Pasadena Villa Smoky Mountain Lodge's Online Review Report Card

I left Pasadena Villa worse than I came in. There were serious safety issues during my stay--cops came multiple times to remove violent or unstable patients, and two different clients sexually harassed women. Instead of removing them, staff issued ineffective "behavioral contracts" that were never enforced. The medication they gave me caused horrible tics and irritability, but staff didn't take my symptoms seriously. Group sessions were chaotic, with no structure. Techs are overworked and understaffed--some care deeply (shoutout to Cody), but others just scroll TikTok all shift. Discharge was irresponsible--they left me outside in 90° heat without proper transportation help. Patients and staff deserve better. This place has gone downhill and feels unsafe and unprofessional.

I left worse than I came in. I wanted Pasadena Villa to be a place of healing. Instead, it left me more unstable than when I arrived. While a few of the techs--especially Cody, who was amazing at de-escalating and protecting client confidentiality--truly care and work hard, they're clearly underpaid, overworked, and unsupported. Many others just scrolled TikTok during their shifts while the unit fell apart around them. The facility's screening process is deeply flawed. The police came at least four times during my stay to remove violent or unstable individuals. Two different male clients sexually harassed female patients. Instead of removing them, staff handed out "behavioral contracts" that techs didn't even enforce. The medication management was dangerous. I reported severe muscle spasms and tics from a prescribed medication. The response? A weak PRN that did nothing. Later, I was placed on a med that made me irritable, angry, and emotionally unstable--and I was discharged in that state. No stabilization. No real follow-up. Just sent home. Groups were a joke. Instructors didn't actually teach--they opened up "open discussion" and let one person dominate the whole time with questions that would've been answered had the material just been presented. Basic care was lacking. Smoke breaks were limited to 4 per day, 1 cigarette each. People were literally sleeping between breaks just to cope with cravings or leaving the program altogether because they couldn't manage. One girl had seizures and another man suffered from untreated chronic pain--neither were properly supported. When I was discharged, it was 90 degrees outside. They knew that Uber and Lyft don't come out there, but nobody told me. I was left outside with all my luggage until another client thankfully informed me about a local taxi service. The staff-to-client ratio is horrifying: often 5 staff for 50 clients. I saw techs break down crying from the pressure. They are doing their best, but the system is setting everyone up for failure. This place may have had a better reputation once, but now? It's dangerously mismanaged and deeply neglectful. Patients and staff deserve so much better.

Not great experience with my daughter unfortunately. And no it's not because they can't talk to me because she won't let them. I am experienced with MANY such treatment places in my 31 years in recovery and so far they've not done a great job at evaluating and escalating her. They seem stretched too thin from what I hear from my daughter and from the parent that they are supposed to be communicating with. :( it's too bad because I've heard such great things.

My 19-year old daughter, with severe social anxiety, started at SML 2 weeks ago. We were excited for SML because of this line on their website: "At Pasadena Villa, our proprietary Social Integration Model is central to our program. It offers real-time therapeutic interventions as clients navigate real-life situations." We thought that meant when my daughter had difficulty navigating the program, there would be someone to help her out. For the first week, I routinely asked for my daughter to get a little additional intervention to help her because she was too panicked to get in the lines to pick up her meds and to get meals; however, I was told that it was her responsibility to do these things for herself and they would not go out of their way to assist her. At the beginning of week 2, after my daughter not having a meal or her prescriptions for a week, I asked again if they could offer more help; this time I was told that the therapist would spend a whole day helping her get comfortable and that she would be matched with a "Pasadena Pal" who could help her get more comfortable, but neither of those things happened. My daughter just requested to be discharged because she has not gotten support from the staff and feels very isolated. Moments ago, the therapist called to ask if I thought having a psych tech spend some extra time with my daughter for a day would help her settle in. I said yes.....it would have helped a lot if they had offered that when she and I asked for it a week or 2 ago. Offering that support now feels very performative; I can't help but feel like they're just trying to placate us to get her to stay longer, not to help her, but to get more of our money. If your loved one has challenges functioning in social settings, I don't recommend SML. In practice, their proprietary Social Integration Model does not match the description they provide on their website.

I had an amazing experience at SML, and bc of it am now the best version of myself. Everything about it was wonderful--individual and group therapy, as well as other versions of therapy including art and movement. You are also surrounded by what I call nature therapy. The culinary and cleaning staff are also top notch. I must say that not everyone has as good of an experience as me. Some people left early due to meds and therapy frustrations. You will witness others escalate, but that is part is the recovery process and the staff knows how to keep everyone safe and a patient's issues confidential when that happens. When mental health/recovery issues get complicated, I would recommend residential care to most people. IOPs and PHPs may also be a good fit, but getting away to a residential program was exactly what I needed and I would recommend SML to anyone.

