Sovereign Health San Clemente offers specialized mental health, substance abuse, and dual diagnosis disorder treatment that is tailored to meet the unique needs of each patient. The comprehensive program begins at admission, where an expert staff conducts a thorough assessment to identify potential co-occurring conditions and accurately diagnose each patient, ensuring they receive the proper course of treatment.
An oceanfront location and caring staff provide a serene and calming atmosphere where residents can realize their full potential. Sovereign Health addresses underlying mental health conditions by utilizing innovative and cutting-edge cognitive testing, rehabilitation, and evidence-based treatment modalities, as well as alternative therapies including art and equine therapy. Sovereign Health San Clemente is dually licensed in both addiction and mental health, holds a Joint Commission accreditation, and accepts most private insurance.
ABOUT SOVEREIGN HEALTH ADDICTION, DUAL DIAGNOSIS, AND MENTAL HEALTH TREATMENT PROGRAMS
Located in the tranquil beach community of San Clemente, California, 59 miles north of San Diego, Sovereign Health of San Clemente offers a continuum of treatment programs designed for adults struggling with chemical dependency and co-occurring mental health difficulties. Along with a 30 to 90-day residential program, the facility offers a partial hospitalization program (PHP) and an intensive outpatient program (IOP). One of four residential facilities operated by Sovereign Health, including one for adolescents in El Cajon, the San Clemente location also offers medical detoxification and natural detox services on-site.
TREATMENT & ASSESSMENT
Upon admission, each client receives a comprehensive three-step assessment to determine specific client needs. Utilizing popular therapeutic modalities, such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT), residential treatment includes individual counseling, group therapy, mindfulness training, pharmacogenetic testing, and brain mapping. The facility also holds 12-step and SMART Recovery support meetings on-site.
Sovereign Health in San Clemente specializes in dual diagnosis treatment, focusing on identifying underlying causes of addiction. The facility uses cognitive remediation (specifically, a program called Neurobic) to help clients retrain their brains to create positive, constructive thinking patterns. Dually diagnosed clients also receive ongoing medication management.
In addition to core programming, the facility offers several experiential therapies, including equine therapy, artistic expression, and music therapy. According to the facility’s website, clients may also visit a gym regularly and participate in community outings, such as supervised beach walks. To include loved ones in treatment, the facility holds an intensive, two-day family program on weekends. The San Clemente facility also offers an eating disorder program for women.
Once a client successfully completes residential treatment, clients may be encouraged to utilize PHP or IOP as a “step-down” aftercare service. PHP entails similar, structured programming as residential treatment, though clients return to their homes each night. IOP requires clients to attend multiple group sessions per week.
STAFF CREDENTIALS
Led by a clinical psychologist with a Master’s emphasizing in marriage and family therapy, Sovereign Health’s treatment staff includes master’s-level counselors and licensed psychologists experienced in mental health and substance abuse disorders.
ACCOMMODATIONS & AMENITIES
Clients live in fully furnished, gender-specific houses within the community. Each upscale, homelike facility features spacious, well-appointed communal areas, fully-equipped kitchens, and outdoor patios.
WHAT ALUMNI SAY
Of the 28 alumni polled by Best-rehabs.com at the time of this writing, 18 provided positive reviews and 10 provided negative reviews. The four alumni who were polled across additional evaluated metrics gave the facility split ratings: two alumni provided all five-star ratings, and two alumni provided all one-star ratings for the center’s staff’s level of experience and training, its holistic treatment offerings, its meals and nutrition, its connectivity with the real world during treatment, its counseling options, and its family participation.
Most alumni cited staff and living facilities as strengths. Mark, a recovering heroin abuser, wrote: “Sovereign Health absolutely exceeded my expectations. The therapists were fantastic, and I have never walked out of a group session and said to myself I got nothing out of it.” Supporting this positive opinion, alum Thadius wrote: “I found the Sovereign staff to be very friendly and the program is very well run.”
Less satisfied alumni felt the facility used deceptive marketing tactics. “They lie and tell you it is like staying at a spa and taking a vacation with beautiful homes on the beach,” V.V. wrote. Alyssa agreed, writing: “Just know before sending a loved one there that it is nothing like they present it as. There is no gym three times a week, not even once a week, there are no early morning beach walks.”
WHAT FRIENDS & FAMILY SAY
Unlike alumni opinions, 13 loved ones polled by Best-rehabs.com at the time of this writing also provided mostly negative feedback. Of the 13 loved ones, two gave Sovereign Health in San Clemente positive reviews, three gave it mixed reviews, and eight gave it negative reviews. Out of five stars, Marissa gave a perfect five-star rating for the level of family participation and wrote: “The facility has dedicated teams of professionals who do amazing work with patients and their family members.” Another loved one added: “It was a clean facility with staff that seem to care.”
Multiple family members reported a lack of communication with their loved ones during treatment. When trying to communicate with their son, parent K described the staff as “dismissive and rude.” Parent Nikal reported the same issues: “The San Clemente location isn’t great. There isn’t much supervision. They were also not good at communicating with me,” she wrote.
WHAT STAFF SAY
The two staff members polled by Best-rehabs.com to date were both critical of the facility, citing the same issues as some alumni and loved ones. “Do NOT work here or send patients here!! Horrible administration, poor treatment of staff,” B.B. wrote. Staff member J.J.B. added: “I have never in my life worked for a company with unprofessional supervisors as they are here,” adding: “The facilities don’t look like the pictures on the fliers.”
