning in his life other than video games. But because you can't bill for that they tried to drug it out of him at all costs and that would be his life. This review is written to save lives so his death mattered for something! My heart is forever broken. I am still waiting for a condolence phone call or letter from the Sanctuary Center. The implications are obvious! Lisa Moschini never offered compassion, dignity or respect to my son or towards me his mother. Rest in peace my dear son! You never deserved to be exploited by so many self serving, misinformed evil people. Michelle B. read more

Apparently this place is associated with Integrated Health Care Clinic. My son was referred to the Integrated Health Care Clinic. They were good for one visit (telehealth visit) with a psychiatrist who was in Bakersfield and she seemed very caring. Well, after one visit and the psychiatrist even visited with me alone via telehealth as I had concerns that my son was getting TD from the meds and excessive weight. She ordered blood work. The Integrated Health Care Clinic screwed up faxing the blood work paperwork to Quest so it was not there when I got my son there. Then they never told me they did get some kind of paperwork to me digitally but on some sight I never use re: some kind of case management.. they never mentioned that again so I assumed we didn't get it. They only called me the day of my son's next visit with psychiatrist to say they were cancelling the appointment because, they said, I did not tell them my son's main insurance was medicare (in addition to Cencal ). It's so frustrating in Santa Barbara County to get psychiatric care. We will be moving out of the state this summer because of this. After 6 years it's not worth it to keep getting terrible mental health help here and having to work so hard to get it. read more

If it were possible to give zero stars to Sanctuary Centers, I would. I saw the website on low income housing for people with dual diagnosis (mental health and addiction) on the internet. My son has addiction and mental illness, so I was hopeful that Sanctuary Centers would be a safe place for him to live. (He went through a treatment center, and has been clean and sober for over seven months now.) I helped him complete an application and sent it in to the address specified on the website. I called to check in at least three times, but never heard back from staff. I also emailed them twice. I finally heard back after my second email because I mentioned that I noticed an article in the Independent that Sanctuary Centers received a million dollars in funding, and it showed Congressman Carbajal presenting them with a check. I also read online that they have received local, state, and federal funding. (Even though they receive government funding they are really touting their $16,000 per month housing rather than the low income housing that they mention in the article in the Independent.) I was surprised that after mentioning this in my email, I received a call back right away from the CEO of Sanctuary Centers. He gave a long rant on how they only had 34 low income homes available, and those were taken a long time ago. Also, they rarely vacate. He also told me that you have to get a section 8 voucher. I told him my son tried, but there is not even a waiting list because it is too full. He said that we had to wait two years. (This did not make sense if you cannot even get on a waiting list.) I was not happy to hear this news. My son and I had our hopes up! Not only that, it took hours to complete the paperwork. There was no statement on the site explaining that they are full and are no longer accepting new tenants. What a waste of time! read more

