Tasnia Akhter
i spent a month and a half at elevate point, and my experience has been incredibly welcoming. providers are warm, and believe in you. the facility is designed with a calming presence of comfortable couches, pastel green walls decorated with plant art, warm orange lights, a big patio for outside class, TV, and snacks with variety of beverages. as a woman with autism, this setting feels inviting rather than traditional clinical rooms that are bland & lack personality. there is also art therapy, yoga/meditation room, an addiction coach, nurse, psychiatrist, couples & family therapist, and they rotate as facilitators for group therapy sessions. you feel a part of a community, with clients & providers offering compassion rather than judgment. you learn the baby and big steps to love yourself here. things run on a consistent schedule, and my therapist (the program director) has been incredibly supportive to my extenuating circumstances and needs. my life would have gone very downhill if not for her and the program’s abundance in coping strategies, advice, & education. the routine aspect is the push you need to get back on your feet. make it a point to be on time or early, because it affects you and the group’s ability to use the time to be productive & not disrupt other’s moment to share details of their journey & offer you feedback. (i was late often due to personal challenges, but the effort & discipline i put to be there on time, despite that, has made it a lot easier for me to be early at my new job which is a big deal! it means that my efforts didn’t go nowhere.) group sessions, whether you are there 5 days a week or once, offer ample time to say what’s been challenging and how we can navigate together. you don’t just vent and go home. all walks of life come here & that is refreshing. relapses are not met with punishment, and honesty and vulnerability are respected. group also has psychoeducation, and it’s empowering to receive the brain & body knowledge to understand yourself. activities are everyday too, so that you can practice or play to connect. it’s not like a strict 10-step program. wellness is viewed holistically, so we learn about things like gut health and learn where we may have deficiencies. something that gave me the most hope was learning here that the brain is malleable, so we can hold onto the fact that anyone is capable to succeed and grow right where they’re starting, even if you have faced health damage that seems irreparable. there is access to medication & a comprehensive assessment so that you aren’t prescribed a generalized pill that doesn’t make sense for you. in my hardship they have been incredibly accommodating. thank you to elevate point for changing my life and making mental health and addiction treatment feel like a journey and not just a setback. can’t tell you how much advice i got here is staying with me for life. this one’s for the books! :-)