Embark Behavioral Health

"Bad. Very unimpressed with the staff as their primary focus seems to be keeping your child in the program for as long as possible. They follow a prescribed “one size fits all” program. Oh and literally the worst billing system I have ever encountered. No billing transparency. Expect them to randomly charge your credit with no notice or invoice. Expect them to bill you 6-12 months after you have left the program — randomly. The billing team is highly dysfunctional and has requested on multiple occasions to have me call up my insurance company and conference them in because the insurance company won’t talk to them directly. Huh? If you do use Embark - keep a ledger of every payment, and conversation as back up. Try to force them to send all correspondence via email for record keeping purposes. Refuse to pay without a full accounting of expenses and payments. And when they send your child's medical or personally identifiable information in clear text - which is a violation of HIPAA and Virginia state law — make sure you report them. Did I mention how bad the billing department is?"

"I highly advise against this location. The culture here is one of forcing the staff's ideas and narratives onto the children and parents. The staff are very self absorbed. They treat parents with disdain - they act like they are above everyone. It's as if you (the parents) are there to serve them and not vice versa. There is no consideration of working parents - you will be at their office when they tell you - and when you do show up for scheduled therapy appointments, it's not uncommon to wait 15-20 minutes for the therapist— again reinforcing the idea that, you and your time is of lessor importance than the staff. At no time did it feel like a team environment (staff + parents working together) - rather, it was the staff speaking at the parents - with a heavy bias to keep the child in the program as long as possible. As I recall, the program operates on a four-week cycle. So, if you are there on week 5, you get to do the same things you did in week one. My child became agitated with the repetition - wanting to cover topics they hadn't already made significant progress on. This became another point of contention with the therapist, who only seemed focused on keeping my child as long as insurance allowed. The doctor they have on staff is based out of New York and spends a (virtual) whole 5 - 15 minutes with the child, all the meanwhile prescribing medications rapid fire. In the end, it got so ridiculous that the therapist told my child that if she left the program early, she wouldn't get a graduation party. It was almost like they were playing a game of chicken with us. My child saw it for what it was and decided not to return. In summary, I highly recommend against this Embark location."

"The IOP at Embark at Tyrsons Corner was immensely beneficial for my child. They learned skills and coping mechanisms that will serve them well in life. As parents, we also learned so much about what our child was going through and how best to help them. The family sessions and group family sessions were invaluable. I would highly recommend this program to other families in the area. It was not the first outpatient program our child participated in but it was by far the best and most successful."

"I would strongly advise against choosing Embark as an intensive outpatient program for you or your child. I do not feel that this facility gave the care that they promised to give in any way resulting in a very negative experience. Most of the time when we tried to share opinions about the program, they were quickly shut down and they were not open to change. There is a strong lack of professionalism and communication, both things that are essential to individual progression and success within a program like this. Although I at times felt I was able to build connections with my group members, I feel as though another program whose therapists have more respect, expertise, and genuine care for each client would help make much more progress than this program has the ability to make."

"My interaction with Embark has been nothing but pleasant from the beginning. I was first introduced to this wonderful organization by Sabrina Hansen through a virtual session called "Painting with a Purpose" where it was focused on self care, mindfullness and networking with other therapist in the surrounding area. I also had an amazing tour of their new facility in Tysons Corner and I got to meet the lovely executive assistant - Jamie Howard and I could tell by the layout that it is very client centered and team oriented. I would definitely refer my patients to Embark."