Eating Recovery Center Baltimore

I want to start with the fact that I’ve been a long places so I’ve seen it all. I spent 5 months here between residential and PHP and can confidentially say this place changed my life. Not everyone has to stay as long as I did and some might have to stay longer, but no one ever made me feel bad for being there for as long as I needed. Instead they just were happy to see me everyday they came and to see the progress I’ve been making. There were occasional problems that came up with staff, but all places have problems. My team was AMAZING! I know some people had some awful people on their team, but mine was fantastic (once I advocated for my therapist to be changed). I felt that all of the decisions being made were in conjunction with me and not against me. I felt like I was listened to and I the staff truly cared about me. Some were better than others, but hey, again, that’s everywhere. I made the most progress therapeutically here vs anywhere else I’ve been. We typically were all on the same page about my treatment and when it came time for me to discharge I was truthfully sad to leave. Excited for my future, but sad to leave people I’ve created a strong bond with over a long period of time.

I have waited a while (one week) to write this review to make sure I was in the right mindset. However, I think it is very important that if you are looking at eating disorder RESIDENTIAL treatment, you look elsewhere. My review is going to be broken into two sections (positives and negatives/areas of opportunities). Positives: - There was a weekly community meeting where we voiced concerns or areas that are going well. They were able to make changes to the program based on our feedback which was nice. - We were able to go outside four times a day. - We had our phones a lot and you could earn extra time based on your level. - Eventually, you can earn passes. Negatives / Areas of Opportunity: - Overall, the facilities needed work. The bed is hard as a rock and I had to purchase a mattress topper that was thick enough to make the bed comfortable. There was mold in the shower and took a week to get fixed. One of the sinks didn’t work, the laundry room had issues and overall, the cleanliness was not up to par. It took weeks of us complaining to finally get rooms and common room vacuumed. - Being an adult, you’d expect that we could use the common areas. However, because of “incidents” they do not allow us in the rooms without staff. Unfortunately, there weren’t enough staff to allow us to use that room often. - ERC is very punitive and consequences/privileges vary by team. If you have a visit coming up, they may threaten to take passes away/not allow you to see your animal unless you meet a certain percent of your meal plan. Additionally, if you struggled or got to emotionally charged, you may get phased down in their system. However, some teams change the requirements to be phased down or up. Everyone should have the same privileges and consequences. - My treatment team went through so much change. I had issues with my initial therapist (she wouldn’t see me when scheduled or for the right amount of time) and would make up or omit details on my medical notes. I switched therapists and then the one I had took a vacation. It’s challenging to have that many people in a seven week stay. - They ran out supplements or meals many times, which is absurd for an eating disorder treatment center. There were times that we would be out of supplements and I’d get something I couldn’t consume. Food on a few occasions also had hair in it and when I asked for a new plate, the response was, they are out of what you had. Also, many of the snacks were often stale and uneditable but we were just told to “do our best”. - Staff would omit or not share full details on your medical records. I brought this up multiple times and it was never fixed. I’m waiting for my final exit note to be updated stating they lost a 3 month supply of my medicine. - Lastly, it took a while to get my allergy issues sorted out. On a few occasions, I was served something I was allergic to. Then, I had to advice daily to not be placed at a table with my allergy and to have peers wash their hands after handling it to avoid having a reaction. Overall, I feel like I wasted seven weeks of my life. I escalated concerns multiple times but felt unheard. I think they just wanted to get rid of me. I went in wanting help, struggled for 3.5 weeks, did okay a week and a half then started struggling again. They let me discharge while only completing 40% of my meal plan and really struggling. I wanted to get more help but that just wasn’t an option. On my last day, my team told me I could have used more time or should have gone to PHP with the contract in place (which was never mentioned (contract)). I felt like they gave up on me and I was so hopeless. I called two other programs and both recommended more residential and said I was not near ready for PHP. Now, I’m at the Emily Program’s residential facility and the stay is going much better.

Ummm…I never leave reviews for anything. I think everyone has a different experience whether that be with restaurants or something as serious as eating disorder treatment. I began seeking treatment October of last year and went to Sheppard Pratt for three months. When I was discharged I began PHP at ERC. I stayed in their program for a month and a half before discharging. I did not do IOP or residential so I can’t speak for those portions of their care but I can most certainly speak on overall staff and setup. As I’ve heard from many others that seek treatment here, the staff is mostly concerned with weight gain. I understand that that is important for recovery, but I had just finished gaining tons of weight at my previous treatment center and they had changed my goal weight to something much higher expecting me to easily comply. Weight gain is hard for anyone, but having anorexia makes it all the more challenging. Although every expert will have a different opinion, they lied to me about why I needed to gain weight. They made excuses saying that my bone density wasn’t high enough, but I never took a bone density scan in my life. They accused me of lying about getting my period back and not having certain ED symptoms. They tried to force me to drink shakes, although not just me, but my family was in disagreement with their decision of my goal weight. My therapist had nothing to say and no matter what I asked her about or talked to her about she gave no guidance or help. They would intimidate me to try and eat instead of talking me through it and made me extremely uncomfortable at times during meetings. Other than my personal team, the mental health workers were kind and supportive but I still felt constantly judged and felt like I needed to remain closed off. At my previous treatment center I felt that if I had a concern, I was met with a solution but here I just felt unheard and unseen. Again, everybody’s experience will be different, but from my perspective, this treatment center’s only goal is to get you to finish gaining weight and get you hell out. Half of the time people that were discharging were only finishing like 20% of their food yet because they were weight restored, they were sent on their way. Please do your research before going here. I don’t want to speak for everyone, but I truly think that this place needs to make several improvements from both my and my family’s perspective.

i would recommend literally anywhere else. i was forced into admission here a few months ago and it was the most unhelpful program ive ever been in. staff aren't attentive at ALL. patients got away with so many behaviors such as sharing and disposing of food. staff were on their phones at all times - in the meal room, at the front desk, in groups. there isn't anything to do, they do not make an effort to keep you occupied and quite frankly you arent allowed much to try and occupy yourself. you're confined to one small hallway where you will just sit/stand doing nothing for 90% of the time. the groups were not helpful. the staff didnt know what they were doing in them, just read off the same sheet every single time. this is more of a force feeding center. its good for if youre needing medical stabilization but that is IT. it does not prepare you for discharge or home life at all, it does not do anything to MENTALLY heal you. the only thing that matters to this facility is whether you are or arent gaining weight. i understand that weight gain is a big piece of it, but it shouldnt be the ONLY thing focused on in a program like this. i was also talked poorly about by one of the psychologists there, and during episodes of mine i was not helped but left to suffer it out myself for hours while the BHCs and whoever else was on site at the time stared at me.

It’s been over a year since I’ve been there and I still get nightmares almost every night about that place. 4 months of my life spent in dread and hopelessness. If your goal is to improve your mental health as well as your eating disorder, this is not the place.