Paradigm Treatment - San Rafael

"I have no complaints about the therapists, they were amazing at their job, I loved talking to each and every one of them! My main issue is with the other staff. There were many times where they were either understaffed, or just didn't know how to control the situations around them. It began to feel like they had no idea what they were doing and that they hated their job. There were times when staff would try to forget any serious stuff, and if they brought it up to their higher ups, nothing was done about it. The most memorable staff in my opinion, out of all the CA's, was Perris, Bre, Breezy, and Mariah. They were the ones who were best at their job, and it made them nice and fun to interact with. I'm not pinning blame on anyone other than the higher ups who fail to listen to the complaints of the clients and their employees. I had conversations with a staff member about how when she would put in a complaint for us, nothing would come from it. Two of my friends have made a review as well. We agree that there is an issue with staff that needs to be figured out. The lead CA was also very aggravating when in a serious situation, or if a client was having a breakdown or upset, he would use the word "Bud" or "Buddy" despite me and another client expressing how it made us upset, and how we didn't appreciate it because it felt condescending. On top of that, on one of our outings they had been underprepared and didn't have a snack for a diabetic patient, luckily someone else there had something for them. That same day, they didn't have my inhaler when I needed it. They never wanted us to talk about when someone would AWOL. Majority of the time that would only cause issues. When clients would express worry for our friends, and ask if the person who went AWOL was okay or safe, they would refuse to tell us. Despite this being a place to help mentally ill teens, all it did was make most of us angry and invalidated. Not to mention that when there was clients who caused issues or affected the other clients, nothing would come of it. There were many situations were clients needed to be separated, however the staff wouldn't intervene till it escalated into an argument. Shortly after I left I heard that 2-3 staff members either quit, or were fired. I would also like to say that even when clients would have breakdowns to the point they were unable to attend group, they were just simply told to do "Therapeutic work" despite that not being what they needed. There was also unnecessary moments where staff would be overheard talking poorly about clients. Overall, I highly do not recommend this place, and I wish the best for Alex, Michio, Ashley, Molly, Katrina, Chef Rafael, Perris, Breezy, Bre, and Mariah. They were the best staff there, and I appreciated them my entire time there. They made it pretty okay."

"The therapists were great and helped me in so many ways, but the rest of the staff don’t do a very good job at running the place. I went days without power in my room and they decided to take a photo shoot of the house for their website instead of fixing the power. The only reason I got the power back in my room was because my parents had to email her several times. The staff there knew it was an issue and had even reported it to the higher ups many times and it took a week before they even acknowledged it was a problem. Mind you this was during the summer time so it was impossible to sleep without a fan and we had to use lanterns just to get ready in the morning because he had no lighting. I think the actual therapists are wonderful but there is a very big problem with the management of the facility and It made the stress of being in a residential even worse."

"My first two weeks there were okay considering I just got out of the worst place ever. At first it was welcoming even though I was not quite used to the strict schedule and structure, after my third week there I realized the CA’s (clinical assistants) had standards for every client and it was different for each client. The head CA was extremely rude and everything had to go his way he was extremely unprofessional even calling the clients “bud” if they were having a genuine breakdown. Some of the staff were very invalidating I told one of the CA’s how I was feeling and instead of getting the support or getting me a therapist she yelled at me and scolded me. This was only the beginning. I remember this kid was making a very annoying noise and it was triggering people with noise repetition and instead of asking the kid to listen to us and be respectful. They yelled at us and said we were bullying him and excluding him. This lead to a long three day argument. I felt so invalidated and not listen too I actually AWOLED on my second or third week. If you are someone who has outbursts, panic attack or anger issues, I wouldn’t recommend this place considering they do not know how to handle it. I had a very bad panic attack were I was unable to breath and the head CA looked at me and said “okay since you can’t go to group can you get your binder” completely ignoring the fact that I was having a medical emergency. In my time there 3 CA’s quit because of the lack of respect that they were getting from they’re other coworkers. One of the CA’s that quit said she was almost fired for standing up for the clients when they were being treated badly by other clients. She also mentioned that the head CA accused her of being on drugs. They were always understaffed and you were constantly being watched all the time. Being around a CA was like having a friend that would constantly back stab you I think the only thing I genuinely liked about this place was the chef who genuinely cared about the clients and how they felt he would even recognize when I wouldn’t eat and offered me a alternative. The friends I made there were amazing and we talk every single day. If your kid has trouble with anger issues or severe anxiety I would not recommend this place considering the lack of maturity and being unprofessional."

"chandra is without a doubt the best therapist on planet earth. melissa is so amazing so is alex. a lot of the old staff are gone but i love them so much and they helped me a lot, especially alison. there were times where it was really hard to be here but this place honestly saved my life and i met some of my best friends here. if you’re looking for a trustworthy residential, definitely send your kid here!!!!"