American Addiction Centers Spa or Treatment Center Internet

I agree that there are certain things that clients could benefit from a spa, such as massage or accupuncture but I have never know a client to benefit from lobster or filet migon.  Although a lot of people have been helped by AAC in the past, I DO NOT believe that these people need a chef that would prepare these and other such dishes or big screen TVs in the bedrooms or other such devices or services.  I DO believe these people need tried and true counseling by qualified people.

The above complaint criticizes AAC using a syllogism. The syllogism facilitates deductive reasoning by comparing or contrasting two premises that are (assumed or presumed) to be true. One of the premises in the authors syllogism is innacurate. The author fails to define the word "Spa." I hold a Bachelor's of Science in Health and Business. I have completed some Master's level coursework in Wellness and Health Promotion and have been a LMT for 18 years in five states, Nationally Certified in my profession and have never had any complaint filed against me or my license in any state or been brought up for audit by the NCBTMB. 

The term Spa in the criticism of AAC is allowed to operate reflexively, which is to say that it is dependent upon what it is defined against. In this instance, what is unstated by the author is a complaint about the concept of "Decadence" - which in and of itself, is a compounded stereotype about addiction in general that the author of the AACD criticism misdirects onto the wellness industry and "spas" specifically. 

I am not going to compound the author's plight to free either themselves or a family member or loved one from addiction by being too wordy or bashing them - (talking over their head) that will not solve the problem. The spa and wellness ijdustry has been combating issues related to this for many years and organization of the industry and business is democratic and or republican as the case may be. That said, here are several links for those who would like to know more about the professional spa and or wellness industry to consider before running wild with this criticism.

www.experienceispa.com

http://www.wellnessevidence.com/wellnessevidence 

As you may note when looking at the list of spa services on the database provided above, neither "addiction" nor "behavior change" are included. One of the primary reasons for this is directly tied to scope of practice for spa professionals and insurance liability. The author of this criticism is simply misinformed. As a further example, take a look at the website treatment menu for Mirival Spa in Arizona. Mirival is one of the most recognized Wellness Spa facilities and boasts celebrity endorsements from the likes of Andrew Weil MD.

http://www.miravalresorts.com/plan_your_stay/spa_services/

Clearly, addiction and behavior change services are NOT on the "Spa" menu! When such subjects may be addressed in ANY Spa/Resort venue, it occurs within "Spa" thru OUTSIDE GROUPS that book conference space and present talks and roundtable discussion. It is not uncommon for there to be occasional group meetings centered on subjects such as addiction and behavior change presented at some Spas and Resorts. However, addiction and it's related field of behavior change are a step removed from even the menu at Mirival. 

Any illness, disease or health condition requires those living within it's sphere to educate themselves. This is why meeting space is offered to discuss these matters - NOT TO TREAT THEM. 

I am an addiction family intervention specialist and i refer people to AAC without hesitation as I have seen my clients treated with fast, empathetic care. In fact, the reps generally do not give up until the afflicted individual is in treatment. I have not only seen this with  those with cash or good insurance but those who were on state insurance or none at all without money. I thought it only right to mention this. People cannot hold a treatment center responsible for relapse. Individuals often do not follow discharge recommendations. Also relapse is a symptom of addiction that indicated the need for more treatment rather than a failure of the treatment provided.

I congratulate you on your very informative article on The American Addiction Centers. I too have been victimized by this heartless, money hungry corporation. My experience with their Desert Hope Rehabilitation facility in Las Vegas, NV has nauseated me and my family.

 I was reading information on the internet in regards to the Treatment Solutions rehabilitation facility in New Jersey. It was purchased from Jim Bevell by Michael Cartwright. Cartwright is the founder of American Addiction Centers located out of Brentwood Tennessee. Jim Bevell has a lawsuit filed against him for 36 million by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield Insurance company. It stems from a urine testing fraud according to an article in "Treatment Magazine." Anyone wanting to read the entire article should go to Treatment Magazine website or under Michael Cartwright or American Addiction Centers. It is very informative and tells how some of the founders of these rehabilitation facilities are taking in millions of dollars building these spa-type luxurious facilities and not really invested in helping the patient. Unfortunately, there is always going to be a predator there to take advantage of someone elses misfortune.

I have been victimized by American Addiction Centers by their Desert Hope facility in Las Vegas, Nv.  I paid $26,500.00 for a (30) day stay in cash, evidentally you pay as much as they can get out of you if you pay by cash. I am the Grandmother, on a fixed income, of the patient that was admitted to Desert Hope for a drug addiction. He exited worse than he entered. He is in need of further future care and this facility gained some more new luxurious furnishings. The only compensation the C.E.O. of Desert Hope could offer was a scholarship (NOT AN INSTITUTION OF HIGHER LEARNING!!!) to Singer Island in Florida. This was immediately refused for obvious reasons.

