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.

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.

DO NOT SEND YOUR CHILD HERE IF YOU CARE ABOUT THEM! This place is a joke. It is a money grabber, and they do not care about your child. All the patients had to go to other programs afterward because they didn’t get better but WORSE. All the therapists are not certified (except one) and are there to complete their hours. They don’t care about the children but rather talk bad behind them and all their fellow patient’s backs in group chats between staff. I have seen proof with my own eyes that they made fun of my child(what they wear and dress) in a group chat. The main person, whose name starts with a T, is never available to talk or is even on-site whenever there is a problem or just in general. The CAs are not qualified to help children who, at times, are mentally unstable. Before sending my child, they said the kids would be having issues with depression and anxiety, and that’s all. They said no hard drug addicts or ‘bad kids.’ They also said there would be a certified teacher for school. The teacher was not a school teacher but rather just a CA who was promoted and called a teacher. The teacher had an IQ of 5, and almost all the kids were smarter, and he couldn’t help them with their work. While my child was there, three girls tried to kill themselves, and another one tried to overdose on pills because they weren’t watching them closely, so they hid their meds and took them all at once and had to go to the hospital. There were also fights that happened on occasion. Multiple kids had come from psych wards when not ready to leave them and was a harm to themselves and others. Also, another time a patient stopped breathing because of an allergic reaction which they told the CAs about beforehand but didn’t take seriously and thought they were trying to get out of an activity. The person was lying on the floor for 5-10 minutes, not breathing and unconscious, before the CAs called help. These situations are a regular occurrence where they don’t know how to act or handle the kids. The list goes on. The night staff rarely check in on the kids, and when they do, they intentionally shine a light in their face, so they know they were checked on and wake up (They are supposed to be check in on every 15 mins. They check about 1-2 hours). One time my child woke up, and the night staff was asleep in a therapy room out cold when they needed help and had to go back to sleep when in pain. They promise individual therapy every day except for weekends which is a total lie. My child would get 2-4 sessions a week, where kids who acted out got multiple sessions a day. Group sessions are useless to these kids because everything they say is written down and talked about by the staff. CONFIDENTIALITY is NOT a thing. All the staff see and has everything written in individual therapy sessions. Also, all the tests, including the MMPI and DAS, are included in these files. The CAs look through the files and talk and laugh about some of the problems these children are experiencing when they should be trying to help. They even told another patient something very personal that was brought up in an individual therapy session about a different patient, which is totally against the law and HIPAA. I would give this no stars if that was an option. I have to say there are two positives about Paradigm. The food and the family therapist. EVERYTHING ELSE SUCKS! I write this not to bash them but rather to save you the trauma and bad experiences my family and many others have endured. If you take away anything from this, DONT SEND YOUR CHILD HERE IF YOU LOVE/CARE ABOUT THEM.

Extremely outdated treatment and understanding of some disorders. I left with more trauma then when I was admitted. I was misdiagnosed even though I came in with the correct diagnosis. I was told that I was faking it because they couldn’t find a root cause of the diagnosis I came in with (even though there is no known cause). This outdated understanding of the disorder led to a misdiagnosis and catastrophe when I was discharged. Staff allowed other patients to bully me and spread rumors about me that were very harmful. Almost all patients there that I have kept in contact with have relapsed.

I'm neutral on the efficacy of their treatment for my child's anxiety / depression. But their billing and insurance, and least for me, has been an unmitigated disaster. In short, I paid the full $50K treatment cost (first 30 days) upfront and they "graciously" offered to file insurance claims. They filed the insurance claims to PAY THEM not me despite my upfront payment. What? Months later, I am yet to see this money even though insurer has paid them (they are out of network) some $15K+. I have no choice but to think something fraudulent is going on or they are not telling me the whole story. Regardless, they are giving me a runaround, because it should not be that hard to get money owed that is rightfully mine. I have made multiple multiple attempts to get attention from them to pay me and get some resolution. It doesn't matter how good their treatment is (again I'm only neutral on that) if you can't get your insurance payments owed to you. And that is why they deservedly get only one TrustPilot star from me.

I entered Paradigm SF, not with a major substance abuse issue but with lots of trauma and multiple suicide attempts. After my time spent at paradigm (38 days to be exact), I left with more trauma and a recommendation to attend a long term institution. During my time in Paradigm, multiple staff members joked about my mood swigs, yet never documented it or look into it further. I was just given the diagnosis of major depressive disorder and general anxiety. One month after leaving and seeing a private psychiatrist on a once a week basis, I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder (no thanks to paradigm). It is ridiculous that I did not receive this diagnosis while living in view of my therapists and care team. If you are under the impression that paradigm is a mental health facility, you are being tricked it is only a temporary withdrawal faculty for rich teenagers. The one on one therapy sessions were lacking and consisted mostly of "how's your day going," not actual therapy. The psychiatrist here will simply up your medication because he doesn't know any better and is a poor excuse for a medical professional. Looking for actual mental health assistance? Look elsewhere. In addition to all this, I was denied my patient rights while attending. I was denied conversations with my parents and denied the ability to speak my native tongue with my parents. For most of the staff, sure they are nice people but they are inexperienced. At the San Francisco location, this was the first job in mental health for most of the staff. Even the therapists were either brand new or simply filling out their required hours in order to get licensed. For a price tag of a 10k attendance, you should at least receive licensed therapists. In short, Paradigm SF's staff member Kalani, specifically told me I was a hopeless case. She insinuated I had no future. This statement left me with extreme PTSD and caused me to develop a personality disorder. Thank you paradigm for not only ignoring my problems but creating new ones. Please do not send your children here, they will likely develop new issues. If you care for your children's wellbeing, send them elsewhere.

These reviews have to be paid for as this place was the worst thing that had happened to our child and every person he met has relapsed and most are worse off. The food and accommodations are nice. They really messed with our child and our relationship. There were several sexual relationships between the kids and the staff ignored it. Please do not send anyone you love to this rehabilitation center. Worst decision of our lives!