FINANCING
According to the facility’s website, Sovereign Health accepts most private insurance plans, including Aetna, Cigna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, and more. Financing is also available through My Treatment Lender.
Updated May 2017
Sovereign Health Addiction, Dual Diagnosis, and Mental Health Treatment Programs Reviews
It was a very pleasant experience with effective treatment that has helped me in improving health . It has brought back happiness in my life that was missing for a long time.cleanliness, quality psychologist , services offered are excellent . surrounding area is average.
DO NOT SEND A LOVED ONE TO THIS FACILITY! All the special treatments they offer are all lies. They do not set you up with a doctor for evals. You only get 5 minutes with a random doctor to get drugs prescribed. Nutrition is not addressed, supervision in the houses are severely lacking, there are no gyms to work out in or any special rehab programs. And if they promise you financial assistance through Healthnet or any other health group, be prepared to be billed for hundreds of dollars after you leave the facility. If you call for assistance, they suddenly don't know you or the people you worked with are no longer available. I sent my nephew there for severe depression and he was stuck in a house with drug addicts (which they promised would not happen), he lived on boxed mac-n-cheese. He did get a weekly meeting with a counselor, who actually kept falling asleep during his session. They signed him up with HealthNet insurance and said they would pay the bills through their special foundation. When he finally got home, he started receiving bills from Healthnet and when he called Sovereign about it, NO ONE would assist him. The only benefit he got from going there was to realize he was not as mentally disturbed as he thought he was, because there were some SERIOUSLY ill people there (that were not receiving any help). We read some bad review about Sovereign but chose to ignore them. Needless to say, those bad reviews were true. . Please heed this warning - do not send a family member there!
AWESOME mental health treatment!!!
It was a very pleasant experience with effective treatment that has helped me in improving health . It has brought back happiness in my life that was missing for a long time.
This place should be shut down. They could be commenting insurance fraud. Even if they weren't the whole place is a joke. They allow violence outside of the facility and inside. There are no repurcussions if a client has drugs on the property or is doing them all the time. The food is horrendous with no nutritional value whatsoever
I am amazed by the dedication of the physicians and staff who work at Sovereign Health. From the top administration, to the very important and equally respected support staff, Sovereign Health has got to be the best behavioral health care facility I have ever encountered. Their continuing education program and networking opportunities are top notch. No wonder they are coming under fire...the higher you go, the more targets you have on your back.
It is one of the best treatment centers with emotional attachment and personal touch
It is a very good treatment center with all the essential facilities.The Medical staff is well trained to meet all your requirements. The treatment gave me new confidence to overcome my mental health. Various stress releasing therapies, courteous staff , latest treatment equipments should offer more recreation activities.
strength:None. You name it. weakness:The psychiatrist they contracted with was not up to part. Lied to me what the rest of my maximum out of pocket was on my insurance. Had to pay that up front to get her into their facility. My bad for not checking myself.
strength:experienced staff, neat and clean , Health Environment , Excellent Treatment program weakness:extracurricular activities are not up to the mark When I first came to California I was in a sober living house and they suggested that I go to Sovereign Health because other treatments didnt work for me and this was a different experience. About the program you get what you put into it. If you come here with a negative attitude thinking that oh I am just doing this to make my parents happy it is not going to help and I have known because it took me a long time to actually do it for myself this is my 12 treatment and I really want to better my life this time.
Neat and clean environment, well trained staff , excellent treatment program Meals are average I originally was trying to seek treatment trying to find something that would best suit me on a daily basis not just once a week therapist so I just went online did some Google searching and Sovereign Health was one of the first results that came up so I went to the website checked out the videos and read about the rules and the different houses in the campus and all that. Well for one it is in sunny California so that definitely was a positive thing but I think just the fact that it was far enough from home where I could really focus on myself and really give the attention that I deserved you know attention that I needed for a long time. I haven't had too much experience with other treatment programs but it is the first one that I have seen because I did a lot of looking into treatment centers and all that treatment program and it was the first one that I saw that was pretty you know like relax in a way that they give you a lot of liberties and a lot of freedom. Sovereign Health really went beyond my expectations. I have told many people already that I have learned so much about myself in the time that I have been here than I have in the past 20 years of my life , I feel like I have the tools needed to get out there and really experience life. The residence that I stayed in was very nice. It was very clean you know very nice healthy environment. The people that I lived in with were awesome they really helped me out of any trouble. The therapist that I had and the staff in general were very knowledgeable they really are in tune with you and even in the first couple of days that you are here they really do a get a sense of why you are here you know ,what are your needs and they are always willing to talk to you. I have never had experience with group sessions but I did have experience with one on one therapy so the individual therapy was what I was used to, sitting down and really kind of getting to the point getting to the issues but the group therapy was something that I was a little nervous about. I don't know I think all the groups are my favorite. It is hard to choose one out of the whole lot because you know they all just offer so many different things you know they all had something to teach to you. Even if they don't necessarily apply to you there is still always something that you can take out of it. It is very tiring because you are there all day in treatment and it is a lot of work you know talking about yourself and listening to your peers and really trying to grasp all the ideas that's being thrown out but in the end it is absolutely worth it. I feel like their staff choices are very good. You know I have never had one group or one therapy session where I have said I really don't like this person I don't like what they are saying I don't like how they treated me I never had that and I think that Sovereign really gets a sense for how you are doing and what brought you here . There is a lot of something to take away all the friendships I have made I will never forget the people here. I know I am going to keep in contact with them. The interaction with the staff members and I am never going to forget. And you know just everything that I have learned about myself everything here from my peers that inspired me to keep going and to get back out there and achieve my goals you know just all the lessons that I have learn here I think are going to stick with me for the rest of my life. My tip for newcomers is to work the program I mean you are only going to get out of it what you put into it that is something that somebody told me when I first got here and that is something that I think everybody should know is you know if you come in here and you are just going to say oh just take it easy it is like a vacation for me I am just going to sit in this groups and just listen and not do anything you are not going to get as much out of it.
