SpringBrook Behavioral Health System – Travelers Rest

I have worked with Springbrooks admissions department for years and they have been great to work with. I'm very glad we have a provider/resource that is leaning into the Autism space, as this population is traditionally… underserved. Thanks to all at SB for the work they do!

I came to Springbrook in around 2022. I didn't study anything about it before hand. I hated studying and I hated thinking. It was safe to say I was a terrible person. Very demented and very bad. People were talking… about it. Believe me. But I went there and met lots of tremendous people. Big people. People like you've never seen before. People with authority. People with virtue. People with strength. People with humility. Just truly tremendous people. Miss Shaun (though I called her Colonel Sanders, I don't know why I did but I did) She took no guff from me. She was a true Kentucky Colonel. I respect her. Then there was a tall man of which I forgot his name. But he was truly tremendous. He worked there alongside his brother, who I remember as Mr. Mark. They were very different. But when a kid cut up, including myself, they were a dynamic duo. A Marine worked there who did something most staff never had the courage to do. His name was Mr. Brian. The courageous one. BRIAN THE COURAGEOUS ONE, STEP RIGHT UP!!!!!! There was a strong minded, hard nosed woman named Miss Mammy (her real name as far as I'm concerned) She had the Mouxie to tell the truth to anybody no matter anything. I respect her honesty, but never had the chance to say so. I simply can't thank anybody. But if there's one person that I will absolutely remember until my last breath, and there is. It's Old Ben. Thank you, Old Ben. You were the first one in, and the last one out. I hope we meet again, Old Ben. I think we will on some sunny day. In a field of magnolias just behind the pearly gate, where the old and young congregate, you and my father with calloused hands. You, him, and I will meet again, some sunny day. And if you're reading this, Old Ben, I don't think we'll see each other on this world, but you should know, and I've said this to nobody, Old Ben, I love you.

In Springbrook, the Horizon unit is boring except for the outings and the pool. We don’t get TV in the Horizon unit but we get to watch movies and the TV is also for groups. When I was in Springbrook, I’ve always wanted… to go to either Eden, Morning Glory, or Liberty Bridge because they get computers, they get to watch TV, the groups are better than Horizon groups. When I was on the Acute unit, the groups are the best. My favorite of the groups are RT, OT and then Clinical Therapy (CT). In the Acute unit you can’t go to the lake, the pool, or outings but in the RTF units you can go to the pool, the lake, and outings. Their food is good, I mostly get the regular. Sometimes I get the alternatives too. You don’t get chicken on bone but you still get boneless chicken. I like to go with my therapist to be on my tablet on Monday’s. You can bring your tablet but your therapist has to keep the tablet. I like the Acute staff because when I was in the RTF units, mrs Kayla gives me snacks from the vending machine. In the Acute unit you can’t get TLOAs but In the RTF units, you can get TLOAs. I like TLOAs because you get weekend home visits, outings, and you get to hangout with your caseworker. I had a weekend home visit and I liked it. TLOAs is better than Staying in Springbrook. RTF is better than the Acute unit. I promise you will get snacks from the vending machine. Just ask mrs Kayla as well. I never had visitation in Springbrook before. I still love springbrook.

Thank you to all the workers that helped me get through what I needed. You guys are amazing ❤️ This place is the right place to go. If you are struggling, they are freaking amazing especially Miller and Madison and… Yasmin. Those are the best workers there. Hope you get them.!!!!

Alex was my child Jimmys behavioral technician, jimmy absolutely loved him, he said Alex treated him with kindness and respect and helped him get his life on track. Alex had extreme compassionate humor, and treated… jimmy like his own child. Alex had relentless kindness. It was getting to a point I almost put jimmy up for adoption, Alex saved my family. Thank you. ❤️🇮🇱

i was involuntarily placed in this facility by an emergency room. during my time at springbrook, i received no proper therapy and only a few minutes to speak with psychiatrists. medication time was incredibly… inconsistent and patient needs were often unmet. i did not feel safe or cared for at all, and i spent the majority of my time watching television as that was literally the only thing to do (big tv in the main room). i spent ten days here, and in those ten days there was not made a plan to discharge me. my mother had to call a higher up and beg them to release me because nobody was giving me or her answers about my wellbeing or when i would be discharged. i was supposed to work with a social worker to find a new therapist and psychiatrist to support me once i was discharged, but it was like they wanted me to stay forever.

This place is a joke. I have a family member admitted here and in 36 hours, he had not received treatment, access to a therapist, his hygiene products, or his clothes that were brought for him. The staff give all of us… different answers and run in circles when it comes to information on our family.

