Willow Springs Center – Reno

I went to willow in 2020 i was there for 6 months staff were horrible i was submitted due to suicidal ideations/attempt I would cry almost everynight wanting to be with my mother and they would lock me in some white… room i forgot the name of it for hours until i passed out of exhaustion or just stopped crying I DO NOT recommend putting your child here now im 18 and life has never been better I over came my demons with time and help from God not random pills and coping skills these places offer.

Willow Springs treatment center made a huge difference with our son. He had already been to a residential treatment center in California that was like a mansion, but he bolted twice, got released after three months, and… was discharged too soon. Willow Springs proved to be a much better container for healing. The individual therapist, Roger was thoughtful, he listened keenly to both us and our son, and he called “shenanigans” if our son tried to pull any BS. The whole program and communication from staff is tailored to hold our children through challenging times into young adulthood — and it happened with our son!! After he came Home he immediately got his license, a job and caught up in school and is thriving as a young adult. Thank you, Roger and Willow Springs

This is going to be a bit longer so I’ll summarize up front. 10/10 this is the place to go for help. It isn’t a picnic, parade, or country club. There are no pools or fancy perks, just treatment and help when needed.… Kids who are ready for help will find it here, but their method takes time and patience. Our daughter has struggled with mental health issues for many years and finding help has been very difficult. We finally received a referral for residential care and sent her to another facility in California, but her needs ended up exceeding their abilities and we were referred to Willow Springs. I have to admit that at first I was very nervous, after years of quick triage visits and rapid medication changes I was braced for more of the same. I am happy to say that I was wrong. She was in residential care at Willow Springs Center for over six months, which were some of the hardest of our lives as we live in Arkansas and weren’t able to visit. The staff made sure we talked often and had weekly zoom meetings with her. We felt involved with every step of the treatment plan, and more importantly so did she. She built strong bonds with her doctors and her therapist, which has lead to her seeking therapy and continuing her treatments voluntarily outside. We have had her home for five months now and have only required minor medication adjustments from what was prescribed while she was inpatient. I would like to send a special thank you to her therapist Roger G. To this day she still misses their talks and feels a bond with him. I don’t think anyone has ever built a trusted relationship with her quite like that, and we believe it was this that allowed her to thrive and finally accept the help she needed.

I went to this facility in 2018 before I knew what I was struggling with and I almost ended my life , it took 5 years of me dealing with persistent mental health problems and behavioral problems to understand what I was… going threw, years after this place I went to a local hospital in my home town diagnosed with BPD. I was too young to understand what was going on with and that’s why I was there I was at rock bottom so I thought. They failed to evaluate me properly and get to the root of my trauma. They were treating me for bipolar and by they I mean countless staff did not take the time to assess me individually and correctly. There’s too much going on in this facility and not enough professionalism from techs, they just build your chart rather than getting to the root of the problem. I don’t even know if there people are qualified to be licensed for these serious mental illnesses of juveniles. I was physically assaulted in my sleep in this facility and I told them that a schizophrenic girl has been targeting me, and I feared for my safety and they failed to protect me at that basic right and I should’ve sued them for pain and suffering. The assault opened a part of violence in me that I never wanted to discover. I nearly disfigured her face one minute I was sleeping the next I was standing in a pool of blood from this girl attacking me in my sleep. I lost it and I still have PTSD from getting jumped in my sleep to this day. They keep the same High level un functioning schizophrenics in the same population of the people that are level 1 trying to figure out what’s going on with them that have not reached that level of mental illness. Its very disturbing to me the things I endured at this facility and I just hope it doesn’t happen to anyone else thats vulnerable, young, scared and just wants answers. It’s now 2026 and still I am reluctant to find specialized psychotherapy in my small hometown now I’m 24 with two kids and every day is a battle and I still keep pushing through it learning to deal with it with understanding now what I have has put me a little at ease. Now it’s a matter of finding the right one on one therapy that is nothing like this place! ⛔️USE THIS FACILITY AT YOUR OWN RISK. IF YOUR CHILD IS STRUGGLING, PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO UNDERSTAND THEM AND HELP THEM BEFORE YOU THROW THEM IN A FACILITY⛔️. Once you sign those papers, the government is in control. You have no rights to your child. You don’t know what happens behind those doors When you leave 100s of miles away or even if it’s local, your subjecting your child to further trauma.

