Bridges To Recovery

I’d say its a pretty good place.
I went there for extreme depression and bipolar disorder for one month and was glad I went. Granted, I was in a time of my life that anywhere would have helped but Bridges was efficient.
They do push the pills at first. But, most people are in extreme emotional distress and need it. If you don’t like your therapist, you can change. I even changed my room because I was scared in the ‘pool house’ room (too private for me).
The bed checks are really annoying and wake you up. They didn’t exactly tell me that they were going to be doing it so it freaked me out the first couple times. And they search your stuff when you get there, its in the contract so just read it before you pack.
Staff — The professionals were spot-​on i.e. therapists and doctors. Although my doctor was verrry young (like Doogie Howser young) and I didn’t really trust her decisions, the other docs were great. Especially the head doctor, Dr. Trevor. Stand up guy with the utmost professionalism and courtesy.
The recruitment lady was probably the nicest person I’ve ever met in my life.
The everyday office employees — the people who monitor the patients all day, give out medications, give you your ‘personal stuff’ i.e. other food you buy separate and shower stuff (no products with alcohol in the first 5 ingredients) are hit or miss. They are stuck in a tiny room with 3 other people for 8 hour shifts 24 hours a day so I can see why they would get a little snippy. For the most part they are students pursuing psych degrees at the local colleges around the area. Some are great, some are complete airheads.
They have a trainer that comes that will work out with the group and massages 2x a week. And yep, the pool is off limits… they didn’t get the licensing to let medicated people in a pool, drowning liabilities. And yea, it is fenced but you aren’t allowed to lock your bedroom door so I was ok with being fenced in. The food was great, they cater to everyone’s dietary needs; low cal, vegetarian, diabetic etc. The ‘outings’ have to be agreed by everyone (I think 6 people is the max in the Bel Air house) which can get a little territorial but my housemates were good to each other. The outings are pretty limited, and they do deny requests (no shopping, no extreme stimulus). Examples: beach walk, Venice beach, hike, museums, movies (PG-​13 and under — you can forget about an R rated movie).
The ‘theater’ is a bunch of crap. It never worked. Period.
The house its self is clean and well taken care of. There is a maid that comes by and does your laundry and makes the bed, brings fresh towels, etc. One thing I will say, the paint and decorations in the main room are a deep RED. Its quite unsettling and makes the room feel dark and closed.
Smoking — you have to ask for one cigarette at a time. The staff has to come out and light it for you. They’ll do it night or day but you can’t smoke during sessions. Obviously, no alcohol.
The sessions are what you make of them. You don’t have to go to every single one. Pretty effective on the whole, but some of the therapists are realllllllly boring and not engaging. Kind of felt like a boring lecture in college. They give ‘homework’ and its really embarrassing when nobody in the group does it and they ask to share. They take feed back (they might be a little offended) but they will change to meet the needs of the group.
You get to know the other patients there really quick and really well. I still talk with my housemates and we continue to support each other. That depends on what you make of it though.
The doctors try to suck you in for ‘at least another 2 weeks’ or more almost right off the bat. They say that you need time to develop and then maintain the habits that you have become accustomed to and need to stay longer than 30 days. I was definitely ready to leave when it came time but I can see why other people stay longer.
I’d say, if you can afford it, go for it. They don’t take insurance but will do an insurance packet that you can submit to your insurance company for reimbursement but its an extra $ 1200! And you have to ask for right away. They are lazy on this front, they just don’t want to deal with insurance companies. And they won’t do the packet retroactively, which is stupid… it seems like it would be part of the job.
Ask all the questions to clarify on costs BEFORE going. Do your research.