Morningside Recovery

This place will make someone want to use drugs! The staff will LIE to you to get you to enroll and admit yourself or your family member. At first you end up in a «starter» home… where you can stay for weeks until a bed at a «regular» home for you is found. This is where you «detox or wait for them to find you a regular place to stay. Once you are placed in a home, there is of course a «house manager» and about 7 others like you. NOTE: DO NOT EXPECT A PRIVATE ROOM. The «house manager does basically nothing but make you clean the house, supervise, and keep your meds locked up in a locker in the garage, and give them to you at «med time». They went through my things when I first arrived WITHOUT me being present. I had my credit card info stolen from an employee who was going through my things. They advertise «non-​12 step program»… TOTAL LIE! They took us to a 12 step store… THAT WAS ACROSS THE STREET! Drug testing (I wasn’t even there for drug/​alcohol addiction) is done 2 – 3 times per week (random of course) and they WILL WATCH you urinate. Someone stands right there (close enough to hold your junk). Counselors are hot and miss. I walked out of the place, and my counselor never knew it. Never even called. They promise 2 – 3 visits each week with your counselor, but the counselors are not always there, and I ended up with usually 1 visit per week. You are required each day to go to «classes» for rehab, and participate in group discussions, They let YOU THE PATIENT choose which class you wish to attend. A counselor does not tell you what you should be doing. They have 2 – 3 different classes at a time, so it’s your choice. If you don’t feel like doing a class… you can simply choose something else. No problem. I found this to be odd. I thought that a trained counselor should be telling me what I should be doing? All food is not included in the price. You get $ 100 per week (they take you in a van with your entire household on Saturday at 6:00 am — your only chance to go btw) to buy your food (all 3 meals), anything else you want that costs more than that… comes out of your pocket. So, grocery shopping can be hectic with 7 people trying to shop at once. Men and women are in separate houses, and they keep men and women far apart. I had blood in my stool at one point. I told the nurse on staff that is floating around the center each day about it… I was given a blank notebook and told «keep a diary of how often is happens and let me know». It continued for a couple of days, only for nothing to be done. This is when I decided it was time for me to leave. This part of California is known for Rehab centers. Residents in the area are aware of this, and you will definitely feel the presence of eyes on you at all times. Do plenty of research before spending $ 50,000 per month on this place. You saw the correct price! $ 50k per month. And, they urge you stay a minimum of 90 days.

This place is the most horrific, dirty, incompetent rehab I’ve ever experienced. From day one, they were disorganized, unprepared and had no idea what was going on. They move you from house to house to places that are rat infested and staff that is completely untrained and could care less about you. If you are over 30, and have half a brain cell, they don’t know how to communicate with you. There is a high probability that they are committing insurance fraud. Despite the disgusting living conditions, «class time» is an absolute waste of time. The facilitators don’t know how to manage their classes and stay on track so you actually learn something. They recruit from homeless shelters. This place is a total scam waste of money and waste of time if you actually want recovery. Save yourself the time and the headache I had to go through and don’t go to Morningside. The best decision I ever made was to leave that place and find a new rehab.

Kris, Tofer, and Steve are solid stars in this field or recovery. I cannot imagine how I could have went through that impossible dark time, with out these glimmer of lights in my path and journey. These are the kinds of people who I trust would be the same and do the same thing regardless because they value integrity. I thank these people and Morningside’s myriad of staff for being there.

I went to morningside in december of 2014. I am so glad that i went– i learned a lot about myself and got pushed out of my comfort zone. I wanted to run when i first got there out of fear– i am so glad i gave it a chance.

If I could give this place a 0 I would! They have no staff watching over the living area they seek to you in the phone they have all these wonderful housing and all the housing is in the worst area of Costa Mesa! The staff that runs this place are all there to just make money they truly don’t care about their clients! They opened up a «support house» aka detox when they aren’t licensed to do so and the clients are still getting high n drunk there and leaving! They have co-​Ed living which is all bad! I was a client here and all we are to them is dollar signs! I was suppose to stay 6 months and I left after 50 days! This place is a pure joke and I wouldn’t send ANYONE there once so ever! They say their housing is on the beach that’s a lie they said its ²⁴⁄₇ staffed that’s a lie and so much more it’s truly sad because families send their loved ones and they have no clue what’s going on! I will be calling CARFT on them as well a the city!

