Ashley Bardier

Review of Serenity behavioral health sys...

I went to serenity under rare circumstances in whi...

I went to serenity under rare circumstances in which someone I loved fabricated truth to send me there. As you could imagine it was very frustrating to be somewhere I had no choice to leave until I was given clearance by the doctor. Since it was over the weekend I ended up being there for 5 days. It was one of the most awful experiences of my life. What I can say though, is that the staff made it easier for me. They all had this specific demeanor where they respected the patients in a certain way that I for one thoroughly appreciated. It's like they knew that not everyone asked to be there and that they weren't willing to treat us as though we were not any other adults. They were there always. Ready to help or talk to you when you needed it. You could go to them at any time and they were ready to talk about whatever it was you wanted to talk about. But they also didn't hover over you as though you needed to be treated like a child. That's really a good thing in a place like this considering nobody is going to be thrilled about being there. They had a good combination of "we are here and concerned about your well being. We can help you. We can talk to you about any problem you're experiencing and we care that you are comfortable while you're here but we respect that you don't need or want anyone treating you like a child or like you're not an equal". I never felt like I was being judged and considered to be problematic. They treated me as though we were meeting under other circumstances. Considering I should not have even been there I have to say, I really appreciated that. It's the same way they treated everyone else. I had a roommate who got a little excessive with asking for medication. She gave the nurse a hard time and the nurse was very patient with her. Telling her that she was already struggling with enough as it is and to take that time to sit back and let them help her. She was trying to explain to her that she was there for a reason and to focus on getting better and not worry about anything else. That they were there for that purpose. To help people get back to their lives. I was conflicted at first because I was not aware of what actually happened and I believed my roommate when she said she was being rude to her. It was not until after a few days that I found reason to suspect that she actually was not well in her mind and that she was very quick to lash out or blame others for her circumstances. I know that she wrote a letter to corporate about the nurse and asked Me to sign my name as a witness. I did. Out of believing her at the moment unaware of how she was and I wanted to write this review because it has been heavy on my conscience. Something like this can affect someone's job and I am hoping this was not the case for her. She was actually very sweet and even other patients would tell her things like "you ought to be getting a raise as much as you walk around checking on people and talking to them." One thing I can say is that I think she has a certain tone at times that she doesn't mean to have (I know this bc I am told this about myself ALL the time and I never even realize I'm doing it) and it can come off as being rude but I don't think she means to do it. I think Itll be at a time she's got like 13 things going on and every time she came back and addressed the person like "ok. I'm sorry about that. Now what were you trying to talk to me about?" Overall the experience was as positive as it could have been for what it is.