Shari Schmidt

Review of Solstice East RTC

Well, where do I start. They strip you of all your...

Well, where do I start. They strip you of all your rights, and only try to get students to see everything in the world from their point of view. Opinions don t matter. I m traumatized from staying at solstice. I was there from April 27, 2016 to November 26, 2017. I was placed on con block, arms, and safety a few times requiring me to sleep in the upstairs common area only when I had just arrived there and was trying to learn from my mistakes before treatment. I was taught there that making mistakes isn t okay, and when you make one, you need to be severely punished for it. Whether it mean no talking or being placed away from the team you are on. They enable you to make your own decisions and you can t voice what you need to just to feel safe. After I got back to solstice from my 18th birthday trip... I decided it was time for me to sign myself out. It wasn t fair the way I was being treated and manipulated to believe things about the world that weren t true. I was taken to the homeless shelter, and was put into a situation where I couldn t take care of myself. I called solstice and they took me back, I was strip searched with a male staff in view of me, and with my trauma it made me extremely uncomfortable. I was then placed on con block and put in the basement away from the community. I signed myself out again... but I remained at solstice because my parents were figuring out a way to enroll me back at my private school. I was fed less food than the other students because I was no longer a part of the program , I wasn t allowed to communicate... even with staff, and when I tried to talk to my therapist about my plans and how I planned to change my life and not fall into old patterns; i was looked at like I was completely insane and that I wasn t going to make it out in society. It was funny how the person I trusted the most had the most doubt about how I was able to do things on my own. Your looked at as a minority, and staff tend to use their power against you... making you feel less than you really are. Funny thing is, I m graduating in 1 month and heading off to college and am in a stable relationship with the man who solstice claimed to have never loved and cared for me. Yet, I live with him, and he provides for me more than anyone else in my life has. If your looking to send your child to a program for care, this place is overly expensive and most of the staff seem as if they are doing it for money. I wouldn t think twice about sending my child here. I would look else where.