Above It All Treatment Center

I did not go here but my boyfriend (my sons father) did recently. It was extremely hard choice to get him to go to inpatient treatment. Hes been to treatment a few other times many years ago. And went for his alcoholism. I helped him search for a place with good reviews and also liked all the alternative & lifestyle help they said they provide patients while in treatment to help them STAY sober once out. They seemed like it worked on the whole person thru therapy as well as on the addiction issues. This place was featured on the A& E show intervention which i love! And figured it clains its one of «the top rated treatment centers in the country» & has «high rates of staying sober» etc and his insurance «covered it and was accepted» & he was able to get in within a few days which was key. So we paid to send him off and 500 $ intake fee…
At first. It seemed good. Though isolated up a mountain so he found it very frustrating that a majority of their days seemed to be loading up into vans– in a VERY disorganized fashion taking role call searching for whos missing everyone loaded, drive 30+ minutes down mountain a ways to a facility to attend meetings and programming as they do not do any on premis… then load up for 30 – 45 min role call searching pacing smoking waiting. Drive to another spot. Etc. Lots of sit and wait and a lot of the programming was watching the usual videos on addiction etc. & outings were often to spots closed or just for a drive too. He said on top of this the food was often terrible!& a few times his van got back from programming so late that he missed dinner and had to go to other houses asking if they had food he could eat. Or they wouldnt make enough for all the guys in the house. Or it was just gross…
Another complaint was of cleanliness of houses. He said no one cleaned the bathrooms in his house so hed have to try and wipe it down just to sit on toilet etc and it was like living with kids! People would spill drinks etc and not clean it up & house manager would sit on his phone all night. On top of this he said the houses (he was moved to 3 different ones while there) were no where near as nice as pics on website for instance no guitars available, as shown in pics etc just a weekly one hour music class where the guy would bring cds HAA! & no alternative treatment type/​classes offered.
Also i sent several care packages there and with tracking info id tell him they arrived & hed have to ask them for his mail and packages 4+ days after it had arrived before someone would actually get it for him so food etc was old &a few times it sat at post office so long it got returned to me in hawaii! in fact we still are missing one package!
To me one of the worst lies was the therapy. He saw his therapist once a week, for an hour or so (less often times and they skipped it a couple of weeks due to conflict in scheduling) so he never really had a chance to open up or delve into roots of the addiction and traumas etc. We had one «family therapy session» on the phone with his therapist ashley– and i thought she sounded great and seemed to really care and even gave me some insight advice and helped me understand things better. She gave me her email to «contact her wheni had any questions» & to ask her about the therapists i found for us here & make sure she thought they were a good fit etc. So when he started having issues there with his insurance i tried contacting her and asked a few diff times for advice and help with our therapist selection. SHE NEVER BOTHERED RESPONDING TO ONE EMAIL. WOW.
Any how they did falsly tell us his insurance would pay for all of treatment and it only covered the first 30 days and then they dicked him around for a week and pushed him to «phase two“of treatment thou he only had saw a therapist 2 times and his counselor told him he wanted him to do more in phase one. But they put him to two to get the higher rate of 2200 $$$$$ PER DAY!(for what?!) outta him and there he said they did even less programming & they worked on resumes etc when he has a job but the whole group had to do the same thing so for a whole week he couldnt get answers about insurance &he learned nothing so we found out he wasnt fully covered and he chose to leave early and come home to continue working it here. Meetings church etc. So when he asked them about leaving it was like– ok. YOUR ON YOUR OWN! They drove him to where his belongings debit card etc was when he checked in to sign it all out & which was miles away from any public transportation etc and told him theres a taxi company there that can get hin to LAX where he had to get a flight from. They would not take him to airport/​set up ride. He signs his stuff out and as he leaves the door locks & cant go back in! On top of that taxi co. Was CLOSED! & NO OTHER TAXI WOULD COME UP THERE. finally found one & HAD to paid 365 $$$$$ To LAXno other choice! Thx a lot for NO HELP AT ALL, STRANDING HIM & LYING ABOUT SERVICES

I absolutely love the staff at this great facility. They cared about me and were invested in my recovery. The facilities are great and they have their own gym, boats and horses! They truly cared about me and challenged me to swallow my pride and break down my issues. Thank you AIA for everything, I’m ready for my new life.

This place gets ZERO stars. First off let me say they are LIARS!!! They will tell you everything you want to hear on the phone up to the point you are admitted. After that it is literally hell on earth. The staff and management treat you horribly. Let’s just say they will NOT let you go. They will scam your insurance company and you. Pamela told me that my insurance covered the full 60days, I called my insurance company from there and they only would cover 30 days. Biggest lie they told. It made me furious, not only that they make you sign the contract while intoxicated. I cannot afford to pay half of $ 63,000 for treatment. As there daily rate is about $ 2,500. Mind you this place has NO sense of recovery! The process groups where a waste of time and poorly conducted. The counselors had NO control of the group. Not to mention very unprofessional!!! Do not waste your time here. They put me thru hell once I found out they lied about my coverage which resulted in me wanting to leave. They did everything in there power to not let me go. As of today I have 67 days clean and sober after leaving this horrible place. I went to a wonderful rehab up in Sonoma County, professional, respectful and treated you like family. Please people I don’t know how this place stays in business!!! It’s a complete scam not to mention a JOKE! Needless to say this was a VERY traumatic experience for me!

