Carolina House Eating Disorder Treatment Center

heather lyerly

i was here in 2021. this place claims to treat co existing mental health disorders but they dont. i have bpd and was completely isolated. they kicked me out when i started showing symptoms in the php program instead of helping me. dont say you treat other mental illnesses when you obviously dont.

Jenna Agosto

The 5 star reviews given are all from staff. I had such high hopes for this place based on their website. However, it was NOTHING like advertised. It costs 5k per day, but for what I cannot say. For starters, during my admissions day I met with a nurse, a nutritionist, and a therapist. They all asked the exact same questions which were the same as the admissions application. The nutritionist should have been well aware of my needs, as this is an eating disorder facility and my needs were clearly documented. No one was there to meet me for my scheduled arrival date/time. There is no customized meal plan, everyone was eating the exact same thing and the exact same portion size; LARGE. No need for a chef; dinner was iceberg lettuce with dry chicken and ranch. I am lactose intolerant and due to a medical issue (severe lockjaw) I am unable to chew. I was not provided with food the entire day of my arrival until dinner, and only had an 8oz drink at that time bc they didnt have anything for me. Breakfast was a hard bagel with butter/sour cream (FoodLion has better bagels), a very dry hard waffle (neither of which I could eat) and a huge bowl of plain yogurt. Not flavored, no fruit with it like blueberries, no honey, nothing just plain. After eating you are required to complete a form that asks how you feel about what you ate & whether you need support. Well they clearly don't read these bc I said I needed support as this was not meeting my nutritional needs but no one spoke with me. There is no garden. There is no learning to prepare meals, only prep work like chopping. No nutrition philosophy. For lunch I received an ensure drink. No real food yet again. By this point I am feeling weak from not eating and I am starting to relapse medically. I repeatedly asked to speak with the nutritionist and therapist but no one knew where they were. They were causing me to relapse, I couldn't believe it. Staff would be milling around but when asked for help they respond 'we are off the clock.' We were all just sitting around inside the house all day long. I asked to sit outside and was only allowed to do so for 30 minutes, and had to be on the porch. Stretching was not allowed, and while there was a nice yoga studio it remained locked. The nurses locked down my medications (literally the only thing keeping me stable and out of the hospital) and unable to answer any questions about decisions the doctor had made. I had an important appointment that I was assured I would have transportation to by the admissions staff. The day before I repeatedly reminded the staff in the house. The morning of, I repeatedly reminded the staff in the house. 1 hour before my appointment time I asked when we were leaving - they all acted like it was the first time they heard of it. As a result I was late, and lucky my appointment wasn't cancelled. While I was at my appointment the doctor came by. I was quite surprised the doctor had already gone for the day since I was only out for 1 hour. I was told they would not be back for a few days, and again the nurses said they didn't know why the doctor made medication adjustments. I was told that I would have to wait yet again for answers. They could not provide me with a schedule for the doctor when I asked. One nurse (Sue) used scare tactics to get me to stay - stating my skin looked yellow. A sign of liver failure and very serious. This was a complete lie. I became physically exhausted. Up at 6AM for a blind weight. Can't prepare for bed until 9:30PM. When I tried to leave the owner became aggressive (the first time she ever spoke to me) said she was in a meeting, I would have to wait. Only after stating to get the police involved were my things released to me. It took me a couple weeks to get stable again after being at the Carolina House. Absolutely nothing as advertised in any way but they sure took my money. This place is a scam and causes harm to those truly seeking help. I noticed they only reply to positive reviews too. That says ALOT.