well structured program Accomodation I am from the East Coast and I was in a treatment hospital for a week and my case manager there had mentioned a couple of places and this happened to be one of them and it happened to be in California so that was my obvious choice. Location had a big part to do with it. I went on website and looked you know advertising on the beach I knew it was going to be mountains for the first two months but that was a great experience as well I am glad I was able to see both . Well my therapist Chris was excellent he was right here and that's where I did most of my venting .He really is a good person and he listens to me and he doesn't just direct you what to do and you should be doing, he hears you like you are a person and gives you opportunity to explain yourself he is great. I think that it is a pretty well structured program.The house manager and I had issues ,he actually helped me out a lot towards the end he is a tough guy and he is going to give it to you straightforward but you know this is probably why I respect this program about honesty and I think that you can win over anybody as long as you hold certain qualities. You need to be open to program you need to sit there attentively and listen as much as you can. I understand that a lot of people come in here and they are detoxing from certain drugs and they are having some adjustment and it is a huge. it is a really hard thing to adjust to because you are changing your whole life and it does get better. You got to just hang on to your seat and just work at program you know make sure that you are here for a reason because you are addicted to drugs you have eating disorder you have some mental issues and you know they can all be addressed and even if you are not getting what you want the groups can address that to the therapist and they will cater to you as much as they can.
Excellent Staff , case managers are well experienced Laundry takes time I learned about Sovereign through the internet. I was currently at an inpatient program before I was here and when I was there I found that my insurance wasn't covered ,so I came here. I was either homeless or chose rehab and my aunt gave me that ultimatum to choose a good rehab. Honestly I saw that you guys did yoga and you guys had some holistic approach to it and I was really interested in that so I decided to do that. I have actually been to some other treatment programs before it is different by a lot of thing. It is a lot bigger how many people they enrolled. I have seen anywhere between 25 people being here close to like 60 or 70 people. My expectations for the program were pretty much to integrate my addiction and figure out how it was affecting me not just the drug addiction itself and being addicted to the drugs but the trauma behind it all and that is where most of the key lies and not so much why you did the drug exactly it is the underlying issues if you are using because nobody just does drugs to get high they do drugs for some other purpose and I been to other rehabs where they didn't treated that way they treat it because you want to get high and that is not worth it and that is not the right way. Had enough room for everything. They always have food in the kitchen great staff at the house that I was at I mean we weren't restricted from certain things like we need to go shopping we could and our house managers really nice. The house is pretty spacious I mean anywhere between 8 to 9 to 10 people in my house I am in the biggest room right now and honestly it is kind of nice. It is nice comparatively better that other rehabs that I have been to. Therapist and staff that's probably the main reason why I have decided to stay. The staff were amazing here. My therapist is one of the really like down to earth therapist that you always look for. You know she understands why you feel stressed out and she helps you look at ways differently to where it make sense to you and it helps you in a great real life situations. Group therapy sessions were probably the most promising event for me here. My favorite group is the trauma group. It is a really deep group. I mean if you participate in the trauma group the way it work is you pretty much tell about your past traumas that you have and we speak through them off from a story form and that is where a lot of my issues come from. It is the trauma that I went through in my life. Had I not have that trauma group here I probably wouldn't be as far as I am today. Honestly I like most about Sovereign is that how dedicated they are to helping you get what you need from treatment. I mean certain people needed more care than others and the people that need care obviously get the more they need here. It is not like you feel like you are not getting so much care as they are it is obvious when they help you get help here. Great staff, great people all around I am leaving right now I am really bum because it is a great group of guys that are here with me that we all try to help out each other we all try to help each other's issues get better. I can’t really think of one but if I have to pick one it would be the friends that I make because I made real friends here and I never really made real friends before I thought I did but they are either using me for drugs, my money where I am living to sleep at house because I thought they needed it and they were using me for it and here the only friends you make are friend that actually care about you. Honestly I would come here try it out you know don't try to leave within the first 30 days because you are going to want to but after you want to you are going to want to come back here after that 30 days you are not going to want to leave. I mean it is a great program. I mean you got like any other program that you got to give it your best effort if you don't give it your best it is not going to be perfect for you and that's every program out there not just this one. There is so many good things about this program I couldn't even name the list of the things that I am going to miss the most is the staff the peers I actually think I am going to miss groups but I mean I love this program and I am really excited that I have come this far to get out of it but I am really also bummed that I am leaving.