Sanctuary House has a program based on lies and punishment. I don't want others to have to go through what my family and I struggled to break out of. They don't tell you that on average graduation takes ten months to a year at Sanctuary. I would never have agreed to that amount of time. From the first week I knew this was not the place for me. I was demeaned and lied to and the program is built on punitive method of training. I was very thin when I arrived and I lost a pound a week at sanctuary. My family was paying 10,000 a month and there was not enough food for the people in the house. Celia did not like that my parents sent me protein bars. Mostly they were confiscated as contra band and I didn't get them anyway. They had an ever-changing staff of interns working for school credit and there was no compassion. After two months I would say, "I am afraid I am going to get in trouble." more times then when I was in grade school. What was I doing that was so bad? Things like not having a perfectly made bed or leaving water spots when I was assigned to clean the van. The house is run like boot camp. I have had therapists in the past and I developed a bond built on trust. Susan Garner twisted whatever I said and reported to my brother. I never felt like she was working to help me. What happened to patient confidentiality? Susan lied to my family and me. She threatened me that if I did not graduate Sanctuary's program; I would end up living in a Homeless Shelter. She lied to my brother who was paying the bills about my progress. She lied to me telling me that my brother sold my car. Every week I would put in my request for books or a manicure or pizza or any spending money and she would always have an excuse so I never had any of my money. Eventually they confiscated my computer and phone. Susan told me it was because I was complaining to my family. What kind of therapist undermines her client like that? What did I do to deserve this punishment? I was traumatized at Sanctuary. The most evil form of treatment that I can imagine is cutting off patients from their family. I made it very clear to Dr. Eli Katz the Psychiatrist at Sanctuary, that I did not want medication but wanted to get healthy. I had been taking prescription drug Ambien for over 20 years for sleep. We all know that Ambien is a very dangerous pharmaceutical and I wanted off. Dr. Katz doubled my dose. I don't remember this happening but my roommate told me one night I fell out of bed and landed flat out on the floor. I know other patients who also did not want to be doped up but were looking to a Doctor who could recommend alternatives. Meditation, supplements, yoga and regular EXERCISE- but none were offered at Sanctuary House. I had an agreement from before I was admitted with Lisa that I could go to my cousin's house in Malibu for Thankhanukah. (weekend after Thanksgiving) The morning I was set to leave I mindfnlly Focused on my Malibu trip. At 9 am, a social service representative from the licensing board surprised everyone by stopping in. She wanted to question some people living at the house and obviously there were some issues they were aware of. I did not want to be distracted because my mind was turned to my only chance of escape. The doors on Amtrak closed and I took a deep breath. I left Sanctuary House without any money, credit card, all my belongings; it didn't matter because I knew I would never go back! My story thankfully has a happy ending. I was admitted to Clearview Residential in Venice California mostly to undo the damage done by three months at Sanctuary. I finally felt safe and the staff was well educated and compassionate. The food was healthy and plenty for all. I had 3 days a week of yoga, a gym-pottery DBT CBT and meditation taught by experienced teachers. They were all there to help me not to punish. Dr Khelerher immediately weaned me off the ambient. The average stay at Clearview is 90 days to three months. The therapists, and Doctors started a plan for my discharge immediately and I am now working and living back on my own. I am so grateful that I had the strength to escape Sanctuary. read more

Over 25 years ago I was on the streets drinking and using drugs. Something told me that I could not live like this or I would surely die. My faith stuck with me and found hope when I was introduced to staff at Sanctuary Centers. At the time, I was locked in the PHF County psychiatric unit and had no place to go. I took advantage of this offer at Sanctuary with hope that my life would come back together. I went to the Sanctuary House program knowing that it wasn't going to be easy to live a better life. But immediately, I applied myself to this program including all the rules, requirements of my participation, activities and chores etc. I spent a couple of years in Sanctuary House and made a lot of friends and started a group for those who are dual diagnosed in 1993. After I moved out two years later I was still involved in dual diagnosis as I learned to live independently in an apartment. I stayed in this apartment, stayed sober and two years later was offered an apartment run by Sanctuary Centers. There I attended many therapy sessions and found myself a new home around people who loved and cared for me. I still live in my own apartment run by Sanctuary. I have freedom to do as I choose which includes therapy and dual diagnosis and found myself today being 25 years sober. I found that life isn't always easy and I don't always get my way, but who does. I have come to the realization that life is a challenge, but I always have Sanctuary staff to back me up when I'm in need. Barry Schoer, the Executive Director/President of Sanctuary Centers has always been a friend of mine. He is a very reasonable man and understanding and well-trusted. I thank him for being close by me throughout the years that I have been at Sanctuary Centers. To those who suffer mental illness and addiction to drugs and/or alcohol, I highly recommend Sanctuary Centers for treatment and recovery. Believe in yourself first. Take note viewers, I support Sanctuary Centers as I always will. Who ever hacks this review for any reason, They should be punished by law. read more

