Life Center of Galax — Local services in Galax

First things first..almost all the negative reviews here are true sorry to say..with the exception of the claim of drugs everywhere and couples having sex in the stairwells..this is an exaggeration but there where drugs found and used by patients while I was there and I know of 3 couples getting caught doing the nasty...so yeah.. it's co-ed..imagine that. Moving on..yes this a positive review. 5 stars. I went there to kick a years worth of doing methadone maintenance. I barely went through withdraws compared to all my other kicks..ive been to plenty of detox facility's but this was my first rehab. The co-ed environment plus the fact that you don't eat unless you get up and go to the cafeteria at the scheduled time had a lot to do with my easy kick. I wasn't alone in a house somewhere kicking..my mind stayed stimulated. The staff for the most part treats you good..respectful..but..they're only able to do so much for you..(and it ain't much)..and they know it..so they are forced to bullsh*t you a lot of the times. The problem is corporate and the 1 doctor on duty..not the staff. They are great considering what they are working with. They did however lie to me over the phone to get me there. I asked specific questions and got half truths and lied to by sweet southern women who ended up not even being who they said they were(I was told I was talking to a nurse who worked there..got there and nobody ever heard of her). I was lied to about me having a say in the amount of milligrams of my methadone detox(I went there on 130mg..they only gave me 30mg and tapered me down from there..i was irrate at first but it all worked out) The doctor is an awful person..zero compassion..cant stress it enough. This is not a "24" hour facility as they claim. The docs only in 3 days a week..one day she's only there for 3 hours..and another day she only sees detox patients(that's only about half the patients). And they won't do anything for you until you see her. It can take days to get medicated properly..and if you come in on a Friday night you aren't seeing her til monday. And God knows you better have all your questions ready because she typically will have you in and out of there in 2 minutes.. LITERALLY 2 MINUTES. She will not ask you anything and she gives no advice or suggestions on symtoms..she literally rolled her eyes at me a few times when I asked about a symptom like it won't her job..shes evil..and the weakest link far as I'm concerned. The psychiatrist is great..thoroughish..total opposites. I can't say enough about the staff and the counselors..for the most part they are great. Yet do not expect any one on one time with your counselor however..that is hard to come by..they are sorely understaffed.Every time I had to go through the chain of command to get something done about meds or how to see the psychiatrist I had to ask other patients..hard to get straight answers from staff..sad. With all that said this place saved my life(turns out I'm an optimist..right..?) Id recommend it to anyone who wants it's. If you need it but don't want it I doubt you'll be able to get past all the numerous negative aspects of this place..good luck. If your not able to be an advocate for yourself going through whatever detox your going through you probably won't succeed here and if you have extra issues and need to continue to take certain psych meds during your stay that you've brought on your own your likely to be lied to over the phone about the ability to take them and upon your arrival likely to immediately be put on a quick taper and be forced of your psych meds or leave. I witnessed this numerous times..it ought to be illegal. Again..all this considered..id go back if I ever had to. It worked for me. I've been out for 2 weeks now took my last dose of methadone on day 16 I think.. 28 days ago..and i feel great. Don't let the negative reviews keep you from this place if you WANT to get clean. Stay positive. Oh and btw to the girl who don't like my taste in books..ha..the classiest woman I've ever met..be good..be happy. Good...

