Paradigm TreatmentReviews of paradigmmalibu.com

This is the San Rafael location... My child has a diagnosis that requires skill and care, Paradigm has neither of those. My daughter was given an administrative discharged after less than two weeks. In those 12 days she did not shower, brush her teeth, and staff claimed she had an eating disorder, was self harming, and was a risk of walking away. Upon admittance I tried to explain her auditory hallucinations and how they affect her behavior. She was eating outside to avoid overstimulation, has a compulsion to pick at scabs (which they deemed self harm, but did not address the wounds or encourage self care). The only time I heard of their concerns was an hour before they decided to discharge and transfer to a higher level of care that they claimed to have arranged which was an absolute farse. We were turned away when that facility said she was not a high risk and they did not have a bed. If 0 stars was an option, that is what they would get. My daughter left more at risk than when she was admitted. I was not prepared to have her home and she was not stable on medication which was the whole point of her admittance to paradigm. It took a week to get medication started at paradigm even though we had a plan and it's effects were not yet seen upon their discharge of her which is proof of their incompetence. Especially the way it was handled. Their skill and (lack of) empathy did not meet the needs of my daughter and their lack of communication is dangerous.

Paradigm Review: Review for Paradigm Treatment Center – PCH Malibu Living in Oregon, one of the worst states for mental health care, we knew an out-of-state option was necessary when our son relapsed after a previous PHP program last fall. Residential therapy was the next step, and after thorough consideration, we chose Paradigm Treatment Center in Malibu. Our 18-year-old son participated in the young adult program, completing a 45-day stay with great success. His experience was overwhelmingly positive—he was truly invested in the process and determined to improve. While he struggled with suicidal ideation, he did not have substance abuse challenges, which we believe helped him fully engage with treatment and benefit from the structured support Paradigm provided. Exceptional Staff & Support The staff at Paradigm was outstanding—friendly, personable, and incredibly helpful. The Clinical Assistants (both Matts, Ali, Kristin, Rae) engaged in activities alongside our son, ensuring he never felt isolated. Tara, his therapist, deserves a special mention. She was direct, insightful, and unafraid to address core issues, even when they were tough to acknowledge. Her approach led to many takeaways, and our relationship with our son improved exponentially. Mark, the Director, went above and beyond to assist with an unexpected insurance issue, while Nestor helped us navigate benefits and coverage. Additionally, Tara advocated for our son in an appeal, ensuring therapy continued beyond 30 days, despite insurance initially wanting to discharge him against medical advice. Even the medical staff contributed to this positive experience. Kaela, the nurse, treated our son with kindness and respect, ensuring he felt valued as a person, not just a patient. Her compassion made a meaningful difference, reinforcing the supportive environment that helped him thrive. Unique Amenities & Therapies The program provided a well-rounded experience, including a personal chef who prepared both vegetarian and standard meals, always welcoming food suggestions. Several group outings—beach trips, Barnes & Noble visits, frozen yogurt runs, and Target shopping—kept spirits high and provided things to look forward to. You’ll want to send your loved one with some cash. Paradigm also offered several specialized therapies that our son genuinely enjoyed. As an athlete, his favorites included: • Weekly workouts with Diamond, which always kept him laughing • Music therapy • Yoga therapy • Surfing therapy Overall, our son returned home happy, healthy, and equipped with valuable tools to navigate life and get him ready for college. We highly recommend this facility, as the program was truly exceptional. Considerations & Challenges While the program itself was fantastic, the insurance aspect proved challenging. Insurance ultimately determines the length of care, which led to an unexpected situation where coverage was prematurely cut off. Fortunately, Tara and Mark fought on our behalf. One key cautionary point—we have BCBS insurance, and despite Paradigm stating the Malibu location was in-network, BCBS informed us otherwise. They only covered the Raphael location, even though both are in California. If you’re considering Paradigm, clarify insurance details in advance to avoid surprises after dropping off your loved one. Additionally, touring the facility beforehand wasn’t an option, which initially made check-in uneasy. However, daily phone calls, weekly 1-hour family therapy, weekly parent therapy and weekly zoom calls for family time (since we were out-of state) provided reassurance and helped us connect with other families. Final Thoughts For this program to truly be effective, your family needs to be invested in the process. Paradigm helped us rise above the situation, and we are deeply grateful for the transformation we witnessed in our son. We absolutely recommend Paradigm Treatment Center for anyone seeking residential therapy.

