Caron Treatment Centers

This high-end treatment facility is gorgeous and well run. It is also very, very expensive so hopefully your insurance covers at least some of it.

The 28 day program is highly structured and 12 step focused.

I can not yet comment on after-care/out-patient treatment plans, but they are taking care of my friend very well so far - he is a dual diagnosis and in for 14 days an counting.

Receptionists and counselors were all very friendly , pleasant and knowledgeable.

We need to take the shame and stigma away from mental health issues - many of which cause "self-medication" with substances.

Manipulative, cult-like, mistreatment - Do not send loved ones here.

Horrible, manipulative, embarrassing patients, brainwashing & scare tactics. You're paying high bucks for horrible treatment of loved ones. Will update further when I'm able. They hire unqualified "therapists" without credentials and zero experience in mental health or addiction field. 34 patients to 5 therapists I was told last week. Kerri, Allison & Hillary - very defensive, don't communicate on the same page. Did not inform family or patient about their "blackout period". Sales tactics eliminate that piece, conveniently. We were informed of a 30-day blackout period AFTER our loved one was there, to then be told after 70+ days it's for the entire treatment. In detox, three patients were there who OVERDOSED WHILE AT THIS PROGRAM. They don't allow ANY private conversations with your loved one. They hire low-pay social workers and charge over 1K per day... where's the psychologists for that kind of money? People who don't manipulate, threaten, and embarrass patients. I'll be filing a formal complaint with the state and board. The take advantage of wealthy families and then completely separate you so you don't know the truth about what's actually occurring there.

They only care about money not accurate diagnosis of the patient- real scam artists. They charge over $30k for treatment- and even when patient has proven in no need of the in house stay they refuse to do anything that would limit the amount of money they can make from patients. They make up fake diagnosis and post misinformation in patient's chart to make sure they collect their fee

I have nothing but gratitude for Caron. When I felt like I was out of options, Caron was there for me and I am still sober today. A special thanks to Todd Whitmer for giving me the chance to continue my recovery journey at such a beautiful place.

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 another inpatient facility before. I got 28 days of sobriety, met some great guys, and enjoyed excellent food, but little beyond that.

Details of each part of treatment follow.

Detox: Caron is NOT a full 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 almost 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, about half 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 schedule 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 a 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.

I will begin by saying their facilities are well above average as far as treatment centers go. The food is good, the gym is nice, and there's lots of wide open space. The campus is beautiful and reminds me of a state university. Unfortunately that's where the fun ends.

I don't doubt that many of the individuals working here care about addicts. Unfortunately the ones that do (mainly the support staff) aren't running the place.

They take a very by the books, old school approach to their program. They have several programs, but they placed me in Men's 1, for people new to recovery. I've been to many rehabs and hate AA (which I told them repeatedly upon arrival).

It was 24/7 AA meetings on the weekend and they had a cult/fraternity like "brotherhood" as they called it. They even had their own chant, a spirit walk, and a magic stick they passed to an honored member each week (I kid you not). After seeing these ridiculous antics my depression worsened deeply. I was coming off all sorts of drugs, not in my right frame of mind, and they immediately tried to indoctrinate me into a cult. The meeting hall where we had large group literally looked like the inside of a church sanctuary. I have an aversion to churches and spirituality due to past issues. Needless to say, this did not help my depression or anxiety whatsoever. I got so depressed I was transferred to a psych ward. I've been to many rehabs, but never have I been to one that looks so nice & served me so poorly.

They need to focus more on mental health, meeting with clients on the weekends, focusing on therapy and medication management rather than forcing AA down your throat like a one size fits all solution. There are many amazing alternatives to AA out there such as smart recovery, recovery dharma, and non-aa support groups. I feel like they're doing a disservice to many people. I've since been clean for six months (no thanks to this place) by getting on proper medication, psychotherapy, & Smart recovery. I've met eight other people who came from Caron who did the full stay at my sober house. They come out saying how amazing AA is and talk about how wonderful the experience was at Caron. All of them have relapsed. Two of them are dead. AA works for some people, but not for most. Stop focusing on it so much. You're killing people.

I was at Caron from 8/7 - 9/25 for alcohol addiction. I contracted covid on Thursday, 2 days before my discharge date, from a CA (counselor assistant) who didn't follow protocol by not wearing a mask. I developed a fever and was extremely lethargic with muscle aches. Caron had no plan whatsoever for what to do in this situation. Their covid plan was for residents to get tested upon arrival, quarantine until results and, if negative, admit. Then we had our temperature checked twice a day. For a fever, there would be a covid test and quarantine until results. But no plan for what to do if the test was positive. No cars or vans fitted with a plexiglass barrier for a safe ride home. The plan had been for my son to pick me up on Saturday. He had my car along with my house key. There was no way that I would expose him in my small car for a 3.5 hour drive home. On Friday at 1:30 staff told me by intercom that my ride would be here at 2. I had none of my belongings as they were still in the residence I had been staying in, no house key and no food at my house and I was in quarantine. I wanted to leave Saturday as planned so that my son could stock my house with food Saturday morning and leave my key. The CEO of Caron came in and said "since you don't want your son to drive you, you have to leave now." They had a 65 year old man willing to drive me home but this was his only availability. They initially said I could just drive myself home but I didn't have a car and, even if I did I would have not been in any shape to drive 3.5 hours. The CEO truly didn't care that I had no house key, no food at home and that isolation had always been my main trigger. He just wanted me gone and was willing to risk the health of an older man to get me out. I felt somehow that he blamed me for this situation when it was carelessness of their employee that was responsible. So it was overall a terrible experience for me. I am an RN and have taken care of many covid positive patients and have managed to stay free of covid at work by adhering to safety protocols. I have been home now for 5 weeks and have mostly recovered but am still extremely tired all the time, so much of the work of getting healthy at Caron was undone by by getting covid at Caron and that could have been avoided by enforcing the mask protocol.

The reason for 2 stars instead of one is that I liked my counselor, Vanessa. I relapsed 1 week after returning home. She and Dr. McCormick followed up frequently with me at home and I felt that they really cared and were sorry about how things ended.

5 and a half years later and this place saved my life. Thank you. I now have a beautiful son, getting married soon and a life worth living for.

Would give it zero if i could. Unprofessional counseling staff. Medical portion is a wall of nursing between you and treatment staff. Could have literally died

Where to start...
I was there first time in 2002.... They truly cared. They brought my whole family in and we worked together. My original counselor Dave has died since then as well as John Caron's original dream.
I have been there several times over the decades with this struggle and each time it simply gets worse.
I won't go in to particulars. Simply go their web site and look up Our Team. I see corporate photos of some very nice people with a lot of letters after their names that mean absolutely nothing. They are so top heavy with administration.
Don't not take me as angry. I am not.
I am very disappointed. They turned in to another addiction puppy mill. When they were small my counselor Dave was in old original house with the lounge on the main floor. They replaced with the hubris of a museum.
It is now a business. Just look at the campus says it all.
In a 4 week period I saw my counselor maybe 4 times for one hour each. I saw the resident psychotherapists for two 30 minute sessions and rushed out the door. She used that time to evaluate me?
$40,000 to bounce a ball across the room or go to the gym and lift empty buckets with rope so you can learn to act as a team in recovery.
My father died from alcoholism 5 years ago. He always told me...
"Never trust a man with a bow tie."
He was right.