At first I loved my stay at morningside. They have a great facility and the therapeutic staff for the most part are true and honest.
First and foremost, the admission team will LIE LIE LIE to get you in. I have heard numerous over promising as well as a complete lie about them covering my dog fee when I was detox. They said they would pay and then when I showed up «sorry» things changed. Not only will we not board ur dog. You ha e to pay us $ 500 for a pet fee. (They tried to charge my friend 1500 just for offering to adopt a dog someone whom relapsed abandoned at morningsise. (Morningside wanted to put it in a pound.
This leads me to morningside throwing me out because my dog was using the porch as a bathroom. No behavior contract, just an immediate discharge with an hour and a half to pack. I requested a day or two since I didn’t relapse but was threatened with cops. I suffer from mental disabilities and everyone staying in the sober living is disabled as an alcoholic. Even without that we fall under the fair housing agreement and the California tenets right (despite what morningside illegally had us sign and says, they r trying to take advantage of people down on the luck)
I wasn’t given any assistance to find somewhere else, just told to beat it. They tried to force me to leave. Yet I evoked the law and asked for reasonable time to find accommodations. They were disrespectful and I ended up staying
Monday comes around and they found two shady cops to come by. They beat around the bush with me trying to intimidate me to leave early. They knew I was waiting on my ride that day. The cops pulled John the driver to the side and I overheard the following: «cop: the kid is technically right. There really nothing we can do
John the staff driver: can’t we remove him from the property and change the locks ***both illegal evictions***
Cop: you can di what’s called a citizens arrest and then legally we can a assist you in restraining him.
Me: what have I done illegal? I’m not restraining all my living belongings have been here for 3 months.
Cop then violently rips phone from my hand because I was taking video. Then they refuse to let me grab my belongings and are forcing me to leave without them. I protest and am physically arrested by the cops only after they asked John if he wanted me arrested by citizens arrest, after John did nothing.
Morningside is constantly lying and over promising. They are too large and money driven to offer focused attention. This has the highest rate of relapse that I have ever seen!
If you wish to see the video, or hear about plenty other scandal I have seen. Please email me at

Horrid facility, avoid at all cost!
unprofessional and uninterested staff. they are there to take your money, not to honestly attempt to help you get sober.
I am an addiction counselor and experienced this place first hand.
there are many facilitates in the area, give one of them a try. (Practical recovery being among the best)

I made a call to a place I thought sounded Excellent, and this man from Morningside answered the phone. I said that one if my kids has a serious problem with drugs and he had almost died a week ago. That he had gone to a supposed rehab which was just a store front. That these people had dropped him off at a homeless shelter after taking my money for a medically assisted detox facility. The man on the phone rudely and very hatefully said, Yes well what do you want Me to do about it.!##… Nobody in that field should talk to Anyone that way. A mother is reaching out to find a valid program, and that’s how you treat someone?

Morningside is a wonderful treatment center for multiple mental health issues. Morningside provided a recovery plan that saved a family members life! The program was comprehensive, provided real life experiences, and the staff was gifted in their treatment. My loved one was treated with respect and given the help needed to begin healing. They worked with the insurance and this program was much more affordable than other programs. My family is grateful for Morningside and their staff. They helped my loved one save herself!!! You may be confident that your loved one will be given another chance at a happy life!!! Thank you Morningside!!!

