I am writing this review as a past client at Chrysalis. In late June, I was dropped of in Montana by my father. I was struggling with self harm, eating disorders, substance use, trauma related issues, and violence. I had recently tried to take my life. I was in and out of institutions, and was having horrible outbursts and depressive episodes. I found out that I was going to chrysalis when my parents held me back from school one day, and the next day I was on a plane to Montana. I was at such a low point in my life that I felt I had nothing to loose in life so I agreed to leave home. There was a lot of drama between the two houses, and there were multiple occasions that girls would try to “Jump” each other, and they had found multiple shanks and broken glass in my room. A girl in my house was found chugging soy sauce in an attempt to die of dehydration, and then consumed glass and batteries. The staff knew and did close to nothing. I had to convince her to go to the hospital and get help. She came back a few days later and nobody did anything to help her after. I had a terrible relationship with Daniel (a therapist) and had begged to change therapists, and nobody took me seriously. Students stated that she had said the following: “(name) can live on safety”, “she is one of the few ppl I have no hope for”, and “ill be shocked if she dose not end up dead or in prison”
I refused to attend Therepy (family and 1x1) for my entire stay, so I got no help with my mental health. I had ran away 3 different times, and they would find me on the side of the road, or with the cops. Me and others in the house would give each other piercings ( septum, nostril, tongue, ear, belly button, nipple, and lip ) and “stick and pokes” that would get horribly infected. The staff knew about these infections, and did the minimum to take care of it. They caught me tattooing myself multiple times, and I refused to give up my needles and ink.. At times, staff would see me piercing my lips, or giving me, or other girls tattoos, and cheer us on, or just watch in curiosity. All of the needles were shared between at LEAST 11 ppl, and never cleaned. The staff also was aware of this. When I was allowed to leave the house/school, me and other patients would pick up cigs of the side of the road, and light and smoke them with matches we found, or the stove. I constantly smelled like cigs and the staff would brush it off. On another occasion me and another girl found a beer, and chugged it in my bathroom. The staff found out and found the bottle and threw it away and sat me down and said if anyone found out, they could get fired. We never came clean to protect the staff. On all occasions that I got substances, they did not tell my parents when they found out to protect themself. Since they did not get me help, I continued to use, risking consuming something that had been laced. One of the times I was on safety, they moved me to sleep in the basement. For a few nights I had to have a staff sit near my door but outside my room. One night they assigned a MALE staff to sit out my room all night. He moved his chair in my room (with is not allowed) and the other staff saw he did this and said nothing. I have trauma with adult males and this was known by the staff. The conversation between me and the staff was far from appropriate, and many questions have been raised about what happened that night. There was a time that I was in my room for days at a time, and I would give myself 3rd degree burns on my arms, and cut myself with old glass I found. One Friday night I attempted to take my life yet again. I tried to hang myself in my bathroom and got knocked out, waking up later on the ground. It was obvious what had taken place from the rope burn on my neck, and the bursted veins in my face. I was asked about is and refused to talk about it, but staff very well knew what happened, and never told my parents, even after finding the rope hanging from my bathroom window. I have so much more ton say but it would go well past the word count.
