Skyland Trail (Adult), Atlanta, Georgia

My daughter went to Skyland Trail when drug therapy alone was not getting the result and the drugs themselves becoming ineffective or constantly needing change. This program is based on the person and is very immersive,… and exhausting using her words. The program has given her knowledge, strength, and skills to continue on her health recovery journey. She thought the medical staff was helpful with treatment and helping to identify drugs that may be more effective in her treatment plan. She liked the "non hospital" environment and her private accommodations, allowing freedom of movement and interaction with others in the program. The socialization built into the program made her feel not alone with her problems. Bottom Line: She says you get out of it what you put into it, and she worked hard and she says time will tell as she continues her healing journey strengthened by the program.

We will forever be grateful to the counselors and staff at Skyland Trail for the help provided to our son. They were incredibly helpful to him and kept us in the loop every step of the way. This is clearly one of the… best facilities in the country in being able to deal comprehensively with mental health crises. Before we found Skyland, we were struggling to find consistent and knowledgeable care in the Atlanta area. If you visit, you will understand the difference. We can only say great things about the care at Skyland.

Our experience with Skyland Trail was very positive, and I’m grateful for the role it played in our daughter’s journey. As this was our first experience with residential treatment, I was initially unsure what to expect.… Skyland Trail provided structure and support while helping my daughter build self-awareness, confidence, and resilience. I especially appreciated the coordination among her treatment team. Family therapy with Dr. Bruce was particularly beneficial, and we only wish we could have had more sessions with him. Our daughter felt the staff were kind and genuinely wanted to help, and I agree. The staff members I engaged with balanced professionalism and warmth. The step from residential to transitional housing could have been smoother with earlier guidance applying for affordable public transportation. Overall, the program provided meaningful support and helped give our daughter a stronger foundation for continued growth. I would recommend Skyland Trail to families seeking structured, longer-term residential care for a young adult who is working toward greater stability and self-sufficiency.

One star is more generous than this experience deserves. Before admission, Skyland Trail told our family to expect a stay of at least 15 days and told us that insurance authorization had been obtained for that period.… She arrived on Thursday. She reported receiving no scheduled therapy or treatment programming over the weekend. Early the following week, Skyland Trail told her she needed to leave. I initially arranged an evening flight, but Skyland Trail told me it could not transport her to the airport that night. I therefore purchased a 9:30 a.m. flight the following day. Skyland Trail still did not provide transportation, leaving me to arrange an Uber for a patient traveling to another treatment facility. Because transportation was not provided that evening, her departure was delayed until the following morning—even though she had already been told that her admission was ending. Skyland Trail’s attorney later stated that claims were submitted for seven days. We dispute whether that billed timeline accurately reflects the treatment and programming actually provided. Watching the treatment plan we had been led to expect collapse into an abrupt discharge and an Uber to the airport was appalling. We paid $4,752 upfront. Skyland Trail’s attorney subsequently asserted in writing that she had been admitted for seven days. That characterization does not match our documented timeline of events. The attorney also stated that Skyland Trail would retain $3,433.32 and refund $1,318.68. We dispute aspects of the care, timeline, and billing and have filed formal complaints with the appropriate Georgia authorities and our insurance carrier. After I criticized the experience publicly, I received a lawyer’s letter demanding removal of my review. That response did not rebuild my confidence—it eliminated what little remained. I would never choose Skyland Trail again, and I would not recommend it to anyone I love. Families considering this facility should obtain every promise in writing: anticipated length of stay, insurance authorization, treatment plan, weekend programming, discharge criteria, transportation arrangements, refund terms, and exact financial responsibility. Verify everything independently and preserve every communication. Our family sought stability and professional care during a crisis. What we experienced was an abrupt reversal, disputed billing, inadequate departure coordination, and then a lawyer’s demand that I remove my public account of the experience.

