I've been in all the levels of ED care as an adolescent at walden from December 2015 to June 2016. Overall, I found it helpful, but each level is very different. IP (Alcott): Very unstructured and boring. Although the purpose of inpatient care is to stabilize behaviors and medical state, it washelpful. Everything that could be the least bit dangerous is locked up (sharps etc), so we were allowed to be in our rooms alone. We didn't have to go to groups if we didn't want to. This lack of structure led to me using a lot of ED behaviors while I was there-- purging and exercising in my room. I also hid my food during meals a lot. I think that if it had been a more positive, supportive environment, I wouldn't have gotten so much worse in there. Mealtimes sucked. The food was so gross. The staff didn't meal coach like they do in lower levels, but there were a few times when they made fun of how we ate ("eating bananas with forks? Is that what you guys do?" "If you have a wrap you have to eat it like a wrap"). Such a negative environment... When I got there, I quickly realized that I was the only one eating 100% and stopped doing that because it was like this unspoken competition of who was the sickest. If you don't finish your food t the end of the meal they give you Ensure. Barely anyone drank it, and almost everyone was on NG tubes, a first resort rather than a last one. The only good thing I got out of it was a new prescription... 2 stars. Residential: VERY helpful! It's located in an apartment building near the hospital. All the MHCs are caring and supportive. Very structured schedule with 3 groups a day. During free time, we could watch movies, do arts/crafts (they had a lot of great supplies), play games, etc. I enjoyed my time there and made a lot of progress. The food there is so much better than that in Alcott, too. I'd give it 5 stars. Partial hospitalization program: this was the level I originally started at. There are two meals, a snack, and 3 groups. The staff were, for the most part, helpful. PHP is when FBT (family based treatment) really starts. The adolescent program had your parents monitor meals at home and bring your food to program. There were family breakfasts and parent groups a few times a week. On Tuesdays, we had as challenge snack to practice fear foods, and on Thursdays, we had a "practice lunch" with fear foods. Pretty boring, but it was a supportive environment and somewhat helpful. 3.5 stars. IOP: it works on transitioning back to normal life, going from the meal plan to more normalized eating. One snack and dinner. Good staff. It was helpful as a support to maintain progress while going back to my life. 4 stars. Overall, I'm very grateful for walden. The structure of FBT is such that there's no way out of it other than complying with the meal plan and restoring weight. At first, I hated this, but now I'm able to think clearly and I feel strong and healthy. Ive come a long way since December and am doing rlly well :) I DO have a problem with the fact that they have no idea how to treat bulimia or binge eating, or if they do, they don't act like it. Something that disappoints me is that in IOP, there were two girls with binge eating disorder who had come straight from admissions without having been in treatment before. They were clearly struggling a lot and the level of support was not enough. I guess that if you're not underweight and anorexic, you don't need a higher level of care.....? read more

Addendum.. I believe they are close to insurance fraud. At first I set up $50 month to pay my $900+ copay. In March I sent in the full amount which they said was paid in full. However they kept taking $50 month. I made several calls. The man doing intake insurance had no idea who to speak with. I also had my insurance co Humana on the line. She asked questions he couldn't answer. I get 2 letters from Humana stating they tried 3 different days and they never called them back! They called me saying I was responsible for $15k which Humana said I wasn't it was due to lack of information on their part. I left a message they needed to contact my insurance company. They are horrific! read more

I stayed here for 2 months. The inpatient was dark, scary and loud. It is hard to recover in a place were you don't feel safe. Constant screaming and running was stressful and unnecessary. Some of the MHCs clearly don't want to be there and are not qualified. Secondly the women who takes blood is rude, unsanitary and unprofessional. Every time she would hurt you she would say in a mocking tone "I'm sorry". My NP was blunt and patronizing. Many times I was dismissed or believed to be a liar because of my disorder. However in residential I thrived. The DBT and CBT was very good therapy. I loved the passes and privileges. The MHCs and Nurses are well trained and smart. My clinician listened and helped me very well. So in all inpatient was below the bar and residential was above. Note: The clinicians, dieticians and most nurse/nps were very good at what they did. I enjoyed the education I got from my dietician and the understanding from my clinician. Most of the nurses were very kind and patient. read more

This place literally destroyed my life. They sent me to the state hospital from here where I was sexually and physically assaulted. I suffer from crippling CPTSD. I should never have been in the hospital because I was never homicidal or suicidal but they still determined I needed to be in there long enough to break me. They tied me to a bed here and flipped the light switch on and off knowing that I have a seizure disorder. It was the head charge nurse that did it. I'll never forget it. It was literal torture. If you have a relative here, get them out. If you sent them here, shame on you. read more