Strengths: Experienced clinicians , Neat and clean Internet connectivity was a weakness. I learned about Sovereign through the internet. I was pretty desperate for some help and it is the first one that accepted me and the one that I call so I am grateful that happened. Yes. I have been doing heroin and opioids for 12 years and I hit rock bottom anything from homeless to doing things that harmed my character I wasn't proud of that is what kind of got me into the program. Reading about your background you guys had a lot of offer different classes outside activities this all seem like a real good place to enter and it was a good decision. I have been to couple others and some really took their time to listen to me and the doctors took the time to listen to the therapist and they went beyond my expectations. When I first arrived here I was really nervous but as soon I walk through the doors they greeted me just like I was family. My expectations of the program was you know to get what I get out of the program. I expected certain things but once again you guys pull me out of the water and with your brain and dual addiction and mental health you got really just the right treatment. The residence I stayed in was great. It was nice, clean we had a lot of fun there. I got real close to a group of guys we had we all barbecued we had free time and it was a great experience. I actually gone into some deep things that probably need to come out for me to go forward and go in recovery , I think they went really good. Typical day we get up in the morning like I do it in my own home and your day started with most of us go to the gym we go to the center we do some classes learn some things about addiction and mental health and they make us eat lunch and we go back to the house. What I like most about Sovereign is that they really paid attention to my needs. I was depressed or maybe talk to a doctor it was addressed right away . I will take away is the friendships I grown not only with the clients but with the staff I will always have special place in my heart. just do what they tell you it is all fun and games but we are here to better ourselves and the staff, just listen and do what they say.
case is handled well , well maintained center Group therapy is repetitive I learned about Sovereign through an addiction specialist in Westwood and I tried to do it twice by myself at home with Subuxone and I could not do it myself so I told him I needed to go to detox and he referred me to San Clemente Sovereign. First of all I had done Subuxone for heroin Subuxone maintenance and that really worked for me and so San Clemente offered that and it saved my life. I have been using heroin IV for the last four years and I was tired of living that lifestyle. I was very sick mentally and physically and I was on my way to the streets or death and I was tired of living like that so I asked for help. This treatment program is very focused on individual as well as group the therapists see the patients two times a week if you needed more they are for you more they are very concentrated on your casework and you just have a lot of individual groups that are very focused on relapse prevention, anger management, self care and a lot of spiritual work as well. I felt safe and I felt like I was home. I felt like I could get some real good care here.I went home and relapsed but within three days I was back here and there with open arms they welcomed me back. Beautiful, clean beautiful room enough for everybody. The house managers are terrific they are really there for you and they are very focused on your well being. What I like most about Sovereign is that they have group of nice people here and everybody knows what to do. You know you don’t really have to think when you come in to this place Sovereign because first of all they don’t like outside forces in your head and unfortunately we come in with a lot of problems they guide you every step of the way and that is what I like about Sovereign they just really guide you and they take your hand and they lead you where you have to be and normally have to think about it just focus on your care. This place has given me my life back I could not have done this on my own the aftercare that I get is amazing and I would tell anybody. I have been to quite a few different rehabs and Sovereign is the best rehab.I will tell others that if they need to get their life on track that Sovereign is the place to reach out for help.
Treatment Professionals Team, treatment porgrams Growing very fast My family found Sovereign for me. I told them I needed to go to rehab and they are the ones that picks up. Alcohol brought me to treatment. It was the one thing I couldn’t quite kick. I experimented with other things and alcohol was just the one chain that I couldn’t get rid of. I have been drinking for about 16 years and tried to do it on my own and lo and behold just kind of realize I couldn’t do it without serious help without getting the way from just cutting myself off from everything. I really didn’t know what to think because I have never been in a rehab before so I knew I was going to detox and it wasn’t going to be fun but again it is something that I knew I needed to do and I am kind of a people person and I was looking for meeting new people that they are kind of in the same page as me that needed help and knowing that you guys are actually going to be here to guide us through that is what I needed because I couldn’t do it on my own. I didn’t really know what to think. You know you see TV shows about rehab and so I guess I had an idea of but it was a bit different than what I have seen on TV. It was actually better than what I have seen on TV. The residences were clean, well kept, again I didn’t quite know exactly what to think but our accommodations were well taken care of. Food always had plenty supply of food which is good for me because when I came in here I was severely underweight basically my diet was alcohol and alcohol a little bit of food and then more alcohol so I needed to gain weight and having the more food the merrier because I needed it. So my first six days I gained 12 pounds and I have now gained I have kind of hit my plateau as far as weight goes I gained about 35 pounds.My therapist was awesome. I loved her. She was very easy to talk to. She was able to put things into a perspective that I wasn’t really able to think about and she was just such a tremendous help in my sobriety and as far as trying to get a better grasp on and I thought I was going to be in 30 days and you know about day 20 I wasn’t quite ready yet and then she asked me right around day 45 and she asked me some questions and I was like oh my god I am not even close to being ready yet. I don’t think that I would have even thought about that if she had not really put it into that point of view into that perspective for me. So I couldn’t have asked for a better therapist.
The stay was really nice. The facilities that they have including this place they are all real nice. They keep you comfortable and the groups are – I personally don’t mind going to the – a lot of them were very constructive. I think the place is ran pretty good overall I like the groups. They helped me pull out. I don't see any weakness,Honestly this is – I have been to multiple rehabs this is the first one where I have liked all the staff. Overall I felt the staff was good. They always cater to whatever I asked and they are always very helpful. I called at Passages Malibu and from the commercial and it was really expensive so somehow someway I don’t really know I came here got connected with the part owners they were really kind and trying to help me here. They seem like really good guys and really compassionate towards me. One staff member paid for my plane ticket out of his pocket and that really helped me out because I don’t really have the money at first and yeah that’s pretty much it. I never even heard of it before I call I didn’t really know where I was going but I guess it was God’s grace that I got and I came here. So I can only speak on my therapist's behalf but he is a really good therapist. He is cool I got along with him I guess probably because he is a little younger maybe or I don’t know but he seemed like he knew where I was coming from. It was really easy to talk to him and he knew exactly what I needed to stay sober and right off the bat he knew and he did what to get me where I need to be and he was really helpful. I think there should be more and more one on one therapy definitely but the times I did have with him they were good. The first DD house BJ is the house manager. Me personally I liked him. He is very structured and as long as you do what – well really as long as you are on time for BJ it is all good. You get along with him I got along with him really well. The house is really nice. BJ cooks for you he is a real good cook we go to a meeting every day and me I like meetings sometimes they get repetitive but he really pushes the patients to do what they need to do and I think that is really good. I would just say the biggest thing here is just how good that you cater to.
