ABOUT FLINT ODYSSEY HOUSE
Located in central Michigan, Odyssey Village is a nonprofit agency that operates two long-term residential treatment programs for individuals struggling with chemical dependency and/or co-occurring mental health disorders. The Odyssey House in Flint serves men, women, and families, emphasizing holistic recovery in a setting that supports inclusiveness. Family and community reconciliation, along with productive participation are key goals of the Odyssey approach.
The program’s founder pioneered psychiatric treatment for drug addiction and its current leader has led in the development of state-funded treatment for pregnant women. Odyssey House in Saginaw provides gender-specific care for women with children.
TREATMENT & ASSESSMENT
Clients can begin their Odyssey House program with an initial phone call, followed by an intake appointment, which can be scheduled anytime, according to the facility’s website. Admission includes medical screening.
The rehab center and related services function as a therapeutic community, which prioritizes peer leadership and responsibility. Residents participate in work therapy on-site in the beginning of their stay, contributing to kitchen and other community life services.
Identifying and managing emotions, preparing for relapse prevention, and interacting with diverse perspectives are also central to the typically 18- to 24-month program. Educational sessions, along with individual and group therapy, are integrated into a mix of structured and unstructured peer interactions and 12-Step practices. The array of evidence-based modalities used include motivational enhancement, cognitive behavioral, and dialectical behavior therapies. Residents address parenting challenges and skills, vocational development, and trauma recovery (such as through the Seeking Safety model).
Odyssey Village also offers outpatient treatment, case management, and recovery housing.
STAFF CREDENTIALS
The executive director of Odyssey House has won a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Community Health Leader Award. He has more than a quarter-century experience working with Odyssey. A nurse practitioner is available on-site; however no information is provided by the facility at this time regarding other treatment staff credentials. All seven alumni and loved ones polled by Best-rehabs.com awarded the staff’s level of training and experience either or four or five out of five stars. The one staff member polled granted just three stars.
ACCOMMODATIONS & AMENITIES
Odyssey House’s website photographs show a large, multi-story brick building featuring spacious meeting rooms, designated children’s play spaces, and personalized bedrooms with windows and room for parents and children. The facility offers spaces for individual families and larger groups to spend time together, relaxing with TV and games. Meals are prepared and shared on-site and physical fitness is encouraged through regularly scheduled exercise sessions.
The Flint center also has a radio station with recording and editing equipment, which are used for resident training and community service.
WHAT ALUMNI SAY
When asked, on a scale of one to five, how likely they were to recommend treatment at Flint Odyssey House, the three alumni polled by Best-rehabs.com to date all chose five stars. The alumni gave four- or five-star ratings in nearly every other category as well, including family participation, exercise and leisure activity, the facility’s cleanliness and upkeep, dual diagnosis treatment, and both the affordability and overall effectiveness of treatment. Lower ratings for holistic offerings and counseling options indicated a limited therapeutic flexibility.
On Flint Odyssey House’s official Facebook page, which it can manage, 75 percent of 51 ratings were very favorable and 20 percent critical. Comments from alumni tended to represent their experience as life-saving with long-term positive outcomes in sobriety, employment, and family relationships. In the minority, two complained of a lack of cleanliness, and three reported that the program’s approach was too strict and discouraging.[1]
WHAT FRIENDS & FAMILY SAY
All four friends and family members polled by Best-rehabs.com would also recommend the facility, although one was less enthusiastic than others. They cited seclusion “from the outside world” as a weakness, echoing a few alumni concerns expressed on Facebook. Compared with alumni reviews, in general loved ones offered more moderate praise and some criticism for such aspects of Odyssey House as treatment effectiveness (an average rating of three stars), family participation (2.75 stars), and affordability (three stars). They agreed with alumni that holistic offerings were scarce (granting fewer than two stars, on average).
WHAT STAFF SAY
One staff member polled by Best-rehabs.com to date provided a five-star rating for overall treatment effectiveness, but indicated that some aspects of treatment could improve. They gave one- and two-star ratings for the cleanliness of the facility, policies regarding residents’ outside communication, and treatment for co-occurring disorders.
FINANCING
The Odyssey Village website notes that many items used in its residential programs are donated, including clothing, computers, and recreational materials (for gardening and arts and crafts). A posted brochure reports that program costs are supported by the state of Michigan.
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