Question About Hazelden

[velvet2000]

Someone here went there so I thought this would be a good place to ask!

I met someone today who's daughter went through Hazelden for 24 and under in Minnesota as well (Plymouth?). She said that Hazelden was good but after a month the girls have to go to "Hazelden extended" if they want more recovery and so her daughter was going to some other state to stay in rehab. She also made a comment of something along the lines that boys get to stay longer and have full treatment but girls don't. When she described "Hazelden extended" she said they can't have any music or books and that they can't be left alone without being escorted by someone on a higher level. She didn't know too much else about it. There was a real name for the "extended" but I can't remember what it was. Does anyone know anything about this? She also told me that since her daughter got out of Hazelden she's been having anxiety attacks in crowds and she'd never had that before, and some other things which sounded strange. However this girl's been in a long strong of rehabs in a row so she may just be acting antisocial because she's been isolated. books and that they can't be left alone without being escorted by someone on a higher level. She didn't know too much else about it. There was a real name for the "extended" but I can't remember what it was. Does anyone know anything about this? She also told me that since her daughter got out of Hazelden she's been having anxiety attacks in crowds and she'd never had that before, and some other things which sounded strange. However this girl's been in a long strong of rehabs in a row so she may just be acting antisocial because she's been isolated.

[Anonymous]

I was the poster in question who attended HCYF in Plymouth, Minnesota. Everyone who I talked to while I was there who had been to previous treatment programs best described it as, "The Cadillac of Treatment Centres".

As far as the extended care program went, it was a male-only program which was recommended for patients who weren't deemed ready to leave, and needed extra treatment. All patients (both male and female) who go to Hazelden however are given aftercare recommendations to halfway houses before they are discharged.

The only mobility restrictions that were placed on patients at Hazelden were that a counsellor was required to escort anyone who needed to go to the opposite sex's area of the building and that physical contact was not allowed between males and females (for obvious reasons). There were no "levels" per-say that differentiated one patient from another aside from step work. The only people who enforced the rules were (certified) counsellors. It's funny how there was never an incident of "acting out" that required physical restraint while I was there, I guess there's something to be said for one's attitude being a reflection of their environment.

Having just gotten out of AARC, I was amazed with the leeway that patients at Hazelden were given. Eg) On my first day I had to continuously remind myself that I didn't have to ask permission for basic functions like using the washroom. Additionally, they used an ethos of care and kindness in treatment as opposed to the AARC method of punishment and corrosive mental manipulation. The treatment options at Hazelden were fantastic as well as a tool to assist my own recovery. Things such as personal therapy sessions (which I found most helpful to get me out of my AARC'ed mindframe and to help me deal with my resentments towards AARC), and relapse prevention sessions were all huge assets.

I was able to complete my step 5 while there (in only 35 days) and I feel that writing and discussing it with the Chaplain (as opposed to St. Vause  :roll:) was what keeps me clean today.

In regards to the girl who didn't have a good experience there, well, I doubt that I would have taken the most out of it either if I hadn't already experienced the alternative; so if I could thank AARC for anything, it would be for that reason alone.

[velvet2000]

Thanks for the response. I didn't speak with the client, I spoke with her mother. I don't think her daughter had a bad experience there, she just wasn't ready yet to go back out to normal life and she needed more treatment. The aftercare program that I was concerned about may have been one that was recommended by Hazeldon but not affiliated. It was that "aftercare" center that worried me. But it is odd that males get to stay and not females. Any idea what it's set up that way? I would have thought that Hazeldon has plenty of money to branch out as large as they please.