Helpful staff , positive environment Internet connectivity I came to know about Sovereign through a social worker friend of mine in Hawaii. I was extremely depressed and I was dealing with a lot of childhood trauma in my life and also bipolar. I read a lot of about the program. I felt that it was a good program and one of the best. I was very impressed from the time I was picked up at the airport I was welcomed well. When I got here to the center that morning the staff was friendly. I was greeted well. I was taken to my house that evening and it was just – it has been nothing but great. My expectations were to go home with tools that will help myself and help other people. When I was picked up here at the center the house manager who picked me up was absolutely fantastic. When I got to the house I was greeted by one staff member and he welcome me there and just made me feel at home and it was just – I just had a really good experience with them. They were absolutely great. They make me feel comfortable, very comfortable at the groups and I just felt very comfortable with them. My therapist was absolutely great , how she could help me she motivated me to work for the program. We got up in the morning we awaken between 6 and 6:30 in the morning you do your UAs three times a week we basically do our breathalyzer every day morning and night. Eat breakfast make your bed do your chores around the house we go to the beach. We go on a beach walk play basketball or just go for walk and get your thoughts together for the day come to the center and start your groups throughout the day and eat lunch. The food here is fantastic they got a great cook here. The client makes you feel welcome here. She is from Hawaii and she made me feel very, very welcome. She comes up and gives me a hug all the time she makes us welcome here. It is a good program and they concentrated on each individual’s need. The staff is very friendly and I am going home with some tools to continue my program at home. Appointment set for you with your therapist and is taken care off well. I would say it is a very good program there are people here that want to work for the program so I would say come in for you and work the program for yourself and keep yourself focus on the program.
well organised center , hygienic poor lighting I just randomly heard about Sovereign I was looking online for different programs and this one popped up and the website looked good so we made a phone call. You know my stay here when I first got here I was one sick up. I was not in a good place at all but luckily I was here because I chose to be here nobody forced me it wasn’t because a judge told me to , my parents didn’t tell me to. I realize there was a problem and I needed to get better so I made the decision to come here. So I was always very open to everything and you know I had – my favorite groups were always one male staff member's groups. His groups were the absolute best. If I was feeling like crap one day and didn’t want to come it didn’t matter if it was the groups I was going to be here because I knew that I was going to get something out of it and that is where I had my little flash bulb aha moment was in his group. One specific group is always good. I always thought that you know the guy who did imagery and all that kind of stuff was hocus pocus and it turns out that it is not there is really something to that and one female staff member is very good about that kind of stuff so her groups were always good. You know art therapy again I thought was lame when I first got here and I was glad that my time with One staff member was always during our therapy time so I never had to do it but then it got switched and I went in there one day and I still do it at home now I have been collecting rocks all weekend so I can go home and paint them you know just stuff like that is so relaxing and you just have to give yourself a chance that you don’t normally think would be beneficial or it is going to do anything for you. I would say the male staff member's groups are always good because that is about relapse prevention I don’t think you can never have enough relapse prevention. The family groups I really liked because it is not just we are very selfish in our sickness especially with addiction but it is a family problem it is a family addiction. So learning about how it affects your family and how to deal with your family I think was really important and that was really helpful. I always wanted to do music therapy because I am a firm believer in that. It was never a group that I participated in I think that was more of the guy’s thing that they did. So I would like to see you know other people getting to do music therapy also. The equine therapy was cool. I did that once you know it wasn’t my claim to fame but it was okay though it was nice. I think I was one of the lucky people who even if it was a group that I didn’t just completely dig I was able to find similarities you know here is a little AA quote find the similarities not the differences and you are able to get something out of everything if you are willing to be open and listen. The house I was in the women’s DD house and two staff members were just my angels on this earth. I have them on the same category as one other male staff member. You know they are just awesome, awesome people who have so much experience and they are just so giving with the experience. They literally work themselves to the bone to make sure that we are okay and that we are getting what we need here and they make this place okay to be at. You know the darkest times that I have those two were always there to make sure that I was going to come out of it and be okay and I know that there was times when everybody had their doubts that was actually going to happen because it was pretty dark for a while but because of Staff here for the most part I am going to say like 99.9% is amazing. Great, great people here, different personalities but that is life so you have to get use to working with different types of people and how they handle things and you know how they handle people and I have always been able to get along with people pretty well so that is not typically a problem for me. The biggest thing that I can say is that even when you think it is not working it is. You just have to give it a chance and it is so important to like I said earlier focus on the similarities not the differences because you can sit around and find negatives and differences in every single thing that you do and you know I forget what the quite is exactly but something whether you think you can or you can’t you are right either way. So if you think that it is not working it is not going to work for you. You have to make it work for yourself and you will be given tools and coping mechanisms and the things that you need to get better here. I am so thankful to this place because I got better and there was a long time that nobody felt that was going to happen. Some people... didn’t think I was going get better, the house managers didn’t think I was going get better, my parents didn’t think I was going get better. I mean we were talking like being like institutionalized not getting better so you just have to sit back and listen and watch and observe and the people that are talking to when you are in specific groups they are speaking from experience they know what they are talking about they are not talking from a textbook they are talking from live and what they have been through so you just close your mouth, open your ears then your stuff is going to sink you may not think it is going to at the time but then later you are going to be like that is what they were talking about. Good luck to all the people coming in and you know take advantage of what is here every place has its problems just good luck and God bless.