Debra Kallen

Carolina house exacerbated my issues a thousandfold if not more. They do not believe that there are healthy and unhealthy foods which is inaccurate. For the most part the staff is overweight and they feed you unhealthy foods with additives to make you gain weight rapidly. I had an allergic reaction to whatever supplements they were hiding in the foods. The psychiatrist was a joke and did not address my issues at all. The therapy groups for the most part were a waste of time especially the ones led by Mackenzie. Writing nature haiku and art therapy has no part in the healing process unless it’s done correctly I suppose. But instead we read about how obesity was a myth And body dysmorphia and the transgender community . Danielle Reid was a good therapist and if she’s smart she should go into private practice and get out of there. Olivia was a good therapist as well and led good groups. But overall the groups did not apply or hold any value. If anything my anxiety for food is heightened and I have a fear that I never experienced before. Having gone to this center I now have PTSD. My self esteem has never been lower and they destroyed any sense of myself. No thoughts were put into meals- everything was fat and cream laden. Unless TJ (who got it) was prepping the meals were inedible. Punishment was to drink ensure if you didn’t eat or finish your food. Portion sizes were large (restaurant style) and not healthy. Of course healthy was a forbidden word due to the fact that their philosophy is that all food groups are good for you especially fat laden and low quality sugary “must haves”. They negate vegetables and whole grains as a necessary and vital part of your diet. They also removed some of my prescription medications prescribed by my physicians which only caused further issues due to the fact that I have some acute health issues. I left because I was failing and having anxiety attacks due to their programming. Dinners served included loaded nachos and creamy tuna casserole. Rarely did we get a balanced meal. They made you eat an abnormal amount of food so you never were able to discern hunger cues. On restaurant days you had choices of creamy pasta or pizza. You are not allowed to have salad at all. When we were able to plate our own food I was able to convince TJ to Get fresh vegetables and items for salad so I could have the fiber that I needed for my Gastro issues. Going to an eating disorder facility is supposed to teach you healthy eating to make sure you are getting proper nutrition. Nick the nurse was the only one who “got” it and was One of the only positives of the program Along with Jonathan and Dory two of the RPAs. The facility was traumatizing and if you want to get help go anywhere else but here.

Holly Bower

Pros: Most of the staff was supportive. Nurses were also, for the most part, very good. Yoga. Cons: The food: always cold. Served straight from the fridge when you could plate your own meal and when the meal was plated for you it would be cold by the time you sat down. With only one microwave there would often be a line of people waiting to heat up their food. “Exchanges” were eyeballed and not actual measurements which means one exchange would often be different each day. We consistently ran out of food. Bread, cheese, fruit, even supplements. Plated meals: concept is great, trying new foods and whatnot but the practice was not carried out well. One meal a day was plated and if you didn’t/couldn’t eat it, you were forced to sit with it for the full 30 minutes. These meals were often times stuff no one actually wanted. And if there was something you genuinely didn’t like (personally for example: tomatoes, cucumbers, bananas) you would either have to “practice eating something you don’t like” or would have to supplement. Let me be clear, you will have to supplement for something as simple as capers or have it impact your completion rate and potentially your discharge date. Because “we can’t acknowledge likes and dislikes because you have an eating disorder” (this was actually said to me). Staffing: understaffed is an understatement. Most days there would be one RPA for 16 people, lucky if you got two. One nurse. One psychiatrist. One dietician. For. 16. People. As much as the staff that is there try there is no supervision or support. I would watch peers engage in behaviors and have no staff around to stop them. I had to tell a nurse one time that someone needed to check another patients pockets for food. Peer having a panic attack at the table? Hope you don’t mind sitting next to it. You’re freaking out at the table or anywhere? Hope your peers are supportive because you won’t get it from the staff. New staff was hired at my time here however they were undertrained then given a shift by themselves. There would be therapists that just didn’t show up and no one was there to replace them. Very little communication as one time my therapist had an emergency and both me and my mom were left waiting for over half an hour as we were supposed to have a family session. The facility: too small for 16 people. There are 5 showers. There were often times not enough seats for all the residents and patients would be left sitting on the floor during groups. The kitchen is the size of a normal kitchen meaning only about 5 people could be in the kitchen at once and even that was cramped. On the weekends, the estate would come over too so we would have nearly 30 people in a house not big enough for the 16 already there. Caffeine: they won’t work with you on caffeine. One cup a day no exceptions. Doesn’t matter if you’re a college student used to drinking 4+ cups a day and 1 cup a day isn’t realistic for the outside world, they will not make an exception. Multiple people stole extra coffee because they would be so exhausted. “Smoke free facility”: half the people there when I was here were on nicotine patches. They will order every nicotine replacement in the world but won’t let you vape. I left more addicted to nicotine than when I came in. Overall, the cons far outweigh the pros. I only stayed here because most other places were full and I couldn’t leave AMA. My time here broke me. After I found out I couldn’t leave I shut down and couldn’t really participate because my brain went numb. I did whatever I could to get out as quickly as I could, which may have seemed like progress to some but in reality, nothing was scarier than being there longer.