Sierra Tucson's Online Review Report Card

My fourth hospitalization will be my last at ST due to the fact that my trauma therapist undermined my recovery in the last two days of my stay leading to a severe and life-threatening emotional breakdown. If you decide to attend ST, and there are many reasons to do so, I warn you to avoid therapist Dr. Minnie Dabney. There are many great therapists at ST, including Brenda Baker, Jim Davis, Barbara Trejo, and Maureen O'Connor-Strout. But Dr. Minnie Dabney does not meet the high standards of professionalism, caring, informed trauma recovery methods, and attention to administrative details as these other therapists. Actually, I would say she possesses none of the qualities of these other therapists, and is actually deficient in her counseling and administrative methods. More often than not, Dabney was reactive, petty, disinterested, arbitrary, unpredictable, domineering, and lacked basic insight into the emotional world of the trauma survivor. It is apparent now that much of her clinical experience was gained in the state prison system and residential youth facilities. She did not create a safe sharing environment for this survivor of neglect, cancer, hate crime, multiple murder attempts, profound loss and grief, and multiple drug overdoses. Ironically, I do not think Dr. Dabney was even aware of these traumas in my life since I was not given the opportunity to share these experiences, nor did she reference them in group discussion nor individual therapy. She seemed to be oblivious as to her role in my recovery, but rather offered pretty anodyne insight overall. Two days before I was due to discharge, I was to present my "trauma timeline" which is basically a re-hashing of all the horrible things that have happened to me (an outdated and actually harmful activity - see Janina Fisher). I had set this date far in advance, moving the date back to accommodate other residents. After working tirelessly two days on my project, reopening every scar and exposing every wound, when I arrived to present my project, Dabney arbitrarily and despotically decided I would not present my project until four newer residents presented theirs, even after the previous day she had promised to grant me thirty minutes to present my timeline. She said that I could always go the next day, which would have been the day before my discharge. No trauma therapist in the world with any good sense and training would have their client revisit traumatic memories the day before leaving a facility, giving that client no time to heal and process the experience. Actually two days before discharge was too late, but I was left with no choice due to many factors related to Dabney's chaotic leadership style. When I learned that I had been relegated to the bottom of the list, all my feelings of worthlessness rose to the surface, adding an additional level of trauma to the trauma I was already experiencing after completing the timeline. As someone who has experienced voicelessness, invisibility, and discrimination at every turn of their life, this was extremely damaging. I would almost classify it as revictimization and definitely retraumatization. I refused to remain in the room with Dabney and left flooded with emotion. I entered a disassociate state, verging on the catatonic. I could not stop weeping and attempted to flee all human contact. I seriously contemplated suicide at that moment. The next day, the day before discharge, I entered a profound depression. My psychiatrist visited me (Dr. Hansen - an excellent M.D.) but by that time it was too late for anyone to help. I had to leave the next day and no one could undo the damage. I am still in a state of shock but relieved to have escaped the facility. If I did not have the love and support of an amazing spouse, there is no doubt I would have not chosen life due to the extreme emotional pain I experienced and from which I have not recovered after two days back home. Dr. Dabney should retire and live out the rest of her years with her dog Lucy, rather than continue to work with humans crying out for help.

Sierra Tucson's main concern is how much and by whom they will be paid; essentially, they discriminate between self-pay and those less-fortunate patients with insurance. DO NOT expect to know what is happening while you are there; they do not afford the "insurance-dependent" patients the same rights as those with money.A SECOND CHANGE AGREEMENT was not given to a chronic pain patient who had done nothing wrong other than be exposed to COVID.UNCONSCIONABLE and INHUMANE are two words that come to mind when the local Sheriff's "Substation" is on-call to send their goons to come and physically assault a traumatized, chronic pain patient in order to REMOVE patient from the property.It is DESPICABLE and Ms. Hickson and Valerie Kading should be fired for causing TRAUMA!!

