ABOUT HIGH FOCUS CENTERS — PARAMUS
Founded 21 years ago, High Focus Centers operates eight outpatient psychiatric and substance abuse facilities for adults and adolescents in northern and central New Jersey. This facility –– located less than 20 miles northeast of Newark –– serves the Bergen County area, and offers treatment for adults and adolescents struggling with substance abuse as well as treatment for those with co-occurring mental health disorders. Psychiatric services are available at a facility next door.
TREATMENT & ASSESSMENT
Treatment begins with an assessment that takes an hour and a half. Adolescent clients must be accompanied by a parent for intake. On average, 2.41 percent of teens in New Jersey, ages 12 to 17, need but do not receive treatment at a specialty facility for illicit drug use. The Promoting Education, Awareness, and Knowledge Program (P.E.A.K. Program) offered at this facility includes weekly group visits and family therapy sessions for teens who have recently begun using drugs and alcohol, and the Risk Intervention & Substance Education (R.I.S.E.) Intensive Outpatient Program and Providing Addiction Treatment and Hope (P.A.T.H.) Intensive Outpatient Program are more structured for adolescents who wish to overcome drug and alcohol abuse.
For adults, High Focus Centers offers individualized, evidence-based programs rooted in the 12-Steps. All programs include education along with individual and group therapy, including cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Family therapy is available if desired. Holistic offerings include mindfulness, yoga, and pet therapy.
The cornerstone of treatment at High Focus –– Paramus are intensive outpatient programs (IOPs) that run for three hours a day, two to five days a week, for 10 to 12 weeks, depending on the client’s treatment track and level of need. According to the facility’s website, all clients leave with a comprehensive discharge plan that includes appointments with therapists and psychiatrists where appropriate.
STAFF CREDENTIALS
The organizational staff includes an MD, clinical psychologists, licensed clinical social workers, and licensed drug counselors, according to High Focus’ website. It is not clear which of these individuals are stationed at the Paramus facility in particular. But the single individual polled by Best-rehabs.com at the time of this writing gave the staff’s level of training and experience four out of five stars.
ACCOMMODATIONS & AMENITIES
The center’s website indicates that complimentary transportation to and from the treatment center is available if required. The sole loved one polled by Best-rehabs.com to date rated the facility’s cleanliness four out of five stars.
WHAT ALUMNI SAY
At the time of this writing, Best-rehabs.com has yet to receive any reviews directly from alumni of this facility, however, secondary review sites yielded mostly negative coverage.
To date, the facility has average ratings of 3.7 out of five stars on Facebook, based on six reviews. Four people provided five star reviews, while two left one star reviews. “Everyone at High Focus is fabulous, for which I will be eternally grateful,” an alum wrote. However, another alum wrote the center was “incompetent.”
On CiteHealth, the center had an average rating of 1.5 out of five stars from 12 reviews to date. On the review site, alumni also mentioned problems with the staff and noted billing problems. “I have never experienced a more unprofessional staff and harmful experience at a mental health facility,” an individual wrote in a representative review.
On Google, the 35 individuals who left reviews for High Focus Centers at the time of this writing gave an average 2.3 out of five stars. Many alumni complained about the center’s staff, customer service, and problems with payments and insurance. “This treatment center has staff that does not care at all about you as a person,” an alum wrote in a representative comment. “They make snap judgements on you that affect your life and are rude in general.”
Still, others were enthusiastic about the help they received at High Focus, and K.L. representatively wrote that while the center requires a lot of work from its clients, it provides those clients with “resources, knowledge, and guidance.”
WHAT FRIENDS & FAMILY SAY
The single loved one polled by Best-rehabs.com at the time of this writing gave mostly positive feedback. This individual gave the center four out of five stars in most of the evaluated areas of treatment, including its overall treatment effectiveness, treatment for co-occurring disorders, and family program. The reviewer added that although the facility was “old,” treatment was “very effective,” and wrote, “Good, well informed counsellers.”
FINANCING
According to the facility’s website, High Focus Centers is an in-network provider for most major insurers including Aetna, Cigna, United, and Value Options. It also accepts private payment. The initial assessment for all programs costs $150.
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