Our young adult loved one graduated from Skyland Trail today, and I am filled with gratitude for the care, compassion, and support our family received during their 90-day stay. Before our loved one was admitted to… Skyland Trail, we were skeptical after reading some of the negative Google reviews. However, we did not have any other option left, and we decided to move forward. For the past three years, we had felt increasingly clueless and helpless watching our loved one struggle with mental health challenges. Skyland Trail not only provided exceptional care for our loved one, but also offered our entire family an extraordinary amount of support, education, and guidance. The level of care and support we received from Skyland Trail SURPASSED ALL OF MY EXPECTATIONS. Our loved one's primary therapist, Emily McFarland, is truly exceptional. Her expertise as a therapist is matched by her high intelligence, and deep empathy. She became an important mentor to our loved one, who had spent many years remaining silent and isolated while carrying internalized trauma, pain, and grief. During our biweekly calls with Emily, we were continually touched by the genuine care and concern she showed for our loved one. Her guidance made a profound difference. Outside the biweekly calls, I emailed Emily many times with many questions or even concerns. Emily always responded almost immediately, and addressed all my questions and concerns with immense clarity. We also received excellent family therapy from Jessica McMorris, another outstanding therapist. Like Emily, Jessica is both brilliant and compassionate. She helped us understand what our loved one was experiencing while also helping us grow and communicate more effectively as a family. We learned so much from her, and we grew significantly as a family through that process. We are also deeply grateful to Dr. Murphy, our loved one's psychiatrist; Chris Wiley, the care coordinator; and Clara Light, the therapy coordinator. Each of them demonstrated tremendous professionalism, empathy, and dedication—not only toward our loved one, but toward our entire family. When we arrived at Skyland Trail, we felt lost and unsure of what to do next. Today, as our loved one graduates, we leave with a much greater understanding, a renewed sense of hope, and immense gratitude for the people who supported us along the way. Thank you, Skyland Trail, for caring not only for our loved one, but for all of us. We will always be grateful for the difference you made in our lives.

Prior to scheduling an appointment for an annual preventative care visit with the Wellness Clinic, I made every effort to verify that it would be covered by my insurance. After providing my insurance information, I was… initially told the visit would not be covered. I called my insurance company, and they confirmed that the provider was listed as in-network and that I was entitled to one fully covered annual visit each year. When I called the office back, the receptionist admitted the information she had given me was incorrect and that her supervisor initially misunderstood her inquiry about my insurance coverage. She said I was correct and it was covered. That should have been my warning sign to not continue. On the day of my appointment, I waited over an hour for the physician to get there. While waiting, I spoke with the nurse briefly. She stated that I would schedule a follow-up appointment before I left (note that at this time I hadn’t even met with the doctor). The nurse attempted to draw my blood but was unsuccessful, so I was later given a form to go to Quest Diagnostics for them to do the blood draw. I met with the doctor and now the codes that she noted are questionable as she didn’t provide treatment for or even mention some of the items she noted during that conversation. Before leaving they told me the receptionist was ready for me to schedule a follow-up while walking out. I specifically asked the receptionist whether my insurance would cover it. She told me yes and said it would be a Zoom appointment. On the day of that appointment, I had to call the office because I never received a Zoom link. I was then told I was suppose to come into the office before they eventually sent me the link!?! A few weeks later, I received three separate bills: 1. The annual wellness visit that is now being billed as a regular office visit. 2. Quest Diagnostics 3. The follow-up appointment Since the preventative care visit is being billed as a regular office visit, it affected the billing for the blood draw that the provider requested with Quest Diagnostics - my bill for the blood draw alone is $158! The total is $380. I went in for a FREE preventative care visit and now I owe nearly $400?! After receiving these bills, both I and my insurance company repeatedly contacted the office in an attempt to resolve the billing and coding issues. I still haven’t spoke to the billing department after I’ve called and left multiple voicemails overtime. From the the excessive wait time, poor communication, confusion about the follow-up, and the ongoing billing and coding issues, this experience was disappointing from start to finish. I'm currently disputing these claims with my insurance company. Experiences like this are exactly why so many people delay or avoid preventive healthcare. Patients should be able to trust the information they're given about insurance coverage and billing. Providers should be trustworthy. Patients should come first. Healthcare should be affordable. Unfortunately, that was not my experience, and I DO NOT recommend this practice.

