Amity Foundation Circle Tree Ranch

This place was amazing! The property is beautiful. The staff caring. Just loved everything about it!

I would strongly advise against choosing Amity Circle Tree Ranch as a rehabilitation center (or whatever they want to call it). I have the experience of working there many years ago and then returning as a student after a relapse.The directors and head staff are mostly former members of Synanon, one of the worst cults in American history (watch the documentary about it.). While it may seem like Amity is different from Synanon, the core philosophy is still the same. It is basically a communist/ leftist indoctrination camp. Their staff are tyrannical and emotionally abusive. They practice humiliation rituals in order to break people down so they can build them back up according to their philosophy. Their director kept urging me to confront my bullies in the community forum, and when I finally mustered up the courage to do so, i was interrupted by the head counselor who turned the entire thing around on me and berated me for 30 minutes straight while defending the bully. I broke down into tears, and then others jumped on the bandwagon and continued badgering me. It s almost as if the entire incident was planned. Why would the director insist on me confronting my bullies if all they re gonna do is defend the bully while publicly berating me?In SynAnon, these humiliation rituals were referred to as the game. The language may have changed, but the concept is still the same.This happened 7 years ago and I still have to work through my PTSD with a therapist.Another example of using different language to hide their humiliation rituals is when they isolate you from the community but make you sit and do writing assignments on a public bench where everyone walks by and looks at you. In prison, this is called solitary confinement . But at Amity its called a quiet time of reflection. The food is garbage. Mostly vegetarian with minimal protein or nutrition essential to recovering brains. I have a legitimate gluten allergy, and had to fight with the kitchen staff for a month straight to get any GF options. I was also bullied daily for not eating gluten. Even prison food has trays where everything is separate, so you don t have to eat anything you don t want to eat. At Amity, there is only one meal option for everyone and its all slopped together on one plate. The kitchen staff are disgruntled and hate their life, and it shows by how they treat people.They once allowed trips to the store for snacks. Now they make it almost impossible to get any outside food or snacks.They subject their students to long seminars about subjects like climate change, calling our president a racist, and other left-leaning subjects that have nothing to do with recovering from addiction and everything to do with trying to impose their ideology on students during a vulnerable time where they re more inclined to believe whatever they are told. Its not like they can turn on Fox news and hear a different perspective. No, they try to restrict outside information as much as possible. Instead of presenting both sides to every debate, they present only their side and don t challenge the students to think for themselves or formulate their own beliefs.One of the most important features of a successful rehabilitation center is a core belief in a higher power. Amity does not even touch on the subject of God or spirituality. Instead, they want you to believe that their community is your higher power. So what happens when you leave? Basically they do nothing to prepare students for the outside world. They would rather promote fear and a sense of long-term reliance in their community.It looks beautiful on brochures, but that s because the students are slave-driven into maintaining the property day in and day out. They spend more time providing free labor snd less time receiving any beneficial recovery tools.I would be happy to talk in person with anyone about my experiences so that you have a better understanding of what to expect at Amity CTR.

I am a former patient of Amity. I completed their 90 day program within the last couple of months. I can tell you with all honesty that the complaints about the professionalism of the program are accurate if not generous. The vast majority of people who work there are former addicts who successfully completed a program there. This sounds great until you recognize that people who are employed there have been there for more than a year and have no other option. The price of them staying at Amity requires their own indoctrination and an acceptance that they are incapable of making responsible recovery decisions by themselves; they must embrace and espouse the Amity traditions and further the Amity Dogma. It is accurate to describe this place as cult. There are multiple times a day where members are required to read doctrine and then describe what that doctrine means to them. Additionally, a unique Amity prayer is recited in unison by all members while holding hands or touching each other. And finally, special ceremonies require the lighting of a candle to the Amity founder whose photographs, memorials and writings are venerated, saint-like at every opportunity.While it is impossible to paint every staff and faculty member at Amity with the same brush, it was much more common to be disappointed by their lack of professionalism and courtesy than surprised by their kindness and empathy. They seem to operate under the motto, that s not my job! while filled with a combination of Contempt and apathy. However, the patients there deserve so much better. And I fear that Amity will never get better because it never examines itself, or its procedures and policies in a meaningful way. They are content with treating residents poorly, and punish anyone who demands better. Somebody should inform local media so that a spotlight can be shone on this inadequate and sometimes hurtful (deadly) program.