Discovery Mood And Anxiety Program- Whittier's Online Review Report Card

Honestly if your looking to send your kid who needs help for there mental health this is not the place. I was at DMAP for two months, I had switched to here from an ed program expecting my eating to be properly taken care of but instead not even a single therapy group or individual session was this focused on. Of course I had some other mental health things going on but none of them were addressed. While being here I was taken off of my normal routine medication and only allowed one of them, completely messing up my mood regulation. During the stay here I was placed with an amazing roommate but the sanitation of the rooms were absolutely disgusting. Room checks were supposed to be done daily but many mornings they were skipped. When they weren't your clothes were thrown out on top of your dresser or completely rearranged. I'm a neat freak when it comes to things so this deeply upset me. The groups run by staff,therapist or even kids were always repetitive and not filled with the knowledge we needed to better ourselves and truly feel that we were normal teenagers who needed some extra help. Many times a day peers of mine would get into verbal altercations. The kids were not monitored enough leading to the point were one female went into the bathroom with a male to give a blowjob to him. Even after that they both gloated on it and the next day she was moved to a different program. There was another situation similar to this but instead the male was non consenting and another female snuck into the bathroom and watched him shower. Another incident that occurred here was that of total chaos. It seemed every time one person would set off and be triggered another peer would follow after. In particular one night 10 out of the 16 kids were in a heavy mental crisis and only two staff were on the floor that night. It got to the point that me AS A PATIENT had to step in and help the staff. I had to stop multiple kids from pulling their hair out, hanging themselves, scratching themselves, attempting to awol, and trying to choke themselves. One girls lips were turning blue and no one was aware. Another person was attempting to burn themselves in the stove which runs 24/7 and one staff had to stay with them. Even during this whole situation it last 30 MINUTES until the cops showed up, and even then only ONE OUT OF THE TEN GIRLS in crisis was taken with them and it was a girl who didn't attempt any of the things listed above. The two people in charge of this site were Joi and Kendra. Joi would gaslight you and completely ignore your feelings claiming you had no clue of what you needed and ignored your feelings. Kendra was rarely on the floor and I only saw her show up during one out of the 10 crisis that accrued. Many of the therapists were not trained and were of no help. My therapist in particular would lie straight to my face and tell my parents a different thing then what she told me. Almost attempting to turn us from eachother. Several times during my stay she asked me if I even wanted to live with them and said she could help me move if I needed. During the time here I felt as if I was getting worse ever turn you made you had to watch your back, and that is absolutely draining. On top of that during my last few nights there a girl and boy awol together and came back 5 HOURS after being gone, the girl came back with a geek bar and a blade. They stripped searched her and didn't even find any of these things. I was able to turn in the geek bar but she kept her razor and in the end cut herself multiple times on her legs and no one even cared. The boy was moved the next day but she stayed 2 or 3 days later. Due to that she found out about me turning in the geek bar and then targeted me during a group therapy and caused a fight. After the fight she was then moved and I wasn't even allowed to contact my parents till the directors did. The cops were not called and my parents were finally called 2 hours after the fact. The staff did not watch the girl before she left so my room was trashed my clothes thrown everywhere, makeup destroyed, and many other things stolen and damaged. I never got any of these things reported to the police. Every night since I arrived there they were short staffed with 1-2 staff on the floor. Many of the staff were missed treated by their bosses. In conclusion I don't think this place is very healing and never will be. At this point I'm not sure why they are even open and they haven't been sued. So please as a parent truly look for a place in your child's best interest not just any a place that will take insurance because some places truly just want money and don't care for the wellbeing and improvement of your child's health.

This is by far the WORST residential i've ever heard of. The staff and extremely rude and disrespectful. They disregard everything you say to them and they are just overall extremely careless. This place was very disappointing and i wouldn't wish this place on my worst enemy. The rooms are gross. The cleaners don't wash the walls in the bedrooms or bathrooms. There are boogers all over the walls from like years ago. They don't shield or protect the kids from anything that could be triggering. Fights often broke out and kids would get hurt. The office director, Joi Johnson would make racist and discriminatory comments among the adolescents making them feel powerless or undermined. Every single "process group" would result in a war basically. All of the staff are extremely disrespectful, except for Aly R, Leslie, Amara, Ashley, mariah, and krystal. Everyone else should pretty much be fired in my opinion. The directors don't know how to run a mental health facility especially one for adolescents. Over all just really disappointed with the care i received over the course of my stay at discovery mood. 0/10 Recommend.