I went here and the staff and nurses are so unprofessional one night I was there, their was a girl that was having a seizure and the nurse said "there to busy to deal with a girl who could be faking it" but she wasn't faking. The staff are so rude and inconsiderate they just don't care about anything. My mom took me out but before that they threatened to take me out because my insurance was not good enough read more

I'm sure most of the hands on employees are wonderful. However, imagine my surprise when the doctor would not give my sister a diagnosis after spending a week there. When I asked about continuity of care for her in in Florida...the absent minded doctor (I would love to name him but don't need the blowback from him or his lawyers) could only pace around the room and say he was dizzy and confused. Thankfully, he left the room and the social worker was a godsend. However, when I again asked about a referral to someone in Florida...the answer I got was... "Well, I guess you could try Google" read more

Very unprofessional during intake I struggle with bulimia not anorexia I tend to exercise every day a little bit just to set the tone for my day and feel good for the day. They said they don't allow anyone to exercise in all fairness to those who have obsessive tendency to exercise and it's a problem. So basically they said exercise is not allowed. I ended the intake right there and said this will not be a fit for me and I asked if they could recommend a dietitian who specializes in eating disorders never followed up. It seems like these types of places are mainly focused on anorexia since it is the most well known form of eating disorder but they should make more focus groups on bulimia and binged eating issues. Maybe group treatment centers just don't work for me I do better with one on one treatment. read more

Looked into this for my daughter but we passed and managed the problem ourselves since we were looking more for specialized therapy than an impatient setting. We were just blown off when we asked about therapy and they stopped returning our emails. During the intake process, they didn't follow up with us when they said they would and I got different answers to the same questions from different people. My daughter's eating habits improved and she is a healthy weight without the help of these clowns. Had I listened to them I would have spent who knows how much money and my daughter would have spent her summer in a totally unnecessary impatient setting. The way they treat their customers (oh, sorry, patients) is laughable. read more

if your child has a severe Ed I highly recommend sending somewhere else. I felt there was a lack of staff support, knowledge and care for the patient. my daughter was doing better in the hospital where she had the one on one support to eat. she was eating 100% of meals and when she got to Walden she was left in her room told to go to the kitchen at a certain time( I explained she has social anxiety and if left she will avoid food) they left her to do it on her own and day one they let her do the whole day without food. I mean zero to eat. I only found out because my daughter who was not supposed to have her phone told me. she was advocating what would hwlp her and they "could not support it" I had to ask them what exactly they do support. this is the first time ever that I felt the system was 100% failing in this state. There is such a lack of understanding of this and also a lack of compassion for the patients . This is the only inpatient option and that is very scary. I think someone needs to take control of this place because. They literally almost let my child die. She ended up needing glucose tablets because they let her to a full day . When a person with an is eating and a parent is trusting you to make sure she eats and you don't sorry but I am getting her out of there I don't trust this place at all with my kid. Please if Your kid needs a lot of support this is not the right place. Don't learn that the hard way like we did. read more

As a former patient on Alcott for a first time experience in a place like this I'd have to say it was truly not what I expected, It's good for medical stabilization but that's about it. The groups don't really help at all since you can't go into details about much and the food is mostly junk food at snack time unfortunately. Some of the staff was amazing and super supportive(Marisa,rose,bill,Haley,Tyler) otherwise I feel as if the staff is overworked at times which creates stress. Certain patients on the unit made me feel unsafe at times which I disliked the most The unit is locked so keep that in mind as well I'd say overall only come here for medical stabilization and nothing else. I give a two star rating for the fact that the staff mentioned above were amazing. The facility... not so much sadly. read more

Inpatient was horrible and traumatizing; there was little support and patients were constantly having panic attacks and left not any better than they came. PHP was okay and the staff were great read more

this place is subconsciously traumatizing, in which it is emotionally draining, as if beating a dead horse over getting the will to want to get better- while the staff are welcoming there should be more individual care as it`s extremely detrimental to leave people to their own will and to willingly ignore those who really need the help, people should really be made to feel comfortable here but the environment between such close quarters to others is extremely toxic meaning it`s inevitable to be critiqued harshly (which i suffered emotional abuse in a school cafeteria), the meal times are devastating and they should really accommodate to individual needs since the care here felt more like isolation, and really depressing- there should be more opportunities to be able to not be as isolated from our loved ones, it`s beyond cruel and tragic. read more

I would not recommend this place to anyone, i was doing the out patient program. I came to the seeking medical treatment for a binge eating disorder, after 3 weeks they kicked me out because I have had gastric sleeve surgery and when i eat to fast or eat to much I end up regurgitating, the whole reason I joined Walden was to stop eating that way. But they kicked me out instead of helping me with my eating disorder read more

