ABOUT MOUNTAIN LAKES BEHAVIORAL HEALTHCARE – CEDAR LODGE
Mountain Lakes Behavioral Healthcare has been providing mental health treatment to residents of Alabama since 1971. Located in the small city of Guntersville, the facility’s substance abuse unit, called Cedar Lodge, offers short-term residential treatment for adult men and women at least 19 years of age. Detox services are not provided and clients must be sober for at least 72 hours prior to admission.
TREATMENT & ASSESSMENT
Cedar Lodge provides a Level III.5 “Clinically Managed High Intensity Residential Program.” To be eligible for this service, clients must undergo a standardized psychosocial assessment and receive a primary diagnosis of chemical dependence. According to the facility’s website, priority admission is given to pregnant women.
Treatment typically lasts from two to three weeks and combines evidence-based practices with 12-step principles. Individuals can expect to partake in group, individual, and family therapy, as well as on-site 12-step sessions. If needed, assistance is available for work toward a General Equivalency Diploma (G.E.D). Cedar Lodge also offers preventative services with workshops that teach life skills to children and adults.
STAFF CREDENTIALS
All of Mountain Lakes Behavioral Healthcare’s programs are certified by the Alabama Department of Mental Health. The treatment team includes licensed professional counselors. Three reviewers polled by Best-rehabs.com rated the staff’s level of experience and training 4.3 out of five stars on average.
ACCOMMODATIONS & AMENITIES
Mountain Lakes Behavioral Healthcare’s Cedar Lodge is located on a wooded lot in Marshall County. Clients stay in rooms with twin beds and have access to laundry facilities at no extra charge. Clients may bring certain toiletry items with them and make store runs twice a week. They also should bring a phone card for long distance calls. Four reviewers polled by Best-rehabs.com to date rated the facility’s accommodations and amenities an average of four out of five stars, and its meals and nutrition an average of 4.3 out of five stars.
WHAT ALUMNI SAY
The only alum polled by Best-rehabs.com to date provided consistently positive feedback about their experience at Mountain Lakes Behavioral Center’s Cedar Lodge program. This anonymous former client awarded perfect five-star ratings across the board for the major survey categories of treatment effectiveness, accommodations and amenities, and meals and nutrition. The alum followed the same five-star rating pattern for other metrics, including holistic treatment offerings, connectivity, family participation, affordability, admissions and discharge procedures, and whether they would recommend the facility to others, and wrote: “They caring and open to talk. It is a relaxing and rewarding experience.”
WHAT FRIENDS & FAMILY SAY
The two anonymous loved ones surveyed by Best-rehabs.com at the time of writing offered mixed feedback, which leaned positive. When asked, on a scale from one to five, whether they would recommend treatment at Cedar Lodge, they gave two and four out of five stars. They each rated the facility four and five out of five stars for family participation and treatment for co-occurring disorders and four out of five stars for affordability.
One reviewer commended the “friendly” staff, but mentioned “there are not enough activities.” The other rated Cedar Lodge only one star for holistic treatment options and felt the program was “nowhere near long enough to help someone with a serious problem,” but deemed it “an adequate starting point for a basis of recovery.”
WHAT STAFF SAY
The only former employee polled by Best-rehabs.com to date, S.D. awarded perfect five-star ratings in several categories, including honesty, likelihood to put the interests of patients first, staff’s level of experience and training, patient loyalty and privacy, training protocols, fairness of pricing, and job satisfaction. They wrote: “If you need a place to go, this place will do all it can to get you in!”
FINANCING
According to the facility’s website, Cedar Lodge accepts Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance, major credit cards, and can arrange for payment plans as well as discounts for treatment services based on income. All clients pay a non-refundable admission fee of $300. Cedar Lodge offers a limited number of private pay beds at a fee of $4,250. Healthgrove and Citehealth both report that Cedar Lodge accepts Medicaid.