Comfort and tranquility are hallmarks of the treatment program at the Darryl Strawberry Recovery Center, where clients (including professional athletes) with drug and alcohol addiction get personalized care that targets the root cause of their illness. The residential program lasts 28-days, and is designed to treat all forms substance abuse, including prescription medications. Treatment is based on the 12-step model and also includes individual, group and family counseling, with a focus on empathy and personal growth.
ABOUT DARRYL STRAWBERRY RECOVERY CENTER
The Darryl Strawberry Recovery Center (DSRC) operates two facilities founded by former American Major League Baseball player Darryl Strawberry in partnership with Oglethorpe, Inc., an organization that usually works to rescue failing psychiatric health centers.
The facility offers medical detox in the town of St. Cloud, Fla. and residential care at its facility in DeLand to adults who are struggling with addiction and dual diagnosis. There’s also dedicated programming for those struggling with addiction to prescription drugs.
TREATMENT & ASSESSMENT
This facility offers a 28-day residential program based on the 12-Steps and the disease concept of addiction. The program aims to treat each client’s physical, mental, and spiritual well-being.
Treatment begins in St. Cloud with a free health exam and an individual assessment of the client’s substance abuse history. Detox typically lasts five to seven days, and medication can be prescribed before and after the process, if necessary.
Clients then transfer to DeLand, about 70 miles north of St. Cloud, to attend the residential program, which is fairly traditional. Aside from 12-step programming, treatment incorporates individual and group therapy, marriage and family counseling, spiritual development, relapse prevention training, dietary planning, and daily organized physical activity. These services are also available in the form of continuing care post treatment.
STAFF CREDENTIALS
The staff-to-client ratio is 1:6. Staff includes a 24-hour nursing staff, physicians, psychiatrists, therapists, certified addiction counselors, and dietitians.
ACCOMMODATIONS & AMENITIES
This is a 50-bed facility with some private rooms. The treatment and residential facilities are housed in six separate buildings, connected by walkways on a campus with plenty of green space and grassy fields. There are also common areas with flat-screen TVs, stocked snack areas, as well as ponds and woods nearby.
WHAT ALUMNI SAY
Of more than 50 reviews submitted to Best-rehabs.com to date, 40 were positive and about a dozen were negative or mixed. Ratings for treatment effectiveness averaged 4.68 out of five stars based on the 41 alumni ratings for this category.
Reviewers frequently spoke in glowing terms, noting that this facility had saved their lives and praising the staff very highly. “The DSRC center has saved my life… The staff is amazing, they have there heart into the recovery for everyone,” Kevin wrote in a representative review. Other reviewers noted how much they had learned at the center — about both life skills and their own addiction. “When I went there I was educated about my disease in a way that I never was before. I learned not just about 12 steps and don’t drink etc. I learned the reasons behind a lot of my behaviors from a medical and social perspective,” Joe wrote.
There was also a small but vociferous collection of negative reviews, many of which made the same complaints about disorganization, a lack of contact time with staff, and problems with detox, most frequently either insufficient or inappropriate medication. “This place is a chaotic mess with absolute zero organization,” Mike wrote in a representative review. Alum Heather also told Best-rehabs.com that the facility assured her that her insurance company had cleared her treatment, but she returned home to an enormous bill nonetheless.
WHAT FRIENDS & FAMILY SAY
Of the seven reviews from friends and family submitted to Best-rehabs.com to date, two were positive and five negative. Five ratings from loved ones for treatment effectiveness averaged 2.6 out of five stars. Both positive reviewers noted that treatment had been successful for their loved ones. “They have given us hope again,” K.D. wrote, while V.I. praised the “personalized attention of the staff.”
The negative reviews yielded some strong recurring complaints. Loved ones frequently echoed alumni by describing the facility as disorganized, in particular the detox services. The reviewers also repeatedly noted that the program was not as promised: “Everything they promise on the phone or on the website is either an outright lie or an enormous exaggeration. Patients will most likely not receive most or any of the care described. One on one therapy MIGHT happen once a week, medical detox is definitely not provided,” Pat wrote in a representative review.
FINANCING
Treatment costs $16,800 per month, and the facility is in-network with private insurers including Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, CIGNA, MultiPlan, and ValueOptions.