This place was a nightmare. To begin with most of the staff treat the patients like animals. Yes, animals. It’s very sad, recalling what I endured. The food was edible and I was there for a week for mental health… reasons. It made me realize I never wanted to be in a place like that again. It felt more like a prison than a wellness type center. Also, several members of the staff were racist and if you were not their ethnicity you were treated like trash. Do better people!! You’re playing with someone’s mental health, not to mention their life!!

Our child was sexually assaulted at Springbrook. They then stopped ALL communication. Would not allow us access to our child at all. They they kicked him out a week later, when I said we'd sue. Our entire experience… with Springbrook was awful. Cannot imagine what these children and adults are being put through. Unacceptable. Our most vulnerable children deserve to be safe. His therapist LIED to him. Told him we were to busy to support him. His therapist lied. When they discharged him. They keep all his brand new clothes. Withheld items ect. If you love your child. Take them somewhere else.

My daughter stayed at this facility for nearly two months in their acute program. As promised, they conducted extensive testing within the first one to two weeks, which I appreciated. For those concerned about… communication, it’s important to understand that children choose who they include in their call plan. If you weren’t receiving calls, it may be because your child prioritized other individuals. Calls are also limited to twice a week, which, while difficult, makes sense frequent contact can sometimes disrupt a child’s ability to regulate and adjust to treatment. Each week includes a scheduled update call as well as a family counseling session. I found the staff to be very responsive to emails and questions, and consistently timely in their communication. According to my daughter, the staff were friendly, warm, and knowledgeable. She also described the food as decent and yes, they didn't have bone in chicken for a reason (see below) Some concerns mentioned in other reviews, such as open-bay showers and supervised hygiene, are accurate, but in my view, these practices are understandable in a setting that serves children with behavioral challenges or ASD. These measures are in place to prevent unsafe situations (such as elopement, self-harm, or aggression) and to support those who may need guidance with self-care. Our primary goal in choosing this facility was to evaluate whether my daughter had ASD after it being flipped on and off of her diagnosis list throughout the years. From this program, we confirmed she did not have ASD which was valuable information for us, for insurance reasons more specifically. Upon discharge, I was given a binder with recommended behavioral changes directed toward me (written with “YOU” in all caps throughout). While some of the guidance aligns with established best practices for parenting children with ASD, the tone at times came across as overly generalized and, in places, somewhat accusatory or impersonal. I would suggest that discharge materials be more individualized. Many parents who seek this level of care have already implemented standard strategies extensively. Including direct parent-child interaction observations could help identify where breakdowns are actually occurring, allowing for more tailored and actionable recommendations rather than broadly repeated guidance. In our case, I was now pursuing a residential level of care after more than eight years of trying multiple interventions such as PCIT, family counseling, play therapy, OT, ABA, CBRS, and BI without success. She has also since been declined from additional ABA/BI services due to the complexity and severity of her behavior, despite my consistent implementation of recommended strategies at home. Because my daughter was ultimately not diagnosed with ASD, the ASD-focused strategies recommended at discharge were not appropriate for her needs and, in some cases, proved counterproductive. The primary recommendation was to return home with ABA-based in-home therapy. However, upon returning home, her behavior escalated immediately and severely. She carried out a premeditated physical attack against me, which she later admitted she had planned while in the facility, with stated intent to...it's not a igurative or impulsive aggression it was deliberate, targeted, and life-threatening behavior. This resulted in immediate medical intervention and her transfer to a higher level of psychiatric care that is more appropriate for the severity of her condition. Which we actually couldn't have done without getting that pesky ASD diagnosis off of her belt because insurance loves to stay stuck on the whole ASD thing even though it was never her primary diagnosis. That said, I am giving 4 stars because the facility delivered on what it promised. The staff were professional and compassionate, and the program appears well-equipped to support children with ASD. My daughter herself reported feeling safe, supported, and protected from negative peer interactions, which speaks highly of the environment they maintain.