Please if you are looking at these reviews to check out a program for someone, listen to these one star ones. I was there October - December 2013 on Girls Hall plus October - December 2014 on the Co-Ed DBT Hall. I have… diagnosed PTSD from my time there. I have hoped this place would burn to the ground to avoid ever hurting another kid again. It is now 12 years since I was last in there and to this day have flashbacks of what happened. If you were there and have similar stories to these reviews, I encourage you to share on here to show others the reality of this place. If you were in during my time there, I hope you guys are doing well and I promise that this place does not define who you are today. I hope other survivors can find comfort in knowing others understand what this place was like. Parents/guardians please avoid this place and listen to these review warnings!

Hi, my name is Mikaela, I got admitted in 2016 and stayed for 3 months, where i was as treated with respect and care. I went in with anger issues and came out able to control them easier. As I’m reading this reviews, it… surprises me because my experience was completely different from everyone else it seems. My memories of Willow Springs has and always will be good.

I didn’t like how they refused to listen to me and when problems occurred they passed the buck. Would not recommend.

I spoke with Cait about the Partial Hospitalization Program at Willow Springs. She was very knowledgeable and helpful about the program and program admission process. Thank you!

Shelly, Shelby and Kate have been amazing during our extended stay. Brenn and Crystal have also been helpful. I'm thankful for their patience through all of our chaos.

This place had the worst ever staff they treated us like animals. The food there was undercooked they refuse us out rights. They yell, cuss and worst of all let others have contraband. I was hurt by the staff. Other… than alexa, shaline, Nash, taylinn, and sarah they are the best staff.

The staff at Willow Springs were the absolute best they were all wonderful helpful and pleasant to interact with. Doctor Para and Roger were wonderful helpful and very supportive. Though I hope that my granddaughter… never needs their services again if she ever needs their assistance again I would not have any reservations or concerns with sending her there again. The change in her is absolutely amazing. Thank you everyone at Willow Springs!!!!!

I was here in 2008 at first in girls hall then DBT in 2011 and this place caused me lasting trauma for life. Even though I was like 11 at the time i was put in the teen unit where I was exposed to information about… narcotics and alcohol and self harm that i was previously fully ignorant of. Do not take these reviews with a grain of salt. I'm nearly 30 and STILL healing from the cptsd this place caused. I witnessed every girl my psychiatrist was working with try to kill themselves. The staff were degrading and creepy and i am unsure as to why male staff were allowed in the unit full of teen girls. The male staff used to peep on these teen girls. They used to "doctor Armstrong" people, hold them down, give them sedatives against their will and lock them away without food or water for hours at a time for simple things like slamming a door. I was racially targeted over my hair and plastic clip in hair extensions, I was bullied relentlessly by the STAFF who made fun of my appearance and used to mock all of us for fun and telling us we were "never getting out". I still have nightmares about this pit. Don't send your children here. Please I beg of you. I never knew there were so many ways to attempt suicide but the girls were really into the Thai sweater method and absolutely nothing was done about it. I saw a girl get wheeled out with blood running down her arms halfway to deaths door. There was a boys "riot" which was left uncontained for hours and they punished the entire building for it. The food was designed to make you gain weight rapidly and this caused me to develop intracranial hypertension, an illness that stole years from my teenager life and nearly caused me permanent blindness. They used us as lab rats to test psychotropics and used the "lock you in" method of manipulation where they tell you you're going for a therapy appointment then you're magically not allowed to leave. Once my mom heard a girl screaming that she was gonna kill me while we were on the phone, I remember weeping terrified for my life and it was never addressed by staff. That was when she realized the staff had been lying to her about my progress and what exactly was going on in the facility. do not send your kids to this hellfire pit.

