mendingheartsinc.org
Mending hearts is an all female treatment program ...
Mending hearts is an all female treatment program ran by other addicts in recovery. My experience with them has been both good and bad.
I recommend if you choose this program, you go through the treatment part before you go to the peer support recovery section of the program.
The 30 day treatment program was where i learned the most about myself and addiction. Once you finish the 30 days you are moved to another house where you have more privileges. Once you are moved you are expected to have a job, sponsor, attend iop classes 9 hours a week as well as attend other mandatory meetings through out the week. One of my favorite things about mending hearts was that it was run by other addicts in recovery, however that also became my least favorite part. Because the program is run by other addicts; it makes it very difficult when conflicts arise because some of the staff may not be using drugs but the addict behavior is still there.
I had been in mending hearts for 3 months and had been told to pack my bags and leave campus by the IOP instructor who raised her voice at me and accused me of not putting enough effort into my recovery after id turned in an assignment late (please note i had communicated with her the week before that I would be late with the assignment and it was not a problem at that time). I was trying to figure out balance and it was taking me some time to get used to my new heavy schedule. I needed help but instead I was treated extreamly unprofessionally, and they teach you that being yelled at is a form of abuse, but then yelled at me themselves. After i was told to pack my bags and leave campus, i went to upper management because i was extreamly upset and did not know what i was going to do considering I was not from nashville and knew i only had an hour to leave. By the grace of God my sponsor ran another program and she was able to pick me up.
However, once i was discharged information was released about me to another person who i did not have a signed release form for, and mending hearts told multiple people i left against their advice. Which was not the case. If any employee that represents mending hearts tells you to leave, to me that is being discharged because the employees of the program have authority and i was told to respect what they said.
The program is not for everyone. Especially if u have complex trauma and u dont have any outside sources keeping you there. If ur trying to get recovery without anyone forcing you, u may want some place that will allow you to work through ur issues at ur own pace that will stick by you through the strugglez of re-adjusting to a life style of recovery. From my experience, mending hearts expects you to know how to do it and work at their pace.
Again, I learned a lot in the 30 days of treatment, but the other part of the program was extreamly frusterating and disappointing to me. I didnt learn much else after the 30 days. If anything, i felt as if nothing would ever be good enough. Id done everything that was asked of me to the best of my ability and was still put out with an hour to pack after turning in a late homework assignment.
The hipa violation was a huge turn off for me as well. Very uncool and unprofessional.