I don’t understand the bad reviews. If it wasn’t for Skyland I wouldn’t be where I am today. When I first arrived at Skyland I wasn’t sure this would be for me, I had no willingness to engage and I was avoiding… everything. After a few weeks I decided to give it a try and my oh my how things changed. It’s important to understand that nobody can change you except yourself, the staff is there to support you in every way possible, after being at Skyland for over 90 days and then going to transitional I am now able to live on my own, which at the time I felt was impossible, I still think about Skyland and how much it changed me and my perspective on my mental health. To anyone who might be looking to go to Skyland: the first few weeks will be the most difficult time of your life but after that it will get better. Trust the process, trust the staff! Healing is possible but you have to be patient!

shady establishment, would not recommend.

being here sucked. i see another review from someone i had multiple groups with echoing the same sentiment (validating! + encouraging me to post my own experience.) spent 3 months here, wasted time & my family's money.… i came in with a misdiagnosis of bpd. only thing gained at skyland was a psych evaluation from dr. bruce that correctly identified my primary issue as a dissociative disorder, w/ some pd traits as a secondary issue . despite me repeatedly saying that cbt was way more helpful to me than dbt, and that i didn’t relate to much of what was in the dbt track, i was stuck in that track until i left (and felt like i had to performatively lie/pretend to relate to examples of bpd behavior, or else i would be accused of noncompliance.) being diagnosed by their own psychiatrist didn’t change my treatment course; they didnt even finish my report until like a month after i left. dr. ayankola forced me on abilify for the bpd i turned out not to have. it caused extreme exhaustion and made me nonfuctional. after groups ended at 4 pm, i would sleep in my room. wake up for dinner (sometimes,) go back to sleep, until 15 mins before i had to go to morning group. i stopped being able to hang out in the common areas/go on outings *things i did before w no issue* and i still wanted to, but i was too drained. i repeatedly brought up the severe fatigue from abilify with my PC and psych. PC (brandi) insisted that i was self isolating, being non compliant, and that i needed to get out of my comfort zone & socialize (as if i randomly decided to stop doing it?) dr. ayankola helpfully informed me that the exhaustion that started the day i started abilify was actually from “working hard in treatment,” and also because i was still in withdrawal from cocaine- which i'd quit 1 year before. had to wait until i could self administer meds to stop taking it and then when i cold turkeyed it the exhaustion totally stopped. and some lady at the rollins desk intercepted my package (book on DID, which again, skyland psych diagnosed me with while there,) told me i wasn’t allowed to read about mental illnesses and literally said psychology books are banned so patients don’t try to treat themselves (huh?!) when i pointed out i was allowed to have books on bpd/depression in my room she said maybe other staff members allowed those, but she didn’t. so it wasn’t an actual consistent policy to take away books? she just did it for the vibes? the only good part from skyland was the dual diagnosis program; emily’s dd core was wonderful and helpful. that and actually getting diagnosed w/ DID. otherwise, this place is very impersonal and uncaring. if they can’t typecast you as another BPD person, and you might have more diagnostic complexity, they don’t gaf about you. prepare to be overmedicated into compliance and for them to act like you’re a problem for self advocating, and medically gaslight you about your unnecessary meds!

Whoever was in admission today around 12 maybe 1pm, you are a very distasteful human being. She was extremely ignorant towards me and my family and have COMPLETELY turned our business away. Not a good look Skyland….

I liked almost every part of the program at Skyland, it was an amazing experience. But the billing department is absolutely predatory. After they failed to submit paperwork to my insurance company within the allotted… time, they waited weeks to confirm with insurance that residential treatment would no longer be covered. Two months later, we have just been slammed with a bill for 15 grand, because apparently for those three weeks we had to pay in full since insurance wouldn't cover it. Again, we've only been told this now, two months after the fact. If I could go back in time I would not have admitted, despite how helpful it was, because the fact is that we just cannot afford that exorbitant amount. To top it off, we only received the official bill today, and are being told that it is due today as well. They even flippantly admitted that they had "meant send it out earlier", but are still insisting on payment in full immediately. So yeah, if you've got tens of thousands of dollars to blow on it, I recommend it. Otherwise, stay far away.