In this place I was degraded, stripped of my clothes down to my underwear and a gown for months after a riot with Nevada SWAT team at the end of my DBT always. We were made to lay on our stomachs for 2 months. No bed no… clothes on nothing I'm going to sleep and then being taunted by a social worker with pizza saying we were bad kids, if we hadn't been bad kids we would have got some of those pizza and walked up and down the hallway with it while we were still in our stomachs. Taking care of pediatric patients as a part of our quote unquote programming. I saw them lock one of my friends I'm still in contact with the day, in the concrete restraint room, they say quiet room but it's a concrete room with a one by one foot plexiglass opening window in the door with no handle next to another room in a hallway with a glass window looking into it. Then again another door so they would ignore you. She had cut herself a hundred times and was given a dry washcloth told to clean it up. I among others of my peers on the DBT unit were chemically restrained and sedated with thorazine shots or "Booty Juice". I wasn't allowed to write my friends or receive letters. I spoke to my mom once a month. They wrote letters home, saying I was not admitting to the program or being able to commit to anything and that I need to just stay longer. That place ruined my entire childhood. The only staff that was any type of kind of kind was Mrs T the science teacher. I've seen riots I've seen kids drink bleach, Thai sweaters around their neck until they turn purple and unconscious. I had to find a staff member onsht the Nevada swT at the end of he hall with automatic weapons and tell them code blue. All of the risk of getting shot by Reno SWAT. I've seen and had to alert staff to that code blue at the same time as riot had erupted on the boys hall. You know what never made the news so or any other type of media? All of the riots. Kids drinking bleach, beating other kids with the spines of three ring binders and other kids like myself taking care of pediatric patients too. Being mocked by social workers and BHTs told I was too fat when having a psychotic episode. so I had one option and it wS to walk to the restraint room and lay down or they call the police.I had turned 16 the night before being admitted.Im not and have never been the same as I was before that place I hope to God that they shut this place down and that there's a lawsuit I can get in on because my childhood was lost there and I started becoming institutionalized . Also I was able to graduate high school. I had to get my GED 2 days after I left because I was never in class longer than 15 minutes. I only gained half credit I never would have caught up. Unfortunately, at times I still deal with the trauma at 31 like I did at 16. It never lessens or leaves me. Thankfully though it did motivate me to become a behavioral health specialist myself who works for an adult addicts trying to find a better life and advocate for children and residential treatment centers who can't advocate for themselves like myself and so many other people I know and knew. This was in September 2010 to January 2011.

This place was okay. I don't have much 2 compare it to considering this was my first residential but uughsuhhhhmmmm!!!! I liked it!!! 4 the most part!!!!! Staff wree nice the kids were uhm!! Somthing!!!! But anyway… follow me on insta: acelmao._ if yk me heart ❤

Our son came home with wonderful tools to help with life. Dr. Parra and Madison are great. Thank you

I was a patient here from 2010-2011, to keep it as simple as possible, don’t choose this rehab for your child. They employ therapist that simply have other agendas they are following instead of prioritizing your child’s… own personal growth and mental health. I was model patient, for some reason my therapist would not discharge me, that was until our last session. I remember it like it was yesterday. After 7 months of trying to behave and be a leader in the community, I had had enough. I finally told her I actually enjoyed being there, no responsibilities, nothing to really worry about day to day. It was then she finally decided to discharge me. Funny how when she lost control of the situation she had decided she had enough of my torment. Also, I didn’t get ANY school credit for 7 months despite going to “school classes” every day, ended up not graduating on time and having to do adult Ed. This place is a complete scam, if you are considering this place for your troubled teen, I implore you to read the other reviews and decide accordingly. Over 150+ people condemning this joke of an establishment isn’t just a coincidence. I am honestly very surprised they are still open, must be because it’s one of the only “rehabs” for teens that military insurance covers. I truly think that is the only reason this place is still in operation. The “medical professionals” that still work here after finding out its history of abuse and neglect are nothing more than looking for an easy paycheck and a false sense of accomplishment. Any real “Doctor/therapist” wouldn’t touch this place with a ten foot pole. Take my advice and choose another place if you truly care for your child.

my name is mailyna i got admitted on 4/20/25 first off if anyone who knew me in there finds this my insta is @mini2geekedd 💝💝i was here for about 2 months n 3 weeks i made some pretty nice friends and from the reviews… it seems like this place has really grown they addressed every problem ive had with other patients i had some amazing staff by my side and it really isn’t the worst unless you make it the worst for yourself they tough me a lot of stuff i will use for the rest of my life skyla was amazing she always put me in check and she was there when i had bad family sessions there were alot of things that happened when i was there but i feel so much better now then i did when i first got admitted i very much appreciate the people of this hospital the staff and the friends i made while there if i ever needed to go somewhere for help it will always be willow springs center they might need to get a little better at stopping fights there was a lot of drama and they need to work on listening to the kids and what they say they need more but i had a great time there and i know that i have a spot here forever and some great memories i got restrained on my first day because i was acting out because i thought i didn’t need to be there now i am very greatful i did the program and accepted that i was there i cried a lot when i left because i did make some really awesome amazing friends they say you come in alone and you leave alone but i personally don’t think so because those friendships were so solid for me im kinda just talking about how good of a time i had there but some advice if you do get sent here is to DO the program if you act out you won’t get out but be open to everything they teach as well i thought it was stupid and that it wouldn’t do anything for me but it has helped a lot since ive been home and doing the program helps a lot with self esteem especially for me i came home knowing i did the program i got out and i did the best i could to finally get better i didnt want to but i accepted that it was the best for me and the people around me i realized i wasn’t alone and that things WILLL get better and did i am very greatful for this hospital the staff my therapist and the friends i made it was a great experience and i got alot better it was such a surprise when i discharged and it was such a dream that i discharged it didn’t feel real i am so very happy right now because of this place and the things ive learned. thank you Elsi for the gummy bears on my last day they were very yummy and i miss nurse emmy and mr. nursey nurse and i miss playing music with the peads 🥲🥲 i miss the library a lot tho too and the food and the kitchen staff and playing the quiet game and our incentives that we’d get i miss my ridge kids and i miss my room i miss Lolo helping me when i had my one crashout and i miss playing volleyball i might start playing because i was pretty good at it when i was in there i miss jazzyy she was so sweet and i loved when she would do just dance with us when i was on SNA my first 2 weeks i do just dance a lot at home now because i forgot how fun it was i read a lot more now too because while i was in there i found a lot of love for reading i found myself while i was in there and i now know exactly who i am as a person

