The Ranch absolutely changed my life. It gave me a space to heal, grow, and perspective on how to turn away from my addictive behaviors and start living a healthy life.
***Disclaimer: no addiction treatment center is perfect, and The Ranch is far from it. But I'm giving them 5 stars for ultimately helping me achieve the goal I set out for upon coming here: to find peace and hope in my life.
PROS:
-Therapists. They are genuine, caring, and skillful. I learned so much about myself through them and was given the tools to begin my recovery journey. Special shout outs to Matty, Rob, Dr. Kirby, Jeff, Lene, Charlie, Tracey, and all of equine staff.
-Community. The men in my house were supportive, understanding, nonjudgmental, and an essential part to my recovery.
-Staff, such as BHTs, nurses, medical providers, etc. They gave me so much wisdom and support. Shout out to James, Jamie, Kevin, Kendall, Jason (provider), and Jennifer (nutritionist).
-Scenery. It's a beautiful part of TN and I saw some of the best sunsets in my life there. We also gave names to the cute deer and gophers roaming near our house.
CONS:
-Unorganized. This medical facility's schedule and communication system feels like it's run by monkeys. We occasionally missed appointments because of miscommunication. Transported to the wrong house sometimes. Had issues getting my medical needs met sometimes due to lack of communication. To this day, I am still waiting to get an email back from my case manager, Mary, for important information about my short-term disability.
-The Ranch has 95% amazing therapists on staff. However, I did not like the way Lenny (Thanksgiving Day therapist) and Sigrid (Saturday therapist) ran their sessions. Lenny cut clients' shares off short and her sarcasm was very rude. Sigrid could not take control of her classes from rude clients and was not engaging to listen to.
-The Ranch also has 95% amazing BHTs, medical staff, transport crew, etc. However, I did not like my experience with Marsha. She is a BHT for the men's houses and treated us like children. I understand I am an addict, but that does not give you permission to talk down and patronize me.
-Small, but sometimes inconvenient and absurd rules, including corporate taking away campfire privileges due to past clients' behavior, limitations on what groceries they would buy for the houses, and having my shampoo and conditioner locked up for a time due to certain chemicals in it.
***Overall: recovery truly only works if I am willing to work my recovery. Even the most pristine, Cadillac of recovery centers will not help me if I am not willing to accept the help given. Nothing changes if nothing changes, so if I wanted my life to transform, I needed to be willing to radically change the way I believe and behave.
Notes to corporate:
If I had a million dollars and could change anything about The Ranch, it would be the communication, connection between corporate leadership and staff members working directly with clients, and the aftercare plan structure. I felt this constant frustration from lack of communication and how it affected me as a client. I had to ask BHTs to send out daily reminders to other staff members to get anything communicated, whether that be scheduling medical appointments, seeing my case manager, etc. I missed my 1st trauma therapy session because somewhere in the chain of communication that information was lost. I've been transported to the wrong places several times during my stay. I also felt like corporate was constantly implementing rules without considering the true needs of clients here at The Ranch. Fire privileges were taken away because past clients decided to be stupid and throw gas canisters into the fire. It was sad to see clients not able to have proper going away ceremonies by the fire. Lastly, I am glad I have connections to 12 step programs before entering The Ranch because the only thing my case manager set up was connecting me with a therapist. I am still waiting on paperwork to finalize my short-term disability.