My stay at Pasadena Villa Smoky Mountain Lodge was very disappointing to say the least. I would encourage anyone looking for intense in-patient treatment for mental health issues to look elsewhere. My experience from the time I arrived to the time I left was disorganized beyond belief for a facility that has been in business for 14 years. Here is my experience: When you arrive you are asked to call to let them know you are there. They did not answer the phone. I was left standing outside the facility for 30 minutes before anyone came to let me in. As expected, once inside you hand over all your personal items for them to inspect as they should. What I didn't know is that you are then required to wear either an ankle or wrist bracelet enabled with Bluetooth so that a staff member can lay their eyes on you every 15 minutes around the clock, even while you are sleeping. This immediately gave me prison vibes. Also, it makes it difficult to sleep well when someone is opening the door to your room every 15 minutes. By the way, there are no private rooms. You will be sleeping in a room with a stranger. Once it is okayed by the therapist you are assigned, the checks are every 30 minutes for the rest of your stay there. I was shown around the facility briefly and given very little information about what my day-to-day would look like. Then I was just left to figure things out on my own by talking with other residents who had been there longer. A very intimidating experience for someone who is introverted and experiencing extreme anxiety and depression I thought. If it weren't for some of the other residents, I'm not sure how I would have made it through 30 days there. Depending on which staff I asked, I got different answers to almost any question I had. There is no psychiatrist on-site, only psychiatric APRNs. Depending on when you arrive you may not see them for the first week you are there. Once I did meet her, the nurses on staff did not print out my prescription and it was not ordered from the pharmacy. Because of this and the weekend, it was 5 days before my new med arrived from the pharmacy. This was after having been there 14 days already. While I was there, the nurses tried to give me incorrect doses of my meds on 2 occasions. Had I not been vigilant, I would have taken them. Two other residents that I knew of personally were given someone else's medicines. They were informed later of the "mistake." They somehow lost one resident's medications and didn't have any idea what had happened to them. Also, when I arrived home and unpacked my medications, I was sent home with another resident's medication. His name and birthdate were on the bottle along with a 30 day supply of a medicine I don't take. You will only get to meet with your assigned therapist for 90 mins each week. Luckily the therapist I was assigned was helpful and knowledgeable, but that is not the case with all the therapists. I encountered at least 3 therapists in group sessions who literally read from a sheet of paper, asked if anyone had any comments, and then ended the group. Anyone who could read could have led those groups. There were 3 others who genuinely seemed to care and were knowledgeable. But, the therapists are not licensed. They are graduates who are working towards their licensure. Many of the groups did provide good information, but being only 45 minutes long, did not go very in depth at all. You have too much down time with nothing to do. One resident was physically assaulted by another resident and there was no protocol in place to keep us safe. It was left up to other residents to break up the altercation while the employees stood around and called the police. There were two other instances where violence occurred and left residents feeling unsafe. No security is present onsite. You may be asked to leave within 24 hours if your insurance stops paying. You then are asked to pay $750 per night until you can find a way home. I could add more but I am out of space. :( Positives: the food and some of the techs

Social integration model is an interesting approach. The general freedom allows groups to naturally form and I definitely felt like I came out of it with better mental health and more connections than when I came in. However, there are some important things to know. It's a voluntary facility but if you try to leave AMA they will send you to the ER for a psychiatric review. They didn't tell me it can take up to 2-3 days of sitting in the ER to see the doctor. So I missed my flight, then when I refused to sign the right to treat (DO NOT SIGN THIS) and tried to leave the ER they accused me of something I didn't do to keep me there and placed an emergency detainment order on me. After trying to contact pasadena villa multiple times from the ER (who still had all of belongings including my phone and laptop), I received nothing but frustrated remarks from one of the nurses who basically made it clear she didn't care to help me out. It took my mother driving a 16 hour round trip to convince the ER to release me. Not only that but there are some issues with staff as well. Overall it was a mixed experience. Learn which staff members really care and which ones don't give a fuck and then act accordingly.

After looking at several different facilities my son decided he would go to this one. It was a very long hard road to get him to agree to inpatient treatment so I was very excited when he agreed to go. First, the one thing that both he and I were happy with is that they at least got him started on some medication that helped a little. He has since went on to other treatment facilities and has it dialed in a bit better but it is still a struggle. However, I am grateful this facility at least got him pointed in the right direction. I must say that I was unaware this was a coed facility, that part is my fault for not looking into it further. It appears that there is a lot of "hooking up", which distracts from the purpose of being there. It became the focus of many patients during their stay there. There is way too much free time and once my son left there was only one follow-up which I found very sad. Yes, there is a family group but it only meets once a week and I did not find it helpful at all. The facilitator barely led the meeting and did not do a good job and getting everyone involved and helping one another. I do not write reviews as a general rule but this was a life or death situation for my son and luckily I got him more help after he got out.

Worse place I ever been to. They dump you off at er if you get upset and leave you there. Don't even contact family either. Thankfully I had my phone to call my mom.

Since 2017 three patients have committed suicide while in the care of this facility. Two of the suicide occurred in the years 2022 and 2023. The facility is still under the same management. Do your research before sending a loved one to receive care at the facility. Most of the therapists are not licensed. Don't be fooled ask to see thier license.