The Emily Program - Residential Eating Disorder Treatment Center 2230 Como Avenue, Saint Paul, MN 55108

"i was here in november-january of 2022. i had a behavioral contract from my first stay and i felt like i was held to a higher standard than those around me. i would be punished for things they were perfectly allowed to do. my first therapist denied this entirely. i am trans and wasnt allowed a pass to get a haircut even though it made me severely dysphoric to have my hair that long. my friends were disrespected and accused of lying on multiple occasions. for christmas we got a book about weight loss. the gifts were donations and while i am grateful that we got stuff they should have at least gone through it. they wouldnt remove things with ed content to expose us to triggers. it didnt work. jocelyn was very rude to my friends and i and said we would lie. my therapist morgan and dietitian devon however were very nice people. devon made me angry sometimes but i know she cared and morgan always helped when i had breakdowns, which was often. edts brittany and izzy were amazing. izzy always gave me crosswords from the newspaper to solve. however i didnt feel prepared for the “real world” when i left. it was a difficult transition and i wish i was more prepared for it"

"We are so grateful that this crucial care is available in our twin cities, and that our insurance approved the care. Our child has needed residential treatment for several months, partly because a digestive disorder (rumination syndrome) complicated the eating disorder. We have been so impressed with how the care team acknowledged the rumination syndrome, seeking to understand the role it played and how to manage treatment accordingly. (We have been in other programs that did not acknowledge the rumination at all, which made it impossible to really see the whole picture of the disorder and therefore how to treat it.) The care team truly cares for our child and our family. Specifically, Alice and Shanell have worked so hard, offering steadfast knowledge, patience, and encouragement to us all. They helped to bring our child back to good health, back to life. We are forever grateful."

"i went to res from june-july in 2021. i was there for 5 weeks, (in treatment for 6 months total) i had a lot of ups and downs, especially with my brothers medical issues and me being far from home. i loved most of the edts. there was one edt that was mean, petty, and just didn’t care about the residents though. my brother had his cancer removal surgery while i was there, and the staff were nice and respectful about it and let me call my parents to check in anytime i wanted. there was a week or two where i was sick and throwing up from any food i ate, and they kept blaming me for purging when i explained multiple times that purging was never even a symptom of mine, and i was under constant watch by staff. they wouldn’t let me step outside during that time. so i wasn’t able to go outside into the yard for about 10 days, even just to sit at a table. but that was probably the worst of it. overall i give it 3/5 stars. it’s a decent place to go if you’re ready to recover."

"terrible place. they are completely unfunded and run out of food! the kids are expected to eat some of the same stuff everyday and it’s all not nutritious. there is also no water intake. they have unrealistic expectations for a child with an eating disorder. the kids are treated with no respect, staff is rude and unqualified. the supervisor has no training or degree on mental health nor eating disorders yet still involves herself with the community and says triggering things for the kids. would not go here or bring your children to this facility at all. all they care about is money."

"We brought our daughter here in 2020 and it was a very professional, warm, therapeutic place. I am seriously bummed at how much it has gone downhill. In 2022, staff took notes on our private conversations during visiting hours without our consent. THEN staff discussed these notes with each other in earshot of our daughter. When we filed a grievance, there was no acknowledgement that this even happened: "While visiting hour conversations are not documented, staff may use this time to work..." Umm, really? A summary dismissal? Our conversation WAS documented. After such an egregious, treatment-compromising mistake, this feels like gaslighting my daughter. That is only my top complaint, the last straw in a string of other lesser complaints about TEP in its current state. I'm adding a second star for my 2020 experience, because they were legitimately awesomely helpful before. They can do better, and our kids NEED them to do better."