There is no doubt in my mind that Sanctuary Centers of Santa Barbara saved my husband's life! He had attempted suicide four times in three years prior to moving into Sanctuary House. After he was stabilized on medication, he moved out into the community and continued attending the outpatient program. I pray he never has to move back to Santa Barbara to take advantage of SCSB's programs, but if it is needed then we will not hesitate to relocate him. I highly recommend SCSB to anyone who could benefit from their dedication to mental HEALTH and compassionate, caring help when living seems too hard to handle. read more

I came here when I was really having a hard time in my life. At first I hated it as in I did not want to be there and saw no benefit but as my time there lengthened I started to feel like I could deal with life again and at the time that was a big deal because I was emotionally on the edge and not in a safe place. I am doing great now, have a family and my life is fantastic. Looking back this place saved my life and I am grateful they were there to help. read more

Lauren Furr is super helpful. She counseled me to find a new job and is there for me with tips on keeping it if I ever have any issues at work read more

First off the phase system is bs. Second if you are planning on going here I hope you are a masochistic. If you do any chore even slightly wrong you will be phased down or prevented from phasing up. Now that might be fine if it were possible to do chores perfectly but doing chores there is like trying to build a sand castle right next to the water. You are punished like sisyphus. You clean a bathroom, say in the morning, the chore monitor will check off your chore in 5 minutes and the staff will check it in 20 minutes. Sometime during those next 20 minutes someone has the audacity to use the bathroom. They don't leave a mess. They wash their hands and throw away a paper towel. There are now water marks on the sink fixtures and there is a single paper towel in an otherwise empty trashcan. If it's less than minutes later you will be asked to redo your chore. If it's more than 5 minutes later both you and the chore monitor will be marked down as not having done your chore. You will be scolded about this. You will repeat this at least once a week. You will be unable to progress in the phase system. You won't be able to leave the house to get a job, or volunteer, or exercise. You try to build a castle and the staff periodically washes it away. You try again and again. The sand castle is never completed. You progressively grow more frustrated. It ends when you stop caring about building a sand castle, get up, walk away, and let the ocean erase every trace of your efforts. I suggest you put your effort to regain sanity into another program. read more

Sanctuary certainly lived up to its name for a recent stay by my teenage daughter. The group setting combined with the staff expertise helped provide a haven for the treatment we've been searching for with her social and mental health disorders. As with similar types of facilities, there will always be unique experiences for those seeking treatment as they journey down their own path towards recovery. My daughter experienced exceptionally kind support while being fostered in a caring, structured environment that helped establish routine, problem solving and independence. This was exactly the setting needed to help enforce a living arrangement that brings a sense of normalcy to an otherwise unorganized mind. The entire staff, therapists and doctors were very helpful in forming trust while maintaining integrity and transparency about expectations. I fully support the atmosphere created at Sanctuary and which I ultimately credit with providing her a means to sort through the variety of anxieties paralyzing here. It continues to be a long road to full recovery and stability but with the guidance of a caring staff, the combination of culture and programs at Sanctuary helped my daughter make some remarkable headway. read more

The feel: A mechanical and inorganic cleanliness. The Sanctuary 24hr program is out of date if prescription drugs are an outdated method of enacting change in a person. In the program, taking drugs was mandatory the last time I checked on June 1st, 2015; I got out on the 2nd. The Sanctuary experience is best described as mechanical, invasive, and artificial despite the beautiful garden at the house. I called it invasive because it's take the pill or get out, regardless of the smallness of the behavioral dysfunction. The program is not youth-friendly, and more difficult for the young than the old because you need to die a little inside to cope with the shallow life. It is a death the elderly have already experienced. Sanctuary life is like life in a microcosm of the problematic 1st-world society. I like the staff a lot, and the management such as Barry and Lisa too. They all performed well for my 3 months. read more

