Kartini Clinic for Children and Families

"This place would be more successful to punish criminals than help struggling kids recover. the amount of times i was belittled, accused of drug use bc i actually ate my food and stayed positive, and forced into very uncomfortable physical activities was unreal. favoritism is rampant, and the human beings put through this program are treated less than. I felt like an object, and have never experienced depression until i went there. Kartini also recommended a therapist that later told me word for word “you will never recover”. I have since recovered, no thanks to any of kartini’s efforts. Please listen to the patient’s reviews, this place not only ruins mental health further than is ever necessary, but does NOT set children up for future recovery success. Please, please, send your child literally anywhere else. It has been nearly 4 years and I still haven’t recovered from how downright traumatizing the whole experience was. I’ve had amazing doctors that helped me, kartini harms. Notice how the only reviews that get genuine responses are the positive ones? They don’t care. edit: “we always welcome the scrutiny” so y’all got sass but no response? cute."

"believe the patients. we have experienced it, and there's no way for parents to understand. realize that all the positive reviews come from outsider point of veiws. it's been over 2 years since my time here, but it was horrible and honestly traumatizing. i agree with every other negative comment i've seen. i left kartini hating myself even more. weight restoration isn't going to help if you don't deal with the mental part of the disorder. i had a re-check with doctor moshtael about a year ago and it was so horrible. she always made me feel so guilty and i completely shut down during my appointments wuth her. i left my recheck sobbing so hard i couldn't breathe and refused to stay for the rest of it. i'm so thankful to be gone. please go somewhere else for help"

"I went here the summer between my 8th grade and freshman year, I am now 19 so take my account with a grain of salt because it is possible they have improved since I have been there. I can confidently state that this clinic not only didn’t help but actively made my eating disorder worse. To begin the meal plans are heavily focused on getting you up to an “ideal weight”. They have no regard for the physical pain one goes through when transitioning from eating practically nothing to three meals a day plus snacks. I spent days at a table in tears because I was in physical pain from the amount of food. Then I was shamed for having to drink the provided protein shakes in order to make up for what I didn’t complete within the timed meal. The amount of food expected was honestly horrific and the plan is extremely generic. Honestly you’d think for a well established program they’d have a more personalized nutrition plan. The staff that worked in the rooms with us were amazing, although the doctors and founders were difficult to be around. I had one blatantly talk to me about “empty calories” while I was being treated for anorexia. The whole program is designed to get you back to a healthy weight but lacks anything that would help beyond that. As soon as I left I returned to old habits because all I was taught was how to hopefully distract myself from the problem. Distraction did not solve my ed, it made me believe I was better when in reality I was still very much a slave to my disorder. I would absolutely not recommend this program for children struggling with anorexia in specific. It is possible the other parts of their program are beneficial but I wouldn’t risk it."

"The staff at Kartini Clinic is so helpful and knowledgeable. The medical team is top notch! Our child made great progress under Kartini's care and guidance. Communication with us as a family was outstanding and so organized. It's overwhelming to begin such a time intensive program, but they do everything possible to communicate clearly about appointment times, expectations, etc. Ironically, while our goal was to get the help our child needed and get out, it was actually hard to leave because we had come to feel like part of the Kartini family! We will always be grateful for their care and concern for our child during a challenging time!"

"Can’t say enough about Kartini Clinic and the Kartini staff. They saved my daughters life. They work with families and have an amazing way to help your kid get through the hard times of eating disorders. Highly recommended. You, as a family have to work together for this to work. Is a lot of work, but with Kartini’s help is very doable."