Sierra Tucson

My daughter went to Sierra Tucson for four weeks. She felt like she was having a nervous breakdown and her family (without husband who wanted nothing to do with it) and friends talked to her and she agreed to go. We thought she would be glad for the love and concern we felt for her but it was far from it. There was no healing, only rage towards her family, especially me, her mother. She is in her fifties and has never been able to show any forgiveness toward me for the years I drank. She came home more filled with anger than ever before. Her four siblings and parents, some of who have been to successful treatment, are in total disbelief over the results. The family therapist would not respond to out emails or phone calls, even when daughters thirteen year old daughter called the therapist, very upset.

Sierra Tucson communication between all medical team, patient coordinators, DNPS, and family members is quite below average. MY Mother has been home from their facility, for 4 days. If i wasnt in the medical field and did their job for them . She would probably still be there. They answered my emails 5 days later, after she was discharged and at home safe.

I was battling severe depression, anxiety, PTSD, and suicidality. After trying other treatment options, I agreed to go to Sierra Tucson. They were so easy to communicate with, I answered so many questions, got my finances lined up, and left the next day. Upon arrival, I immediately felt like I was in the right place; I loved the facility and had much in common with the other patients in Desert Flower (this is where they hold you until you are placed in the program). I willingly participated in everything, was cooperative, and happy to be there. On about day 3, someone pulled me into a room and said that I had to leave that very day because I was not a candidate for their program since I had previously attempted suicide. I was stunned. I cried hysterically for them to reconsider, but they would not. While in route to the airport with their driver, someone called to ask why I had request to go to confession on Sunday. I simply told them that I was Catholic, and I wanted to go to confession. They began to ask more questions which really made me angry; why hadn't they asked me anything at all while I was still there. I yelled at the woman and hung up on her. In turn, she called the driver and told him to bring me to the nearest ER for a psych eval. Are you kidding me?!?! They let me in knowing I had attempted suicide, let me stay for a few days, kick me out without ever speaking to me one-on-one, force me to buy a $1,000 airline ticket to leave that day, and then want to be concerned while I'm in route to the airport. Things supposedly happen for a reason and I guess they did this time too. As upsetting as it was, I did end up finding a fabulous treatment center.

This is a long post, but I think you should read all of it. I spent 5 long days in Sierra Tucson, a rehab facility that also is supposed to treat PTSD and depression. Here are just the highlights: 1. A male patient hung himself to death in the residential lodge. We were offered no support, and at least one patient who knew him left against medical advice. 2. A supposed millionaire was brought into the hospital close to me in my area and surrounded by staff as he yelled and screamed for a phone to call 911 because he felt that he was being kept there against his will. The sheriff took him away. 3. I was promised by an intake rep on the phone, on a recorded line, that Sierra Tucson was NOT a faith-based rehab, and while they do offer the 12-step option, I could simply not partake. This was a lie. Among other things, I was required to participate twice a day in a "check in" which consisted of a prayer to God; if I refused to participate, I would be charged $250 for each incident of not checking in for accountability. 4. When I argued my perspective as an Atheist, the roaming therapist suggested that I open my mind to Christianity, that the word God was not at all a religious word, and that I was not being reasonable, even after I told her that Christianity is a big PTSD trigger for me. 5. That roaming therapist sent out an email to all the staff telling them that I am Atheist, and to permit me to check in without joining the prayer circle. A few hours after her email went out, the staff stopped talking to me, hugging me, touching me, smiling at me, nor making any eye contact. 6. As I drove past the smoking area on my electric scooter, someone there screamed out the words to the gospel song "Glory Glory Glory". Not singing it, but screaming out the words. I called for a roaming therapist, but she never showed up. 7. I drove to my first group class, on the topic of resentment, and the room had God messages and prayers on 3 out of four walls. My core feeling was anger. The staff member leading the group, whom I just told that Christianity is a PTSD trigger for me, told the group to pray for those who resent us. I decided to leave Sierra Tucson; I left the classroom and went to start the process of leaving. 8. I went to the dining room to eat one last meal before driving home, and parked my electric scooter right behind me. I sat alone and ate my lunch while trying not to make noise as I cried. My friends I had made during the 5 days I was there, whom I told I am Atheist and triggered by this place, saw me crying from the very next table, but made no move. When I finished my lunch, I got up and turned around to get back on my scooter. then I saw that the key to my electric scooter was missing. Someone there had stolen the key to my electric scooter while I was less than 3 feet away and crying my eyes out. I began crying like a toddler. The bottom dropped out and I felt like a turd in the swimming pool. I screamed. No patient nor any staff member approached me, helped me, or reacted in any way. There's more to this story, but these facts are only the highlights. I am not giving up, but instead I am now searching for a religion-free place or therapist to help me. And also during that recorded phone call in which the Sierra Tucson rep lied to me about the treatment? She also told me that the treatment would be free because i had met my deductible and out of pocket for the year. but guess who just received a bill?

Sierra Tucson is a Christian faith-based treatment facility. The intake representative told me all kinds of lies to get me in there, even after I told her that I did not want any form of religion, especially Christianity, around me while in treatment. I left after only 5 days, but during those five days, they surrounded me with visual and verbal forms of Christianity, and one therapist even asked me to convert from Atheism. Their handbook, given to all new patients, has Christianity's deity named 26 times, and while they also claim in writing to be welcoming to diversity, they only mean diversity within the Christian faith. I thought I did my homework before I agreed to go to Sierra Tucson, but I relied on the lies and misrepresentations of the intake representative.