some negative reviews of this program call upon experiences you'd find at any standard residential, but this is not a standard residential, it's far far worse. main issue (in my opinion) was not the basic human rights violations (routine strip searches, lack of privacy, ect) because those things can be, at times, justified for keeping patients safe. to me the main issue was the people running the place, because everyone there seemed completely clueless as to how to treat mental health, minus the eating disorder therapist (who came in once a week or so). in my opinion any experienced mental health professional would likely spend only ten minutes here until they wise up and leave. this isn't the type of place you can fix from the inside. I don't think i learned anything here aside from resilience. which, you likely already have lots of if your being sent to treatment at all. the therapists at this program do not work with individuals, they control patients. this isn't uncommon, control is necessary when maintaining order, but there was a complete lack of respect and kindness towards patients. it seemed like the point of therapy was solely to maintain this control, not to help anyone. having all of your life for months at a time be completely out of your control sucks no matter what, but the way the people who ran this place seemed to sadistically dangle basic human rights in front of you disgusts me. their tactics of instilling fear in us didn't work either, degeneracy of all sorts flourished. maybe if the residents were shown respect they would have respected the people in charge of them enough not to huff nail polish, run away, get in fights, ect. ect....... There were many instances where i questioned if my therapist was licensed. unfortunately my individual therapist was also in charge of my family therapy and irreparably damaged my relationship with my mother. When he didn't like how i was behaving (admittedly, he knew i was lying to him in order to leave this place, but can you really blame me?) he blackmailed me with information i had shared in other individual sessions, some of those sessions not even with him. where's the integrity? There are mental hospitals i've stayed at that have been far more pleasant and helpful. if your being sent here, be smart, say what you need to to get out and you'll be okay. Don't try to run and keep a low profile if you can. If you're considering sending a child here, just don't. there are far better options. all in all, this place just doesn't work. it hurts people. i do not recommend.

well first of all!!!! i was a patient there when i was 14. there was another patient there that tried to kill everyone!!!! also the therapist was not the bestest because she did not know a few very important disorders so.. that was not good. she was very nice though. there are also too many rules. seating charts during groups and meal time, early room time almost every day, not being allowed on outings unless you get enough points, ect. very annoying.

all honestly this is the best place ever . if you struggle with any type of disorder they will help you. yes people say they "yell" at you but all they do is raise their voice if you are to loud in the living room or in general. i love all the therapist are so welcoming . they get along with the kids so quick. this place is the place to get better !! all the staff treat us with boundaries and respect us like we are their kids. all the kids are so sweet. another thing ... the kids leaving the property. as a 16 yr old that went there and experienced a lot of kids hoping gates and running out of the gates or running outside into the road... the staff do their best to protect those kids. they can only do so much. their is only so much to do until they call the police. but thank you for helping me discovery

I would not recommend this place to anyone.. this location is on a Main Street and they don't even lock their doors ! My 11 year old daughter was able to leave the premises not once but twice !! First time she was missing a few hours the other a few hours as well! Sheriffs had to be called etc! Also, this location in no way shape or form helped my daughter or our family , unfortunately this is one more location that serves adolescents that is ill equipped and basically a day care ( poor one at that, being that they couldn't even get that right) . Also, good luck being able to reach your child as they NEVER answer the phones ! DONT SEND YOUR CHILD HERE!!!!!!

It's been 5 years since I left this place, and I still feel the same. I still relive my horrible days in here and the terrible people I was around. The boys always sexuallizing me. The staff ignoring any complaints. The "level up system" that everyone lied their way through. I still think about some of the few good people I met and wonder how they are, because after this, I hope they are still here. I went here when "destoni" from Dr Phil did to give a reference of time and she tried multiple times to destroy my clothes and fight me for looking at her lol. This place sucks. I still have nightmares. I still dream about running away and coming home, and I'm so happy I am now.

What a scam. They say all the right things for you to think that they are the right program for your child. That they can handle mental and behavioral issues. All this program cares about is billing your insurance and making money. Dont waste you time, effort and money and find some place that actually care and willing to help!

Our daughter was in the residential facility, then PHP and IOP. Staff at both her locations have been attentive and responsive both to her and to us as her parents. The administration has also been excellent when we have needed to communicate with them. It's been a rough year, but my daughter feels seen and heard and is using the coping techniques and skills she has learned.

I can not suggest Discovery residential in Whittier as a place to send a child with Type-1 diabetes. However, particular staff members are outstanding! They are the only program I could find that claims to know how to care for children with diabetes. They do not. Out of 30 days, three weeks were stressful. We had to buy an iPod the second 1/2 week in because their PDM was not working well. It takes too much time to regulate the PDM they purchased by changing over from your child's personal devices. They would not let him use his phone even if we removed his apps and kept the phone close to him. My son was woken up many nights and told to drink 4-8 oz of juice and have a sandwich when his glucose levels were acceptable. Then in the morning, he would be at 300+ sometimes in the 400. The night staff is Not educated enough to take care of these children. They would not listen to him, knowing he could take care of his diabetic needs and has done so for years. Type-1 children need a better environment that truly understands their situation. Having a cloudy head from high or low glucose levels will not help them heal/deal with depression or any other problems they may have. It is an added worry that is not necessary. As an added note my son was bullied. It was adressed somewhat. The damage done did waste more time.