My Name is Zach and i had to be inpatient at Walden in Vernon Connecticut August 2017. And they traumatized me and i am still traumatized to this day. I Got Dehydrated a week and a half into being impatient there and they keep feeding me till i threw up.The day before i got discharged they threatened to drop a NG Tube. My Mother told them she does not give consent. I have really bad anxiety and i am high functioning autistic. Those people working there really have no experience with people on the spectrum who have eating disorders.This is the worst hospital i have ever been inpatient in. read more

I'm giving this place two stars because there are some good and bad. I had a serious suicide attempt and I had voluntarily committed myself to Walden. I acknowledged that I needed help and I was open to it--in fact, I was looking forward to it. As the days went on I felt more and more demoralized for the following reasons: (1) I felt deliberately disrespected by the nurses, many of them are super unprofessional and would make nasty remarks while the patients are present. I've had culturally insensitive remarks thrown at me when my parents brought me, I've seen a patient break down because a nurse said the patient was obnoxious to another staff. I've dealt with another nurse pressuring me to take medication, rogue from the recommendations of the psychiatrist. (2) It felt more traumatic to be there. There was a lot of intermixing in regards to the severity of the patients mental illness. There were instances where I'd wake up to shrieking. I've seen a 16 year old patient being sedated in a violent manner. (3) Another thing I really hated was during visiting hours a nurse pulled me aside for more intake stuff. I valued my visits because it was that one time I could actually reconnect to my world outside of Walden. I'm not able to spend nearly as much time with my loved ones. I asked the nurse if it was possible to do it another time but she said she can only do it during that time (I highly doubt it). There are patients of all sorts of age range: from 16 to patients roughly in their late 50's to 60's. Regardless of who you were outside of the hospital, your sense of dignity is ripped away. I felt infantilized and like I can't be trusted. I feel like recuperation from mental illness is being able to trust yourself again but it's harder to do that when I'm being gaslighted by certain staff. Feeling self-sufficient is a luxury here. I felt more depressed the longer I remained there so I signed myself out because I felt that this place was jeopardizing any chance I had at recovering. There were good parts--any part that does not involve the nurses. I thought the psychiatrist was helpful. I felt comfortable opening up because for the first time I felt respected and sane. My psychiatrist was completely transparent and respectful of my boundaries. I also felt the mental health counselors to be very helpful because they LISTENED and worked harder than the nurses. I felt safer crying and actually voicing my concerns and fears. If there were some structure and transparency, if there was more effort to advocate for patients--this would have been a much better place. read more

My son was treated very well here. Everyone was very professional and I am so overwhelmed by the support and encouragement he has received . He is showing growth both mentally and physically. It's a miracle. Please give Walden a try. read more

I am sure that when Walden was founded several decades ago, it provided a welcome and effective treatment for this truly frightening disorder. However, the company has become too large to manage well and the staff is -- for the most part -- young and inexperienced. Their ability to communicate with one another and coordinate care is quite poor, from our experience, which results in a vast amount of mixed messaging. Also, I believe that because of their size, they have lost the ability to treat patients as individuals and instead they impose a "one size fits all" approach, which ends up "fitting" very few -- from our observation. For us, the treatment was not only ineffective, it was traumatizing to the point that our kid wanted to take her own life specifically because of how she was treated at Walden. Yet, they still would not accept responsibility -- even then -- and instead reported me to DCF for pulling my kid out of their program. This only made things unimaginably worse -- putting our family through months of unnecessary trauma and only irreparably destroying what remained of the relationship between her father and me (we are divorced), which certainly was not good for our kid. However, we persevered. Our child is doing very well now -- receiving stellar treatment from a private therapist and being seen weekly by a physician and nutritionist. THIS is the route I recommend to all parents seeking treatment for their child. Although Walden appears at first glance to be an easier alternative, I assure you it is anything but. Their website is laden with false imagery and claims. The rooms at the full time facility are barren and nothing like the cushy images shown on the website. They treat patients and parents alike with skepticism and are reluctant to hear parental input. From our perspective, patients are treated like criminals -- ordered to sit still (no standing) and are not allowed to hug or touch each in any way (the girls are not even allowed to braid each others' hair). My kid's disorder only strengthened in their care, as she figured out how to more effectively hide it. She knows that other kids there found ways to be more secretive as well, since the staff is not attentive or communicative enough. Walden believes that caretakers have to be cold and mistrustful in order to be effective. They have taken this philosophy to an extreme. And now they are building more and more satellite facilities, only ensuring that the care they provide is less and less effective and more traumatizing. This disorder requires individual therapy from a therapist who is closely connected with a nutritionist and physician. Eating disorders take a long time to recover from. This is hard to accept, but once you do, things will improve. Individual therapy, trust and patience are the keys to recovery. Walden provides none of these components. read more

I honestly wish I could give them NEGATIVE stars. DO NOT sent your loved ones there! Seek a better treatment center!