I learned about it through my sister. She is a clinical psychology in North Carolina and she actually spoke with one of her former professors who recommended him.
Too much alcohol, not being able to rely on myself and using alcohol as a crutch.
It is a little overwhelming. You know it is a new environment. I am from North Carolina so I am totally out of my own in here. It was a big chaotic but once you kind of learn the rope you get used to everything and you kind of find your plan that works for you.
I just expected to figure out what the underlying causes of drinking were. Why I was doing it I had an idea but I wasn’t being proactive in seeking treatment at all and so far it has like I said you know there is a transition period and you got to use the environment once you are used to it you figure out that you got to advocate for yourself and it is a program that is made for you and if you participate then you will be alright.
We are in Sacramento house which is a duplex. There are two bedrooms downstairs and a kitchen and living room and upstairs there are three bedrooms and a kitchen and living room and usually have a roommate and you also have housemates and all the () house is right next to the beach sunny place.
My therapist is a wonderful guy, really insightful and then of course the other guy who is in group he is an ace. He has helped out a lot.
I have never done yoga before I came and I found I really liked doing yoga it is relaxing it gets you in touch with your body so I really enjoy yoga.
We usually get a 6, 6:15 wakeup call. Then if you have any meds to do or anything like that you go take your meds then you have breakfast and usually go to the beach and do a beach walk then you come to the center and you have classes throughout the day different class cognitive behavioral therapy, trauma, schema things like this and they are usually 45 minute classes and you have a 15 minute break in between and then you have lunch in the middle of the day which is outstanding and usually wrap it up about 3:15 or 3:30 and then go home you got some discretionary time before dinner and usually go to a meeting that evening.
I was just going to hang loose and not get to know anybody but you start to figure that everybody here regardless of what addiction they might have are here for the same reasons and you start to feel relationships and you don’t feel alone anymore and that’s probably one of the most important aspects that I picked up.
It is that place where you have to make work for you. Like I said you will get here and you will be outside of your element that’s a new environment you have to kind of make that transition you have to learn to cope with it and () and you can get over the initial shock that you have when you come in you know you really start to understand who you are and how you identify. You start to put aside your individual ego when there is a group dynamic and I think that helps people grow tremendously so if you come to Sovereign give it time. Don’t jump too soon don’t run anymore, commit yourself. It is a good program.
I am a food specialist on Amtrak and I was having a problem with drugs and alcohol and I caught my Amtrak EAP person and he got me in touch two people down here at Sovereign Health and I talked to them extensively. They were very helpful and they answered all my questions and they sent brochures to me on the email and I thought it was a good fit. They told me that this place Sovereign Health had a two tier system which involved alcoholism and also mental health and I do suffer from ADD and bipolar so I thought this is going to be a winning combination. When I arrived here I was very happy. The staff was excellent. They did interview with me I went down to sobriety house spent some time there and then I was moved up to the apartments where they give you a little more freedom as you advanced in your program and also to adjust back into society what I like most was there was a doctor Wallace who was a psychiatrist. The Dr who is the medical doctor and one of the female staff members who is the nurse all of them did a fantastic job. Any questions that I asked they had an answer for it. I never felt belittled or anything and my counselors I have one guy and he is probably the best counselor I have ever had in the treatment facility. We went one-on-one and I can actually trusted that man and he has his own sobriety the office staff, the elder counselors all was took time for me when I had a questions some of the classes that I really enjoy were the nutrition classes. One woman was a teacher of that medical management and another woman taught that one of the male staff members did the advance processing group and also relapse prevention group which helped me out a lot and Art did the living stages which helped me out a lot in the process of how brain development works and how to go back and rearrange my life and put new perspectives on me and I just celebrated 95 days clean and sober down here at Sovereign and I am very happy.
I heard about the program through Lake Arrowhead Detox Center. My mom actually did the research but she found out about the program – she liked the whole fact that they would help us find a place to live, help me with sober living, give us time for the research and then focus on what I can do when I leave treatment.
The other treatment centers I have been, I mean it is completely different. I have never been to a treatment center in California, never been in Oregon or in Washington and so it is, I do like it better. I mean I have had the most fun here. I have met the best people here so I am really grateful that I did end up coming here.
The Dr is great. She is super sweet, really intelligent. I wish I would have met with her more than more of end of things but of course that is my fault I mean I was I would have been more upfront and more honest and more willing to talk about things that I needed to talk about so and I wish I would have met with her more but she is great.
To be honest I really enjoy more of the whole process groups you know focusing on outside issues and how we can make those better and things like that because it really benefits me I mean I can only speak for myself but I got really into those kinds of groups. Things that I cannot really relate to that is harder to get focus until movies are kind of old but I really – I enjoyed more of the other DR's group is pretty nice.