A few years ago I was sent here when I really shouldn’t have by a bad parent, so that might bias my review but overall, I did not enjoy my stay here, I made a few freinds and had fun but in the end it was miserable!… Here are some of my BIG complaints The SMELL, again last time I was there was a few years ago but every time you walked into the common area/bedroom area you would be hit with a FOUL smell, you got used to it but if you left and came back from a trip it would REEK Some mean staff, honestly the staff were hit and miss some were ok, few were really nice, but a few were HORRIBLE, a few that were there seemed to view us as almost sub-human and treated us like it, and that and I think they saw springbrook more like a prison than what it’s trying to be The other people, this part is probably unavoidable but some of the other people there were genuinely a little too crazy, they separated us by age but I think they should have separated us on how high in the spectrum we were, cause for a week or so I had to share a room with a guy who smeared his on poo on the walls But here are the few upsides They have a gym, a big outside space with a pond (and lots of fire ants) and a REALLY NICE pool, and based on the video on the website there’s a few things I never got to see during the year I was there Easy ways for parents to help, I barely got to benefit from this cause of my bad parent but some people got some nice stuff to help them along! Anyway if you’re curious about when I stayed there I’m not 100% sure but it was in the 2019-2021 timeframe, I remember Covid breaking out and the chaos that caused But in conclusion, I’d give springbrook a 2/10, it can work for what it advertises but might leave some other permanent marks on your kid (mostly mental) and there’s probably some bias involved

Springbrook was great place they give you all your needs that you wanted and if you or your friends was good they would take us on outings. U can go swimming watch tv play sports make friends, staff.By the way I miss… all of you guys and I was on liberty bridge ps. you remember me rakya guys.

Our grandson, 12, is on the autism spectrum and has serious behavioral issues. His mom researched places where he might receive appropriate help, and decided that Springbrook might be a good place for him to obtain… assistance. He was brought there on Friday the 19th to take up residence & treatment. Springbrook's own Acute Autism Unit Handbook's "Treatment Planning Process" states that "upon admission, the following comprehensive assessments are provided for each patient", and then lists 12 assessments that will be completed within 8 hours to 3 days. NONE of these assessments, IF they were done at all, were communicated to either my wife or our grandson's mother, even after my wife called them after one week of residence asking about the assessments! One week into his stay, our daughter's medical insurance balked at continuing to pay the daily rate of $1,300 PER DAY for acute treatment. The financial office of Springbrook contacted our daughter and my wife, somewhat holding a bed for our grandson hostage, stating that if 50% of the daily rate wasn't paid to cover his stay through Monday the 29th, they couldn't hold a place for him. Our other daughter, hoping that the insurance would decide to continue to pay and hoping that Springbrook might be the answer for her nephew, agreed to pay the DEMANDED $3,900 from her meager savings, even though as a musician, she makes about as much in a year as Springbrook charges for a patient in one month! So bottom line: 1) we will never know if Springbrook has the capability to help our grandson since the insurance company still hasn't decided whether or not to pay, and as a consequence, with the Springbrook 1300 meter ticking, my wife drove the 4 hours each way yesterday to pick him up; 2) Although an exit handbook was scrapped together while my wife waited yesterday, {that exhibits some assessment}, no verbal or written assessment communication was provided to either my wife our daughter in the 10 days our grandson was in residence, other than the exit handbook; 3) there was a TON of written emails and telephone calls about the money Springbrook needed and DEMANDED, while awaiting an insurance decision. So our experience is this organization is way more fixated on getting paid than they appear to be regarding the welfare of their patient. If you decide to take your child here for treatment, expect little communication in the way of assessment, but a lot of communication and demands for money if your insurance has issues with what Springbrook is charging. In that case, Springbrook makes ZERO accommodation in either their daily rate or understanding of the situation you've been placed in, (i.e. while your insurance decides what they will pay for, Springbrook: either show me the money or take him home.....) RESPONSE TO OWNER: Yes, I will give you a call to discuss my ideas for improving what happened in our grandson's situation, AFTER you refund his aunt's $3,900 payment. Your battle should have been with the insurance company that originally agreed to pay for his care, and NOT with our family. It is the insurance company that changed their position and let everyone down. If anything, your organization took advantage of our family once the insurance changed its position.