my time at skyland trail was one of the worst experiences of my life. instead of feeling supported, i felt constantly invalidated and dismissed. my meds were upped behind my back without any explanation or consent.… imagine finding out after the fact that people are making huge decisions about your brain chemistry without even talking to you. it made me feel like i had no control over my own treatment. the food was gross and barely edible, which might sound small, but when you’re stuck there every day, it wears you down. it just added to the feeling that patients weren’t cared about on even the most basic level. what’s worse is how not trauma-informed the place is. staff members would straight up invalidate patients’ feelings and experiences, as if our pain was an inconvenience. half of the staff didn’t even seem to have a basic understanding of psychology, especially when it came to borderline personality disorder. instead of compassion, there was judgment. peer restrictions were thrown around in ways that felt punishing and isolating, not therapeutic. it felt like they used restrictions as a tool for control instead of healing, cutting people off from the only real support we had, each other. there was also a disturbing disparity in how people were treated if they relapsed. some patients were allowed to stay, while others were kicked out. it felt unfair and arbitrary, like there were hidden rules about who was worth helping and who wasn’t. skyland trail markets itself as a place of healing, but i left feeling worse! unheard, invalidated, and like my struggles were just brushed off. i wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone seeking real, compassionate mental health care.

Did not actually use their services for my child due to the interactions I had with admissions staff. I spoke with 4 separate people and they were all rushed, short, and very unfriendly. Instead of answering my… questions, I was told to go the website every time. One even asked what my daughter’s infractions were at school and even asked for her criminal behavior. To assume that’s the case with each caller is unbelievable. The place we ended up going to was wonderful from minute ONE! Glad we didn’t go here.

I wish someone had left this review before I made the mistake of going to this place; it would have saved me a lot of wasted time and energy. This place may achieve some results with mild to moderate cases of… depression, but for those with severe cases, it is not helpful to the point of being counterproductive. Much of the staff is young and inexperienced. Many of the clinicians range in demeanor from smug to contemptuous. If you’re a self-respecting adult, Stay Away. If you’re young and confused without much experience with mental health treatment, you might not know better. I exercised my autonomy and elected to leave early, something I got a lot of grief for, but it was 100% the right choice. Notice how bad reviews get a perfunctory “Thank you for the feedback” cut and paste answer to dodge the issues.

this is really comprehensive to help others looking! I’m 20 and just graduated from the 90 day adult residential dbt track. i came about a month after an attempt and a week long hospital stay. i stayed in rollins and… most of the RAs are cool. i didn’t really like the new male ones. they take you on fun outings that are already paid for. the building is quite nice. the food at skyland is actually not bad and snacks are almost always readily accessible. they do target pickups for you and you can order things. skyland is a very welcoming community with amazing staff. the campus is very beautiful and the nature is calming. most of the clients are very kind, friendly, and fun people to be around. i learned so much about myself. skyland saved my life by giving me the tools and skills to Cope with my laundry list of mental disorders. its hard work, and groups were still fun, interesting, and helpful. the dbt track was insanely helpful and the immersion makes you automatically think in dbt after a while. the tracking system with the diary cards was really effective and you can see patterns in your mood vs behavior. there were customized target behaviors every week for what you currently need to work on. my psych was dr routt, who is very cool and listened well. it’s pretty neurodivergent friendly. i’m audhd & was allowed my headphones and to color during groups. you’re allowed to leave/take a break if you need to. u can return or there are many other places u can go. they have skills coaches that go around and check on you. i’ve been in crisis many times and knew i could go to them or my pc for help. when the PCs weren’t too busy they’d let me Hang Out in their office and that was really nice. after extensive trauma with chaotic and unsafe close relationships, i developed trust and control issues. i needed to feel secure and my pc was great and dependable. it was very hard for me in the beginning bc your schedule is constantly changing which sucks with ocd + autism. you’re allowed to pick your own groups when your intake period is over though and i loved most of mine. i saw another review talking about ocd. i came into skyland with a recent diagnosis of severe ocd that i knew absolutely nothing about. which sucked because the staff didn’t know anything about it either. i struggled badly. i was exhausted by the end of each day and aching due to the hours of energy i spent doing my compulsions. i was forced to suddenly stop doing my compulsions almost every day and it caused me extreme anxiety and distress. i had to leave group a couple times. i know skyland isn’t for ocd. all staff still absolutely need to be trained, not just the 2 ocd group leaders. clients having ocd is inevitable because of high comorbity rates. they deserve better care. especially since loss of control (i.e, being inpatient) can be a huge trigger and exacerbate symptoms. at least do a staff educational seminar or something. during my time at skyland, there was a short period of conflict and expulsions/step-ups. our understanding of skyland’s decisions was very foggy and nobody really understood what was going on and why. during a community meeting, some top guy came and opened up a forum for questions, claiming that it’s for transparency and so we feel Heard. naturally, people asked about the elephant in the room. the forum got shut down after THREE questions. extremely ironic and def rubbed me the wrong way bc what else would he expect anyone to ask about. they started admitting WAY too many people during my stay. groups were suddenly huge. you had to go to another group if there’s no more seating (very common) or sit on the floor. almost every group was over capacity & large groups are way less effective for me. i have ptsd and need specific seating so i had to rush between groups because u had no idea how many people were gonna be there today. it was also very disappointing that dbt had no processing or trauma work like the other tracks do. :/ overall, i had a net positive experience. i would rate skyland like a 3.7 and strongly recommend it.