I was involuntarily committed here after a suicide attempt a couple years ago. Unfortunately, my health insurance did not cover in-patient services and I was left at the mercy of the state. I ended up at Walden, a prison. The staff were cold, cruel, inexperienced, incompetent, trashy people. As soon as I got there, they made me go into a room, squat and cough to see if I was hiding drugs in my vagina while they inspected me. I saw the "therapists" only twice, each for about 20 minutes, during my 5 day stay there. The rest of the time I sat there with the drug addicts, ex-convicts, schizophrenics and people living with HIV who could not afford hospice care. Some of the patients were lovely. Others were terrifying and violent, and there were no protections for other patients. One patient, an ex-convict & heroin addict, tried to rape me in the shower. There were no locks on the doors and the one guard on staff wasn't paying attention. He came into my room, into the shower where I was naked, and touched me and tried to force himself on me. I had to fight him off. Nothing was done even when I brought it to the attention of the staff twice. 95% of each day was spent sitting playing scrabble, coloring books, or trash tv. They had horrible "group sessions" and ask us to "talk about your best day ever." When I was honest, one of the addicts flipped out and started screaming at me and got all up in my face because she thought my answer was elitist- I had said something about a beach vacation. The staff did nothing and let her scream at me the rest of the day. The staff gave me five medications to take, which made me extremely nauseous. They accused me of lying when I said I was vomiting, and two of them stood in the bathroom with me and made me vomit in front of them, and then they inspected the contents. Not sure what they expected to find! They also forced me to take a powerful laxative even though I don't have problems with constipation, so I had severe diarrhea and terrible stomach pains the whole time. Not like the food was edible anyway. The nurse got angry at me when I said I didn't want to take it and from then on I was treated as a belligerent patient. It was humiliating, horrifying, dehumanizing, dangerous, and all around extremely detrimental to my mental health. I took twenty steps back coming to Walden. Don't risk your loved ones lives by sending them here. Don't trust them. read more

If you want to be able to get help for your eating disorder please look into other options. This place is highly unprofessional Issues I had during my stay: *The way they handle meals...they have you eat 3 meals and 3 snacks a day, which is to be expected...what I did not expect however was after I tried extremely hard to finish what meals and snacks I was given to NOT be given a simple "good job!" Or any kind of recognition that you are trying to get better...nope. Even after finishing almost everything on my plate someone comes over and simply asks what flavor Ensure I want and then have it plunked in front of me...it did not matter if all I had left on my plate was broccoli I was given the same amount of Ensure that I was expected to finish as someone who did not touch their meal at all...tell me how that makes any sense calories/health wise? Also do NOT expect to be given any healthy meals during your stay here. Our snacks consisted solely of Oreos, Rice Crispy Treats, Teddy Grahams, doughnuts...all absolute junk. We were not taught how to be healthy here....the goal was to simply over feed so you can get the hell out. *The group "therapy"... the way the groups work is you have several per day...the majority of groups held consisted of being given a worksheet, told to fill it out and think on it, and then leave. There was no sharing of emotions or experiences. They are so worried about upsetting anyone in the group that you are EXTREMELY limited in what you can actually talk about...how is filling out a worksheet going to help me overcome my eating disorder I've had for almost 15 years??...if it was that easy why would I go to a facility? We go to places like this to have a safe space to talk about our disorders...having an eating disorder is already something stigmatized which makes you feel like you need to feel shame over having an eating disorder, and this clinic that is supposedly here to help with our disorders is perpetuating that shame ten fold. We are told not to talk about it like we SHOULD be ashamed of ourselves. *Unprofessional... this place is run almost entirely by women straight out of college while also being seriously understaffed. One Saturday we had ONE woman for the entire ward. One... They promise one on one therapy and meal plan discussions, BUT they are so understaffed that that all goes by the wayside. They also accidentally gave me another patient's medication! Whoops! Don't know how that could happen with professionals working there...but it did! Thank god I wasn't allergic to this other patients medication...I'm still in such disbelief that that occurred... You also better hop you don't have a full time job that will require any sort of paperwork to be sent to for your stay there because this place almost entirely refuses to send anything out to your employer. I have been trying for a week now to get them to simply send in a SIGNATURE...no huge form...just trying to get an MD's SIGNATURE and NO ONE will help me. I have left multiple voicemails and emails and am getting nowhere fast....this is highly unprofessional and they are potentially getting of the way of my livelihood...what could be more unprofessional than that? This is coming from a place that I reached out to and trusted to HELP me...not make my eating disorder WORSE and mess with my career. If you want help PLEASE seek a different clinic/company. This place will not help you. read more

