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American Addiction Centers National Rehabs Directory

Caron Treatment Centers Pennsylvania

243 North Galen Hall Road, Wernersville, Pennsylvania, 19565
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Patient Reviews

Overall Ratings
  • 4.0
    Avg. score from 136 reviews
  • 4.1
    Accommodations & Amenities
  • 3.7
    Treatment Effectiveness
  • 4.2
    Meals & Nutrition
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Jesse F
  • Accommodations & Amenities
  • Treatment Effectiveness
  • Meals & Nutrition
I was a hopeless meth and opiate user. Magic mountain saved my life and I enjoy life now. There’s life after drugs and alcohol and it’s a better one.
W
  • Accommodations & Amenities
  • Treatment Effectiveness
  • Meals & Nutrition
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.
Eunice
  • Accommodations & Amenities
  • Treatment Effectiveness
  • Meals & Nutrition
This will be a long but honest post. This place was a total waste of money. And let me just say, I’ve been to 5 treatment centers ranging from a place like this to ones where people are literally coming off the streets. First of all, I learned the exact same things in every place. Fancier place, same info is all. I ended up leaving early bc I was fed up with my counselor who was a total joke. You would think with the amount of money they take, they would hire the best of the best, but maybe they spend it all on the facilities and food. No surprise, I relapsed just as I did after any rehab and I called with my head down in shame begging to come back. They told me my only option was to do like 2 weeks of treatment and I must go to a halfway house, no negotiations (I wanted to go in for at least another month). The halfway house they wanted me to go to was 10k a month btw. They also had a tone as if to say “I told you so” since I left early. I was shocked by how they handled someone begging and saying I’m sorry, you were right and I need help. There was another rehab I left early and went back to (yeah, I was one of those addicts lol) and this place welcomed me back with open arms. In fact, they had a whole policy that regardless of if you leave AMA (against medical advice) or not, they will not turn away someone who might need help again in the future. Why even work in treating addicts if there’s no real empathy? I didn’t take their offer. Instead, I completely relocated to a new state with the determination to change my life and several years after my experience at Caron, I’m sober and doing great, no thanks to them. They actually are the reason why I chose to not go back into treatment again and lose faith in the people who are working in positions to help and try this leap of faith in moving. Your mindset is the number one most important thing in getting sober. Then, I truly believe that’s when rehab or however you choose to get sober will work. Also, the type of people I was with at Caron were terrible. Basically women whose rich husbands forced them to go to rehab bc they drank too much wine. We went to an AA meeting with a different group once and a girl from that group told a dark and harrowing story about her drug addiction-a reality so many of us addicts know. Afterwards, one woman in my group actually spoke in disgust about how she couldn’t believe some of the things this girl has done and how she didn’t want to hear stories like that. Ummm, does this woman not realize she’s in the EXACT SAME rehab? She might think she’s better but somehow ended up in the same place lol. A lot of other women agreed. I recommend this rehab if you want to be pretentious and snobby and act like you’re better than those “other addicts” whose lives actually went to crap from addiction and want genuine help.
KT
  • Accommodations & Amenities
  • Treatment Effectiveness
  • Meals & Nutrition
went here twice, left in tears both times and it wasn\'t because I \"wasn\'t ready.\" this place is pretentious, punitive, lacks diversity, has cookie cutter treatment regimens, and I\'ve seen much prettier treatment centers in more desirable places. I don\'t know if they take insurance these days, but they didn\'t when I went. $80k wasted and I the supervisor and counselor I dealt with was a Master manipulator. This place sent me right back to drinking. I am sober today thanks to a place that may not have the \"reputation\" but they cared about patients not just walking around puffing up their egos. ill never step foot near that campus again and I would suggest you go just about anywhere else.
Katrina
  • Accommodations & Amenities
  • Treatment Effectiveness
  • Meals & Nutrition
I read the other reviews and I was surprised to read such negativity. It\'s a rehab, not a spa or resort. When I was at caron I was treated very well. I got what I as a patient put in. I needed to figure out where I went wrong after ten years of sobriety and my counselors and group reminded me that life\'s not always perfect and to dust myself off and keep pushing forward. Meals were healthy and lots of variety. There were plenty of snacks provided on the floor. Groups started at 7am and ended early evening. It wasn\'t just aa/na meetings. I attended many groups based on trauma and grief therapy. Started EMDR with a certified emdr therapist. The clinical staff were amazing and really listened when I didn\'t feel well. Some of the CA\'s weren\'t the best, but the good outweighed the bad for sure. I only wish we could have got more than 15 minutes for video chat on visitation days. Thank you caron, you gave me my spark back!