Only giving one star because I can’t give zero. While I do believe the program is good (I wish I was able to go) the admissions process is terrible. It took 3 weeks for me to get assessment. I was looking for care for… BPD and C-PTSD. I have previous substance abuse history, but it is well managed with 6 years of sobriety and not currently an issue. After telling them about my past use, they recommended the duel diagnoses track. I told them I appreciate their concern but want to use the time to work on the things I’m currently suffering from. An entire group would be to recovery strategy’s and it was a requirement to attend 4 AA meetings a week. I advocated for myself again telling them that this would not be appropriate for my current mental health issues. They wouldn’t budge and sadly I will not be able to go. Then it made sense. They would have been able to bill for mental health services AND substance abuse. Sadly, this is another treatment facility that does not put the client first. They only want to be able to squeeze as much money out of you as they can.

(a modified email I sent to Skyland Trail after our family member's "graduation.") We are ever so grateful for Skyland Trail and for everyone there: Chris Cline, Corey Tanner, Dr. Ayankola, Jessica McMorris, the… Thursday night STEP folks, the group leaders whose names we never knew, the super kind nighttime residential staff, and more. We had some pretty big expectations coming in, but rather than filling the shoes, you gave us all hiking boots and took us on a trek. It definitely takes patience, because changing the way we handle life takes practice. Another big important part of the lesson is that it takes a whole family approach. We all had to change. Thank you!

Coming into this program was exciting and I was willing to get better. The first couple of weeks were amazing, I made good friends in the residental and was working hard on change. Soon getting to go to transitional my… mental illness and impulsive behaviors cameback. I expressed to my team that I'd like to see my therapist more then once a week (they told me it wasnt possible) and that the classes are good information and applicable to real life though not for people who don't struggle with interactions with the real world. I was disappointed by the way they ran the program. While in transitional I had an incident that was traumatic. I talked to staff about the situation being open about the event. No one but one reached out to me and the on call staff werent helpful at all, especially my therapist who didnt talk to me the whole week after the event till our session leading me to being gaslit and put back into residental with no graduation. Making me feel abandoned and having to go to another program which felt like a waste of time. I don't recommend this treatment center if youre DBT and you want real intensive treatment, to start from the beginning of your timeline/what led you to be here (its mostly about the weeks your there and struggles you have in the moment) and for your team to be reliable. Two stars are for the good friends I made and the residental staff who were kind and wonderful.

