Alina Lodge — Local services in Hardwick Township

I underwent two 28-day stays at Alina Lodge. I relapsed after both stays. However, I eventually found sobriety and have been sober for over two years. At the end of the first year, I decided to go back to school to be a clinical counselor, which largely informs my current perspective.

To start, I will share the positive aspects of Alina Lodge: the grounds are beautiful, the staff is kind, and the food is great.

Alina Lodge is a hardcore 12-step centric rehab facility. While certain clinical staff members may possess training in evidence based modalities, there are no behaviorally focused or formal psychotherapeutic groups. There was one DBT lecture throughout my two stays. Instead, the majority of the groups center around 12-Step literature.The staff members possess a wealth of knowledge on 12 step programming. That is not the same of having significant knowledge on addiction/substance use disorder.

It is problematic that they do not provide information regarding alternative approaches to recovery, such as SMART recovery. Providing this information is rudimentary to informed consent. It’s fine that Alina Lodge utilizes a 12 step approach. That said, it is not okay that they present AA/NA as the only viable options. Supporters of AA often cite a Cochrane Study published in 2020, without critically evaluating its limitations or acknowledging that additional research is still needed. Suffice to say, AA has an extremely low success rate, and it is not because you or your loved one is selfish or constitutionally incapable of being honest with themselves. It’s because AA is a spiritual solution to a psychological problem.

You or your family member will not receive regular psychotherapy. Guests meet with their counselor 1x/week. Many of these individuals are certified drug and alcohol counselors, which does not require formal education or permit them to practice psychotherapy. This is unusual to typical residential programs where patients see a licensed clinician at least 1x/week for 45-60 minutes. Because of this, the psychological aspects of addiction or co-occurring issues are rarely diagnosed or explored. It also is not fair that certain guests were assigned to licensed clinicians. For instance, some of my peers regularly received therapy throughout their stay. Alina Lodge needs to make this more consistent, and they need to be more transparent regarding limitations in treating and assessing co-occurring mental health disorders.

They do not have a psychiatrist on staff full-time. There is one psychiatrist who comes 1x/week in the evening to see 60+ guests. In retrospect, it’s concerning that each guest does not receive a full psychiatric assessment. I believe that it is available for an additional fee. However, they do not make this service widely known. Their after-care recommendations are one-size fits all and are a continuation of 12 step treatment. Never was the importance of continued psychotherapy stressed: meetings, meetings, meetings! They also do not inform guests or family members that communal/outside AA is riddled with systemic and safety issues.

I do not think that the omissions and treatment structure is malicious. They truly believe in the 12 step approach, and the treatment offered is consistent with those beliefs. Many of the other, smaller issues at Alina largely resemble those seen in communal AA, where I am an active member. That said, they are constantly readmitting guests, and that honestly makes me sad: there are numerous ways to obtain/maintain recovery, and perhaps the one Alina offers is not what best meets their needs.

Overall, I cannot universally recommend Alina Lodge. There is no way an individual leaves a 28-day stay with an idea of the root causes of their addictive behavior. That said, they will leave with significant knowledge of AA. There are many facilities that incorporate 12 step ideology and AA into treatment. However, they also provide evidence based care.

Perhaps Alina Lodge has made changes– unfortunately, I’m not...

If you are considering Alina Lodge for yourself or a loved one—please read. I had transferred to Alina from Highwatch. I was expecting a similar experience due to the recent acquisition of Alina by Highwatch. I was very wrong. It seems like they bought Alina and ran out of funding so they just left it to operate with no actual assistance financially or structurally. First of all, the facility looks like a cheap motel. The women’s dorm Is covered in cobwebs and dustballs and hasn’t been updated since the 1940s. My room had a broken toilet seat and smelled of moth balls. I was fortunate not to detox there. If I had gone to that detox I would have checked myself out. If you do me decide to ama you need to wait 96 hours. The detox unit is in the tiny dimly lit infirmary. Every single patient walks through there 3 times a day for meds, meaning there is no privacy. There are only two bathrooms. There is one common room which is cramped if there are more than 3 people and there is only one tv. I believe some of the rooms have tvs but they are old box tvs wirh only a few channels. There is one small table that detox eats meals at which is right in the middle of the infirmary. The line for meds goes right past it. There are no beds for anyone who isn’t in detox to lay down in. Just one loveseat. When I arrived the doctor who did my intake was coughing and I overheard the nurses saying how he was too sick to be at work and should have stayed home. He didn’t wear a mask and when I inquired about starting MAT he told me he “wasn’t going to deal with that”. The next day I had an awful cold but was only given ibuprofen. I filled out several request forms for MAT and this was never addressed.