This is a hard review for me to write as I must admit that at least I am sober. After 30 days of treatment I have to say I did more for the counselors than they did for me. The admissions staff makes any promises needed to get people in. Promises like acupuncture, massage, jet skis, sailboats, trips to salon, phones, etc. The counselors have very little clean time themselves. Most have no college education or training. It’s like going to a NA or AA meeting but paying $ 2,000 per day to attend. I would have to say the biggest issue is the lack of honesty. The medical detox consists of going to the ER if your bad off as there is no Dr. or RN. It is not a lock down facility however you are not allowed to step foot out the front door of your respective homes, or even touch the doorknob. If you are a non smoker you are banished to a upper porch as to not be seen by the public. The group lessons are all power points taught by counselors who do not know proper grammar. But for me the end came when my counselor wanted me to lie to the insurance to keep me there. By the way as a few final notes, if you refuse the large doses of meds they try to give you, they may refuse passes for visits. Oh and they will tell you that if you leave early you have to pay all of the cost and the insurance won’t pay. Finally if you leave early you will have to call the serriff to get your cell phone, wallet, and id back.

My son is being treated well and getting his treatment, but it has been a big challenge in trying to get someone from Above it all who is in charge of the insurance part and whoever makes the recommendations to contact me. My insurance has been more than wiling to help from there end but need a little help from the facilities end to ensure everything is being covered. I would be great If I can get a phone call from the owner regarding this. The place is great, the people are nice, again I would just like to someone who can assist me with the insurance part of it.

As someone who knows a friend who went to Above It All for 60 days, I can personally recommend this treatment center for anyone looking to help someone in need of help from a destructive addiction. Their pictures on their website are beautiful but when I visited I couldn’t help but notice how nice their facilities are including the surrounding National Forest. Every building we went to had to be built within the last five years. Staff was more than accommodating to help point us in the right direction of where to grab lunch and a cup of coffee.
A truly special place to send anyone you know needs help, even if they don’t fully agree at first :-)

I work in the recovery field and have for years. Above it all was recommended to me for my my son. What a mistake. He came out after 30 days with more issues then when he went in. His counselor had a complete disregard for my sons mental health issues. My son was given a box of medication when they sent him on his way. I was trying to coordinate transportation for him with his counselor but the counselor refused to allow my son to contact me and avoided my phone calls until after he thought the train I was trying to get him on was gone. My son called me from the train station. If he hadn’t called he would have been sent in the wrong direction. I could go on about how his counselor took it personal when I would not follow some of his advise. Needless to say within 30 hours of his departure my son attempted suicide with that box of pills they sent him on his way with.
Furthermore they have multiple locations and I realized after the first week that 60% of the time they weren’t aware which location my son was at. This place is bad medicine.

keeping to the point in this review… I know someone who has been through the program and I know someone waiting to enter, must call in daily when on a list. I want to say that a bad review can destroy a business and evem a person. This is a hard business to review due to the nature of the business. It is usually the person who struggles to succeed and stay and follow the guided structure. I speak to one of the counselors there almost daily and she keeps me strong and on point. She certainly does not need to respond to my texts or calls but always does and I always always feel empowered to go on until the person I know gets in or gets help or perhaps not but compassion is so important and well thank you to the counselor for those daily and sometimes hourly talks…
One year later we need important information and they are hiding what they did and how they admit people with insurance.

i did a 30-​day treatment in july ’13. i’m now 120 clean, and counting. AIA has a solid program with a great staff (darren and rick are awesome). if you’re really ready to quit… this place WILL work.

This really is a wonderful facility from the people that run it to the beautiful nature that surrounds it.
The owner, Kory, is a good person who truly cares about the people that he comes in contact with. Along with Kory, the rest of the staff are a pleasure to be around making the experience the best it can be.
The surrounding area is breath-​taking and I could really see myself being able to relax there. If you are ever in the need for a place like this, I highly recommend it.

I checked out this facility in-​person and online.
There appear to be some ethical lapses.
Above it All Treatment offers intensive, drug and alcohol rehab at a school bus stop. (971 Kuffel Canyon Rd. Sky Forest, CA).
The client smoking area is in the same parking lot where parents and children gather for school bus drop-​off, pick-​up.
There have been media reports on this issue. See CBS 2, Greg Mills report on Sky Forest Rehab, Above it All Treatment.
I was told by an Above it All Official that, overnight housing is located in a hotel called The Storybook Inn, which is open to the public. The State of CA shows no licensed rehab at that address. San Bernardino County Officials said this facility is a Hotel, not a Rehab.
I saw van-​loads of Above it All Clients loading in and out of the hotel, confirming Above it All statements.
Above it All Treatment is offering hotel accommodations in the same building. I was told by owner, CEO, Kory Averall, that I could enter premises and reserve a hotel room. But his business card and company web-​site indicate Drug and Alcohol Rehab/​Detox.
I’m very concerned for the ethical treatment of clients who enter here for help with addiction. I saw no protection of clients’ privacy, nor any separation from the general public at Above it All Locations.
In fact, they appear to be selling services to Rehab Clients and Hotel Guests in the same building.
Buyer Beware.