ABOUT ST. MONICA’S BEHAVIORAL HEALTH SERVICES FOR WOMEN
Based in Lincoln, Neb., St. Monica’s Behavioral Health Services for Women is a nonprofit organization that has been providing a variety of programs for women and adolescent girls struggling with substance abuse and co-occurring disorders since 1964. The services offered by the organization include residential treatment, outpatient treatment (OP), intensive outpatient treatment (IOP), transitional living services, and supportive programming for family members of clients. Please note that on-site detox services are not available.
TREATMENT & ASSESSMENT
Prior to admission, clients are required to complete a drug and alcohol assessment. The primary residential treatment program, which lasts for eight weeks, is designed for clients in the beginning stages of their recovery. During this time, residents participate in individual counseling, group therapy, psychological evaluations, and spiritual counseling. Educational groups and parenting classes are also important components of the program.
Teens ages 13 to 18 remain in residential programming for a longer duration of four to six months. Along with attending school, these clients participate in age-appropriate programming for 21 hours a week and learn life skills in a homelike setting. St. Monica’s utilizes various treatment approaches including dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT), SELF (a trauma-based curriculum), Seeking Safety, and others.
The therapeutic community offering is a residential program specifically designed for clients who have been sober for at least 30 days. In addition to the elements of the primary residential program, this program also addresses topics such as employment, community re-integration, and relapse prevention. For pregnant and parenting women, the center offers specialized educational groups, on-site daycare, and child-focused programming.
Clients enrolled in intensive outpatient treatment, a six to eight-week program, attend daily sessions that include individual counseling, family counseling, and educational groups. The center also provides holistic treatment offerings such as art therapy, creative writing, and body awareness. Standard outpatient treatment is individualized, and the frequency of sessions is gradually reduced over time. Graduates of St. Monica’s may also apply for Next Step, a transitional living program that offers housing for up to six months.
STAFF CREDENTIALS
According to the facility’s website, St. Monica’s staff includes master’s- and Ph.D.-level counselors, licensed therapists, a nurse practitioner, case workers, and early childhood teachers. The facility received a perfect rating of five out of five stars for the staff’s level of experience and training from the single loved one surveyed by Best-rehabs.com.
ACCOMMODATIONS & AMENITIES
Residential clients at St. Monica’s live in a communal, homelike environment. Clients enrolled in transitional housing have a private bedroom and share a kitchen and common areas with other residents. The facility’s cleanliness and accommodations received ratings of four and five stars, respectively, from the single loved one surveyed by Best-rehabs.com.
According to the facility’s website, a series of 2014 grants allowed the facility to begin offering equine-assisted therapy to its residential clients.
WHAT ALUMNI SAY
The single alum surveyed by Best-rehabs.com at the time of this writing, Claire, reported a negative experience with St. Monica’s. She specifically expressed frustration with the staff’s level of training and experience. According to her, “The staff lacks education and compassion. Some of them are barely out of treatment. They do not know what they’re doing.”
On Google reviews, six individuals provided an average rating of 4.2 out of five stars. Morgan, the one Google reviewer who submitted a negative review, described the program as “horrible.” She wrote, “They kick clients out for nonsence reasons They fire staff of many many years for caring about clients.” However, every other reviewer provided four- or five-star ratings and characterized the program as effective. Tiffany, an alum, recommended the program, stating, “It is a hard program, but if you do what you’re supposed to be doing IT WORKS!!”
WHAT FRIENDS & FAMILY SAY
The single anonymous loved one polled by Best-rehabs.com at the time of this writing gave five-star ratings for nearly every evaluated metric including the center’s counseling options, its treatment for co-occurring disorders, its family programming, and its exercise and leisure options. The facility’s level of cleanliness and its affordability received slightly lower ratings of four stars. While this respondent strongly recommended the facility, they did mention that the waitlist was long and that the center served “too many people.”
Joshua, the one reviewer on the facility’s unofficial Facebook page, awarded the center five out of five stars. According to him, St. Monica’s is a “well run” nonprofit with a “fantastic mission.”
FINANCING
According to St. Monica’s website, treatment fees are assessed on a sliding scale. Those enrolled in the center’s transitional living program are responsible for a weekly fee of $84. The facility’s affordability received a rating of four out of five stars from the single individual surveyed by Best-rehabs.com.