It seemed like there was no coordination to the schedules and they were just attempting to fill the day. All 3 meal times are either an hour or an hour and 15 minutes (I can’t remember) in which you must stay seated the whole time. None of the groups have any structure to them. It’s basically sit in a circle and read whatever the leader could come up with last minute and discuss. More often than not it was just a time to talk about your feelings. There was never a name to a group. It was just “bills group” or “Bernie’s group” etc. The “therapists” act as your therapist, your recovery coach, your family therapist, your treatment evaluator, and your aftercare specialist. The worst is Michelle. Everyone hopes not to get Michelle. She is “scatter brained”. She spends the entire therapy session talking about her self and how she understands addiction first hand because she has an estranged family member that she financially enables who is an addict. She does not have a single valuable piece of input and 75% of the meetings with her are therapy for her. Anything you ask her to do she will have forgotten within 10 minutes.

Being a prior patient at both a state funded rehabilitation center and Highwatch, I would choose either in a heartbeat. This facility is not equipped to handle anyone with any medical needs. Several patients that complete the program are readmitted within two weeks. If you are considering Alina lodge for yourself or a family member, I suggest you to find somewhere else. If you are paying out of pocket, I beg you to find somewhere else! Alina lodge does not care about you nor do they care about...

At this time of the year, as I look back on what I’m most grateful for, Alina Lodge and the caring team of individuals-counselors, nurses, finance team, etc., are top of mind. The counselors not only taught my loved one a new way of “finding comfort in the discomfort” that life throws out but also spent countless hours by phone and in person counseling me and my family. They kindly and gently, over time, helped us to understand what enabling really means, how boundary setting is key to recovery for those struggling with addiction. They made recommendations that led to me to doing the work that will support my loved ones path to a better life. When I heard the words “addiction is a family disease”, initially, it seemed absurd, I thought “I’m not the one with the problem, I’m not the one who needs to make changes!”. Over the course of the year, I succumbed to listening and following the guidance they gave me. It was not always easy but living in a panic mode, constantly teetering between “helping” and trying to ignore the issue, screaming and arguing with my addicted loved one, crying and begging, withholding and giving-and thinking “I” just needed to keep on keeping on and eventually he would see the light pushing had taken its toll on every relationship in my life. My loved one graduated Alina after 11 1/2 months. He gained a sense of confidence, a desire to stand on his own two feet, a recognition of the continued work that is and will be required of him and took their recommendations for a sober living away from people, places and things that were part of his old life and where he could make a clean start with his recovery a priority in his life. He is now out of sober living after another 11 months, and he is thriving. That is the extent of how much I will speak for him because I now live with the knowledge that he must live his life and I must tend to mine. We have a good relationship, we have had few visits, and I can honestly say we are excited and comforted by his continued commitment. Alina gave him his life back and gave me a new way of living and loving. Their methodology is old school and consistent, but it is done with love and clear, direct and open communication and with an emphasis on connection, community and clarity. The students get what they do need and NOT what they don’t need in a comfortable and distraction free (no pottery or tennis!) beautiful quiet area of the country. This is the place. The work has not stopped, no one can wave a magic wand. But if you are sick and tired of being sick and tired and if your loved one shows one ounce of being ready to accept help-figure out how to make it work, where there is a will there’s a way. This is the place. Grateful doesn’t begin to describe how I feel. How is it possible to use words to thank an organization for giving you the tools you need to get your life, your hope and your family back? Looking forward to 2020, one day at a time!! Sending love, hope and light to all who are struggling with this dis-ease of addiction. Alina Lodge, thank you, thank...