Just wanted to add that I went here under insurance payments and had a wonderful time. Excellent treatment team that has goodness knows how much experience under their belts. Really, the only sad thing was that I had to leave once insurance stopped paying.

I just spent the holiday season at Sierra Tucson (2021-22). I was there 10 years ago, and it has changed 360 degrees. Instead of being privately owned, it is owned by wealthy Acadia Healthcare, whose number one priority is their profit. Accommodations, food, treatment, staff, are all insufficient for the huge price tag. Errors in scheduling, lack of aftercare, general housekeeping issues are a few of the many reasons you should think long and hard before wasting your money on this place.

Please reconsider. I was going to write a long review but Julie M. below saved me the trouble (see below as it covers just about everything.) I'll be pretty brief. It used to supposedly be one of the best until they got bought by a corporation from Franklin, Tennessee. My CA interventionist sent me here. I'm not sure what happened, besides a massive staff exodus and clients leaving AMA after two days. Morale among staff and clients is low. Avoid Elaine the Asst. Admin.Some of the staff are cool and trying but there are crazy issues like 1 hour waits for meds. Would you like meds or breakfast? $56,500 later (talk about a kick in the nuts) after 14 days I had to leave. It was ridiculous. Do not send your loved ones here. I could type for hours but call me at 310-579-5005 if you'd like more details. I am a very personable, rule-following guy and spoke with everyone from the kitchen staff (the food is good!) to the nurses to the residential advisors/babysitters to the Docs, in my case Dr. Hanson.  This place is melting down. They charge the VA $17k per three days in case you wonder where your taxpayer dollars are going. If you choose Sierra, you better be prepared to advocate for yourself. That's the best advice I can give. Their website is BS. Everything is an upcharge. I left detoxed and am doing fine but they will take you for a ride if you just sit back....

Don’t waste your time. The staff is all unhelpful and rude, and they will tell you a lot about the kind of care you receive in the facility until you get there and realize it was all lies. The staff made me feel guilty for the behaviors I was coming in for, and they ignored many of my serious medical concerns. They are not prepared to support their clients in the way they need.

What a beautiful place to heal.

This place is not where you need to go to recover.I have been here 28 days and leave on Thursday 1/13/22. My experience here has been brutal and I hope it can help you in choosing another recovery center that can meet your needs. Upon checking in you will be placed in Copper Sky aka a psych ward, I was there for 5 days although the physicians on staff medically cleared me on day one. The reason I was not able to transfer was due to the fact that there were no beds available on the "campus" side.In addition, they have residential therapists on staff that you are to be able to call in a time of need. I called for a RT 5 times and unfortunately 3 of the times they were not able to provide a RT because they were understaffed. Another point of contention is their covid protocols are ATROCIOUS. Community phones, no mask enforcement, no sanitation and constantly just yanking people off property and putting them in quarantine. (Luckily that did not happen to me but happened to a lot of the patients here.)I paid $40,000 to stay here and did not pay for an understaffed experience, but that is what you will get. Subs for some classes, they will tell you they only found out they were teaching the class 5 minutes before they began. On top of all that you will be told that you have a primary Psych that you will see 4x during your stay. I was able to meet mine and opened up, became vulnerable, and tried to build a connection I was desperately looking for. After 2 visits my Dr. was no longer available and I met with a substitute psych and never was informed about the transition.Also DO NOT pay for the integrative services, they will charge you up front, and if there are covid cancellations due to staff - which there will be - you will need to file a formal request for a refund and it may takes weeks for you to receive that. And all massages and services are $175 for 50 minutes...that's alot of money, maybe not to Sierra Tucson, but it was to me.Its not all bad, there are some strong employees and class leaders. I was able to uncover some past traumas and I have been sober off pot and alcohol for 30 days. I look forward to continuing my sobriety I just don't want anyone else to have the experience that I had.Lastly, I think the CEO is Valerie, you will not see her on campus and if you ask to contact her you will be turned away. No leadership, no accountability, no communication.Thanks for reading, please look for another place to seek recovery. Hopefully ST will be able to staff up and help others in the future.