This place taught me how to be a better anorexic. Tube fed me, medicated without my consent and treated me like a dog. This was 10 years ago and i've heard they've only gotten worse. They "treat and street" and, during my last inpatient stay, kept me on a liquid diet only to discharge me to residential without having solid foods in months. I don't think I had made it across the street to resi before relapsing. I signed out AMA and went straight to a program that could actually help me. Also, the automated response to contact Paula Vass (that will appear below) is just like the facility and staff, automated. I spoke to Paula years ago and was invalidated and consequently ignored. Don't take their auto-response on Yelp to indicate caring in any way. Nothing can make up for the damage Walden has caused. read more

"Another day in paradise." Would give max negative stars if i could. Everyone with bad reviews, i believe and sympathize with them 100%. I was committed into inpatient at Walden's for "ED treatment" three times from age 14-17, thanks to poor insurance. I always stayed for 1.5-2 weeks at a time. All my stays there did not help me at all. Actually made me worse. I would continuously be sent home just because i reached their "ideal weight for me" and relapsed once home. The place did not feel safe at all. I confided in other patients for the most helpful advice. NO staff was caring or helpful at the least. Not to mention the eerie feel there in general. Nasty carpets, holes in walls, etc). Also the traumatized patients would basically be told to scream it out in their rooms and wake others up at night. My last stay there, no one tried waking me up for my dinner (i'm a light sleeper, i'd know) so they woke me after midnight and told me i must drink an ensure No exceptions. Just for questioning this they immediately brought the feeding tube out, started shoving it up my nose and down my throat, then in one fast pump filled me with ensure before pulling the tube back out from my stomach to nose with a forceful pull. It hurt mentally and physically. When my mother tried to talk to someone about what happened NO ONE would give her answers. OH and When i was discharged they "lost" my vans hightops saying they didn't know where they went. Was sent out in hospital socks while it was pouring. DO NOT SEND/RECOMMEND ANYONE HERE IF YOU LOVE THEM AND DO NOT WANT TO SEE THEM SUFFER MORE THAT THEY ALREADY ARE. DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND DO NOT COMITT YOURSELF HERE. read more

I felt like the dropped me when I needed them the most. It started off as a nice program, but I continued to struggle with me eating disorder. They basically told me I either had to go inpatient, which I couldn't do, because I had a parent who was in and out of the hospital/health deteriorating or we can't help you. So of course, I chose my family and Walden discharged me with my symptoms being at their worst. They didn't even give a referral to another provider. read more

The staff there were nice. The program helped a bit but I got sent home due to inssarance issues and I had lost weight during my stay there. They left me without a plan or anything and said I had to be packed up and out by that night. I was unprepared for leaving and supprised when they didnt even give me a basic meal plan. I was expecting something other than just "you need to leave by tonight". I was also actively self harming during my stay and they knew. Im not sure what was said to my inssurance team but allowing me to leave with little to no help was unacceptable. And another problem I had was that durring one of the meal times I had put ranch on some mac and cheese and one of the staff said that I couldnt do that and that I wasnt allowed to eat my mac and cheese. I find it awful to exclude somebody who has an eating disorder from eating a certian food just because I put some ranch dressing in it. As I said, the staff were really nice but that was the only good thing about it. read more

I have mixed feelings about Walden. I have been in various levels of care the past couple of years, and my treatment (like any) had its peaks and lows. Alcott: is what it is. It's for medical stability, nothing more nothing less. I found the clinical team rather cold and most of the MHCs disengaged. You're not monitored at all. I found the best care I got was from the nurses. Of course, there were a handful of MHC that gave a damn. Thoreau: Staff was nice. Clinical team seemed cold. Most of the nurses were extremely rude and got in fights with the patients daily. Residential: I have alot of mixed feelings on. Alot of of staff had left and was replaced by people fresh out of college who seemed overwhelmed and overworked. They also didn't seem to have alot of training. Patients were often correcting them on exchanges and staff would ask patients to help new admissions prep food (taking away from their own time) because they didn't know the rules. They were often over worked and didnt know how to react on crisis situations. For example, I started choking at the table and everyone just stared at me. One of the MHCs just told me to stand up. Thankfully someone got the nurse.... PHP: Needs more staff. My location laid off some people leaving the adult program with two clinicians and one FT MHC. There would be a census of 30:2 and it is just poor quality of care. Quantity over quality shouldn't be your moto. I also feel personally impacted by alot of the staff changes and shifts and their mantialty was: we dont know why you're upset. Also I don't thing a whole program should be so focused on DBT. DBT was created for BPD and shouldn't define all groups. It works for some not all. I feel like the groups revolved around: 2 min mindful app, holding frozen fruits, or telling me to breathe. I feel processing groups and exposing the groups to topics would help people not live in such a bubble. IOP: 3 days a week (day/night) depending on your location. I found this most helpful because I could work still but staffing and groups were still an issue. read more

