The Wellington Retreat All doctors, therapists and coordinators Physical and mental abuse of patients; expose patients to communicable diseases in clinical building; withhold access to outside communication with family and other professionals West Palm Beach, Florida

I had the misfortune of being admitted to The Wellington Retreat for a period which was not to exceed 14 days in order to be assessed for PTSD and depressive disorder issues. I was then to be transferred to another facility more appropriate for my treatment. The 14 days turned into 45 days with access to outside communication severely limited or withheld entirely.

As a former patient only recently lucky enough to escape this hell on earth, I implore anyone who has family, friends or employees in this facility to GET THEM OUT IMMEDIATELY!

Upon my arrival and prior to being seen by a medical or psychiatric doctor, I was forced to strip, squat and cough so that the coordinator (a drug addict in recovery with no medical or nursing training) could be sure that I was not smuggling drugs into the facility, even though I was not presenting with any type of addiction.

Diagnosis approximately 4 days later, made not by a medical doctor but by a therapist (again a drug addict in recovery with questionable credentials at best) was incorrectly reported as alcoholism and substance abuse, even though I did not present with any type of addiction. I was also not asked to sign a release for the facility that I had just recently left where I was treated for trauma and received the diagnoses of depressive and PTS disorders. I did have a drink on the plane on my way to the facility - apparently the urine analysis came back positive for alcohol which I suppose made the subsequent misdiagnosis of alcoholism appropriate.

When diagnosis of alcoholism and substance abuse with no diagnosis or assessment for depressive disorder or PTSD was questioned by me and I asked to be discharged so that I might find a treatment facility to better suit my needs, I was threatened with being "Baker-acted," which I learned only through this treatment facility to mean that once I left the facility's grounds, they would call the police on me and I would be involuntarily committed to the state mental hospital for 72 hours. I was invited to leave if I so chose but I would do so without my telephone, identification, money or credit cards, all of which were taken from me immediately upon my arrival at the house.

Houses are nice, it is true, but poorly maintained, infested with insects inside and out, and poorly stocked with the proper amount of food for the number of people in residence. The vans used to transport the patients between the houses and clinical (where appropriate treatment is purported to take place), otherwise known as "druggie buggies" are roach infested and were not cleaned once in the 6 weeks that I was coerced to stay in treatment here. Patients detoxing or being over or under medicated routinely vomited and/or urinated in the vans; it was the patients' responsibility to clean up after themselves.

One coed bathroom with two stalls and a urinal that didn't flush properly were shared by approximately 25-30 patients at clinical, where patients spent 10 hours Monday through Thursday and approximately 5 hours Friday through Sunday. Male patients routinely urinated on the toilets in the stalls without cleaning up after themselves, leaving this chore to the females who were never provided with any type of cleaning solutions.
 
During weeks 3 and 4 of my stay, three new male patients came in: the first voiced his previous career choice as a pimp running women and routinely masturbated and ejaculated not only in the coed bathroom, but in both of the group rooms as evidenced by stains on the furniture and light fixtures. The second male patient invited me to perform oral sex on him and shared with me his beliefs that women have no rights in this world except to pleasure men. Both of these men were in my trauma group - so I was expected to share my experiences of sexual and physical assaults with them. The third male, accepted by Wellington after being kicked out of his prior treatment center (which I believe had been his 9th or 10th time in treatment) for making homicidal threats to other patients, became agitated during group and while attempting to start a fight with another patient kicked over two chairs, causing me physical injury. I was not offered any type of first aid or to be seen by a doctor. In all instances above there were no consequences to the male offenders. I was told to "suck it up," that they are sick and I need to be more understanding. My life was threatened twice in front of staff by this same man.

Male coordinators are approved to work the graveyard shift at the female and adolescent houses because they are gay. When I expressed my discomfort at this I was ignored by both the female coordinators and my male therapist, who yelled at me and told me I was an ungrateful addict. When I asked that my trauma talk therapy be completed with the female trauma therapist my request was denied.

Patients "cheeked" medications and swapped them with other patients for cigarettes, or snorted them in an effort to get "high" quicker. In the transitional housing which consists of run-down, filthy townhomes, roommates consistently steal food and other belongings. Drug dealing and using was rampant in the transitional housing where Dr. Moran charges the patients $175 per week in addition to your health insurance or self-pay payments. I was only there for 3 days and was afraid to leave the house, and in fact, did not, once it got dark.

My "trust" account -  the cash and credit cards I came in with, as well as money that was supposedly deposited on my behalf by my family, was mishandled. I know for a fact that the amount of cash initially reported by staff to my trust account was incorrect, and for 3 of the 6 weeks of my stay I was told that there was no money in the account, even though a weekly amount was agreed to and promised by my family. The one shopping trip that was done correctly the first week I was there was the only time that I was provided a receipt and accounting of the trust account balance.

I was not provided even the minimal amount of trauma therapy I was kept at this treatment facility for. I received only 1 private session with my therapist in 6 weeks. I could not participate in trauma talk therapy because the one hour per day group time allocated to this was deferred to the 8 other patients in my group. My concerns regarding this lack of treatment were answered with more threats, blaming and shaming of me.
 
I was called an POS addict that will never be able to atone for my numerous sins because I was in denial of my addict status and not truthful about my past. My prior treatment to increase self esteem was discounted as coddling - that the truth is that I am a selfish ungrateful human being.

I have suffered consistent depression and PTSD for almost 10 years and this is the first time I've sought treatment in order to better my life, not only for me but for my kids. I was well on my way with the excellent therapy I received prior to my stay at The Wellington Retreat. I am thankfully now at another treatment center where I am being treated with kindness, dignity and respect. But after my incarceration at The Wellington Retreat I have now lost the small amount of trust I was able to gain only a few short months ago, and because of the lack of contact with my family and the misinformation they have received from The Wellington Retreat concerning my treatment there, I have unfortunately lost trust in those who I believed before now incapable of allowing me to be so mistreated and abused.

I honestly don't know my p's and q's concerning drug addition and its successful treatment, but I do know the difference between degradation and disrespect vs. compassion and healing. A person shouldn't be shamed and blamed for being depressed. They shouldn't be shamed or blamed for being an addict either.
 
If you have a loved one in this facility, please get them out. They deserve to be treated as human beings, not underpaid addict workers for Dr. Moran's two local restaurants.