My experience at Caron Renaissance was like a game of thrones of rehabs, that wasn't covered by any insurance, and was the byproduct of Caron violating my HIPPA rights in order to convince my father to make financial threats unless I went to Caron Renaissance. What I found was a fairly pleasant living quarters and relatively easy day program-wise. There was just this undertone of extreme manipulation of your condition to your parents and recommendations of longer stays. It was $15,000 a month, with a three month commitment at the beginning. If you left early they wouldn't give the money back. You just had credit at the rehab for a prorated number of days. No insurance was accepted. They would engage in abusive techniques, where they would pepper a person with accusations of various misdeeds and negative characteristics. They would go through our personal possessions looking for any contraband constantly. They would kick people out of the treatment center for "therapeutic discharges", where they would take the person to a homeless shelter and say see you in three days for readmission. Exposed to the vagaries of the street and vulnerable to using drugs or being exploited sexually by some crazed predator.Then you would have to start over in the phases they have to gauge program progress. Which would cost your parents more .money. One time a guy in the program had sex with one of the girls without a condom in the laundry room of one of the apartments and got caught. Caron called the girls Dad and had him come to the group to hostilely confront this guy about fucking his daughter. It was absolutely beyond insane. They were empowering the parents to exercise abusive behavior as appropriate in response to addiction and addictive behaviors. The girls father said nasty things to this guy, and was in an impossible situation. It doesn't seem therapeutic to have Jerry Springer in the Uber posh rehab, it seems like it's indulging the unnatural craving for human conflict by the staff at Caron Renaissance. They are professional sadists, who prey on children of wealth people, using mental health treatment as a means to extracting wealth over a short period of time. They also in another case encouraged a patients father to drain her bank account that he had some attachment to as a supervisor or trustee, but it was her money. She had to withdraw all the money and aggressively confronted the staff about there possible involvement in the scheme to deprive her of money so she could leave Caron to live on her own. The bottom line is they are charging 15k, and that was in 2009, so I am sure it went up, for every month of a minimum three month stay, and that is after the 45K 30 day inpatient rehab you just did. Which invariably was only partially covered by insurance, because of how inflexible Caron is with insurance companies. Caron Renaissance abuses it's patients and exaggerates peoples conditions by internationally harassing them. Invariably people get angry when provoked, so it's easy to produce a person who is averse to therapy and in need of extensive aftercare. The State of Florida should send undercovers there.

I personally experienced renaissance in my early twenties to get sober after college. This was 8 years ago now. I want to post an honest review, which reflects my experience in both PA and then the house of horrors they call renaissance in Delray. Caron PA saved my life, 28 days of therapy, self care & a loving, caring well trained staff.

The transfer to Florida with their “Olympic size” swimming pool and palm trees was pitched to my parents and I over a video call. I obviously did not want to go on to a “90 day” program. Truth is I did need more care, but I had no idea what was coming. I don’t want to post my story unless this is something members of this group want to hear.

If you’d like to know more, let me know and I will spill the beans, good and bad. Unfortunately, the detailed experience I am willing to share involves more negative and quite haunting events. 7 years later, my life is full of love and healthy relationships but I’ve realized much of my time there (8+ months until I basically escaped) had been shut off from my memory, until just now looking at old photos. PTSD is real.

Anonymous wrote:It took months before my two children recovered from the abusive behavior on the part of Caron Renaissance. I feel such guilt for sending them there. I feel traumatized from Family Week that I still at times suffer from. The experience was very damaging to our entire family. Plus it cost us 6 figures that put us in debt.

Sorry to hear you had two children in this situation. How are they doing in their recovery now?

It took months before my two children recovered from the abusive behavior on the part of Caron Renaissance. I feel such guilt for sending them there. I feel traumatized from Family Week that I still at times suffer from. The experience was very damaging to our entire family. Plus it cost us 6 figures that put us in debt.

I was at Caron Renaissance back in 2010. I am doing very well now, but I had to actually recover from my experience there. It was horrific. They tore apart my family relationships, which had previously been fine (a healthy and supportive family). They miscommunicated information to me (wouldn't allow me to speak directly with my family members or close friends, and they lied to me about several communications that went through them, which I found out later through my family members), broke their own rules, and behaved in ways that not only broke their own rules, but in some cases, broke the law. I can't fully describe how awful the experience was. I left there after a few months, but didn't leave without being completely scarred by the experience.

To the PP above. I hope going AMA does not get you in trouble with the courts.

That said, it is almost a joke that you say you left AMA--against medical advice. There is nothing medical about Caron Renaissance. Perhaps you can enlist a psychiatrist who is willing to say the program was damaging and you can enroll in a local outpatient rehab to satisfy the courts.

Alternatively, if your problem was opiates or alcohol, the courts may be willing to accept medically supervised Vivitrol with regular attendance at NA or the like.

People have many paths to drug dependency. Caron Renaissance treats it as though it is only through one way--moral failings combined with a dysfunctional family. The latter is how they guilt parents into paying for their over-priced half way house program.

