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Spruce Mountain Inn

155 Towne Avenue Plainfield, VT 05667
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Spruce Mountain Inn VT 5667

About Spruce Mountain Inn

Spruce Mountain Inn has been around for over 40 years. It’s a private residential treatment center that can accommodate up to 12 young adults from 18 to 28 who’re experiencing mental health and substance misuse challenges. You’ll find ‘em located in Plainfield, Vermont.

They’re just 10 minutes from Montpelier and close to the Winooski River. That means you can either go into town during community events and start reforming social bonds with your peers, or you can go along nature walks and enjoy the outdoors. Even though the priority is to recover from substance abuse, you can still have fun while healing your body, mind, and soul.

Once you sign up, you’ll focus on building life skills. They also provide guidance with school, work, and living a healthy life in addition to therapy. They have a 2:1 staff to client ratio, so you’ll get a lot of personal attention.

Residents spend a minimum of 30 hours each week in therapy. Treatment may include cognitive behavioral therapy, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, and act and commitment therapy. Intensive counseling is offered during the day or evening to accommodate those with various work and home responsibilities.

Group therapy is at the center of the treatment program. If you’re working on substance use, there’s the Psycho-Education Group. You’ll learn how dopamine shapes behavior and how substances affect mental health. This group also covers spotting addiction that doesn’t have to be related to drugs. This can include online gaming or internet addiction. You’ll also get to join the weekly Living Sober Group or 12 Step meetings.

Art play a role in your healing. Activities like painting, music, and sculpture are proven to help people express feelings that might be hard to put into words. Attending their studio workshops provide opportunities to explore your creativity and connect with others.

Setting up a payment schedule can be a little tricky. It’s important to note that the center doesn’t bill insurance directly, so you’ll need to take care of that yourself. They also don’t offer financial assistance. This means that you’ll need to make sure you can cover the cost of treatment on your own in case you have to pay out of pocket. Speak to your insurer to see if they have any out of network benefits.

Latest Reviews

Carolee Heaps
2 months ago on Google
5
I stayed here in the 90 s and it was life changing for me. I can see a lot has changed, but the program s mission remains the same. I am now a therapist myself, and I have never forgotten how SMI helped me through one of the hardest times in my life! I highly recommend for those motivated to do the work necessary to overcome their MH challenges. I never regretted the time I spent here! When I left, I was totally prepared for the world and a long career of helping others like me!
Response from the owner1 month ago
Thank you, Carolee! Yes, after 43 years, our mission remains the same. Happy to hear of your success! Best, Candace
Tom Noodles
5 months ago on Google
1
You start to get a little angry when you learn that "talk therapy" is actually not proven to work any better than a placebo.
Response from the owner2 weeks ago
Hi "Tom." Not sure what you mean by "talk therapy," but the treatment modalities we use at Spruce are evidence based.
Doug Crennan
5 months ago on Google
1
If you love your child, do them a favor and do not send them to SMI. My child was there for nine months. It s taken nearly 2 years of hard work to get them back on track and successful.Oh yes, my child learned to drink, smoke and vape there and is still suffering from Spruce PTSD. You d be better off staying in a five star hotel in Paris for three months, with your child,Instead of wasting your money and emotional energy here.Good luck. It s never easy.
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Rehab Score

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Scoring is assigned by a proprietary system which helps surface key metrics that determine quality. The 10-point scale factors in categories such as operations, customer satisfaction, and trust metrics. Read Full MethodologyCaret icon
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7.2 / 10

Location

Other Forms of Payment

Private insurance refers to any kind of healthcare coverage that isn't from the state or federal government. This includes individual and family plans offered by an employer or purchased from the Insurance Marketplace. Every plan will have different requirements and out of pocket costs so be sure to get the full details before you start treatment.

Self-pay involves paying for treatment out of your own pocket. You can use savings or credit, get a personal loan, or receive help from family and friends to fund your treatment. If you don't have insurance or your insurance plan doesn't cover a specific program, self-pay can help ensure you still get the care you need.