I was at Walden Behavioral Care twice in 2010 at Alcott and twice in 2012. I was also on the Thoreau Unit, also at Walden, in September 2011. It would be difficult to make some sort of general statement that might hold true of all of these experiences. I think a chronology pr any detailed account would most likely not be helpful to anyone finding this review at random, especially since several years have passed. That said, I never had formal inpatient nor "higher level of care" ED treatment until 30 years after I came banging down the doors of Mental Health. Why on earth it took them so long when I was plainly stating it, I'll never know. So after three decades, I figured by now, ED treatment would be State of The Art. I was sorely disappointed. Later, I found out that there simply isn't State of the Art treatment out there. Yes, there's amazing nutritional research and all kinds of alternative options out there, but no money to support these options, and very few know about them because most docs will tell patients not to try, or to stick with traditional treatment. Why keep trying things that do not work? Furthermore, I was shocked at the human rights abuses, not only at Walden, but throughout ED "care." Why was no one talking about this? Furthermore, patients who have been in the System for many years were taught that this was all they deserved, or that "treatment" trumps human rights. This is a completely illogical. No one can get well if the assumption is that to "recover," one must surrender the human rights that everyone else has, under law. We have not committed any crime because we asked for help. In fact, we're paying for "care." While at Walden I realized all this. I tried in a very small way to change things, to at least get the phones private for patients. I was shocked at the response. "You don't have human rights." I was also told that a certain room didn't exist, that I was delusional about human rights, and also told that "this is your eating disorder speaking." I highly doubt it was "disorder" speaking to Martin Luther King years ago telling him to march in the streets or petition the government. To state that a patient is delusional or "crazy" or "incompetent" or "unaware of illness" is dehumanizing. i might as well have said the sky was blue and they would have told me I was "seeing things" just to knock a patient down. I have seen worse human rights abuses. Walden is not the worst place out there, but not the best. I would suggest staying away, staying well, and avoid becoming a Revolving Door Syndrome. This Revolving Door Syndrome is the most chronic, most costly, most tragic, most wasteful, and surely most fatal medical condition out there. And it's 100% preventable if only people and communities treated each other with more caring, respect, and honesty. In 2014 I was contacted by an attorney. Apparently someone in the town of Framingham had found my blog and she had mentioned me to this attorney. He asked me if I would participate in a court case and explained what was happening. He told me that Walden was attempting to purchase land illegally by stating that it was an educational institution. But it's not. He said that I had so much material in my blog, and asked if he could use that material in court simply to illustrate the goings-on at Walden. As it turned out, the case was thrown out even before it was heard in court. I myself was not present at the time. I had sent an affidavit that I had already had signed and notarized. I found out much later on about the outcome. This case had nothing to do with stigma, but was simply a zoning issue. I was shocked that Walden administration would lead patients to believe otherwise, as it is plainly stated in the news articles. read more

undisclosed charges for zoom call. explained the concern, but warned that it will be turned over to collections agency. customer service at the Waltham center is horrible. please stay away from this place read more

I was admitted to the residential program involuntarily and here are my thoughts. It's not a vacation, it's not a hotel, it's not your home. But it's not meant to be those things, it's meant to be a care facility. It's not meant to be something you enjoy, if you liked it you would stay there forever. But, this place does what it's meant to do. The staff are kind and supportive. The food is hospital food but like I said, it's not meant to be a five star resort. The groups teach you useful coping skills if you're willing to use them. Most of the negative reviews were likely left by people who didn't want to recover. And those people would be mad at anyone who tried to make them recover, no matter how good the place actually was. However, there are some complaints. This place doesn't really know how to treat BED or ARFID. They really just treat anorexia and bulimia. The clinical teams can be invalidating at times and the atmosphere created with many sick kids at once is pretty toxic - everyone wants to be the sickest. It's not an easy thing to do or a fun place to be but Walden get's the job done. read more

Don't come here if you want to be listened to or treated like a human. The staff does not listen to the patient needs or concerns and it is impossible to get in touch with anyone. Avoid at all costs. read more

Went with our 15 yo daughter for an intake evaluation. I wasn't impressed. Impersonal, bare-bones. With about a dozen conveniently located offices state-wide, Walden is what I might have expected from a for-profit, insurance-friendly, mental health treatment company. It's really too bad that families in crisis have to "go shopping" with their anguished children to find highly competent and caring providers--but we do. They don't make parents snootier than I am when it comes to medical care for my loved ones, so trust this: If you live in western Mass, Baystate Health's Adolescent Eating Disorders Clinic is the only place you want to go. read more