Caron is one of the few treatment places that are not for profit. However, they are known for doing research on family wealth--if they think the family can afford Renaissance, that is what they recommend after the Caron program in Pennsyllvania.

In this case you are better off not being rich--the middle class people who rely on insurance to pay the first 30 days of treatment get other recommendations like much cheaper half way houses, the vast majority of which do not employ the degrading tough love tactics of Caron.

I also suggest you post a review of Caron on The Fix--that is the most comprehensive site I know of for rating rehabs.

Anonymous wrote:My parents made the mistake of sending me to Caron in 2011 after I received an underage DUI. The philosophy of the program was "we will break you down until you can build yourself back up." My issue was not with drugs, it was with self-esteem and delayed mental and emotional development. I ran away once a month due to the terrible way the therapists would speak to me. One example is when my primary therapist made everyone in my group go around and call me a whore to my face. I was kept there for 6 months because my parents could afford it. I was kicked out because I was having an emotional relationship with an alumni. I never "relapsed" on drugs or alcohol during my time there, I needed help with my self esteem and clearly Caron couldn't give me the help I needed. They kicked me out at my lowest point- before I had any tools to help build myself back up. The only thing I received from them was the ability to write a resume and get a job. I still have nightmares about that place. I know people have been sent there with similar stories such as mine- their parents didn't know what to do and they heard this place was the best. I was the only patient there at the time who had never been to treatment before and had one run in with the law. Perhaps Caron has saved the lives of many drug addicts but they certaintly did not have staff that knew how to treat my issues. I do not think tough love or calling patients names or forcing them to wear signs that say whore, male dependent , thief, etc is going to save anyone suffering from addiction.

Hi I was forced into going from Caron PA to renaissance last year. Due to drug charges the courts said I have to listen to the instructions Caron PA gives me (which is ofcourse going to be go to Caron renaissance). I left AMA or against med advice. I totally understand the harassment and name callling in group. I hope you come back and read my reply to your post. Stay strong, F*ck renaissance and their quasi-treatment cult bs. No need to degrade us we know what we did we had enough degradation on the street we came to treatment for HELP not abuse. Take care

My parents made the mistake of sending me to Caron in 2011 after I received an underage DUI. The philosophy of the program was "we will break you down until you can build yourself back up." My issue was not with drugs, it was with self-esteem and delayed mental and emotional development. I ran away once a month due to the terrible way the therapists would speak to me. One example is when my primary therapist made everyone in my group go around and call me a whore to my face. I was kept there for 6 months because my parents could afford it. I was kicked out because I was having an emotional relationship with an alumni. I never "relapsed" on drugs or alcohol during my time there, I needed help with my self esteem and clearly Caron couldn't give me the help I needed. They kicked me out at my lowest point- before I had any tools to help build myself back up. The only thing I received from them was the ability to write a resume and get a job. I still have nightmares about that place. I know people have been sent there with similar stories such as mine- their parents didn't know what to do and they heard this place was the best. I was the only patient there at the time who had never been to treatment before and had one run in with the law. Perhaps Caron has saved the lives of many drug addicts but they certaintly did not have staff that knew how to treat my issues. I do not think tough love or calling patients names or forcing them to wear signs that say whore, male dependent , thief, etc is going to save anyone suffering from addiction.

Anonymous wrote:A Hollywood executive committed suicide at Caron Ocean Drive in 2015. Sixty thousand dollars a month and allegedly no one was watching over this guy? Read and you decide. http://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/delray-beach-xanax-addiction-and-death

Given what I know about Caron, nothing in this article surprises me.

A Hollywood executive committed suicide at Caron Ocean Drive in 2015. Sixty thousand dollars a month and allegedly no one was watching over this guy? Read and you decide. http://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/delray-beach-xanax-addiction-and-death

Good luck--I hope this works for your family member. Caron definitely is all about drug addiction. Alcohol of course is also a drug but the dynamics can be different. A friend in his early twenties went to Father Martin's and said all the middle aged alcoholics there went straight for the Vivitrol; the younger people not so much, perhaps not so ready to get the problem out of their lives.

Anonymous wrote:I think PP meant meant taking the first step in the 12 step program, admitting you've become powerless over an addictive substance and your life has become unmanageable.

Getting to the first step is not insurance that treatment will work, so it makes no sense that having your loved one get to step ensures that the dollars you are spending on treatment are worth the investment. The success rates at drug addiction programs are abysmal and there are many, many programs that take advantage of families' desperation or the increasing availability of federal funding.

OP, I wish you'd give us more to work with your situation. Caron is not the right program for someone recently or very moderately addicted. It is for more hardened addicts whose families have more money than time to see their addict through themselves. You have said your daughter is sensitive, but not much about her drug status.

For those who are not hardened addicts, a successful recovery plan does not require a rehab or a halfway house. It does require families who can do their homework to manage the recovery of their loved one themselves and also have an ability to look honestly at themselves to ensure they are not enablers and to draw boundaries and stick to them. Naranon is useful for this.