Addiction Treatments

Levels of Care

inpatient iconInpatient
Residential treatment programs are those that offer housing and meals in addition to substance abuse treatment. Rehab facilities that offer residential treatment allow patients to focus solely on recovery, in an environment totally separate from their lives. Some rehab centers specialize in short-term residential treatment (a few days to a week or two), while others solely provide treatment on a long-term basis (several weeks to months). Some offer both, and tailor treatment to the patient's individual requirements.
12-step icon12-Step
12-step programs are addiction recovery models based on Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). A number of substance abuse programs (including some drug and alcohol rehab centers) use the 12 steps as a basis for treatment. Beginning steps involve admitting powerlessness over the addiction and creating a spiritual basis for recovery. Middle steps including making direct amends to those who've been hurt by the addiction, and the final step is to assist others in addiction recovery in the same way. 12-Step offshoots including Narcotics Anonymous (NA), Cocaine Anonymous (CA), Dual Recovery Anonymous (DRA), Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous (SLAA) and Gamblers Anonymous (GA).
sober-living iconSober Living Homes
Residents who have completed a successful period at The Inn can apply to progress along their housing continuum. Residents who have been making good progress and demonstrate readiness for increased independence can apply to transition to one of their three supported on-site Annex apartments. Residents living in The Annex continue to receive comprehensive treatment services and engage in programming, but have some added schedule flexibility, use of their own kitchen, increased access to their technology, etc. Residents at The Annex attend Transitions Group and Independent Living Seminars to gain extra support and skill building for living more independently.
24-hour icon24-Hour Clinical Care
When you enter 24-hour clinical care in Vermont, a medical team monitors your health and is on-site to intervene quickly if any severe withdrawal symptoms occur. Due to the nature of some drug withdrawals, life-threatening symptoms are possible, so this level of care is highly recommended during the detox process. This level of care also helps meet other medical needs, as well as provide mental and emotional support through professional counseling.
medically-assisted-detox iconMedically Assisted Detox
Medical detox is the process of weaning your body off addictive drugs like alcohol, benzodiazepines, or opioids, under the 24/7 care of medical professionals. Often the first step in the recovery process, medically assisted detox takes place in an inpatient setting, where you will be closely monitored to ensure your maximum health and safety. Medications, like Suboxone or Vivitrol, may be administered if needed to alleviate any potential withdrawal symptoms.

Treatments

The goal of treatment for alcoholism is abstinence. Those with poor social support, poor motivation, or psychiatric disorders tend to relapse within a few years of treatment. For these people, success is measured by longer periods of abstinence, reduced use of alcohol, better health, and improved social functioning. Recovery and Maintenance are usually based on 12 step programs and AA meetings.

A person with substance dependence can achieve recovery through drug rehab in Vermont. Professional staff provide a combination of interventions that are designed to help you attain and maintain abstinence from drugs.

A combined mental health and substance abuse rehab has the staff and resources available to handle individuals with both mental health and substance abuse issues. It can be challenging to determine where a specific symptom stems from (a mental health issue or an issue related to substance abuse), so mental health and substance abuse professionals are helpful in detangling symptoms and keeping treatment on track.

Programs

adult-program thumbnail image
Adult Program
Adult rehab programs include therapies tailored to each client's specific needs, goals, and recovery progress. They are tailored to the specific challenges adult clients may face, including family and work pressures and commitments. From inpatient and residential treatment to various levels of outpatient services, there are many options available. Some facilities also help adults work through co-occurring conditions, like anxiety, that can accompany addiction.
young-adult-program thumbnail image
Young Adult Program
Young adulthood can be an exciting, yet difficult, time of transition. Individuals in their late teens to mid-20s face unique stressors related to school, jobs, families, and social circles, which can lead to a rise in substance use. Rehab centers with dedicated young adult programs will include activities and amenities that cater to this age group, with an emphasis on specialized counseling, peer socialization, and ongoing aftercare.
lgbtq-program thumbnail image
LGBTQ Program
Recovery is most successful when clients feel accepted and validated by their peers and treatment providers. Facilities that offer LGBTQ-inclusive programming are committed to creating a safe space where everyone can grow and recover without fear of judgment or discrimination. They will have dedicated policies in place to create a safe and supportive environment that fosters free expression.