Walden absolutely changed my life for the best. I was hospitalized for bulimia when I was 15, and after that, I went to Walden's intensive outpatient program for 6 weeks. I'm so happy to say that I've been fully recovered since my time at IOP! Having my mom and sister there with me made me feel like we were in this together. The program is really well structured, which gave stability for my recovery process. Expectations are clear and consistent and that made me feel like I could stick to the path and get better. I was also assigned to a therapist who made a point to listen to me and find strategies that would work for me. IOP teaches a lot of different coping skills and makes them very accessible. Because we talked about these strategies so much, they became second nature for me in my day to day life. You have to do homework in the program, which is kind of annoying but it forced me to reflect on my eating disorder and challenge it. After we settled into the rhythm of the program, it was obvious that I was getting the help that I needed and my family was finally able to support me in the way that I needed. The family based therapy model was hard at first because I come from a single-mom family. IOP prevented my mom from working as much as she would've wanted and it was definitely hard on my little sister. It was an investment that my family made in me, and it has really paid off. I'm grateful for my time at Walden and the care I received from the staff and my family. I haven't relapsed since my discharge, and I'm confident that I'll continue my life ED free. read more

I just wanted to let everyone know that Walden helped to save my little sister's life. As many who have loved someone with an eating disorder probably know, watching them struggle and having very little power over their recovery is extremely challenging and just REALLY scary. So you can probably understand that admitting that my sister needed a place like Walden was overwhelming. What I can say, is that from admission to discharge, not only was my little sister's best interests and safety considered in every recommendation that was made regarding her care, but my family and I were kept abreast of progress - or in our case - that she needed to be stepped up or down to a different level of care. Not going to lie, visiting my little sister in the inpatient unit in Waltham was terrifying--I wouldn't wish seeing a loved one in that environment on anyone...the fact that she was sick enough to be there was the hardest part. Once she was discharged to PHP and eventually to IOP, it was literally unreal to see the change in her. She went from a depleted shell of herself to making jokes and actually speaking of finishing school. I'm so proud of her for ultimately committing to recovery, but my sister, my family and I can't thank Walden enough for giving us the tools that we needed to support her, and for giving my sister the validation that recovery was worth all the hard work. Nobody wants to end up needing a place like Walden, but if someone you love is struggling with an eating disorder, Walden is a wonderful place to find healing. read more

This place made me worse off than I was before. DO NOT GO HERE. It was a complete waste of time and it put me to sleep. The employees don't listen to you. It was a waste of money. I am now leaving to find further treatment. read more

Walden Behavioral Care allowed me to change my life. I have struggled with eating disorders since my early 20s. I have struggled with body image issues my whole life. I entered Walden in August 2017 and I can say it has changed my life! I finished the program almost a year ago. The support and care is tremendous. It is the first place where the worker's understand the good, the bad and the ugly parts of disordered eating. There are no words that can express my gratitude for bringing me back to myself. They also helped bring out parts of me that were never there before such as learning to love myself. They teach things that should be taught to everyone. If you or someone you love needs help, don't just go here, but RUN here! read more

For anyone who has not been happy with the "care" from this Center please call DISABILITY LAW CENTER today at 617 723- 9125. Do not let the social media person posting after each one of your reviews intimidate you. It is another tactic to quiet you. read more

Dirty. They do not clean showers in between residents moving in or out. They reuse razors. Chairs smell like poop. They put dirty clothes in the dryer. They need to be inspected and held to simple things that protect patients from catching disease from others. read more