DO NOT GO OR SEND YOUR LOVED ONE TO THIS FACILITY PLEASE!!! I seriously do not know how this place is even still open and has not been shut down by the State. I, by the grace of God and my family, was able to go to a different place soon after The Life Center of Galax and am sober today...8 months later, but am literally still traumatized from my very brief stay here. I will begin by saying that I do not believe that you need horses or massages or a spa setting to get sober. The lack of amenities at The Life Center was not the problem. I almost lost my life in the 10 or 12 days I was in treatment here and could probably sue them, but at this point I do not want their money...or my money back. I would like the place closed however and to warn others through my experience what happened to me. Anyways, I came into treatment dependent on opiates and a very high milligram of klonopin. Galax decided that my detox protocol would be a half a milligram of klonopin in the morning and at night for two days and a final half on the third day in the morning. Upon hearing this I was in shock and terrified, but had no other choice but to go with it. And my opiate detox would be a 5 day taper consisting of methadone tentatively, but almost every single opiate dependant person at Galax is pushed to try to get on maintenance and nobody ever asked me whether I wanted Suboxone or methadone....methadone is the preferred and heavily pushed substance there. Well after my "three day detox" to the klonopin and deciding I did not want to go back to a clinic after having been on Suboxone for 2 years...leaving there...using pain pills for two weeks...then coming to The Life Center.....I was cramping up all over and had a seizure in my bed the 5th day. I was not sent to the hospital. I also was mildly hallucinating from benzo withdrawals. I saw the doctor for 5 minutes and was put on some sort of antiseizure medication and was not put back on a longer and safer klonopin or other benzo taper. I was terrified. And also so sick when the methadone was stopped on day 5 that I couldn't even keep water down...nor gingerale. I just vomited off my bed into a trashcan all day and night. I could hardly stand to go get to the nurses station to get my regular medication. Nobody came to check on me. Nobody had me see the doctor again though I begged and begged to see her. I asked repeatedly to go to the hospital to get fluids because I had become so dehydrated that I was peeing the color of Coke and then stopped being able to all together. My lower back felt like it was going to explode. The other patients were begging staff to help me and that I needed medical attention, but all that they would either say was for me to "attend my group going on" or "go back to my room." The other patients even tried calling 911 from the pay phones there to get me help, but they apparently do not work that way. I have never tried to do that from that sort of a phone...or with a calling card, which is required there for phonecalls. At one point I was so desperate that I went up to the nurses station, which I could barely walk to at this point, and told them that I was going to "kill myself" figuring that if I could make it to the Emergency Room that they would take one look at me and medically assess me and talk to me and then determine what was really going on, which was that I desperately needed fluids. The nurse, I kid you not, rolled her eyes at me and told me to "go back to my room." I could not make this up if I tried. I was too sick to help myself and was being I felt like held against my will at this "house of horrors" being denied proper medical care. Finally on about my 10th or 12th day I suppose they got really scared or tired of dealing with me and "medically discharged" me and one of their drivers drove me back home. I went straight to the ER where it was determined my kidneys were shutting down and was admitted. DO NOT go here. I am lucky to have survived. How "nice or not" the building is, is not near their biggest problem. Shut...

If I could give this center 0 stars I would. Two-three years ago this place may have been good--not any more. I am updating this as of September 2018. A market research firm conducted surverys about Life Center---and they get a 1 out of 10---about the same as Google. I was recently a patient(I am writing under a pen name) at The Life Center of Galax. First, they are woefully understaffed. Professional counselors who work there told me they are shocked at the management. Their number one complaint was that there is not enough staff. It is obvious as disorganization reigns here. The groups are laughable at best--my counselor was so overworked she regularly did not show up to run the group!! Three of the 6 professional counselors left during my 30 day stint. One had been there 29 years, another 21 and the other was a more recent hire. They all bemoaned the corporate ownership as a problem. Drug use is rampant at the Life Center and it is not unusual for couples to pair off and have sex in relatively public places. The mental health techs openly complain about the management and staff morale is horrible to say the least. They no longer have 12 step meetings brought in from the outside(as most treatment centers do). Do not expect individual attention here--I met with my counselor privately exactly twice --and that was to fill in paper work. There are no--no--recreational opportunites available and down time to reflect, think, meditate or relax is almost non existent. If you are not a cigarette smoker be prepared to breath plenty of second hand smoke. This place is in essence a high school (or middle school) where the counselors are reduced to discipline and when things get really out of hand the clinical director(who is unprofessional on many levels) comes in and yells at the patients about this transgression or that. It is mind boggling. If one has no experience with treatment protocols then I guess they would find this place helpful. If you are thinking about going---please...please...please continue your search and find a place with credentialed staff, outside 12 step program, receational and downtime activites and a physical plant that is well maintained(as this place is NOT). Good luck if you choose to go here---you will need it. When evaluating a treatment center I look to the reviews of professionals in the field as well as those who have attended. Professional reviews are not even mixed---they are awful. The staff reviews are just as bad. When a treatment center receives bad reviews from staff---well, you know it is substandard. I pay for healthcare review services that offer an insider's account and the Galax reviews are shocking in their negativity. Those on here who give good reviews amuse me. No, thos eof us as patients did not want to be coddled at Galax, we didn't want a spa. We certainly didn't want a daycare(why do so many positive reviews start with; "This is not a daycare?--who asked for one?). We wanted healthcare provided that aligns with professionally established norms and protocols. We wanted a place where medical professionals were readily available, where groups were engaging and relevant and led by credentialed staff. We wanted a place where staff was happy to be there and where overcrowding was not the norm. We wanted a place with both 12 Step Programs and alternatives to 12 Step Programs. We wanted quality for the amount of money paid. The Life Center of Galax falls short there. So say other professionals in the recovery field. So say many staff. So say many patients. Do your research. There are better places---some are nonprofit. This place is part of a much much larger corporate healthcare behemoth. You can be sure the bottom line is the most...