this place was absolutely terrible, probably the worst residential other than utah. the staff do not care, they very clearly judge u(like a LOT) nd they r always whispering to eachother nd talking abt u right infront of u, like a bunch of middle school girls. they do these things called body checks, where u strip down to ur bra nd underwear which is someone i always hated because they always looked at u w such judgmental eyes. coming from someone who used to be very big when i was in residential, it made me want to cry everytime the staff wld look me up nd down w disgust. in the other location, ojai, one of the staff pointed out tht i was growing stretch marks on my stomach. i was insecure abt it for months after i got out of residential. dont look at the pictures on this place because it looks NOTHING, nd i mean NOTHING like the pictures. i remember during school time, we were all looking at the pictures on this page, nd we were all shocked because the pictures looks nothing like it does now. i also wld like to mention the phone time, u get literally no time to actually have a conversation w ur family member, nd ur not allowed to talk to ur friends until u get out, nd even then, the therapists make ur parents put A ALOT of parental controls on ur phone, i literally cldnt txt anyone but my parents for like 3 weeks, i had no games or social media or anything, my phone was completely useless. nd my therapist , leah, wldnt even let me talk abt my actual problems. this place is genuinely terrible, nd has such a lack of privacy, like someone is ALWAYS looking at u, like even in ur sleep im not joking.

I went to evolve a while back, and it was absolutely terrible. The Staff never really cared about me or any of the other teens so it made our time horrible. The Girls only had the option of a pad or tampon on there periods and for a lot of us it really didn’t work out. And the lack of privacy when it came to hygiene was insane. Me personally I wasn’t there for drugs or hurting myself so I was never sneaking anything, but we were forced to do “body searches” , where you would be stripped to your bra and underwear and you’d have to put your finger under your waistband and prove you weren’t hiding anything(luckily the stuck the gender of the staff doing the searches to the kids genders. Boy with boys, girls with girls). While there was only one male staff and he didn’t work often so the guys wouldn’t really have to do the searches. This wouldn’t be too bad but to know that most the kids there have has some type of sexual trauma and still make them do that is wild. We were only allowed 5 minute showers at first and like 3 minutes for phone calls, but once a week you had the opportunity to “level up”, which would basically lengthen your time to +2 minutes for everything; but you could lose these “privileges” very easily. Another thing is that the staff never really took time with the kids or even believed them; it was possible for you to get punishment just because staff didn’t like you. And the therapy sessions were never personal, I feel like the only thing they treat are drugs and SH(even at that not very well), besides that it’s no help. They never get to the root of the problem. We were never allowed to be kids either, either we were watched while playing games or we had to play cards(still watched just not as closely). That’s all we did, over and over again we played cards because half the things didn’t work. The gym isn’t what they say it is, it’s just a treadmill and a couple yoga balls. The therapy didn’t work and it just made you feel bad about your problems. You can’t use the pool, rarely go outside at that. The staff was absolutely horrible except two or three. The food was really good though. The only good thing were a couple of the kids that stuck together to get through it. But I had never felt suicidal until after going here. Going here at such a young age just added trauma, it’s not a good place at all.

The academic coordinator, Maya is very passionate about her work and goes above and beyond to aid her students in not only reaching their academic goals but exceeding them in a kind, respectful manner. She consistently helps students in an empathetic manner, but does not complete assignments for them. She is very open and understands troubles students may be facing and helps them cope while not letting them fall behind on their studies. For me, she spent hours through IT to help me in completing college orientation prerequisites and kept in contact with my family to make things clear and easily understandable. She also helps her students complete resumes, TODO lists, and understand requirements for important events in life such as acquiring a drivers permit. RTC is not the best option for SUDs but it can act as a detox center. Without Maya, I may have fallen behind on my academic ventures and not have gotten much out of this RTC. Most staff are very understanding and helpful, but can only help so much when it comes to SUDs.

This facility has played an integral role in my son’s recovery. The staff went above and beyond throughout his care. My son’s therapist, Leah, was the most integral part of his treatment. She was able to see what previous therapists have missed. The facility itself is beautiful and offers great therapies. I highly recommend this location if you are on the fence about trusting a facility with your child.

My child ended up getting involuntarily discharged and I'm still giving Evolve a 5 star rating because they were fantastic throughout the 30 day stay. Admissions helped us through the entire process over a weekend when my child was kicked out elsewhere. Facility was great. Staff from Management to therapists were all kind and very caring. Where Paradigm (Malibu) felt much more corporate, Evolve treated my daughter with so much compassioin, even through the discharge process. The therapist were even crying at discharge, and more telling, my child really wanted to go back after the episode passed. Medical staff tried much harder than elsewhere to find the secret sauce to help my kiddo. Good news, we did eventually find a med (at home) that helped a TON and we're mostly under control now. I'm sure Evolve made a big difference in this process. If you are a parent with a troubled teen, hang in there! Feels impossible some days, but I highly recommend the Evolve team. Thank you Clara, Leah, Anna,, Allexis & Dellyna!

This place single-handedly changed my life. I was in evolve in 2018 after attempting to end my life. i was suffering with BPD and had horrible body image issues, an eating disorder, self worth problems, and was extremely self destructive. The 6 weeks i spent here changed my entire life. from the amazing staff who genuinely wanted to listen, to the cook who made sure we knew food was a good thing and not something to be afraid of, to knowing my therapist genuinely engaged the best for me was something i’d never had in my life. growing up in the south where people are very closed minded really affected my mental health. for the first time ever i felt listened to. i felt seen. and i didn’t feel guilty for who i was. i have had many downfalls and failures since leaving evolve, but i never gave up. this place changed my whole mindset. i went from a suicidal teen who didn’t think she’d live past 18 to a successful young woman who is engaged with a baby on the way in my own home before the age of 20. evolve made me want to live. and i’ll never be able to say enough good things about this place. ever.

I can’t say enough good things about Evolve Treatment Centers. My daughter just completed treatment at the Mt. Helix facility and I feel like they literally saved her life. It’s a scary feeling to send your suffering teen off into the care of others. She said from the minute that she arrived to the time that she left, she felt cared for, at home and the things she was learning really clicked for her. Family involvement is a vital piece. Through family therapy we also learned ways that we could help. I finally feel like there’s hope for a better future. I am so happy that we found Evolve. They really know what they are doing there and exceeded our expectations by far! ❤️

My daughter had a wonderful experience at Evolve, Vanalden. Her therapist there was fantastic. She was in a very destructive mode. The intensive DBT skills that she learned gave her skills to deal with her emotions. The staff worked with her and with us so that now we are in a much better place. I highly recommend this treatment center.