My experience was traumatizing and I was scared for my physical safety. During my stay, I was belittled, threatened to have my meal thrown on my bed, lied to and stolen from without reimbursement. My roommate whom staff and her acknowledge that she is overmedicated. She started stealing my toiletries on my 2nd day there. I was told by staff that she wouldn't do that. She has been there many times before and never been accused of theft. Nonetheless, staff and the DON (Director of Nursing) promised to reimburse me for toiletries stolen and used. I have severe germ issues. I caught my roommate folding my underpants, she had worn and washed. When I told staff, the DON and staff stated they would reimburse me for my belongings because I could no longer use them and my roommate stated she didn't know which toiletries she used and didn't know which clothing items she had tried on or worn. Ultimately, the DON and administrative/ executive staff refused to reimburse me for anything. Upon arrival, I stated verbally and on my written record that I have extreme fear of being in close quarters with men. I was promptly assigned a male social worker. The staff are not nearly educated or have enough experience to deal with the issues facing persons with eating disorders, never mind eating disorders with co-morbid mental illness. Actually, if you have been a patient within the last 6 months to 1 year you can be hired to work as a mental health counselor. Are you freaking kidding me??? I voiced disappointment to the DON, along with 9 other patients, regarding staff disrespect, disparaging comments, lack of understanding and assistance, and feelings of re-traumatization and fear for our mental and physical safety. She did nothing. Not one iota of our criticisms were addressed. No one felt that we were safe afterwards. One patient left during this meeting because she was afraid of the retaliation and retribution for challenging the authority and soundness of treatment. One male nurse, tried frightening me that he was going to privately chastise me for breaking a rule. I was petrified. Yes, I did break a rule, I gave my 2 sugar packets to the patient across the table from me. You are allowed 2 sugar, pepper, and or salt at any meal NO EXCEPTIONS!!! After this scary breakfast incident, I ran for my room. A nurse was yelling at me from the dining hall door to the nurses station, quite a distance away. She continued to threaten me. She divulged private HIPPA information while screaming at me publicly from down the hall. Her nursing license should be revoked. After this atrocious behavior my social worker and nurse practitioner came to my room to tell me that I was going to be discharged the next day. I plead and begged to stay because I knew I hadn't made enough progress and had not yet broken the cycle of negative coping skills, even tough at this point I was afraid for my physical safety. The DON was called in, despite it not being her shift or day to be there. She came in and started asking me, "what can we do to expedite your discharge?" I asked for my promised reimbursement. They tap danced for about an hour, while she continued to loudly ask me, "what will it take to get you out of here?" She made it clear that I would not be staying, even to the next day. At that point, I was agreeable to the course of action. As this was unfolding at the nurses station, publicly for all to see and hear, other staff came to me to disparage me, threaten me "I'm going to throw your breakfast on you bed.", they intimidated and left me feeling that I would rather re-live my 30 years of trauma history than be there another minute. All staff I interacted with from breakfast until discharge, treated me disrespectfully, spitefully, physically and mentally threatened, verbally and mentally abused, horrified at the lack of competence, and physically distanced themselves from me (when previously we got got along in somewhat of an acceptable interactions). I assume their actions were indicative of their own fear of retribution and retaliatory work assignments. I believe they were afraid to lose their jobs by defending a patient and the patient's personal and HIPPA rights. I believe that many of the incompetent staff behave the way they do because of an atmosphere of the condoned immediate and dominant violence to silence patients. By the time of my discharge, I was out the door in under 6 hours. I have been traumatized severely mentally, emotionally and physically. In my opinion I'd rather be at the Supermax jail in Shirley..... Walden is evocative of the turn of the century abhorrent sanitariums. Do whatever you can do protect yourself or family members from being placed in their environment!! read more

this place is honestly comparable to a prison. you get A LOT of your human basic rights taken away. you don't get a cellphone or computer, the tv you watch is severely censored and they barely let you go outside. instead of treating the root cause of the eating disorder (low self confidence, etc) they just force you to eat to get weight back. it's just a short term maintenance strategy rather than trying to fix the problem long term. i encourage you if you have to go here do not do inpatient (alcott) or residential. i personally had to endure residential twice and i came out of there the second time with a severe anxiety disorder. i had not experienced anxiety at all before walden.... i did have depression but not anxiety. now i have another debilitating mental health issue and am still at the same weight and point in recovery because as mentioned before i was not treated for the long term only the short term. please if you value your life you would not go here. PS PLEASE READ REVIEWS NOT RECOMMENDED. you will get a lot of good insight on things you wish you hadn't known about this place. it's mostly all true read more

I have PTSD from other things, but my time at Walden still haunts me. They lie and manipulate you to get what they want at a point in your life where you are the most vulnerable. After being there, I stopped feeling like a person. They de-humanize you. You meet with a psychiatrist pretty much once and then for 5 min right before you leave. There are no one on one counseling sessions. One of the things that still drives me crazy is a woman who was there with me who was very hard of hearing and spoke sign language. They are legally required to provide an interpreter being an inpatient site. Not only did they not provide one, but they tried to keep me from signing with her. It was horrible. They couldn't communicate with her because no one who worked there knew ASL, so she was basically kept in isolation. Can I mention again how super illegal this is and against the Ada? read more

Walden Behavioral Care has been a blessing to our family. Our daughter entered outpatient care under the care of the adolescent outpatient clinical director, and one other therapist on her treatment team. The treatment course was very very challenging but thanks to the tools her clinicians provided us, she is strong and healthy. We were also impressed with some interfacing to ease issues at her school. We arrived caring for a broken and ill daughter, and left with the tools to take her into healthy adolescence. read more