Mountain Laurel Recovery Center — Local services in Westfield

It's hard for me to rate Mt. Laurel, because I had the tale of two stories. On one hand, the facility is great. It's clean, surrounded by beautiful scenery, and conducive to recovery. The therapists are mostly above average, and a few were among the best I have. Most of the groups were engaging. I was in the Eberle building, and it was one of the best experiences I had in a rehab.

The food was ok - but inconsistent. I can't complain there.

There was a good amount of activity, and being able to be outdoors consistently is a far cry from most NY rehabs. We had a "talent show" every week, and the community was vibrant.

There was a ton of fraternization, and while the rules discourage against it, most of the time it seemed that the staff had a blind eye to it, and only called out the most egregious of behaviors. I'm no arbiter of anyone's recovery - but it was just something I noticed.

The bad part for me was the discharge planning. In my first week, I met with the person that coordinates aftercare. I sat down and told her the places I'd like to go. She wrote them down, and I had assumed that it was being worked on. My stay there was 32 days - and somewhere around day 20, I had to seek the caseworker out - and she told me she can't do any of those referrals seeing they were NY based. She would only be able to refer me to Pennsylvania PHP programs. This was a shock and I was dismayed I wasn't informed of that during my first meeting with her. Needless to say with only a short time remaining, it was impossible to get a place quick enough. I was dropped back off in the city I came from - and was not able to get into the mission there. I was on the street homeless.

Needless to say, it didn't end well for me, and a few weeks later, I checked into a local facility which I have recently completed and am on a short wait list for a halfway house (one of the ones I put on the list for Mount Laurel to refer me to). While Mount Laurel was MUCH nicer and more effective from the rehabilitation standpoint - the place I just came from at least got referrals out for much needed continued treatment.

I'm grateful for Mount Laurel overall - I really took some things out of there that are currently helping me stay sober while I wait for a bed to open elsewhere -- but there is definitely room for improvement on their end - especially with disclosure and maybe getting more staff for the aftercare planning portion of things. For whatever reason, they didn't take me back in after my relapse - I was willing to go to a Pennsylvania PHP - but wasn't a possibility in the limited time frame I had left there.

I do recommend them. Just be sure you advocate for yourself and ask a ton of questions. Stay on top of it. I made an assumption, and...

My husband chose this rehab after different considerations. The first week there his counselor didn’t really do much, he than switched and Trista seemed amazing. We did family seasons, he worked on himself, and all seemed to be well. However despite them saying that they offer “long term” programs and extended stays that is not true for everyone. That is only an option for people that have “papers” or are being forced through the criminal system to go into rehab. So he was granted 28 days with a 7 day extension. He needed a longer program. They helped him fill out paper work to a couple places, could have been more and in the PA area. However they would only choose a NYS facility. They than sent him home at 30 days for a “weekend” visit because that following money the next place would be calling to set him up with a bed. Mount Laurel also claimed they would call to check in daily and would continue to work with him throughout those 4 days to get him a bed in his next step. They never called, never checked in. The place he was supposed to head to is in the middle of a large city, and doesn’t have very many positives about it. But they did their 28 days and he was no longer their concern. While he was there he loved it, and he seem decent. However they don’t offer that long term to people open to recovery but those that are being forced. And once their 28 days are up despite promises that they would help us get him to this next step we’re never full filled. He has now been home for a week, with no check in, and no update about the other facility. Credo would be callin g MT Laurel Monday and MY Laurel should have called us. Well there was nothing. I learned a long time ago that addiction is a huge money maker for the system, and rehabs but I really thought this place would be different despite my reservations at the beginning. My husbands thin were safe, he had everything he needed, it’s a smaller facility so less people per counselor. It’s clean, has great groups and staff. Food is amazing and there doesn’t seem to be a none stop flow of drugs running through. Just know if you’re looking for somewhere longer than 28 days, this is not your place. And if you have a loved one here and they are trying to find their next step you have to be the one to push that or they just don’t care. They received their payment from insurance and you are no longer their problem. They should have followed through in our case, and made sure my husband had a place to go. Not sending him home for a weekend visit that turns permanent. We have no found a few in PA that accept our insurance, and are long term despite Cindy telling us there was nothing. I’m really upset with how this ended, I had such high hopes at the end and this just cemented my opinion on how addiction is...

There is zero consistency in this place. There are a few BHAs that REALLY ABSOLUTELY WHOLEHEARTEDLY CARE about what they do. 2 in particular. I was targeted, one of the head BHAs tried to alienate me from my community all because I would told her that she lied to me about something regarding an incident that happened and I refused to write a statement on someone because I wasn't there to see said incident occur . I really enjoyed my groups but they let women and men fraternize but if you don't agree with the higher ups or if you point out their inconsistent behaviors, you WILL BE KICKED OUT. They have to take zero accountability while expecting people to do that themselves. They worry about the wrong things and I wish I could've finished there. The few counselors and BHAs that made that place enjoyable made me feel welcome and important while the head of the BHA dept tried to take away privileges that was far too excessive for my " crime" of not backing down when she lied to me. Also when they administratively discharge you, they drop you off at the closest bus station which is Binghamton bus station with no money no means of getting home they don't even bring you your luggage they give you trash bags that you then have to pack in the middle of a bus station parking lot with no money no bus ticket no nothing. They damn sure billed my insurance for the whole month. Oh and not to mention if they put you on meds there like any MAT medication and psych meds they keep them and distribute them to other patients instead of either returning them to the pharmaceutical company or pharmacy for a refund or goving them to the people who's names on the prescription. It was pure unadulterated madness what they allow to fly there and if I wasn't as strong of a woman I could be dead right now because they don't set you up for success they kick you out and set you up to relapse. They didn't even send me with a list of services in my area.. NOTHING!!! Z and D thank y'all immensely i will always remember you both, thank you for letting me experience kindness and love while at Mt Laurel. To everyone involved in my discharge, you should be ashamed...