The Lakes Treatment Center, Copperopolis, California. Owner Bernadette Cattaneo Avoid This Rehab Center at all Cost copperopolis California

Reading Mr. McNulty's defense of The Lakes by stating that the claims of sex were unsubstantiated, I have to respond that Bernadette herself was the one that told my son's friend and me that my son had sex with two different women while he was in detox, and described the 19 yr old girl as "slow" and "not even that attractive". 

I paid $30k to send my son here, thinking that it was a unique and special treatment center, qualified to help save my son's life, after days of texts and phone calls with Travis, Bernadette's son, which was not disclosed. There were roadblocks from my son, which, after talking to numerous professionals, was a clear indicaction that he was not ready for rehab. Travis has got game, I'll give him that. First he scared me beyond words by telling me how damaging to the brain the street drugs have become over the last few years, then offering help, saying that The Lakes offered intensive personal therpy sessions. This is not the case, unless 'intensive' is 15-20 min once a week. He kept me on the hook through all of my son's ridiculous demands, never suggesting that his behavior was indicative of an addict who did not want help. I was looking for guidance, and feel I was misled and lied to.

From the first call from Bernadette wanting to me authorize a $328 pharmancy charge (I was finally charged $29.50) for a drug used to treat bi polar and schizophrenia, after never having seen a doctor, to her informing me three weeks later that my son had sex with two women during detox, this experience has been a nightmare. The first morning,Bernadette made a point of telling me that a common trait among meth addicts, and one that she expected to see in my son, is a sex addiction, yet he was unsuperivsed and able to have sex with TWO separate women during detox. She back pedalled quickly, as she was telling this to two of us, saying "Please don't share with this *my son* as it's a violation of her confidentiality". I learned that he had a pattern of breaking the rules, but she dismissed them as "little rules' and there were no consequences whatsoever. He had unsupervised access to his Facebook account on at least four separate dates.  My son left after three weeks, tested dirty upon his return, at which point Bernadette's first suggestion was to ask him what he thought his consequences should be..then, when I pointed out that SHE is the professional, she suggested a 'zero tolerancy contract', which I had naively thought would be general policy when dealing with addicts trying to learn to live a sober life filled with rules. She was more than willing to take him back, after testing dirty, and told me he wouldn't need detox, making that medical call on her own, less than an hour after his return, and without having any medical assessment. My son tested positive for Hepatitis C-was he infected there, during his time in detox? Did they infect him or vice versa? Are either of them pregnant? Have they been warned that their sex partner in treatment is Hep C positive?

If you want help, or want to help a loved one, my suggestion is-do NOT see this an a option!

 This lady ownes the property and Calaveras county sued and shut the lake tulloch resort down.....now she's running a place that has hotel rooms and not hosptial rooms....you have to spend 40,000 to stay here.....you have to apply for a loan so she can use this money to pay for the property this rehab is at......she is fraudulent and doent pay bills or even the permits for this place and this is why her resort is now a rehab......dont waist your money for this joke of a facility.......they have no drs on site to help if a person becomes non responsive at night....deotxing at this faculty could get you killed....she only had expe Irene running a hotel....no one their is a licensed at all for a rehab..

I read the negative review you posted in regards to your "best friends son" and couldn't disagree more. Before we agreed on going to the Lakes Treatment Center I did some research, and actually read this negative review. Our son has been out of the Lakes for around 5 months and is continuing to do well. I saw him yesterday, and we were talking about the Lakes, and I was reminded of this negative review, and was compelled to share my experience and how I was in complete disagreement with the review. Due to my appreciation for all that the staff at the Lakes did for my son I thought this review deserved a rebuttal from someone who completely disagreed, and had a great experience there. I do not work for them, and have never heard of the center before our search to help our son began, and am posting as the parent of a former resident.

