Mountain Valley Treatment Center

"Mountain Valley Treatment Center provided a life changing experience for my daughter. It set her on the road to healing and provided her with a tool kit to manage the things that were robbing her of living fully. The staff is a remarkable group of people dedicated to the mission of helping the young people entrusted to them. The psychoeducation provided to me as a parent allowed me to understand with what my child was dealing and taught how to help her. Mountain Valley gave her joy back."

"I wrote a review before, but I would like to give an updated review after some introspection. I was sent to Mountain Valley (MV) by force in 2019 due to a panic disorder. While the fundamentals of exposure therapy were taught to me, they used exposure therapy to manipulate me into unfair situations. Boarding school was forced upon me as the only viable option for after treatment. Even though there was still a slight possibility I could go home, they made me research boarding schools several times and even fill out an application just a week before my discharge date. Luckily, my parent allowed me to go home. MV prides itself in nuanced, individual treatment plans. However, almost everyone I stayed with was sent away to therapeutic boarding school to “practice their skills” afterward. These schools work similarly to this program with little contact to the outside world. This was devastating for the kids who had already transitioned from long-time programs such as wilderness therapy. It seems this plan of keeping residents separate from the outside world is the offspring of previous abusive mental institutions from earlier history. MV also used “exposure therapy” in a way to promote its center. One of my assigned exposures was to post a photo of the MV logo on my social media. I watched as multiple other residents were assigned to leave 5-star reviews on Google, as well. I don’t think it’s fair to assign these ‘exposures’ when they don’t therapeutically benefit the residents at all. On top of this, when asked why there were so many 1-star reviews on Google, the director at the time responded saying that it was just kids who didn’t want to be there. My experience with individual therapy was insulting. I reported years worth of s*xual abuse that I had not come forward about and we only spent one session talking about it. My therapist said she would rather work on my anxiety. She also refused to diagnose me with a phobia that I have dealt with my entire life. Any time I disagreed with something she was saying, she would note that I ‘complained’ about it. It was not an empathetic approach in the slightest. I experienced multiple unprofessional accounts with staff at MV. There were several times when resident safety was not taken into account. Such as the time a staff member made a nut-allergy resident hold a bag of seeds that ‘may contain peanuts.’ Another time, the staff left me alone overnight with just a single male staff member even though they had knowledge of my fear of men due to the abuse I previously suffered. On top of this, the staff consistently made jokes surrounding my phobia (vomit) with no regard for my sensitivity surrounding it. Most of the ‘planned activities’ (which a lot are actually just winged by untrained staff members) are not therapy-based. You will be forced to hike and partake in fitness even if you are not an active person. You will be punished for missing any module and threatened with the missed activity “setting back” your treatment. If you do not go to fitness every morning at 7 am, you will have to go to bed earlier than all the other residents. A few years after MV, I ended up with a completely different diagnosis of autism which explained my panic disorder. Autism is a diagnosis often missed in women, so I do not blame MV for this. However, the treatment of my anxiety provided by MV does not fit how I go about managing my mental health now. Overall, treatment at MV has traumatized me. I still have nightmares about being stuck in treatment, with no control over my next move, almost 4 years later. If you are considering sending your child to any inpatient facility, please think twice and look at other options. Breaking Code Silence (an organization) has a list of alternatives on their website."

"Mountain Valley Treatment Center saved my daughter’s life and equipped her with life-long strategies to manage her severe anxiety disorders. We searched long and far for help and it was the only team of specialists that could help her find a path forward. I highly recommend this treatment center for adolescents and young adults who seek valuable and life-long coping skills. We are so grateful for the incredible services of Mountain Valley Treatment Center."

"After struggling for years with anxiety, missing countless days school, and cycling through multiple treatment programs; I went to Mountain Valley for about 150 days, including an extended stay to smooth my transition back to school and the world beyond Mountain Valley. My therapist was terrific and the staff were both helpful and caring, making me feel much more comfortable during my stay. Since leaving, I have been much more confident and far less anxious throughout my life. My anxiety does not stop me from being me anymore and I can confidently say this is due to my experiences at Mountain Valley."

"Mountain Valley Treatment Center changed, and saved, my life. I am forever grateful for the caring staff who helped me through some of the most challenging times of my life. Mountain Valley is where I have made everlasting friendships that I still cherish seven years later. Mountain Valley is where I truly began to live my life again. The treatment is challenging, but is well worth the time and effort. The work that happens here is truly amazing, and I can't thank Mountain Valley enough for all they have done for me."