When looking for a residential treatment facility thru a referral line I was told that I would recieve a call from a counselor at a facility chosen from hundreds that would best fit the needs of my daughter. A very nice man called to explain the program. He was very kind and took all the time in the world to discuss my situation and assure me that their trained staff and facility would be great. He then mentioned that they we should schedule an intervention with interventionalist they could refer. When ask if there was a "name " for the facility or website he directed me to " Treatment for Success"... Here it does describe a non-traditional approach to treatment, but aside from a few things sounding a bit strange it never set off any "red flags". I scheduled the intervention for $4k and it was not until my daughter was on her way to the airport that the Interventionalisnt brought up the name VISTA BAY. I ask what that was? And he said it is the name of the facility... My daughter arrived safely and they contacted me with updates.By this time I was reading these reports on the internet and When the staff member said that my daughter"was doing well detoxing, that she was smiling, laughing and making friends." This was my first huge red flag, this is exactly what another parent had written in another report, his exact words verbatim. Then he told me that my daughter wanted him to tell me she was sorry for giving me a hard time and to thank me for sending her there, because she was so happy to be there. The phrase " hard time" is not a phrase I had ever heard her use and later, (after talking with my daughter) she had not said that.
Due to an a long weekend and Holiday I had not paid the facility yet, the $34k, non - refundable up front charge for treatment. With all the information i was reading and due to the fact that they had mis led me regarding the actual name of the facility I decided to pick my daughter up. I now know that most facilities refund a pro-rated portion of their fees if your child leaves. Vista Bay will not refund a penny. I did find out that claims there are no licensed counselors, doctors, etc is true. The program is run entirely by the graduated, which may have been ok, if they had been honest about that. The material used is all that of LR Hubbard, which again may have been ok, but the fact that it was all completely omitted is my biggest problem... The staff was extremely friendly, and yes they did have all the time in the world to talk about your situation and make you feel they are there to help, which may also be true, but I personally was not willing to risk paying for something that was so contoversial. There was no way that I could speak with my daughter to discuss the program prior to paying the 34K... When I picked up my daughter the staff was very friendly, we were able to get all her belongings, including her ID. I have taken her to a different facility. And actually I don't doubt that Vista Bay has success getting people off drugs, But I feel they need to be forthcoming regarding the fact that this is run entirely by members of the church of scientology and all material used was written by the founder.
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