Clinical Services

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a therapy modality that focuses on the relationship between one's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. It is used to establish and allow for healthy responses to thoughts and feelings (instead of unhealthy responses, like using drugs or alcohol). CBT has been proven effective for recovering addicts of all kinds, and is used to strengthen a patient's own self-awareness and ability to self-regulate. CBT allows individuals to monitor their own emotional state, become more adept at communicating with others, and manage stress without needing to engage in substance abuse.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is a modified form of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), a treatment designed to help people understand and ultimately affect the relationship between their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. DBT is often used for individuals who struggle with self-harm behaviors, such as self-mutilation (cutting) and suicidal thoughts, urges, or attempts. It has been proven clinically effective for those who struggle with out-of-control emotions and mental health illnesses like Borderline Personality Disorder.

Their expansive group curriculum is at the heart of Spruce Mountain Inn’s treatment model, and includes a carefully designed array of therapeutic process-oriented groups, psycho-education and skills-based programming, arts and experiential offerings, and movement and exercise groups. Group work is a necessary complement to individual treatment services in that it allows residents to work together with their peers on similar goals and to benefit from peer feedback and support.

All residents at Spruce Mountain Inn receive intensive individual treatment services during their stay from several clinical professionals who work as a multidisciplinary treatment team. Components of individual treatment include: clinical case management, individual psychotherapy, one-on-one support, psychiatric evaluation and individual meetings.

Trauma therapy addresses traumatic incidents from a client's past that are likely affecting their present-day experience. Trauma is often one of the primary triggers and potential causes of addiction, and can stem from child sexual abuse, domestic violence, having a parent with a mental illness, losing one or both parents at a young age, teenage or adult sexual assault, or any number of other factors. The purpose of trauma therapy is to allow a patient to process trauma and move through and past it, with the help of trained and compassionate mental health professionals.

eye-movement iconEye Movement Desensitization And Reprocessing

Research clearly demonstrates that recovery is far more successful and sustainable when loved ones like family members participate in rehab and substance abuse treatment. Genetic factors may be at play when it comes to drug and alcohol addiction, as well as mental health issues. Family dynamics often play a critical role in addiction triggers, and if properly educated, family members can be a strong source of support when it comes to rehabilitation.

Spruce Mountain Inn recognizes the importance that employment and earning a living play in the transition to independence for young adults. Additionally, they believe that the sense of accomplishment and enjoyment that come from successful work experiences enhances well-being and can provide a foundation for increased self-esteem and recovery from mental health challenges. Through their Career Development program, clients are offered unique opportunities to gain skills as well as to increase self-esteem and personal autonomy. These opportunities range from the vocationally related components of the Life Skills Program at the Inn to volunteer placements and competitive community employment.

Spruce Mountain Inn’s in-house chef prepares fresh, nutritious meals with a focus on variety, wellness, and community. Meals typically feature local and seasonal produce, healthy proteins, salads and/or soup, and an assortment of side options. Residents and staff dine together in their dining room or common room, often eating outside when the weather is nice. Meals are served buffet style and are a time of community building at Spruce. In keeping with their focus on independent living skill development, all residents participate in Cooking Group in order to build or advance their cooking skills. Under the guidance of their chef, they will learn fundamentals of menu planning, food preparation and storage, knife skills, and a variety of cooking techniques.

Recreational therapy allows you to find joy and purpose within healthy activities that are typically not a part of your life while you are addicted. These can include group games, arts and crafts, and fitness programs that help promote relaxation, give you an outlet for your emotions, and reduce stress levels. These factors are essential for long term recovery.