The most traumatizing facility I’ve ever been to. This is my experience as someone who stayed there 28 days. I came out at least ten times worse than when I went in. This facility is inhumane. There are no locks on… doors, no bathroom doors, no shower curtains, and no privacy. You are forced to have a roommate and people come in your room at night. You’re also not allowed to close your doors at night. Some kids are forced to have “body audits” where they strip in front of nurses and the nurses take notes of things like scars and injuries. (I was subjected to this.) The “quiet room” is NOT a quiet sanctuary, it’s an empty room where children are locked in from the inside. Children with harmful tendencies will continue to hurt themselves while screaming and crying, while a nurse stands by the locked door of the quiet room. Don’t listen to them about the quiet room, they just lock kids in there they don’t want to deal with. Nine times out of ten, when someone’s in the quiet room, they’re just banging their head on the wall. I saw a girl around five years old (and nonverbal) bang her head on the ground every day until it bled, and the staff were so desensitized to it that they just let it happen. Fights break out between the kids and sometimes between the kids and staff almost daily. Parents sign a contract which forces their child to stay at least 28 days, and the staff try to make the kids stay as long as possible. Most kids in the “short term” unit had actually been there for three months or more. Staff often threaten to put kids in “long term care” or “downstairs” where the children are forced to stay in the facility for months or even years at a time. I was tricked into being admitted into the facility. The staff said they would take me on a “tour” but I was never let out. My mom was also pressured into signing the aforementioned contract. There is barely any contact between parents and children. There are two fifteen minute phone calls per week (on specified days) and only two days of visitation (also on specified days, 3 hours of weekly visitation total). I was put on a medication that made me feel horrible, and despite me AND my mother asking to talk to the doctor every day, throughout my 28-day stay, neither of us got to talk to him. I was forced to take this medicine every day until I got out, and also taken off of my other medications. This is a messy review, but I felt the need to write it to warn parents thinking of sending their children to places like this. On behalf of myself and all the children still stuck there, please do not send your kids to this terrible place. It was utter torture to stay here for so long, and I worry for the people still there. If you think it’s necessary to send your child somewhere, I can advocate for MUSC or Aurora Pavillon. Even though I didn’t like these facilities, they were much better than Springbrook. For long term care, any other facility would be better. I’VE BEEN HERE MYSELF, PLEASE DO NOT SEND YOUR KIDS HERE!!!

Don't send anyone there it's too dangerous I was there before

This place was great for my brother with autism and I didn’t think he could really stabilize before because of how hard he was to handle but he was discharged today and he is using a lot more vocab but he is non verbal… so that really made a change and a huge difference in me and my families life I really love this facility and a lot of the staff are nice so thank you very much for getting my brother on the right track I really appreciate it.

2011. Did not give patients their med till 9:30pm then we had a fire drill very early in the morning. Some looked like the walking dead. Very loud. Let the old man suffer counting bricks on the wall becuse they forgot… his meds. We told the nurses. He went via ambulance. Sad place. Young man back from war. The nurse told him he was nothing then put him in the solitary room for days.

My son was here around year 2015 and although some people were good the staff that is with the kids 24/7 lacked compassion. I highly recommend not putting children here.

I really don't recommend this facility at all. This wasn't our first time either, my brother was sent there in 2007 for a extended stay he was very unstable and they had to figure out what meds he needed. A few weeks… ago I took my brother to Greenville memorial because he was delusional. They sent him to Springbrook. After he arrived they called me for a medication list which I thought was really ridiculous that they had gotten no information about his meds when Greenville memorial and Springbrook did there exchange. Isn't that dangerous? While my brother was there I was not allowed to speak to a doctor or the psychiatrist I was told the RNs relay messages. I had no part in any care he received and I am his POA and Guardian. I have known my brother for 36 years and staff at Gateway House inc. Have known him for 13 years because that is how long he has kept his apartment through them. Sean told me he had spoken with a Rudolph Green? A counselor at Springbrook? I think anyways? Sean said Mr. Green was the one who calls the shots. Lol I spoke with Mr. Rudolph Green and explained everything twice and he said in his professional opinion my brother was going to be released because he was fine. They never changed my brother's meds but told me they had done so. My brother was released and has been to Greenville mental health 1 more times trying to get his meds tweaked. I am taking him again tomorrow to see about getting his meds situated. Professionals do not know more than a family member or a staff member who sees someone every single day. Nothing was done! Absolutely nothing! I would argue if they try to send your family here. Tell them you want Columbia or Charleston. No Springbrook. Nobody needs a shot caller that has no idea what they are doing!!

springsbrook autism behavioral health they were excellent and they helped me

I cannot say enough how they helped Alyssa. I encourage any parent who needs a residential facility for their child that they are safe and cared for. Grace Holtzclaw, Bernithia or Ms. B on acute ( Lissy loves her hair)… I thank you for caring for my sweet girl. Thank you again. Alyssa did not want to leave!

An absolute disgrace! Whatever you do, do not send your child to this place! I will report back soon with further details once I am allowed to speak about the details of the 5 day visit our child had! I repeat, DO NOT… SEND YOUR CHILD HERE!!!! They pretend to care but DO NOT! Blatant Neglect!

The Converge Autism Summit is one of the best! I look forward to this particular conference every year and this year did not disappoint!

Incredible conference!! Thank you!

I have been affiliated specifically been seeing Dr Fisher for almost 14 years now and I can not tell how much good it has done me. He even wrote a prescription for me to get out of a toxic relationship 😆 overall this… company has been a life-saver for me since I was a teenager