I came here to get help with my panic attacks as their mission statement said they do individualized treatments for each patient, be it mental issues or drug addiction. I thought I would be getting some good 1 on 1 time with a therapist and would be able to attend daily meetings focusing on recovery from anxiety… At least that’s what they told me before I signed their no refund policy and wrote them a check.
Their mission statement is a LIE. They are so understaffed that it took a week to even see my «personal therapist» and they would just stick me into groups dealing with Heroin addiction or Drinking. Um… I came here for anxiety, not for any substance abuse? I went to one group meeting while there that was labeled «relief from anxiety» but again it just ended up being about crack, heroin, etc…
They did have time to get me to see their drug pushing shrink within my first days. I only use holistic medicine and didn’t like them trying to push onto me their new «wonder» Big Pharma drugs. I declined their numerous offers, did research on what they were trying to get me to take and was horrified by the side-​effects these drugs can have. They are obviously getting paid by RX companies to push drugs onto their clients. My roommate was given Seroquel for sleep issues!!! Seroquel is a heavy-​duty anti-​psychotic medication and should not be used as a sleep aid. So they get these «kids» (most clients were under 25) off their drugs of choice and get them hooked on their overprescribed RX Drugs so they can make more money. Very unethical and truly only about capitalism at Morningside.
While there the only relief I got from my anxiety was by reading self-​help books on my Kindle which I could have done at home and saved a great amount of money. I’m glad I only paid for 2 weeks because they do not give refunds if you feel like their treatments aren’t working and would like to leave early.
I’m not a drug addict so I can’t really relate but from my observations the clients who were drug addicts there didn’t seem to be getting any relief either.
Most of the staff were courteous and would try to help answer my simple questions such as… What group am I in today? But honestly the staff were just as confused as the clients about things and were just going through the motions for their pay-​checks.
The ONLY positive about Morningside is they let you bring your pet (once you fill out paperwork and get it approved). I left my pet at home but I could tell the love some of the clients were getting from their pets far outweighed anything clinical Morningside had to offer.
Morningside is nothing more than an olive branch for Big Pharma to keep poisoning the minds of the susceptible while capitalizing on people’s pain.

This place should be put out of business. They claim to treat mental illness. Their «treatment» consists of placing patients in hospitals and dumping their belongings off in garbage bags and saying «see ya» with no regard for the person they’re supposed to be helping.
They’re all about soaking families for as much money as possible and dumping patients who desperately need help without even inquiring as to whether the patient has anywhere to go, leaving them stranded.
What a joke. These aren’t professionals. They’re hacks.

You either love it or you hate it. I did a little of both. The staff is very diverse and everything is a little crammed into each day just to say that we are «doing helpful stuff» to better ourselves. Honestly I am noooooot a 12 step person or a meeting guy or anything. I believe in staying busy and to just not think about it. Idle hands are the devils work! So I felt a little warn out by the repetitive of everything. But hey it worked. Anyway I had an amazing therapist who no longer is there and my favorite people are basically Brittany, Shannon, Matt, Joel & Lisa Harper. Some of these guys are always being said to be these «mean» or «horrible» people because they actually stay on your butt about what you need to be doing. That doesn’t make them bad people. They care enough to at least try and steer you in the right direction, some places will just make sure you get fed and that’s about it. Morningside really helped me realize I’m a little brat and I’m impulsive and I think I’m entitled and should get what I want and nothing better not go my way or I will throw the biggest bitch fit you’ve ever seen. Haha they made me realize that I’m a real person with other issues than being a «addict» or «gay» or whatever I labeled myself as. Everyone has many things special about them and MSR is the place to be for love and compassion and some drop jaw laughter (sometimes) lol love my staffs and just thought I’d put my two cents in on my mentors. Plus it’s realllllly nice and very close to the water mostly. They nip bullying and teasing in the butt as soon as it arises so if you feel uncomfortable or whatever about going. Don’t sweat it! You’ll warm up very fast and become a better person in the long run. XOXO

I was here for 2 months and really got a better understanding of myself. I finally have new goals and aspirations of what I would like to accomplish in the future. For the first time, I am really excited about the future and my life! I built a strong support network of people at Morningside. The community is really good here and inspires me to remain active in my recovery.

They’re really in it for the money. I have 3 years clean now and I’m able to go back and honestly say its not a supportive environment The woman’s group counselor Kate is a food addict. And they put me out when I really needed help as soon as they were paid. I had taken some extra meds there because they didn’t keep track and that’s what addicts do. They then tried to say my 75 year old mother was bringing them in to me. In my opinion they need to work a honest program to help others and set an example