The J. Rex Fuqua Campus for adolescents was a game changer for our family unit. Our child needed care and the best way to focus on it was to be in a setting away from home. While I know a lot of people probably think… that is crazy, that someone can live at home and receive daily treatment, which for some, that works. However, we noticed that being home made it more difficult for our child to move forward especially with the influence of friends and school taking time away from their own mental health needs. The process to get our child a space was easy to follow. The staff was amazing! Just because your child is receiving care at an inpatient setting, it doesn’t mean that they will be missing school or other social aspects. Actually, it was the opposite. Being able to grow and learn about self worth and care with others was so beneficial. The family sessions were also so helpful. Elizabeth helped us get a better understanding about what our child’s needs were and how to communicate and understand their communication as well. DBT will forever be a part of our family now. I like that they have visiting hours and that you can. Ring outside food during that time. It allowed us to reconnect a bit with our child. Once they transitioned into PHP at Skyland trails, our child still received the support needed AND it was obvious that they learned how to navigate the world outside a bit better. It had been a few years and I will forever be grateful for ST for saving our child. THANK YOU

It's disappointing to leave a one-star review for Skyland Trail, as it was a helpful treatment facility-until it wasn't. I was making great progress, but after one mistake, which I admitted to honestly, I was abruptly… discharged. They informed me in the afternoon that I had to leave both the sober living program and the facility by the next day. It was overwhelming to be forced to uproot four months of my life overnight with no opportunity to defend myself. What's even more disheartening is that when another client sexually assaulted me, he was allowed to remain in the program for weeks, despite accumulating additional accusations. This disparity in treatment is baffling and deeply upsetting. If you are human, make mistakes, and expect them to be handled fairly and compassionately, Skyland Trail may not be the right place for you.

After many years of different treatment facilities in Texas (mostly in Houston area) that did not really help my 21YO daughter, I was so thrilled to find Skyland Trail. Four things that were key: focused on 18-25 years… olds (really hard to find places that ensure the patients are treated with peers in their age range), took Aetna insurance, had a long history of treating mental health (and so many great alumni stories) and they treated my daughter as a young adult. She was ready to accept the treatment and the biggest attractions to her were that she would have her own room and bathroom, it was not full lock down and you could do things outside the facility (once you got to Stage 2) and work through her mental health challenges with others around her same age. She has been home for over a month and is thriving. She is finally on the right medication, learnt a lot of new skills over her 2 months there and was really supported by the wonderful Skyland Trails staff. As a parent, it was really helpful to be on the weekly calls with other parents and the family therapy with Dr. Bruce helped us a lot.

This is a review of the assessment and admissions experience. It was written to hopefully save some time to particular people seeking treatment. Your input and your psychiatrist's input mean little. If, during your… assessment, you check certain "boxes" for levels of care, Skyland will only recommend the most extreme. Individual circumstances, details, exceptions, and (repeating) the input of your doctor are barely applicable for you to receive an individualized treatment plan. Treatment tracks are painted with a broad brush. In my case, I have a mood disorder which, in the past, was self-medicated with substance abuse. An effective medicative solution was found to induce abstinence from past habitual use for a period of six months prior to assessment. I'm not sure what the cutoff is, but six months of an effective solution was deemed inefficient. Is it a year? Two years? I can't be certain. Yet, under the premises of past behavior, a track of dual diagnosis treatment was set in stone. In turn, this triggered their propensity to overwhelmingly admit first to residential care. A caveat for everyone - if you are in the dual diagnosis program and admitted for initial residential care at the facility (a near certain combination), you are only allowed to continue your outpatient treatment portion provided you go to a halfway house. No exceptions. If you think it's unnecessary, it's non-negotiable. If your psychiatrist, counselors, spouse, your dog, anyone thinks it isn't necessary, it doesn't matter. So, if you're on that track, please be aware. I find it funny that the first sentence on the website description for Dual Diagnosis for Adults with Co-Occuring Substance Misuse states "We're not a "One Size Fits All" program. That couldn't be further from the truth. In searching for intensive mental health treatment programs, I came up with five possibilities and went through an assessment with all. Skyland was the most inconsiderate of anything "outside the box,' where care could be tailored to goals and level of risk. Perhaps they know better. Perhaps they are so comprehensive and amazing that a patient's input and that of their doctor isn't worth consideration. Yet, as an adult seeking treatment with my own unique history, conditions, solutions, and desires, I feel it's better to have my say included within my own course of treatment. Perhaps you'll feel the same.

