First Step Detox is a medically monitored residential detoxification program that provides safe and effective treatment for alcohol and drug dependency. As part of the Recovery Network of Programs’ continuum of care, the unit treats men and women 18 and older who need a safe detox from alcohol, opiates, and/or benzodiazepines. The program also provides evidence-based therapeutic services, including individual counseling, group therapy, case management, and referral services for continuing care.
ABOUT FIRST STEP DETOX
Located in Bridgeport, Conn., not far from Interstate 95, First Step Detox is a medically monitored residential detoxification unit for adult men and women struggling substance abuse issues. The facility is equipped to safely detox clients from alcohol, opiates, and/or benzodiazepines.
TREATMENT & ASSESSMENT
In addition to medical detox, the facility also utilizes evidence-based treatment modalities such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to treat clients while they are receiving medical care. The program is highly structured and includes individual counseling, group therapy, case management, medication management, specialized services for individuals with HIV, AIDs, and/or psychiatric issues, and referral services for continuing care, including introduction to self-help groups and community resources.
STAFF CREDENTIALS
According to First Step’s website, the treatment team includes “highly trained medical staff.”
ACCOMMODATIONS & AMENITIES
There is currently no information provided by the facility regarding its living arrangements and related offerings.
WHAT ALUMNI SAY
Alumni reviews of First Step Detox are very limited. To date no reviews have been submitted to Best-rehabs.com. On secondary sites information is equally scarce, although the facility did receive a rating of 3.2 out of five stars across four Google reviews to date. [1] While no users provided commentary, ratings were varied, with a one-, a three-, a four-, and a five-star review.
WHAT STAFF SAY
While Best-rehabs.com has not yet received any reviews from this facility’s alumni, affiliated friends or family members, the one staffer surveyed by Best-rehabs.com at the time of this writing gave First Step highly positive feedback. The reviewer gave the facility five out of five stars across almost all the facility’s 15 different evaluated metrics, including its treatment effectiveness, its honesty in marketing and public relations materials, its willingness to put clients’ interests first, and its staff’s level of training and experience and medical treatment credentials. “Our facility is centrally located in the city and our staff is the best. Client care and safety are our main priorities. We are a clean facility that upholds all regulations,” the staffer wrote.
FINANCING
According to Healthgrove, First Step accepts Medicaid, Medicare, and most private insurance.
[1]https://goo.gl/oKs9N3
First Step Detox Reviews
To all the staff at First step detox-
Thank you for taking such good care of me while I was at your facility. I was able to get the treatment and rest I needed. Once I was able I attended the groups that were available to us and felt very safe and comfortable throughout my stay. The staff is very in tune to all of the patients needs and are extremely organized and helpful!!! Thank you all again for your help I am enjoying my sobriety and I am taking evening classes thanks to my counselor Kathy. I highly recommend First step to anyone needing a detox program!!!!
I went to first step detox 2 times. The first time I wasn’t ready to really give recovery a shot, I was still lost in my addiction and hadn’t gotten sick and tired of the life I’d been leading yet. But the second time, I finished successfully, and went into aftercare. I met a lot of great young people who were also trying to get their life together and started going to NA meetings regularly. I got a sponsor, worked the steps, and got involved in the program. My life completely turned around after that. I unfortunately relapsed after a year clean and sober and had to find my way back to recovery again. But I never forgot about my time at this detox. The staff made me feel like they genuinely cared about my success. They taught me a lot in 7 days, and looking back now I am So grateful for the things I learned at first step. Recovery is possible, you just need to take that first step in the right direction. Today I am clean and sober going on 4 years and I know I wouldn’t be where I am had I not made the decision to call and get into a bed. Thank you guys for everything. Vinny T.-a grateful recovering addict
First off, I'd like to begin with the fact that this is the detox I went to when I got clean, and although being in withdrawal was incredibly unpleasant, I feel that my misery was magnified by so many different aspects of this "facility" that was simply just awful. The level of professionalism at first step is just abhorrent and past the point of questionable- I have heard staff openly curse at clients and lose their patience and temper multiple times. I understand that we probably werent that pleasant to be around due to the state we were in, but it by no means justifies a so called "professional" acting exactly quite the opposite and carrying out their duties with such blatant disregard for care. However, not all the staff acted in such a manner and I had such respect and gratitude for them.
The food there was literally the same slop that I have eaten in jail...with times where only a sine beef patty was the dinner for the day. With an appetite that was already terrible, this was really frustrating to me, since I really did need to eat and eat well in order to improve my recovery rate. I had managed to stay there for three days before I was hospitalized due to a seizure, but it was a blessing in disguise as I was able to transition safely from hospital to a residential treatment without missing a beat. Needless to say, it was successful as I had three years of sobriety under my belt. Unfortunately, as of three weeks ago, I relapsed. So I am trying to nip this in the bud and recover what I lost, so when I had called first step today to ask a few questions and possibly ask for an intake, I was yet again disappointed from the get go. The woman who answered the phone was so incredibly rude and unprofessional; when I had asked her if I could ask her some questions about the transition process at first step, she didnt respond until there was enough silence that she finally said "yeah?!" In an incredibly impatient tone. When I had asked her what would happen if there was no bed for residential treatment available after the detox period, she had told me "well, you would go to IOP until one opened up." I had felt uncomfortable with this so I asked her if this was safe as I would be left to my own devices if I step outside the facility in order to wait for a bed. She then responded with such attitude and aggravation at my question and told me in a patronizing manner that no, I would not be "left to my own devices" and proceeded to speak incredibly fast about very redundant information without letting me get a word in at all. She finally said in the end, word for word, "so are you going to do an intake?" (Although it sounded more like a statement and not a question.) After that experience, I am -not- comfortable with the idea of going to first step and will be calling other detoxes right after this review. This was the final straw and am so disappointed in First Step Detox for how uncomfortable and unwelcome they had me feel. I know that there are beds available there today (due to checking on dmhas and no thanks to her...somehow she didnt include that in her little angry rant) and am so uncomfortable with my experiences there that I am literally willing to wait for a bed at a different detox than go there today. This makes me feel -so- awful and full of self loathing; I'm literally putting my goal for sobriety on hold to go somewhere else, because I just dont have it in me to give this place another try due to my experiences here.
Treatment EffectivenessOur facility is centrally located in the city and our staff is the best. Client care and safety are our main priorities. We are a clean facility that upholds all regulations.