Facility Really nice, no complaints. Even from the defiant child that did not want to be there! Therapists We thought highly of our two therapists (group and individual). They clearly cared, although communication was guarded. Lots of flowery talk and positivity (during updates), but in the end we realized they were minimizing issues to not worry us. Which made the shock of how they abruptly chose to kick our child out that much worse. Also, they did call CPS on us because we restrained our child prior to treatment (when throwing things through windows , etc). Turned out to be an inconvenience only. CPS lady was really annoyed her time was being wasted by the report, but I’m sure that is the right protocol. Once you get over the embarrassment, not a big deal, so don’t worry even if your kid likes to make stuff up too. Site Program Director – Tim H If I can fault Paradigm for anything on the treatment side, it is with Tim. He’s a younger guy (or I am old!) and I think he oversold his “experience”. Short version is Paradigm got sick of my explosive child threatening to self harm and they planned to kick our child out. (Fine, trust me, used to it by now and I get it, they can’t continue to assume the words are for shock value) Tim calls me one Friday evening (I’m east coast) and tells me I need to be there (west coast) the NEXT morning. I find someone to take my other kids and somehow make it on a plane 8 hours from Tim's first call. I begged Tim to wait until I got there to tell my kid about being expelled. He tells me they will separate my child from the group and wait for me to come, but he will help explain because he’s an “expert” at this kind of thing. Well, I was literally on the LA tarmac taxiing to the gate and for some reason they decided to just go ahead and break the news WITHOUT ME PRESENT. I guess to Tim I am no expert in with my own child (**heavy sarcasm**), but predictably, said child went nuclear, threatened self harm so they called cops who tackled and cuffed my 120lb tween. They stuffed my child in an ambulance and put on a 3 day “hold” at the local small hospital. I was driving in the rental car to them in Malibu when I got the call. I was that close!! Grrr. They did have someone stay with my child at the hospital until I got there 30 minutes later, but then all the belongings were dumped in the hospital lobby and at that point they go full corporate mode (say nothing, don’t get involved, cya bye!!) We spent 3 days in a cinderblock empty hospital room until the hold lifted. Then I guess it is some sort of law (policy?) where they would not discharge my child to me, but had to send my child on another ambulance ride to a place to determine my child was indeed NOT likely to self harm. All said and done, Tim’s mismanagement / bad “expert” decision making cost us: • 3 days confinement • 2 x 20 minute hospital rides @ $4000 EACH out of pocket. NOT a typo. (Out of network on the other side of the country…who knew?) For my child, FAFO I guess, but it was 1000% unnecessary and that is ALL on Tim. I TOLD him, but “trust me, I’m an expert” he says. Looks like someone from Paradigm is now reading / responding to reviews so maybe they can get the feedback to Tim. He needs to know the consequences of his choices and this is my only way to share that, since Paradigm is the only medical place I’ve ever used that does NOT want to get feedback on their service. I go get for to my doc for an annual physical and I get 10 surveys. Send my kid into someone else’s care across the country and nope, no need to improve apparently. Financials Can’t say I was shocked because when we were on here researching for my child, another reviewer had complained AT LENGTH (but professionally) about how shady the Paradigm (Altior) Finance team was and our experience was every bit the same in the end. Really odd that I don’t see that post here anymore…. Anyway, if your house is in crisis, you probably don’t care about $$$, and I get it. But you should be aware: 1) They do a really good job getting insurance submittals and handling all that. Nestor was great. Admissions person was good too (name slips my mind now) 2) If you need to pay them up front (because you are in crisis and need an option) expecting to get reimbursed from them later when insurance pays, you WILL experience MAJOR headaches as a parting gift. It took over 9 months to get a check back for an overpayment of < $5k. After 3 months I have in writing that they agree they owe it. But, again, consistent with what the other father had written, I must have written and called 100 times. It wasn’t until I had to threaten lawyers, CC them on emails to the regulator (DHCS) that they started to respond. Then it was always some excuse to delay it, delay it, delay it. Recommendation If you read this far, check out Evolve up in nearby Augora Hills. Sadly, same outcome, but treated us really, really well.

This review is entirely about the financial practices at Paradigm/Altior. Do believe all the other reviews about the difficulty in getting your pre-payments refunded after reconciling with your insurance company. It was 5 months after discharge for all the insurance claims to be properly submitted (two claims needed to be resubmitted multiple times) and our refund processed. Paradigm did require an amount equal to our Annual Max Out of Pocket up front since the stay included January 1. The care our child received was good. We felt they were safe and well cared for. If the child is willing to do the work, the program can be helpful.

We got surprised with an 8K+ bill after I paid my co-insurance. Despite being in very close touch weekly about insurance approvals. And each week, they would ask if I would keep my child in of insurance didn’t cover. I said no. They claimed it took 13 days after my child left to reconcile with my insurance and threatened collections right away. On top of that, they added stress to my child’s recovery with the fear they would get discharged if insurance and parent did not pay. I’m now in process of hiring an attorney to address this. What a pain, by the way- no negotiation of that surprise bill or offer to reduce, make payments. Just straight up we are sending to collections. They need to update their skills and try not to add more issues.

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One of the worst things about the facility is they make you pre-pay the entire stay upfront before insurance will pay. At $2000 a day this is no small amount When you consider a 6 week stay. When they want to be paid they are very attentive and will return all phone calls and emails. Now picture after you’ve gone through two years of insurance wrangling especially during Covid and they get paid with US treasury checks for more than the full amount of the stay. Two months later you don’t have a refund! And you know those US treasury checks did not bounce!! And during the whole insurance review process they are not helpful at all. They do not return most emails. They will not let you know the claim number. It takes at least five tries to get them to even cooperate. Honestly it ruins the whole experience— no one has money to play games like this. 2 months after they were paid they have not returned the money. Go read the better business bureau complaints- this is a common paradigm practice. We will continue to step through the process- complaints with bb, attorney general- but this should not be necessary if the business would act in good faith

PARADIGM IS GREAT! They helped me a lot. Definitely recommend. Lots of love to all the staff including Drew, Vic, Melody, Diana, Christina, Dunya, Tomi, Alex, Christopher, Susy, and more. Paradigm has the most fantastic staff of any organization ever. Great FOOD! Thanks to the wonderful chefs, Doug and Patro. Lifesaving food. Can't forget cherry on top of it all: Lulu the precious therapy dog. Miss you Lulu! I'll always remember my time in CHER's house of treatment fondly.