South Shore Academy

"God i can’t even tell you how terrifying this place was, i faked my entire way through it and came out WORSE than i came in, we got punished or every little thing, and any teeny tiny slip up got all of our very few rights taken away. Heather and Cella were extremely two faced and were the scariest women i’ve ever met in my life. whenever you come to the staff about a negative thought you’re having you get punished, it’s all just punishment for being mentally ill. i’ve been discharged for almost a month and i’m still hearing horror stories from my peers. it’s extremely isolated and if one person in the group does something bad the entire group gets punished, i was terrified my whole stay there, i still have nightmares about this place. the staff handles acuities TERRIBLY and yell at the residents constantly, the food was always disgusting and cold and the staff wouldn’t hesitate to refuse you food if you talked back to them. everything about this place is a nightmare.one resident got put on precautions for a fingernail and staff constantly talked bad about you, my therapist talked over me during family sessions and laughed at an apology letter i read out during a family session. you weren’t allowed to talk bad about staff or the facility on phone calls or they wouldn’t let you talk to your family, my roommate once got in trouble for saying they felt “secluded” and all the staff YELLED at them, the one time we were able to have a little fun and have a party in the community room other residents who had been punished and not allowed to come to the party came banging on the door cursing at us an all we could hear was screaming outside the door, we were also promised sparkling grape juice and special treats, which we didn’t get. now let’s discuss the school situation, so i’ve never had the privilege of going to school, did the teacher help me? well yes, for one day. on my very last day the teacher finally decided to help me because i started sobbing at the thought of going home a failure, for my whole month and a half stay she taught me nothing, she handed me work i’ve never learned and said "just try to finish it”. we also rarely had toilet paper cause the staff refused to refill it cause "it’s too much work” and they’d yell at us for using paper towel cause the toilets clog, how nice is that? idk what your child would have to do to deserve being sent here but they would have to be an absolute demon child cause man THIS PLACE SUCKS! (btw in response to the one review saying the negative reviews are only from younger girls, i am 17 "

"I went to this place for 30 days and would not recommend. Here's why: very triggering environment, staff shortages meaning lack of therapeutic services, and personally learned new methods of self injury here. It could be good for some but honestly made me worse. Some staff were amazing and helped me through tough times! Safety wise they were fairly effective. I only went out 3 times in my 30 day stay and didn't love the level system. Would recommend finding a different residential for your child if you'd like more therapeutic services."

"This facility is horrendous!! I went there when I was 13 and that place still haunts me to this day. The staff was not supportive and almost scary at some points. I understand it's a mental health facility and it needs rules and such but it was beyond restrictive. My parents were told it was a very calm environment where we could go outside...I left that facility 3 times the entire three months I was there. We had exercise but it was very old workout videos we did in a tiny space inside. It had a general depressive vibe and I STRONGLY recommend sending your child to another facility because they lied about many aspects of their program. I still have such vivid memories of patients being tackled and they didn't even give the sedative in a private setting, everyone was witness to it and it was so terrifying seeing that as a teenager. This place should be shut down bc it is not a place where you can heal and get the help you need, it's a highly restrictive environment that will most likely harm your child than help. If you have the option, send your child somewhere else!!"

"I was here I believe around 2015/2016. For a few MONTHS. This place was hell on earth. The food they feed us had such small portions I didn’t feel well most days, but if you didn’t eat a certain amount then you would be in trouble. God forbid I wake up not feeling well, I would still be force out of bed and forced to attend what they believe was helpful group therapy with learning “DBT” skills. NO. And if you didn’t do good enough by their standards they would even deny you a weekend away at home, because if you were local, you could possibly stay a few hours out or a weekend at home. I was denied one weekend for NOT MAKING SPAGHETTI WITH MY MOTHER. That is right, I didn’t make food with my mother and instead, because she was and STILL IS sick and weak, we ordered food and watched a movie. They deemed that not good enough and I had no home visit that weekend. Or the time it was written I seeked male validation- why? All because I played video games a lot and as a 15/16 year old girl I liked boys and had crushes. Or the time they let us lay on paper and draw outlines of ourselves as an art project- I overheard some nurses making fun of a resident for being bigger and being surprised she fit on the paper. Or how about making us fear to tell them our feelings, because they will take what you say- and twist it. You’ll be staying longer, and it’ll be used against you. I had to lie through my damn teeth to get out of there, it didn’t help me with anything. And they even had a nurse who admitted to be willing to “push buttons” to see if you learned or not. Please PLEASE. Do NOT go here, do NOT send your child or loved one here. It’s abusive, they gaslight you, verbally harass you, and the adult section on the first floor is no better! Stay away from here. I have so many horror stories about these awful people, they don’t deserve even a star."

"I was here in 2016. It was absolutely horrible. I was terrified my parents would send me back afterwards if I slipped up at all. Luckily they didn’t. I was there for exactly four weeks because that’s the minimum amount you could stay. I got out as soon as I could. There were a couple nice staff members. However the others were rude. I don’t want anyone else to go through this. If you don’t eat at least a certain percentage of your food (I believe it was 75%) they would punish you. There was a day or two where I didn’t eat because I felt nauseous. And they still punished me. They didn’t care that I felt sick. The groups were pathetic and I didn’t learn anything. Plus they quiz you on stuff they “teach” you which adds anxiety. Just all around a bad experience"