Summit Behavioral Health - Serenity At Summit

I am an attorney practicing in the state of New York. For many reasons I felt the need to attend a detox center for a few days. After spending four days at Serenity at Summit Union, I must implore you, if you value your personal sanity and your general well-being, NEVER SET FOOT IN THIS INSTITUTION. And I do not use this term lightly - Serenity is a scam. The therapists make token references to some kind of philosophy that is not thought out. Their organization is minimal. "Inmates" spend most of their days planted in front of one large big screen television, even though there are other rooms with televisions. Ostensibly the reason is that "there must be a tech in the room wherever the patients are." However, many of the techs who could be perusing the halls (and there are very few halls - this is as confined a space as I have ever spent four days in) and checking on patients as they engage in meaningful activities, instead spend their time playing cards and, at night, sleeping. The sleeping part is especially troubling because all of the fire escapes are locked, and can only be opened with a tech's key-card. But guess what, if the tech is asleep somewhere or otherwise MIA, all of the patients will be trapped on a burning floor. Further, no one is allowed outside to get sunlight unless it is during one of 7 smoke breaks. During these breaks patients can wander around the small portion of the designated smoking area in a parking lot. Finally, if heaven forbid you decide that you want to leave early, the doctor is no where to be found to give you medical clearance. This is not laziness, but set up on purpose to cause patients to either stay longer or leave without medical clearance. Either way, Serenity gets paid for a longer stay (this is a money making scheme more than an institution that wants to help people). Further, if you want to leave on a weekend, they claim that only two people have keys to their safe, and therefore they get to keep all of the cash that you arrived with. Oh, and the food is terrible. Unless you are under some kind of legal mandate to attend detox at this institution, avoid it like you would avoid THE PLAGUE!