If you have a family member that you intend to put in the residential program, you should ask to speak to people that have been in the program for a while, without the staff being present. The staff may say one thing to someone looking into the program and do another to someone that's actually in the program. I found that the residential program was a lot of money for a very messed up experience. It is $9,000 to $10,000/ month. I signed myself out of the program after two weeks and here's why: 1) Dr. Eli Katz, the psychiatrist. His managing of psychiatric medication is very concerning. The residents told me (and I experienced) that Dr. Katz will not spend more than 10min with a patient. He is supposed to see each person for a 30min or more. He does not listen to you when he does see you. This is possibly the reason I saw people with worsening symptoms or dangerous side-effects from medication use. He prescribed most people Haldol at some point or another. They all complained that it caused serious side-effects. Haldol is not for psychiatric use; it says so right on the label. 2) The fear and punishment method lead by the clinical director Lisa Moschini. This program does not have much in the way of a rewards system but it does have a very thorough system of punishment. Even ticking off the staff for something minor can get you put on Restriction (such as not making your bed correctly). Lisa leads the way in belittling, demeaning, and frightening people. She is mostly not in direct contact with the residents. When she does decide to talk to a resident she will either make a snide back-handed compliment or a snide passive-aggressive insult. People that make it to phase IV in the program have to do family therapy. Lisa runs the family therapy. I watched people come out of family therapy crying, upset, and traumatized. They all said that Lisa had assisted and encouraged their families to pick them apart down to every mistake they ever made and every flaw they ever displayed. 3) Lastly the residents that had been there for 6months or more told me that they didn't believe that the program really helped people and that they were continuing with the program for one or more of the following reasons: so their parents would keep paying for everything, for the super cheap apartments available through the satalite program, to get their parents off their back. This program was questionable enough that I signed myself out after two weeks. I got a ride from one of the neighbors to the shelter. I got a bus voucher and a ride to the greyhound station from one of the employees at the shelter. I was back in Santa Cruz staying with friends in less that 24hrs after exiting the program. My parents informed the staff of this in order to let them know I was safe. I was told by someone that remained a resident after I left, that staff lied to the residents and spent the next several months telling them that I was staying at a homeless shelter in Santa Barbara. Sounds like they were using a scare tactic to keep people from leaving the program. The program was presented with the concept of beautiful utopian ideals. What should be and what is, are not the same thing. read more

I am writing this review to caution those with family members or sufferers with serious and persistent Illness and a co-occuring substance abuse problem to think long and hard before seeking treatment at Sanctuary Centers in Santa Barbara. The program presents well, but the leadership and staff are not trained in the proper motivation of those who suffer from bipolar disorder and substance abuse. I have taught for the National Alliance for Mental Illness for over 8 years. I teach the 12 week Nami Family to Family class and Provider Education and was recently trained to be a presenter for the Crisis Intervention Team training program in Los Angeles County. I serve on the board of Nami Ventura County. My comments are based on much more than a feeling or a sour grapes reaction to the experiences of our family member. During a manic phase, that their own staff psychologist commented may have included psychosis, our family member was berated and continuously "punished" for his non-conforming behavior. This program has a genuine propensity to blame the victim and has no real understanding of the brain malfunction that constitutes serious mental illness. Despite my continual statements that he needed to be in the hospital, I was told that his symptoms were not severe enough! Instead he continued the go AWOL, potentially putting himself in danger. The price tag for the program exceeds $11,000 a month. No insurance is accepted. It is a travesty that families are enticed by beautiful brochures and kind and cajoling words only to learn that when decompensation occurs, no one knows what to do and no one seems to understand the brain disorder that is causing the decompensation. Again, blame the victim and blame the victim's family is the order of the day. One of our children is an Applied Behavioral Therapist. After the fact, I asked her to evaluate the Level program that is used at Sanctuary Centers. She asked if everyone is subject to the same steps to advance to the next level. When I said yes, she said they obviously had not employed a behavioral therapist to design their level program. She advised that, particularly in a co-occuring diagnosis, it is imperative that every client have an individualized program because what motivates one person may not motivate another person at all. She said that no self- respecting Applied Behavioral Therapist would ever recommend a one size fits all program. Sanctuary was completely aware of how difficult a case our family member is, even before he entered the program. We were advised that if they couldn't handle him, they would ensure that we had a list of programs that could. That did not occur until he became manic and they could not handle his behavior, despite the fact that there were many warning signs along the way. I know the frustration that abounds in trying to find appropriate treatment for a loved one. Unfortunately, Sanctuary Centers could not provide appropriate treatment for our family member. I suggest a long and thorough research into their policies and procedures and into finding out exactly how much experience their staff members have in handling your loved one's diagnosis and what strategies they have in place to handle decompensation before signing on the dotted line. read more

