Note: This is about my personal experience with the Men’s Relapse Program at Caron in PA. It does not address other programs at Caron or any other Caron locations. I’m sure other people’s experience will vary.
Summary: Most of the treatment I received was simply group-based, self-help therapy with the other men on the unit. There was surprisingly little involvement from therapists or other Caron staff. My treatment plan was not really “personalized”, and many of the group lectures were very basic for someone like me who’s been in AA/NA and other inpatient facilities before. I got 28 days of sobriety, met some great guys, and enjoyed excellent food, but very little beyond that.
Details of each part of treatment follow.
Detox: Caron is NOT a true medical detox facility. They offer oral medications only. I needed IV treatment, and was immediately sent (via a very expensive ambulance ride) to their “partner”, Reading Hospital. This was the filthiest, most inept facility I have ever experienced. If you are a candidate for oral detox, expect up to a 16-day taper – yes, that’s right, you might be medicated for over half of your 28-day stay.
Therapists: I had a total of two clinical hours with my assigned therapist over a 28-day stay. Intake was done by another therapist. The outbound meeting was extremely superficial. My “personalized” treatment plan was at least 75% the same as my therapist’s other patients (we compared notes). Despite having only two clinical hours of 1:1 time with me, my therapist felt qualified to make aftercare recommendations; based on what, I have no idea. My therapist’s only insight was that I have issues with shame – pretty obvious for anyone suffering from an addiction. My therapist’s door was always closed, and I resorted to stopping him when he was returning from lunch to get a minute of his time. We reviewed less that half of my assignments together, and he never updated my treatment plan to reflect assignments that were given after the initial draft. It took over a week to get the initial draft of the treatment plan, so 25% of my time was wasted that could have been spent on productive work. I don’t understand that delay given that most of the treatment plans for his patients were much the same.
Process Group (small group breakouts): These are where I was expected to go over my assignments with the group for feedback, and to process other issues. However, these were almost never broken up into small groups. 16-22 men in a group makes it impossible to accomplish what these groups were supposed to be for. In addition, often the therapist running the group was not from our unit, and didn’t even know our names.
Large Lectures: These included all units in Caron, and as such, were not usually appropriate for anyone with experience in an AA/NA program or a prior inpatient facility, which is what the Relapse program was supposed to consist of. Additionally, at least 50% of the presenters basically just read what was on the (pre-canned) viewgraphs, and showed no particular aptitude for the topic when asked questions. Some of the lectures were excellent, but they were in the minority. I viewed these as primarily “filler” material to have at least something on the agenda twice or three times a day.
Group Self-Help: This is the majority of the treatment I received. Just men on the unit talking in the TV lounge or at meals. Most of the patients were extremely experienced and very helpful. Some of the patients had no business being in the Relapse unit, since they didn’t meet the qualifications and had no experience with prior programs or AA/NA. Apparently, in talking with them, they demanded to be in the Relapse unit instead of Level One, despite not meeting the criteria, and Caron was happy to take their money and allow them into the Relapse unit. This often brought discussions, groups, and AA/NA meetings down to the very basic level. Caron got the cash, the patients who actually belonged in the Relapse unit paid the price.
Nightly AA/NA/Dharma Meetings: Two nights a week there were alumni speaker meetings for the whole Caron community. Caron therapeutic staff did not generally attend these meetings. These were typical of AA/NA speaker meetings – some very good, some not so good. The other five nights were patient-run meetings on the unit, again, with no Caron staff attending. No H&I meetings were ever brought in. I got to attend one off-site AA meeting in the time I was there.
Psychology: My psychology experience consisted of an intake meeting with standard questions, and a very short outbound meeting, again, with standard questions.
Psychiatry: I never saw a psychiatrist during my stay.
This represents my personal experience with the Men's Relapse Program in Caron PA. I suggest you solicit other opinions, as people's experience is bound to vary.