Hello, I was a patient here. In my time at willow springs, I have learned many things. One of the things I have learned is that no matter what happens, you must act like everything is fine. One of my friends, who was… another patient, attempted suicide. We continued to program like nothing was wrong. I have restrained three people, and there is a patient who has done 5 restraints, with the most recent time being last week. The staff neglected out needs, causing many of us, including me to contract UTI's (urinary tract infections) and we must wait weeks for a med consult. There is someone who sprained their wrist and had to wait for a med consult. Mentor Cait (like "my name is cait") was in the gym, when two patient eloped from the facility. I had to tell her to call a code pink (the code for elopement), as she was just standing there, mouth agape. Mentor Katana, she was the staff for the restraint that a patient had to preform last week, as she was not paying attention to what was going on. The patients are not informed of what belongings they have, as I apparently had a blanket and a pillow (which we are allowed to have), and I was not informed of that until discharge. There was a riot on the unit 'Vista' on 5/17/25 (May 17th, 2025), and a patient's septum piercing was ripped out, the person that ripped out said piercing was a manager who I will not name, due to them being a kind person at heart. During this riot, the staff did not offer to listen to me, instead they asked me if I wanted medication. In my opinion, the 'Good' staff, (good meaning they have basic human empathy and are good people) are Jess (M3, (Mentor Three)), and Jenna (M1, (Mentor One)), as they understand that not every problem can be solved with medication, they listen to you if you need to talk, and are genuine people. As the patients are denied water sometimes, Jenna and Jess both work hard to get the patients what they are needed, whether that be water, or a person to talk to. During the code pink (elopement of two patients), Jenna, who was on break, got out of her car and responded to the code, showing care for the patients safety. While Willow Springs is an awful place to send your children too, the time I was there, I believe that the patients are the only good part. I was discharged despite having an ED (eating disorder) and recently being put on SHP (self-harm precaution). They had recently found out about my ED, and despite me still struggling with SH (self-harm), and said ED, they discharged me. If you would like your children to get the help they need, make sure that they want the help, as they need to be willing to get the help. Do not send them to Willow Springs, as they will have more trauma than how they came in.

Those that leave five-star reviews don't know actually what goes down in here unless you've been a patient. hi my name is Brandon age 15 at the time I was a patient back in 2012 I had an 6-month stay I came in with a… cast and a splint because I tried to jump off a roof and ran 30 blocks from my parents I had so-called anger issues but I was hopped up on too many pills to count I was admitted with 13 pills 13 pills I didn't know half of them did except for one which was a stool softener the detox was excruciating considering my last treatment center which they put me on 13 pills. These places do nothing but put you on pills Gaslight you throughout the day to make you obedient you can't laugh at a fart you're not allowed to make any friends and the staff only act nice to you because they're paid too I can only say that the staff member I really truly liked and actually cared about me was Keith. After my stay after being let out early June 13th 2012 cuz Insurance wouldn't pay anymore I was relieved I was housed with a bunch of crazies that were way crazier than me people that were there for parole purposes people that were actually psychotic for crying out loud I was almost stabbed by one of the patients that were there on parole all because I asked him to get out of my doorway one of the rules that were on the unit... I just had parent issues and they didn't bother to question that instead the put me up on more pills I left with Adderall XR Seroquel among a few others I was told I would never get off any of these pills in my lifetime and here I sit 5 years clean do yourself a favor don't send your child here.

Communication with parents was lacking, we were told to bring things dor our kid and while we got them back our kid didn't get them, and was told she needed to request them. But not how to. Critical court papers were… not given to us at discharge, the primary councilor only saw our kid once a week.

