Eating Recovery Center Austin

I tried the adult IOP program for one day and was shocked at how terrible the experience was. They did not have an in person dietian for IOP; it was all virtual even for in person IOP. I opted for in person for that very reason. Also, none of the clients knew or followed any rules. Meal time was an absolute joke. Definitely not a safe environment. It did not feel pro recovery at all…. Legitimately not even close to encouraged or required to complete meals. I was SHOCKED… eating disorder loved it, but recovery mind peaced out real quick! Made me sad for individuals seeking treatment who were first time thinking this was appropriate care and staffing for individuals with eating disorders. I never leave reviews, but this one broke my heart.

I was a patient at this facility in 2022 and 2023 and had a very impactful experience. At the time I was a teen, so I can only speak to my experience in the children’s ward. The PHP program here saved my life. They took a chance on me and allowed me to admit directly into day treatment - it worked out very well. The staff was overall very compassionate and made my experience tolerable. Ms. Pat, Pri, Jessie, Jane, and La Gretta are some of the most wonderful people I have ever met and I attribute a lot of my success within the program to them. If you are considering treatment in the Austin area, ERC is the obvious choice. I have been in remission from my disorder since I discharged thanks to the resources provided to me here. Thanks to the ERC team I was able to graduate high school on time, and now I work in eating disorder prevention on my college campus. Treatment is not fun - it is going to be one of the most challenging experiences of your life. But it is so worth it and ERC austin can give you the tools you need to succeed.

I have some mixed opinions on ERC. I was forced to go here when I was a young teen. When I first got there, all the staff was kind and for the most part compassionate. The groups were standard for any average ward except for a few things. To clarify, I strongly believe I was wrongly misdiagnosed and was forced into the wrong program, however that doesn’t impact my experience or opinions that I had in the program as a patient. The staff that I had on my team did not feel like they had the compassion nor care to be working with children 7-17 except for two. Adee was my dietitian and she was spectacular. The BHC’s, except for Kristine, my counselor and the psychiatrist all made my experience significantly worse while I was there. ERC works on a level system and entices people to follow certain bullet points to be allowed an outing. This was a major problem in my “recovery”. One of the main ways you stayed on a higher level where you could go out was you had to finish all your food, even if you were full. Maybe it was my fault I took it too literally, but eating 3 full meals and 3 big snacks a day without even getting a chance to walk meant I was left not being able to hold everything down towards the end of the day. This happened constantly where I was getting sick from getting constantly overfed and then I felt like I was judged for getting sick by the staff around me. It was very frustrating. I didn’t feel like the staff cared why any of us were there, or if we were sick or having issues, they cared about not getting in trouble and cared about getting paid. My group and I were all extremely frustrated to the point where we actually all banded together to tell the staff our issues with them because of how little we felt like they cared. This was after all of us felt like we weren’t being listened to and we felt forced to do things just to not get more days added onto being stuck in that place. One prime example of why we were frustrated was because ERC has this thing where we had to eat “normal”. Normal as in no “excess ketchup” on fries, or we had to not pull apart a roll, things like that. One day, we were given cheese cake for a snack after an outing and after we finished eating, one of the BHC’s told us to finish the chocolate sauce on the plate. I get wanting us to finish the little bits of the cheesecake that may be left, but she meant the chocolate sauce that had dripped off the cake and onto the plate. I still remember how confused all of us looked as we questioned why she would make us do that. Even to this day, I bet they would defend that as normal because some people do lick the plate after, but not when you’re in a group of 20 people where you aren’t even allowed to be friends. I’d also like to mention that the psychiatrist they had was the most soulless person I had met. I mean that in the sense of she was a robot who couldn’t seem to understand the most basic of complex issues. She treated symptoms and didn’t actually try to find the cause of anything. Even if she did try to help, she would give us meds that made us all zombies. She was a major reason why a lot of my group were upset while we were there. Being at ERC really impacted my view on how I see doctors and hospital staff in general. I went in afraid and came out terrified of healthcare workers because I realized just how little some people can care. ERC felt like a kick when I was down. I was in the worst spot in my life at the time and ERC made it much worse. If you care about any of the cases you’re working on as a case worker or are a parent thinking about helping your child with their eating disorder, PLEASE consider picking another place. Unless things miraculously got better after COVID, I would suggest finding a better PHP or IOP program for your child or case.

ERC has been a big Support to our Family. Our son has recovered due to their treatment . I request whoever is seeing this review that please have faith in their treatment plan. They know what to do w your patient and they have deep knowledge & experience dealing with this mental health. ERC team has been very patient in answering all our questions.They are doing a great job. Please attend all their family and group sessions. Very Helpful. Good Luck !!

I want to say that ERC as a whole has been extremely helpful for me. I have been through all of their levels of care from Inpatient to Residential at their Plano location to PHP and IOP here in Austin and I found them to be a very caring group of people that really went the extra mile to make sure that I was okay and doing well. I feel very blessed that we have ERC Austin available as an option for treatment so close to home. I highly recommend this company to anyone who is in a hard place and is seeking help.

It is so difficult to know what to do when your child is diagnosed with an eating disorder. Eating Recovery Center was an answered prayer. They know what they are doing! You CAN trust them as they have helped so many, including our daughter. If you are willing to use all the resources they provide and listen to and follow/trust their counsel, you will see changes in your child and yourself. Just know, this is not an overnight healing - it takes time, A LOT of exhausting work, and willingness to hold good boundaries and limits. Your child will go back and forth in their recovery journey, which is perfectly normal. Hold steady through it all! Eventually you and your child will see the light at the end of the dark tunnel - and they will come out on the other side - stronger, full of new life and direction, able to care for themselves again.

I was at EDS for over two months and without the help of the nurses, staff, RC's I would not be where I am now. Celia was the perfect therapist for me! She was very patient but firm with me and helped me process through a lot of trauma i didn't even notice i hadn't processed. The Recovery Coaches were amazing as well, Miss. Tamika, Kylie, and Zach were soooo helpful and patient with me when I was struggling but they were also so supportive of me with my wins. I would recommend coming to EDS if you're struggling, the support love and encouragement from the staff is unlike anywhere else. I LOVE EDS!!!

These clinicians are knowledgeable and really care about their patients. The MDs are experts at getting your loved one nursed back to health. The therapists are loving, kind, patient and knowledgeable about the eating disorder. My daughter is so much better off after five weeks with ERC Plano. My daughter even admitted it was a very good treatment center for her emotional problems surrounding food and weight. I highly suggest the ERC as the gold standard for treating ED.