No real intense therapy as per the contract or any of the (5) star treatment. A case of food poisoning was on the menu on one occasion. I hope you read my whole story on Ripoff Report. This is a money grabbing travisty of a facility. Please continue to post your reports that is the only way this company can be held accountable. It is good to hear from former employee's that have first hand knowledge of how this flawed operation is taking advantage of people's hardships. Yes, "Where there is smoke, there is fire."

For the one who comented about the ex-employees coments. I respect the fact that someone has the courage to let people know what's going on at these facilities. So wetber its a digruntled employee or not there is always some truth to the complaint and when you have multiple people making the same complaint it stands to reason that there is something going on there and probably should be looked into. Now it may take someone with the funds to get this stopped or maybe just someone in the legal field to get tired tlof the mistreatment of these people who are trying to straighten their lives to get it done.

Now being the parent of someone who has been at one of these facilities and knowing what we had gone through and the treatment that was going on there and the handling of patients there I will guarantee that action will be taken against this particular facility and things will ba changed within this facility or it will be shut down and this not a threat against this facility it is a promise of something getting done for the patients that want to get the help they expect to get from these facilities. 

I think maybe whomever wishes to make nasty comments about a complaint should really know what they are talking about.  Everything that was said was totally true. 

I AM an ex-employee and everything is as it was stated.  Yes, I am sorry, but ex-employees should have the right to tell what happened to them.  We were all told over a year ago that AAC was buying the company which used to be Treatment Solutions.  The owner of the company at that time wanted to be able to help more people so he looked for an influx of capital to do so.  AAC bought the company and proceeded to close everything up in NJ only to plan on opening up in northern NJ.  That being said, they have the right to do so, but the whole time they told employees not to get different jobs (some were planning on it since they felt they would be out of a job soon) because the company was going to keep the Hamilton facility open as an outpatient center and employees would be offered the chance to work at the new facility.  So no one ran....only to find out they did close it down and they were out of a job.  The company gave no severence, no help whatsoever, to any employee other than to have unemployment come in and tell them what unemployment would have told them if they called them.   

Michael Cartright acts like he is here to help people but he is only in it for the money.  I can say that because I have seen first-hand that his new Call Center is only interested in placing clients - and not to wherever they would be most helped.  They get paid by placement.  If their insurance will pay for the "spa" then they may get the spa treatment.  If it will not, then the client went to Hamilton or Singer Island. They had scholarships for some people but unfortunately, they were for "friends of friends" not for any every day Joe who needed help.  Selfpay rates for everyone were different depending on how much they could get out of the client.  Some were $10K, some were $30K for 30 days of treatment.  If the insurance paid for longer treatment then AAC would tell them they needed the 60 or 90 days of treatment.  If not, they got 30 days and even if they were not ready, they got a letter of treatment completion and had to go. Clients were sent to certain facilities desperately needing detox when insurance would not pay for it and the physicians were told to "deal with it" when clients complained. The local ER's saw alot of people who had detox problems, i.e seizure risk or dehydration because we could not do detox there although clients were told by the Call Center they would be able to be detoxed. Clients were shown beautiful facilities but they were pics of the hotel where they were housed - they were not pics of the actual treatment facility. Clients were told they would get spa treatments with all the extra's but that was not true. The list goes on and on and it was not the fault of the centers since employees could not do anything about it.  If Tennessee said a facility had to take them, they had to take them and hope no one was going to die while they were there. You REALLY REALLY do not want to send your loved one to AAC.

Do ex-employees have the right to complain?  I think they do. If the management at AAC has a problem with that, then they should look at why employees complain.  There is usually some truth to a complaint and to simply say someone does not have the right to complain or that it is all BS shows that you are either very mis-informed or a major stockholder in the corporation and therefore do not wish the truth to come out.  I can understand that but it doesn't make YOU right.  If you are simply a current employee trying to brown-nose then let me just say this...there is a poem out there that starts out (approximately) "When they came for me, I was not a Jew so I didn't care what happened....all the way to "there was no one left when they came for me."  Think on that when and if they decide to close down YOUR job.  And look at the job openings at some of the facilities...there are many, and it isn't because people are retiring, or due to attrition.  They are either getting fired (which says something about their inability to hire good people) OR the good people are quitting because they see first-hand what is going on and don't wish to be a part of it. So before you open your mouth and stick your nose up someone's nether-region make sure you know what you are talking about.

I would say Ringwood, NJ needs to really look at this facility. 

I am not an ex-employee but a recovering addict who think addiction centers should be just that not spas.

 So who exactly are you to determine what a business that you dont own, does with itself. Its obvious that they have a BUSINESS PLAN. This isnt a ripoff. This sounds like a butthurt ex employee. Do yourself a favor, keep your nose out of what is not your business. If you feel that strongly, go buy the majority share of their outstanding stock. Then atleast your "complaining" will have some merit.

Self entitled much?