Years after I left Sanctuary and posted my first review I have had a chance to look back at my time there and reflect. I now have a stable, healthy and deeply satisfying life, but the amount of time it took to get over my "treatment" at Sanctuary has been incredibly frustrating. I still have nightmares about being sent back there. It was honestly one of the worst experiences of my life. They focus on punishments, using lies and scare tactics to turn your family (or whoever's footing the bill) against you. Lisa Moschini was a bully who would lash out at you with taunts and punishments simply to "teach you a lesson." I never felt safe there. I lost a startling amount of weight and was punished for crying or acting sad. They prey on you when you're feeling weak and vulnerable, they make you afraid and paranoid, and they put you in an environment where you can't even trust your therapist to have your back. If you or a loved one are considering this place, please listen to me. Run. This is not an exaggeration. Find another option and focus on getting healthy someplace with your best interests at heart. read more

Despite Barry's comments, I stand by everything I said in my review. His comments are full of the kind of falsehoods they tell potential clients and parents. Barry S is not the "business manager" for this program, he is the director. read more

Sanctuary House is a restrictive, punitive place based on fears, lies, and manipulation. The clinical director, Lisa Moschini, sells the program as a three-month commitment but that is a lie. Most people don't graduate the program and are there anywhere from 9 to 14 months. In the 10 months I was there, only 3 people graduated and they were all in the program roughly a year give or take a couple months. I am an Ivy-league graduate with no mental disorders or addictions. I came to Sanctuary House reluctantly to get some therapeutic support on my goals and focus mostly on my wellness. Sanctuary House did not help me with either of those things. The Arlington Day treatment program has group and individual therapy but most of it, with the exception of a couple good processing groups and art therapy and poetry, is a total waste of time. There is a lot of movie watching and board game groups. The residential program itself has no exercise component and residents spend months in the house watching TV or, again, playing board games. This is what you spend $10,000/month on. I was incredibly disturbed by the way staff treated residents and the restrictive phase system Sanctuary House implements. Lisa Moschini didn't really explain the phase system to me prior to coming to Sanctuary House, saying "I can't really describe it you're just going to have to try it out." I think that was her way of luring me in, because honestly I don't think anyone would come to this program if they knew what the phase system was. The phase system reads as a natural progression from I to IV with increasing freedoms and community involvement as you go up in phase. It is NOT a natural progression but an incredibly strict set of rules (over 12 pages typed) which a resident must follow. If you violate one of these rules, which can be as miniscule as not smoothing the sheets on your bed "enough", you are restricted to the house for 24 hours. Your "behavior" is judged in part by how well you memorize the rules and follow them and "phase" is adjusted accordingly. Residents bounce between I, II and III on a weekly, often daily basis because it is just ridiculous to expect people to memorize that many rules, especially when many of them aren't even written. I got phased down for breaking rules I didn't even know were rules. I was not the only one and it really does have the effect of unnecessarily prolonging one's program. I found the phase system a total distraction from why I had agreed to come to Sanctuary House, which was to get therapy. I was constantly on edge and in fear of getting in trouble, and so were many of the other clients, to the point where many chose to just leave. Instead of feeling supported and nurtured by the program I felt like I was always needing to "perform" and it was exhausting. I felt after a month the program was not in my best interest and tried to go to another program. However, Lisa Moschini and staff used the open communication policy with my parents to convince them, at least temporarily, that I was the problem, not their uncompassionate and fear-based methods. This caused miscommunication and misunderstanding between my parents and I and made it difficult for me to leave. I really believe in seeing the positive in most experiences but Sanctuary House was just terrible. I was more or less manipulated and forced into volunteering 30 hours per week which was not even in the curriculum while being denied both individual and family therapy for months. I was not allowed to even SPEAK about my own goals and aspirations in "vocational" sessions, but strictly what they had set out for me which was to get a job in Santa Barbara. What I thought was going to be help on healing my body, mind, and spirit, turned out to be an out-of-the-blue relocation plan and total neglect of mind, body, and spirit. I don't understand, as a free, functioning, adult, how I could be denied my basic rights to choose what I was going to work on in my own treatment program, and imput into how that was going to be done. Weren't they working fo rme? Wasn't this about MY LIFE? To figure out and support me in living and doing what I want to do? Apparently not. Not only was it a degrading, humiliating, and utterly disrespectful experience to me, but one I think happens more frequently than not at Sanctuary House. I sincerely hope clients' criticisms are taken seriously and changes are made. read more