Here are my main takeaways from Skyland Trail (completed the dbt program nearly 2 years ago) My main issues ST is not a place for individuals of any gender with eating disorders and/or strong issues with OCD. I knew… many people who needed to transfer to different centers because ST was not adequately equipped to help them. ST also puts overweight people into Healthy Challenge, which consists of a weight loss exercise class and a nutrition class. they say they do this for everyone on antipsychotics but that's mostly a lie. On my first day in the nutrition class, we literally looked at restaurant menus and counted calories for the entire hour. After an intense conversation with my primary counselor John though, the treatment team (all of the counselors together) decided to let me not go to the nutrition class, but they obviously didn't really want to do that. As a minority person, I found STs dual diagnosis program extremely lacking. It has a large focus on teachings from a.a. and n.a. and such, because you are expected to attend 7 meetings every week when you step down. ST requires you to step down to a sober living that only they approve. At the time I was there, there was only one option for both men and women, hope homes. Hope Homes is even more expensive than ST. When I left in July of 2023, rent had gone up to over 3k a month for people that had not been offered a discount for financial hardship (which they rarely gave out). Insane amounts of money aside, I have a lot of issues with aa. it works primarily for individuals that perpetuate trauma, not victims. It teaches men how to not blame their wives and the world for their drug and s*x addictions. It teaches them how to take accountability and literally requires them to apologize for their actions (step 8) after admitting their mistakes to God (step 3/4) and another person in the program (step 5) (YIKES). When you're a person that is instead a victim, for example, of sexu*l assault, this blaming yourself and apologizing is extremely unhealthy. The inherent idea/assumption of the 4/5 steps is that you should identify the problem, the fear it elicits, what the other person did, and what You Should've Done Instead. Considering ST prides itself on its treatment for individuals with bpd, bipolar, and depression, I still don't understand why they operate like this. A defining feature of most of those conditions is an overactive and overpowering sense of guilt. Why then, if a person is already unnecessarily guilty and blaming themselves to the point of mental anguish, would you put them in a community that teaches them to blame themselves more? I'm still unlearning the unhealthy things it taught me The cost of ST is astronomical. Be prepared for insurance company bs. At least with my plan, they only started to charge me out of pocket when I stepped down to less intensive levels of care. Just one day in residential is more than 1k without insurance coverage (and this was in 2022, probably more now). Strengths/benefits of ST ST does put a lot of effort into ensuring individuals get exactly what they need. I knew 2 people who routinely left (chaperoned, of course) to receive ECT treatment off campus. They will coordinate care if you need to be transferred to another center. they do their best to help you find continuing care (groups, psychiatrists and therapists). A lot of people hated the food but I think it's pretty good given the circumstances. Just keep in mind it's hard to make food taste great when cooking for over 100 people. The outings are pretty fun now. We couldn't go out much because of Covid regulations while I was there. after I stepped down everyone in residential went to six flags though (🥲). Lastly, STs DBT program literally saved my life. I was not financially capable of attending dbt groups out of pocket (most insurances still don't cover that) so i had to use my insurance in some way. I've had multiple s. attempts, and I had accepted that if ST didn't work, I'd let go. I researched at least a hundred places before realizing this was my best shot.

Waited over a week to be rejected

I found Skyland Trail to be very professional and comprehensive. They provided excellent care to my daughter and kept me very involved in the process. The staff at Skyland Trail Were very committed to my daughter's… needs and improving mental health. They left a lasting impact and I would recommend them above any other facility in our region.

Painful process to get our child admitted. Staff not very helpful or friendly and often rude. Denied admission for our teen child because she admitted to smoking pot. What kind of treatment center on the planet doesn’t… think teenagers are partaking in smoking marijuana. Do not recommend they only accept certain people to fluff their success rates. They don’t truly care about helping troubled teens.