I really enjoy the house managers. One woman in particular is super sweet. She is really about people’s recovery how to get them better like if you need somebody to talk feel free to come get me. She is really outgoing, fun we always laugh. Another woman there.. I really enjoyed her. At the beginning it was kind of a rocky start curtseying that when I got to know her better you know I could really relate to her. I opened up to her a lot she helped me in many, many different ways. I think sometimes she is misunderstood but after a while like once I got to know her we had fun all the time it was always something new. She makes my stay really comfortable.
If a new patient was here I will tell them you know don’t wait till last minute to realize how messed up you are and start opening up I mean that is what I did and I regret it a 100%. Put yourself out there, open up, talk if you are feeling down talk about it if you are you know just you got to let it go like let it out because if I mean holding it in, we used to do on our addiction so some things got to change and I have fun. Recovery is about having fun and now everything needs to be so serious and I know that that is a lot of reasons why I got in trouble here but it is like people need to laugh and I like to have fun. I was sad for six years you know what I mean so it is like just let go, be yourself, don’t be ashamed of who you are people don’t like you that is okay that is on them. That is what I will say to them.
The egos are unbelievable. There is absolutely no dialogue in supervision. They don't care about the life and experience that you bring into the room.
The clients and co-workers are diverse and delightful, but the management will ca-ca on your heart.
...There is a great deal of nepotism and favoritism.
Terrible place...They say they drug test but I find it hard to believe. If you care about your loved ones send them to another place.
I had the worst experience at sovereign in AZ. I went in with PTSD and Severe Depression. This place added more trauma to my life, and I was only there for 15 days. I tried to give it my all but the upper staff are so unprofessional. There are rude... I read reviews on this place before I went. Some were good some were bad. Now that I went and havery first hand experience. This place will say anything to get you to come for treatment. They talk a good talk but after 6 days of being there my trust went down hill ...I could find no peace, no serenity. It was drama with the upper staff. A false positive urine sample and being interrogated before I said enough was enough. My family transferred me to another treatment center in UT. NOT Sovereign. I feel safe, trusted and now treated like a human. Which I never had at the place in Chandler AZ. They are going down real fast. Which they should. From people I have talked to they say it used to a really good place about 9 months ago but now it is the worst place. You cannot find healing from trauma at this place. It added more trauma to my life. I had to get out of there.
Do NOT work here or send patients here!! Horrible administration, poor treatment of staff...Employees and patients are lied to before they come to the program.
If you are looking for a treatment center for your loved one please pick any other facitity, but not this one. My husband spent 45 days at the ft myers location during that time his counsoler called and spoke with me one time despite that they tell you they will call with weekly updates. I left countless messages for his case manager of which were all ignored. During the first couple of weeks of his stay he and I had some verbal disagreements, which I I feel is probably common between married couples where one has a drug problem. Instead of helping us talk through these issues as you would assume any good counsoler would do since they are suppose to be helping you. This counsoler left the phone conversation and discouraged my husband from communicating with his wife and children for the remainder of his stay. The amount of money they bill the insurance is ridiculous averaging more than $3,000 every day and when you attempt to speak with the billing department they simply give you an email address and tell you to send an email. It is very obvious that this is a huge money making scheme. They tell you in the beginning that it's a 45 day program and they will keep moving that number up and up to keep you there as long as possible. This is just the tip of the iceberg please do yourself a favor and pick a different facility especially if the patient is married because they will rip your family apart!!!
They are horrible. They are taking money from parents and loved ones who want help for their loved ones. Send your loved ones to Mission Laguna not this money making facility. Wise up...
We sent our 18 year old daughter who is bi-polar and had drug addiction issues to Sovereign Palm Desert. Her psych doctor pulled her off one of her meds way to soon...This place is the biggest insurance scam on the planet. They own the laboratory that does all of their testing so needless to say they test often... I'm sorry we sent her here but were desperate in getting her help. I wish I would have had the time to research this place but did not.
The staff does not communicate regularly with family. I do not feel they are as involved with patient's treatment as they can be, in different areas, to maximize the time the patient is there.
My son spent three months at Sovereign. The San Clemente location isn't great...there isn't much supervision. They were also not good at communicating with me.
They moved him frequently between houses, lost his things, drastically overcharged me for medication, and switched doctors a million times.
However, he is off the streets and he's sober, and for that I am grateful. Also, I really enjoyed the therapist and case managers he ended up getting when they moved him to Palm Springs.
Do not work at this place!!! Horrible, Horrible company. If you have any integrity at all this is not a fit for you. I have never in my life worked for a company with unprofessional supervisors as they are here. Its like working for a car dealership. The facilities don't look like the pictures on the fliers. This company is shady from the top down!
If I could give this place negative stars, I would. Sovereign is an insurance scam poorly disguised a treatment program. If you have serious mental health issues or addiction issues don't waste your time here. It may seem like a good option because they sell themselves as an affordable option. If you go there you will be treated like crud by the overworked staff that doesn't care. The food is unhealthy and you will not get your house manager to buy anything but processed crud. Please spare yourselves.
I sent my son here after constant communication and phone calls from the representative for months sometimes speaking with him almost daily. My son arrived at the San Clemente location on Apri 21st and the last time I spoke with him was April 24th. He is a dual diagnosis mental health and substance abuse patient. No one in the entire organization will speak to me about what is going on. They said he left at night this message came from the representative who lives in an entirely different part of the country. No one apologized to me or cared about this or even offered any bit of concern. The representative said the facility can't legally say anything and that the information he gave me was a favor. I have never heard from him except for the one time I called and a bunch of lame text messages. My son would have been better off at a center close to home over 300 miles from this cursed place. I haven't seen him in 19 days and no one cares at all.