There is a medication that can help enormously, Vivitrol, a monthly shot that does not involve an addictive substance that can be enormously helpful if the drug in question is alcohol or opiates. NA is an excellent way to get a new set of friends that don't do drugs and are very adamant about personal responsibility.

I am very skeptical of almost all rehab programs, and even more so when they cost a $1000 a day and you don't even get daily professional individual therapy. In your place I'd fly down to Florida and hear her out. I'd see if she'd agree to a DIY program involving regular drug tests, NA meetings, individual therapy, and possibly Vivitrol, complemented by either a lot of volunteer work or a job in an industry that isn't full of drugs (eg not the food industry).

Thanks, I checked out the program. I agree with you completely; For $1K/day, you get accommodations in a dumpy apartment and group therapy - about a dozen patients to 1 counselor 2x a day, plus a smaller group therapy 1x a day. Individual therapy 1x-2x a week. Patients prepare their own food.

My loved one is an alcoholic; it seems 99% of the patients are drug addicts. Most of them are very young.

I believe we will do a DIY program - halfway house + soberlink + AA + individual therapy. Might also do a combination of Campral / Vivitrol / Antabuse.

I think PP meant meant taking the first step in the 12 step program, admitting you've become powerless over an addictive substance and your life has become unmanageable.

Getting to the first step is not insurance that treatment will work, so it makes no sense that having your loved one get to step ensures that the dollars you are spending on treatment are worth the investment. The success rates at drug addiction programs are abysmal and there are many, many programs that take advantage of families' desperation or the increasing availability of federal funding.

OP, I wish you'd give us more to work with your situation. Caron is not the right program for someone recently or very moderately addicted. It is for more hardened addicts whose families have more money than time to see their addict through themselves. You have said your daughter is sensitive, but not much about her drug status.

For those who are not hardened addicts, a successful recovery plan does not require a rehab or a halfway house. It does require families who can do their homework to manage the recovery of their loved one themselves and also have an ability to look honestly at themselves to ensure they are not enablers and to draw boundaries and stick to them. Naranon is useful for this.

There is a medication that can help enormously, Vivitrol, a monthly shot that does not involve an addictive substance that can be enormously helpful if the drug in question is alcohol or opiates. NA is an excellent way to get a new set of friends that don't do drugs and are very adamant about personal responsibility.

I am very skeptical of almost all rehab programs, and even more so when they cost a $1000 a day and you don't even get daily professional individual therapy. In your place I'd fly down to Florida and hear her out. I'd see if she'd agree to a DIY program involving regular drug tests, NA meetings, individual therapy, and possibly Vivitrol, complemented by either a lot of volunteer work or a job in an industry that isn't full of drugs (eg not the food industry).

Anonymous wrote:Anyone can come off drugs if they want to. There are plenty of low cost programs, like the Salvation Army. Many of these low cost programs work for people who see no other way to survive. Embrace those programs. Go to 12 step meetings for families while your loved one is at a public recovery centre. If your addict rejects this path, that is their choice. Renaissance have a cllinical philosophy that is not terribly different from the wisdom of 12 step soul searching and behavior changes. If for some reason you choose Renaissance but don't follow their guidelines; if it's too painful for family members to hear what they say, tell them. And weigh your options. Death and or jail is the sentence for addicts. Chaos can become a way of life. Renaissance is not the only place out there. But the local support is unparalleled and so is their clinical philosophy. If you reject them before you've admitted you are powerless over this disease and your life has become unmanageable - Step One - it will be on you to find a recovery path. Salvation Army is much the same. Reject their paradigm and reject Step One and you're alone again. No treatment or family intervention will work before Step One is fully embraced. I have not seen a better program than Renaissance for entitled young adults. But as family members we are not relegated to passive sidelines. Change is pain. Step One is free of charge. It's the insurance policy on your treatment investment.

what does that even mean?

BTW Caron Renaissance is private pay; we have no clue if we will get reimbursed. $90K for 3 months, nearly $1K a day.

Anyone can come off drugs if they want to. There are plenty of low cost programs, like the Salvation Army. Many of these low cost programs work for people who see no other way to survive. Embrace those programs. Go to 12 step meetings for families while your loved one is at a public recovery centre. If your addict rejects this path, that is their choice. Renaissance have a cllinical philosophy that is not terribly different from the wisdom of 12 step soul searching and behavior changes. If for some reason you choose Renaissance but don't follow their guidelines; if it's too painful for family members to hear what they say, tell them. And weigh your options. Death and or jail is the sentence for addicts. Chaos can become a way of life. Renaissance is not the only place out there. But the local support is unparalleled and so is their clinical philosophy. If you reject them before you've admitted you are powerless over this disease and your life has become unmanageable - Step One - it will be on you to find a recovery path. Salvation Army is much the same. Reject their paradigm and reject Step One and you're alone again. No treatment or family intervention will work before Step One is fully embraced. I have not seen a better program than Renaissance for entitled young adults. But as family members we are not relegated to passive sidelines. Change is pain. Step One is free of charge. It's the insurance policy on your treatment investment.