ST saved/changed my life for the better. Doc Reynolds is the best psychiatrist out there. He remained professional and genuinely caring, even thought I still had a very hard head while out there. He believed in me, and saw so much in me that I didn’t see/believe in myself. Therapists Vic and Kris were an absolute pleasure to work with. Highly recommend ST for the RWB group they offer. Met brothers & sisters out there who will be life long friends. All staff are kind and helpful, facilities were clean and well kept, food was absolutely delicious, and there’s a very wide variety of classes/treatments. Be sure to self advocate to help Taylor your needs, however be open to new methods! Try everything at least once. Overall, the best experience of my life. ST taught me the importance of openness & willingness. As long as you’re open and willing, ST can and will save/change your life too. Be sure to look at the sign on the way in, and the way out. They’re true. God bless

I found my way to Sierra Tucson after a severe suicide attempt. There were no available facilities near me and the thought of being in the sunshine during a cold winter was appealing. I flew from NY to AZ for their care. This is NOT the family run business that it formerly was.  It is a large conglomerate owned business and is run as such. They will ALWAYS get payment first and will not do anything until they see the money. It was previously an all inclusive program, which had the added services of body work, chiropractic and additional therapies. This is NOT included in your price. You must pay extra for everything. The admission process is marginal. They have uninterested people who are simply are there to go through a checklist to ensure your insurance might pay. They didn't explain much and they certainly didn't prepare me for care there. There's a whole email they send out that tells you to bring a backpack full of what you'll need for the first 24 hours of your time. They don't follow that in practice. You're not allowed much of anything in the first few days. Upon arrival, regardless of time, you will go through an assessment including a skin integrity assessment. This means you're stripped naked and given a paper sheet so they can inspect every inch of you. Copper Sky is the newest building. It's fondly called "c block" because it's similar to prison. They have the suicide prevention room facilities and everything is padded.  You will get no treatment for as long as you're there. They run classes but they are ineffective as the people there are mostly detoxing.  They run a program out of there for people that are unable to go to the residential program because they are too high risk or need more medical support than they can provide.  This is called the chrysalis program.  The Red, White and Blue Program is absolutely the best program Sierra Tucson has to offer, in my opinion.  It is for veterans, military and first responders.  It is a tight knit group that has their own processing group, yoga group, adventure group, etc.  Generally, it has one psych PA, named Bill Reynolds, who was in the Navy and then two primary therapists, Kris Davis and Vic Gilbert.  If you are in one of the above mentioned groups and need assistance with mental health, substance abuse, etc, I would recommend this facility.  NOW- here's the crap they don't want you to know...  They are ridiculously understaffed.  The residential advisors are the ones that keep the place running, keeping up with the residents needs, etc.  They are responsible to physically lay eyes on the residents of each lodge every hour...  even at night.  If you are looking for a good night sleep, you don't want to go to a residential facility because they must check on you frequently through the night.  Sierra Tucson is famous for losing personal property.  While I was there they lost my phone for over 2 weeks.  I know of several others who had their phones, computers, etc lost.  Potentially the highlight of them misplacing things was when they lost an entire suitcase for one resident, and NEVER found it.  When I left, they still had not found it.  Let's talk about COVID...  they change the rules to fit them.  They will place one person in quarantine fir an exposure, but another will walk freely.  If you are in quarantine, you get your phone back, but you are confined to your room with no entertainment at all.  If you smoke, you might get out once in a while, completely covered from head to toe in protective gear.  Yes, outside in protective gowns, booties, and hair coverings.  They have no TV's for you to keep yourself entertained, etc.  I heard they have an iPad you can use, but I don't know this to be true.  You are subject to being moved from your room at ANY time.  For example, one night they were short nurses and decided to shut down one entire lodge for a single night.  This involved the residents packing all of their stuff and being moved back to the secure facility (Copper Sky).