Sanctuary House is an excellent program with one flaw, which I will explain below. I was able to ignore the flaw and benefit from the program which is otherwise quite excellent. I had a good time at Sanctuary House and recovered nicely. For the positive aspects of Sanctuary House see the essay titled "A Client's Perspective" which can be found on their website. Despite the program's flaw I would recommend Sanctuary House for most people, except personally I suggest clients with PTSD or BPD look for a program heavily immersed in Mindfulness Meditation and Meditative Motion exercises such as Qi-Gong, Tai-Chi, and Therapeutic Yoga, which have been shown to be very helpful. These mind training exercises help deactivate the Sympathetic Nervous System (fight or flight). The program's flaw is in their Rules and Phase Level System, which is cognitively framed using the concept of "privileges" and "consequences." Clients are expected to behave in order to avoid losing privileges. This old fashioned outdated punitive behaviorist philosophy does work to control behavior; however, it can be counterproductive to healing because it can induce fear which activates the body's Sympathetic Nervous System (fight or flight). This shuts down the prefrontal cortex where rational decisions are made, hindering the client's ability to feel safe and comfortable and socialize with others, and in clients who have a problem with drug addiction it shuts down their ability to resist relapsing. (See "Is Addiction Really a Disease? Dr. Kevin McCauley" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2emgrRoT2c) Prolonged activation can damage the brain, exacerbate mental illness, and induce a relapse. The result can be the exact opposite of what the program wants to achieve. For example, one Saturday morning while living there I was extremely clinically depressed. I had a Saturday morning chore I needed to complete by noon. I eventually managed to drag myself out of bed to work on that chore. I managed to complete the chore 10 minutes after the noon deadline. I was put on "Restriction" because I completed my chore late. I felt I was being punished for being sick. "Increased Oversight" would have been a more nurturing way of saying the same thing. The Phase Level System was another source of stress for me. I was led to believe I had to work my way up this Phase Level System in order to graduate, and that graduating was the only way out of the program. To be promoted up a level I had to put in a request and write a justification for why I believed I should be promoted. There was the possibility my request would be denied. I had no control over that. If my request was denied I would have to live with that humiliation and the implied feeling that it was somehow my fault for not being good enough to be promoted. The program's flaw could easily be remedied by cognitively reframing the rules and Phase Level system from the old fashioned outdated punitive "Crime and Punishment" philosophy to the more modern philosophy of "Crime and Healing." Mental Illness and Drug Addiction are medical conditions. It doesn't make any sense to "Punish a person back to health." Instead we "Nurture people back to health." People are naturally motivated when they are nurtured, because people are organic in nature. Pointing parents towards this alternative philosophy is one of the core goals of Nar-Anon, Al-Anon, and Families Anonymous programs all over the world. ("Crime and Punishment" uses the "Volcanic" view of human nature, whereas "Crime and Healing" uses the "Organic" view of human nature. See "Human BE-ing" by William Pietsch. See also the numerous books on Positive Parenting, such as "Positive Discipline" by Jane Nelsen Ed.D., or "Discipline Without Stress' Punishments or Rewards" by Dr. Marvin Marshall. For a very in-depth technical examination of these two worldviews see "Moral Politics" by Prof. George Lakoff.) Fortunately if you decide Sanctuary House isn't a good fit for you, you can hand in your one month notice at any time. Clients who hand in their one month notice can move out at any time, and if another person moves in to take their place they are only charged until the new person moves in. You also don't have to stay until you "graduate" unless your goal is to get into the Arlington or Hollister apartments. Otherwise, as soon as you feel ready to move out I recommend transitioning to outpatient treatment. During my stay I met clients with depression, bipolar, schizophrenia, and half also had problems with drug addiction. Despite this diverse range of mental illnesses, most of the clients you wouldn't know anything was wrong with them if you met them in public. They were all wonderfully nice individuals and I became friends with many of them. They became an integral part of my recovery, and I enjoyed being in the program. (See also the Santa Barbara Mental Wellness Center which has programs for clients and for family members of clients.) read more

