First Steps Recovery

This was my third rehab in 10 years. I realized when i got there that they were just six months old. There was turn over in staff and some miscommunication between staff and clients. If this is your first time in a residential rehab you will find it good. Compared with others I attended the facility was good for 6 clients, the food OK. The chef is a line cook, not a chef. You have to complain to get vegetables with your meals, he fixed a protein and a starch for dinner and if you wanted a salad or veggie you had to make it yourself. Also, rice is almost a daily starch.
They claim to be a non-​12 step program but the workbook and two of the three counselors push 12 step in almost every session. Also you are required to attend one 12 step meeting a week.
The therapist are professional and good for first timers. Don’t expect to get a lot of discussion on why you feel or wrote what you did if this is not your first time. You go around the group and say what you wrote and then they go to the next person without peeling back the onion to find out why you wrote what you did.
The owner is a very patient person and compassionate. The house staff is a work in progress. The house manager is sweet but inexperienced in handling clients. Perhaps they have gotten better by this time.
The things I was most disappointed in is: they talk about Yosemite National, don’t expect to see it, the horseback riding is walking a horse in a pasture, the chef is not a true chef and leaves at 3PM and dinner is heated up by a guest or sometimes by the evening staff, program content is basic but good for first or second timers, house needs to be cleaned professionally not by staff as they are young and do shortcuts.
I give them a B–
Past client

unbelievable poor communication with family members. (I have a long story but thought I would shorten it up for you)
I had a loved one placed in this center. I was promised daily phone calls, weekly visits, daily follow-​up calls from staff.
All were non-​existent!
I understand the place is new and in the start-​up phase but they really need to get their act together!
The presiding doctor that has his name tied to the business, saw my loved one and My loved one told me, «he was a total jerk, he did not want to go through all my meds and deal with me because it would take to long and it was getting late»
My last pet peeve would be the people working here are all new and very young. Experience is important! and I am referring to experience as in JOB EXPERIENCE not drug use experience! 99% of the staff including the facility administrator are past drug users!
If you are not concerned by now, you truly should be!
These comments are from my personal, first hand experience dealing with these people, I will not say anything bad about the facility or defame them, I am simply stating facts based on what I had personal, first hand exposure to.
Do yourself a favor and look into other treatment facilities in your local area and do you your homework! get the facts upfront and get all the promises made to you in writing!
Best wishes!

First Steps Recovery helped me see that there was a way out of the insanity I was living. They opened my eyes to the endless possibilities of living a happy and sober life. I was lost and wanted a way out but every time that I tried the results never changed. I had forgotten what it felt like to be happy. In my addiction, everything got ripped right out of my hands. I lost everything that mattered to me and I did not know how to change it. I was in and out of jail, mental institutions and tried rehab a dozen times but couldn’t find myself to want to stay sober. I even contemplated death because I just could face the reality of my disease. October 25, 2014 is the day that I arrived at First Steps, thinking that it was going to be like every other rehab I had gone to but my mind quickly changed when I walked through the door. Everyone was so welcoming and went out of there way to make me feel at home. I did not feel alone anymore. I was surrounded by staff who truly cared about my well being; the became family to me. I looked forward to going to groups and opening up with my clinical therapist, especially because they knew exactly what I had been going through and gave me assignments to make me stronger. First Steps taught me many different tools and techniques to help keep me sober, that I am still using today. I was very comfortable sharing during the groups; not once did I feel like I was being judged for my actions during my addiction. I am so grateful that I got to be a part of this recovery program, they saved my life.