I am Kari’s mother. Kari was isolating herself and practicing self-harm, she also had suicidal ideation. It took about three weeks for her to come out of her shell but now she is talkative and more confident. At first, family sessions were hard but we learned a lot about communication which has helped us.
Kari was on a big downward spiral but her coming to Sovereign has brought our family closer and we all understand each other better. She smiles, she never smiles and now you can’t get the smile off her face and walking in here today and seeing that it was like the best feeling ever.
The staff kept in touch with me letting me know how Kari was doing. The clinicians are amazing. If your child needs help take them to Sovereign even though it’s hard.
Alcohol was my drug of choice and I didn’t seek help until I was facing six years because I got in a car accident under the influence. They chose to sentence me to six months of treatment and that entire situation opened my eyes to the truth: I had a drinking problem and needed help. Sovereign Health had professionals who were able to guide me through my treatment. At first, I was skeptical of the treatment program and house I stayed in, but felt great once I got to know everyone there. It was great to know that I was beginning a better life through treatment at Sovereign Health. For anyone in need of treatment, I would recommend, staying positive and getting help to better your life.
I have gone to this program and yes it is a little crazy however there are people that do care !!!! I would want what I do now if it wasn't for those that did care! At every treatment u will have your good n bad. They are making improvements they are
I attended this facility and was gravely disappointed. They do have nice homes to stay at, however the treatment center is complete chaos. Everyone passes the buck to the next person who does nothing to solve any problems you may have. There are a couple authentic therapsit who care. But are far and few in between. Its about money and your insurance. Thats all. If you are serious. Go somewhere else. If you work, thwn definitely go somewhere else. They lost my FMLA paperwork and almost got me fired.
My son was in desperate need of help. To say he was on death's door is putting it mildly. He was beyond fragile. In the time he was there he was not given a bed that would be his for his stay [he moved houses daily], diagnosed him with a severe mental illness and then down graded his care level, there was no communication with family, cell phone use was permitted from the beginning, wasn't explained that there would be no house phone, inexperienced house managers, very little supervision, nobody available on the weekends and when he left my son was not discharged correctly. We tried to reach out and work through some of this but the staff was dismissive and rude. We have dealt with several treatment facilities and have never had an experience that comes anywhere near as scary and frustrating as dealing with Sovereign.
I have bipolar disorder and also PTSD as a result of a motorcycle accident. I found the Sovereign staff to be very friendly and the program is very well run. My therapist enabled me to open up and become vulnerable, which helped my bipolar disorder. The individual therapy was very beneficial and got across to me. I will take away friendships and the shared experiences of others. My tips for newcomers are to stick with it, stay in the program and listen. If you do, you will do really well.
This is a HORRIBLE facility. I notified the better business bureau and found out that there has been multiple complaints about them. Luckily we got my sister out of there and into another facilty. I highly recommend NOT sending your loved one here.
This is by far the worst treatment center in the southern California area. It gets far worst... this place is a dump and the homeless use it only for shelter to get off the street. SOVEREIGN don't care they bill their shady insurance company to get the money. They have no interest in the patient care...You Have Been Warn!!!!!
Strengths: Houses are nice. Weaknesses: Inexperienced Mixed mental health and addicts. I wouldn't recommend. They lost my daughtets charger to her laptop and still have not replaced it
Worst place I have ever been. They lie and tell you it is like staying at a spa and taking a vacation with beautiful homes on the beach, a personal nutritionist, trips to the gym/beach, group outings, only 1 roommate, group meetings, holistic based MH treatment, and MH focused, etc.. I got there and they were supposed to meet me at the airport, no one showed up for over an hour and I had to call to even get that after being told someone would be there when I got off the plane. The house was so filthy and nowhere near the beach (nor do they take trips to the beach). The house was infested with rats and cockroaches, the bathrooms hadn't been scrubbed in months based on the bacteria rings that were growing in the toilet, shower, and sink. It took me being there 3 days before I was officially admitted and I never got discharge paperwork when they knew 24 hours in advance that I was checking myself out. There is no direction from employees on where rooms were for particular groups, when asked employees would get annoyed and say just get to group without telling you where group/room was. Some groups were expected to run themselves, since the therapists would decide to have 1 on 1 sessions with their clients in group instead of privately. HIPAA violations left and right. Employees were constantly texting and on personal calls while on the clock. My concerns were told to a Client Advocate that doesn't seem to advocate for the clients at all. I was there and willing to work on my issue, however the filthiness and disorganization of both the house and center and the rudeness of most (not all) of the employees, the lies my husband and I were told to get me there made my issue way worse than it was before coming to this center. They are only trying to fill beds and make money, they do not care about the clients!!!! If I could give a big fat 0, I would.
this was by far the worst treatment facility i have ever been to in my life. Just know before sending a loved one there that it is nothing like they present it as. There is no gym 3 times a week, not even once a week, there are no early morning beach walks, you cant have you cell phone until you have been there 30 days, cant make a call in the first two weeks, and then after that you can only make 1 15min phone call supervised per week. do NOT come here. Seriously, do yourself a favor and stay far away from this place. it gets -100 stars if that were possible
Your post [Mark] gives me epic hope! Thank you!
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