Anka Behavioral Health, Inc.

If I could give it zero stars I would

Elena Kim, It’s uncanny how much I can relate to your experience! I honestly wished I had spent more time at Herrick instead of going to Casa Oakview....

Hi, I was a former client at Anka’s Casa Oakview residential home, sent there after being hospitalized to finish my weight restoration. When my long awaited discharge finally came, I was sent to Casa in hopes of things being much more lenient and at least a little bit similar to what a normal life outside of a hospital looks like. Unfortunately, it was not like this at all. My experience at casa oakview was the worst experience of my life. The staff are unprofessional, some are rude and uneducated on eating disorders, the house is a mess all the time, the rules are extremely strict, and they promised many things for their clients that did not happen. After my 2 month stay there (which is quite long), i can say with confidence that I would have rather lived in the hospital for that long, than had to be in this residential home. Here are some reasons why - The clients find it hard to feel supported by the staff, it completely feels like the staff there are constantly gossiping and shaming the clients. I did not feel seen as a teenage girl with an eating disorder that i did not ask for, I felt looked at as solely a number on the scale and it felt very dehumanizing. I felt hated by all of the staff there, and often times they would make remarks in “jokingly way”, where they would almost shame you for your eating disorder and your actions. For instance, one staff member there would say to me “you’re just doing everything to pretend like you want to recover” and proceed by laughing. Also, it is common for people with an eating disorder to have the urge to hide food so they don’t have to eat it. When a 12 year old girl and a 17 year old boy did this, they were constantly shamed for it and put down, as i saw it first hand. You don’t feel like you have people to talk to, in fact, most of the MHRWs (people who work shifts there) are kind, but also inexperienced with eating disorders. One time my father called and i was on the phone with him. We bickered a little bit and then i began to cry. Then one of the staff members yanked the phone out of my hand and spoke into the telephone saying “she doesn’t want to talk to you anymore, BYE!” and hung up the phone. She looked at me and said “that’s how it’s done!” AND I WAS IN SHOCK! How unprofessional is that?! The therapists there are nice for the most part, but i still felt like i couldn’t open up to them.. They made it feel super hard to connect and I didn’t feel like i had their support all of the time. At Herrick Hospital in Berkeley CA, the staff there are some of the nicest people i’ve ever met. Even though the experience at the hospital was not fun, the staff made it easier. They were always looking out for your needs, and it felt genuine! They would always offer to talk if you needed. On top of this, Casa Oakview’s rules are severely strict. Although it’s a house, you are only allowed to watch TV for usually 45 mins - 1 hour each day, which is in the morning. (Let’s not forget that they FORCE you to wake up at 6:30 am.... and breakfast is served at 8:30). You also are forced to change into a HOSPITAL GOWN 6 TIMES A DAY while you eat your food. You are only allowed to make phone calls ONE HOUR of the day. Imagine how difficult this is when there’s 6 clients all trying to call their friends and family. I understand that their priority is to weight restore, but, they made it MUCH harder by not providing professional and proficient therapeutic support and having the environment always be very uncomfortable and rigid. What seemed most disappointing and angering to me is that they promise you to have hands on experiences where you get to cook your own food but this is a lie. I wasn’t even allowed to step FOOT in the kitchen. I never cooked my own food or prepared my own ONCE there. They also promise weekly group outings for leisure on Saturday’s. All of my 8 weeks there, I went to TWO. In conclusion, if you are thinking about sending your child there, I confidentially do not recommend doing so. Other amazing facilities that i attended were Herrick Hospital as well as their Php program.