Arts programming is woven into many aspects of treatment at Spruce Mountain due to their empirically-proven therapeutic and health benefits. In addition to structured group time, residents are strongly encouraged to make art & music independently as a method of self-expression, stress management, and creative personal exploration. Spruce Mountain’s main campus features a well-equipped art studio where residents may paint, draw, sculpt, build, or otherwise create art.

Experiential therapy is a form of therapy in which clients are encouraged to surface and work through subconscious issues by engaging in real-time experiences. Experiential therapy departs from traditional talk therapy by involving the body, and having clients engage in activities, movements, and physical and emotional expression. This can involve role-play or using props (which can include other people). Experiential therapy can help people process trauma, memories, and emotion quickly, deeply, and in a lasting fashion, leading to substantial and impactful healing.

Amenities

  • weight iconGym
  • spa2 iconYoga Studio
  • home-setting iconResidential Setting
  • private-room iconPrivate Rooms
  • hiking iconHiking

Staff

Candace Beardsley, MSSW, LICSW

Founder

Bogie Foden, LICSW

Interim Director

Karen O’Hara, LCMHC

Clinical Director

Smita Lahoti, MD

Psychiatrist

Jim Hessler, MSW, LISCW

Clinician

Pauline Morgan, BA, AS, RN

Medical Coordinator

Tom Novak, MBA

Career & Education Development Coordinator

Brad Beaudet, MA

Residential Counselor

Contact Information

Phone icon (802) 454-8353
Building icon

155 Towne Avenue
Plainfield, VT 05667

Fact checked and written by:
Amy Ramirez-Leal, MA
Edited by:
Peter Lee, PhD

Rehab in Cities Near Plainfield

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Reviews of Spruce Mountain Inn

3.45/5 (35 reviews)
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Reviews

5

I've received help here like none I've gotten before. The staff is understanding and compassionate, but they aren't going to let you get away with anything stupid. I've learned to be more independent, better at handling tough situations, and I've gained a lot of confidence i ... Read More

Reviewed on 12/3/2018
Overall Experience
Date Submitted
Reviewer

Google Reviews

3.4 (34 reviews)
RAS
3 weeks ago
1

All of the people who work there should be ashamed. The work that you do is truly disgusting.

Tom Noodles
3 weeks ago
1

Peer reviewed studies have shown that talking to a psychologist is no better for you than a placebo. Therapy is a pseudoscience, and spruce mountain inn ought to close its doors for good.

D
1 month ago
1

Save your money. This program only served to make me feel worse and more depressed after thousands and thousands of dollars. It helped contribute to and exacerbate some of my conditions. With how much money that we all have to spend on the program, you think there would be more offered or at least better care. I did not find that to be the case.

Nolan Bahlke
1 month ago
1

My experience at SMI was not the best. Having recently gotten out of the military I was looking for a program to help me get back on my feet (ie. job, social life etc.). I had a phone call with the acting director before coming to SMI to help me get a better idea of what the program was about. Having looked at their website and having taken notes during the phone call I thought I had a good idea of what the program was going to be like. On the phone call I was told that there were seven ski trips planned for the winter and that they strive to get out every weekend and do something fun. This was partly true. When I arrived I soon found out that there were not going to be seven ski trips. I don’t want to sound like a snob but the skiing was a big deciding factor for me when choosing a program. I felt as if there was a little bit of bait and switch. When it came down to it there were only going to be two opportunities to go ski that winter. The reason I bring this up is that this is not the only example of how things were very different than what was advertised on their website and what was told to me on my phone call. On their website they say that there are opportunities for fine dining in nearby Montpellier. This was not the case at all. When we did order out there was a strict budget and we often got Dominos or Chinese takeout. The reason I mention this is that the cost of being at SMI is seventeen thousand dollars per month. Having my family pay this exorbitant price and then being told that popcorn and a drink is out of the budget when we went to the movies blows my mind. Another interesting piece of information I became privy to was that our families were being billed for every small expense (ie. coffee, snacks, events). Those types of things were not included in the monthly cost of seventeen thousand dollars. I also learned that one of the ‘clinicians’ was not certified yet and I had to sign a document saying that this person could not be held liable. I was at spruce for about two and a half months until I left due to the countless problems and white lies that were told to me to get me in the door. When leaving I was strongly cautioned that it was a bad idea and that I would struggle to succeed and have a handle on my mental health. I was instantly in better head space the second I left. Being stuck in an area like Plainfield is depressing and does not allow for proper growth. I won’t say it was all bad I met a few decent people and learned that SMI was not for me. I would not recommend this place to anyone because of the aforementioned issues and untruths that occurred during my stay. Only one staff member told me that he believed in me and sent me off with positive vibes. This review is not a reflection of the people who work there but it is a reflection of the program as a whole.