"During the most painful and dangerous turn in our son's journey, the Sanctuary Center offered what I've not encountered at any other dual diagnosis facility or treatment program of its kind -- decades of grounded therapeutic experience combined with the presence of genuine love that guides their professional process of supporting their clients. As a therapist myself for over 30 yrs., I found their multi-dimensional program provided a stable, wholistic healing bridge steadily opened doors to our son reconnecting with both his essential self and vocational life direction. Our son fundamentally turned his life around as result of his Sanctuary experience -- it simply wouldn't have happened without their highly skilled support throughout each and every dimension of his comprehensive treatment. The grounded depth and breadth of the Sanctuary program is indeed rare to find -- especially so in this challenging arena where dual diagnosis and recovery work are combined." - Gavin Frye, MFT read more

After reading all of the negative reviews, I realize that Sanctuary isn't for everyone. However, for our daughter it was a very good experience. She had just been left a lock-up facility and needed a structured, supportive environment. She thought that the staff was very good. She was always busy doing positive things. She had freedom to spend time in the neighborhood, volunteer and attend local classes. She eventually transitioned to her own apartment but continued the program. After she left, she went off her medication and didn't continue therapy, which caused her to regress. We wish she was back at Sanctuary now. If you don't like Sanctuary, try the $40,000 a month program in Malibu!!! read more

I am a family member of a client who has been there for several years. The client went through the full program and now continues to take group classes. The program has been very good and my family member greatly improved. The staff of the Sanctuary is very responsive: they answer emails quickly, take appropriate actions, and genuinely care for my family member. I truly feel that the Sanctuary saved my family member's life. read more

I have a sibling who completed the Sanctuary's program and still lives in the apartments. I've also visited Sanctuary House several times, as well as the apartments. Recognizing that my perspective is that of an outsider looking in, and not having gone through the program myself (or having paid for it), I've been very happy with the treatment my sibling has received. While the program was far from easy for my sibling to complete, it would be an understatement to say that he is much better off for it. The personnel at Sanctuary were always friendly with me and responsive to my queries - they consistently had a good sense of what was going on with my sibling, gave the impression that they paid close attention to him, and had faith in him despite many setbacks he experienced as he was progressing - and at times regressing - through the program. Over the course of the past several years, I've been very happy with the Sanctuary and would highly recommend that family members of anyone with a serious mental illness, and who can afford the program, strongly consider it as an option for treatment. read more