So I was here from August - December of 2024. I appreciate eilynn for being a good therapist and all that. I miss Stefanie and talking about her light-skinned boyfriend (hehe) and I miss Chevy ant Tay lots! Helped me so… much and I hope they see this. The review is almost a year late but never to late! I'm so glad they didn't give up on me cus I was a crashout and got into a lot of holds. I'm doing so well today, though i discharged for a month and then headed to a mental hospital due to CRYING and then transferred to a residential and just got out. School was great and I'll never forget the teachers! King Zach, you are missed and remembered. SHEILA I MISS YOU SO MUCH! I lowkey forgot how to spell the staffs name that I gave the capybara to. And Aden, so very sorry for attacking you bro glad we made up near the end. I loved the staff so much and I hope they are still working there. Oh and the weird spelling of derrek (hope that's how you spell if) thanks for talking with me to the cops when I almost got arrested for biting a staff (😳) you helped so much. Anyway, peace out!

My child attended RTC for 49 days. Communication between staff and parents is lacking. Upon arrival from RBH belongings are held for 1-2 days before being given to the kids. When my child was transferred from intake… unit to a different unit, her belongings were misplaced and it took several days to find them. We did go through a change in therapists, which pushed progress back several weeks, but such is the nature of therapists. Discharge is where things really took a nose dive. Our insurance cancelled coverage and we were given a very short notice for discharge. Due to short notice and care coverage, we were unable to commit to any outpatient therapy care. We did continue with Psychiatry outpatient care. My child was told and we were told by Angel and by my child's therapist that at discharge someone would sit down with us, explain options outside of Willow Springs and questions would be answered. Discharge takes 5-30 min depending on questions. We set a time of 6:30p which is after hours, explained no aftercare would be done however we would like to continue psychiatry and requested a call with her psychiatrist. Upon arriving at Willow Springs for Discharge, we were handed 5 pieces of paper by a staff member Darrin. When I explained that we were told of a different process, he said "sorry this is all I have and all I was told." I inquired about the medications that were brought in and that I were told would be returned to us since they were not used, again he stated "sorry, this was all I was told." and then walked out of the room, locking us in the lobby with no way to leave and no staff to let us out. I then noticed that my child had no shoes, only socks to wear home. After waiting 20 min for someone to come back to the front to inquire about shoes, I called the number for the facility. Someone insured they would be up. Another staff member came up and we explained again the situation of no shoes, questions we had and questions about medications as we were told by the therapist we would be given 3 days worth at least. No one could answer questions. 20 more min passed while someone looked for shoes. After the second 20 min, I had to call again, as no one came back to the locked lobby. It was at this time that we spoke with two female staff, one name Elsie, who were both helpful. We explained our issues, frustrations and concerns about no medications. The medication dosage listed on the discharge papers were incorrect, the safety plan included with the paperwork was only the intake safety plan and the discharge safety plan was not included. We explained how we were told the night before how our child was not to just stop taking medication as it could cause severe depression and lead back to Suicidal issues. I had also explained that we had set up an outpatient appointment with her psychiatrist and how we were told that discharge would answer questions. Elsie and the other staff were able to contact Holly who was a manager of some level and secure medications for the night while ours were being filled at the pharmacy. While they never were able to locate shoes, they offered us a reimbursement for shoes or a pair of new in box shoes they had in the back. We finally left after 2 hours and one night of medication. I was never contacted by Holly as I was told I would be that night to clear issues over. The discharge process presented as disorganized and no communication between any staff that went over discharge (Angel-Discharge Nurse, Therapist, and/or Psychiatrist) as nothing was done on any level that was explained. The discharge left our family and child with a very somber experience at Willow Springs, including feelings of frustration, unanswered questions, and lack of attention for medication. The initial issue of a nurse just leaving us in a locked lobby was also shocking. Darrin left the room without ensuring that we were able to get out, failed to return to check if we had left, failed to see if any issues could be rectified. He was very unprofessional.

This place doesn't get enough flowers!! My daughter was a defiant know it all before she came here and their consistency and teamwork helped her come back home more healthy, Happy, and child-like. Other residencies like… sun arch academy in vegas shouldn't have high ratings compared to this place. Here they keep the genders separate and don't bathe them in tv all day. The best place for a healing teen, I promise!

DO NOT SEND YOUT KIDS HERE!!! My step daughter is at WSC now and these people don't return phone calls Don't address real issues when it comes to conflict resolution. Their approach is a giant waste of time and money… and does nothing but reinforce negative behavior and encourages the children to act out. We are trying to discharge her and they are ghosting calls. We see this as abduction/kidnapping and soon we will have to get the police and lawyers involved. Again save your children and avoid this place line the plague