Not only did we send a loved one there, it was our oldest child that we entrusted the Lakes Center with his recovery from addiction. We knew the destructive lifestyle he was living was not going to have a good outcome if he continued. As an adult, the decision to enter a treatment center had to be his, and after several attempts of convincing him that he needed to go and get treatment he just wouldn't budge. Then we showed him some pictures of the Lakes Treatment Center, and he softened his stand. My wife and I met with the owner and director and really liked that the Lakes Treatment Center combined drug rehabilitation, but also mental and psychological evaluations and assistance. We were in agreement that this would be a great place for our son.

Our son spent 90 days at the Lakes Treatment Center, so I believe we got a pretty good feel for the place, its counselors, and what it has to offer, and I have to say that we are very happy with our son having gone there. Maybe all treatment centers offer this (not sure as this is only one I've ever been to), but I really liked the family counseling they would do on Sundays, and thought it was a great experience for not only the family of the addict, but the interaction with other families experiencing the same with their loved one. These family counseling sessions enabled the addict to hear how their family felt about their actions, and gave them the opportunity to address it with them. I think it was also beneficial to hear the struggles from other families, the problems they experienced, and how they are trying to better themselves or loved one.

I would recommend the Lakes Treatment Center to those looking for help with their addiction, and if our son ever lapses, which I hear is not uncommon, I would hope he returns to the Lakes.

Dave

As both a former resident and a current employee of The Lakes Treatment Center, I feel obligated to file a rebuttal to this dishonest and deceptive claim.

First, the majority of the fallacious claims found below have also been reported to and investigated by the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), the organization that licenses The Lakes Treatment Center. The DHCS have visited us to investigate these complaints (a normal occurrence, especially for new facilities. ALL complaints filed to the DHCS were determined to be unfounded. The Lakes Treatment Center is, and always has been, in excellent standing with both the State of California and The Joint Commission, one of the most respected and most stringent accreditation agencies in the country.

Secondly, not everyone succeeds in a rehab facility. While we wish it were so, the unfortunate truth is not everyone will be successful. In regard to residents of The Lakes that have completed the program and graduated, we have an excellent success rate comparative to industry standards. As our collected data will prove, those that do not complete the program and/or leave on bad terms DO NOT stand a good chance at long-term sobriety. It has been done, but this is rare. In these cases, it is much easier to blame the program that did everything in its power to help you then to take accountability for your own actions that lead to leaving treatment. It sounds to me like the individual mentioned above was not ready for, not willing to accept, substance abuse treatment at the time; but I do with them well and good luck in dealing with these issues.

I would also like to clarify that all staff members of The Lakes Treatment Center are registered and/or certified addictions counselors in good standing with both the State of California DHCS and The Joint Commission. Counselors that do have intern status are properly supervised as outlined by laws and regulations from the State of California and The Joint Commission. These counselors are recognized by the California Consortium of Addiction Professionals (CCAPP) or an equivalent organization and operate completely within the scope of their practice.

Additionally, while we do offer an introduction to the 12-Steps, we are not purely a 12-Step program as all of our curriculum and staff training will show. The 12-Steps is a great program that works for some, but does not for others. For those that it works for, we would like for them to embrace it whole-heartedly. For those that it does not, we offer many other modalities of treatment and support so that everyone may find the recovery program that works for them.

In regard to the slanderous claims of drugs, alcohol, and sex on site, and the “deception” of the website, I can assure you that we are transparent and straightforward in all things we do. Complaints of drugs and alcohol and sex on site have been investigated by the DHCS and in all cases were determined to be NOT SUBSTANTIATED. These claims are baseless, misleading, and blatantly false with no evidence to back them up. We are proud of our program and our facility and, again, are on excellent terms with all licensing and accreditation agencies.

Lastly, The Lakes Treatment Center does have documentation and data to back up everything I have said here. Anyone who would like to discuss any issues you experienced at The Lakes Treatment Center is more than welcome to contact me via email at nick@lakestreatmentcenter.com, to have a reasonable conversation.

Thank you for taking the time to review this rebuttal to the ridiculous and unfounded claims above. 

Nicholas McNulty

Compliance Director

The Lakes Treatment Center