Carolee Heaps
2 months ago
5

I stayed here in the 90’s and it was life changing for me. I can see a lot has changed, but the program’s mission remains the same. I am now a therapist myself, and I have never forgotten how SMI helped me through one of the hardest times in my life! I highly recommend for those motivated to do the work necessary to overcome their MH challenges. I never regretted the time I spent here! When I left, I was totally prepared for the world and a long career of helping others like me!

Response from the ownerInvalid relative date format:
Thank you, Carolee! Yes, after 43 years, our mission remains the same. Happy to hear of your success! Best, Candace
Tom Noodles
5 months ago
1

You start to get a little angry when you learn that "talk therapy" is actually not proven to work any better than a placebo.

Response from the owner5 months ago
Hi "Tom." Not sure what you mean by "talk therapy," but the treatment modalities we use at Spruce are evidence based.
Doug Crennan
5 months ago
1

If you love your child, do them a favor and do not send them to SMI. My child was there for nine months. It’s taken nearly 2 years of hard work to get them back on track and successful. Oh yes, my child learned to drink, smoke and vape there and is still suffering from “Spruce PTSD.” You’d be better off staying in a five star hotel in Paris for three months, with your child, Instead of wasting your money and emotional energy here. Good luck. It’s never easy.

Jessica Fouch
6 months ago
5

I've worked professionally with Spruce Mountain Inn for several years and have visited the program on several occasions. I'm always impressed by how clean and beautiful the physical plant is, and I'm even more impressed by the clinicians and staff. I highly recommend Spruce Mountain Inn for anyone seeking residential support for young adults struggling with their mental health.

Nick Lvoff
6 months ago
1

In my case, this place functioned as an extension of the troubled teen industry 11 years ago, and to this day remains a traumatic experience that I don't think I will ever truly heal from. Parents, please do not take the decision to send someone here lightly. Do not trust the educational consultant who's value is driven by recommending expensive specialized care for your child, they might not care too much about the long term side-effects of the "care" that they're paid to recommend to you.

Timothy Farrell
6 months ago
5

We sent our daughter to Spruce several years ago. At the time she was struggling with her mental health and we were at a loss on how to best help her through this difficult process. We had several years of ups and downs, she was not making any significant process and was struggling on a daily basis. Things started to change at Spruce. We noticed a our daughter was more engaged, more willing to talk and started to become happy again. This has been a very long process but we feel that Spruce gave us a solid foundation upon which to move forward. My daughter is currently a college senior, graduating next semester, living independently, and successful. She made life long friends at Spruce and we are very grateful for the staff and leadership.

Ellen Carpinelli
7 months ago
5

I entered Spruce during the Rockbottom of my life. in a little under two years with a lot of hard work and dedication and the help of amazing staff and fellow residents I turned my life around. I would never have had the courage or mental energy to follow my passions in life without the help of Karen, Brad, Gail, Sara, and Tom. Thank you all so much

Karen OHara
7 months ago
5

I have worked at Spruce for many years. We are dedicated to creating a supportive environment for our residents. While we strive for excellence, we understand that our model might not be the perfect fit for everyone. We're committed to transparency and will always prioritize the well-being of those we serve over profit. We are always changing small things to ensure we are staying up to date, while maintaining the integrity of our program. We are open to feedback and questions at any time.

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