Spencer Recovery Center

Drugs are everywhere. There are no consequences for clients behavior. If they don’t got to mandatory groups .oh well. The «beach house is disgusting and needs updated. Termites, windows that don’t open. Mold and ants all over the place. Someone is going to lean on the patio fence and fall.TERMITES. The electricity needs to be fixed.
Now on to the „main house“ Bed Bugs in two rooms. After it was exterminated the kept the same mattresses. The state needs to make a surprise visit and take every sheet off every bed and see the mattresses. They have never been cleaned and at this point cleaning won’t help. No Dr on staff and or Nurse during 11pm-8am…“RA3» what a joke. You can’t talk, be human. And Insurance fraud. They will sign you up in the past for Health net and pay the premium. The State needs go in there with a fine tooth comb. To Much to write
PS Spencers Recovery will fly you to California. and tell you the will give you a ticket back home. When that time comes good luck. Spencers Recovery tells you they will not get you a ticket. And you will have to find your own way home******(*************************

EXCELLENT rehabilitation center! I’ve only been here two weeks and I feel relaxed, centered, and most importantly cleansed. I entered in their Executive Program and found they were very accommodating with my needs to stay in contact with work related needs. Additionally, they made room for my dog and he is allowed to go to group sessions as well as stay in my room with me. The location overlooks the Pacific and you merely walk out the back door and down the steps to the sand. I highly recommend this Center for anyone drowning in addiction, you’ll find your sober self here at Spencer’s.

Hello I’m a junkie for 15 yrs, I’ve been to 7 rehabs. I know more about drugs and rehabs then 90% of the population. I am going to take you through one and a half days there. As I walk through the hall. I notice 2 people sweating, with a garbage in front of them. I found out that there is no professional doctor, or any medical advisor, they are «nurses». They had been using heroin for ten yrs. The nurse gave them suboxone for 3 days and cut them off. Anyway they were so sick they left to get dope. As I sit in my 12:30 group, a girl leaves, smokes weed and comes back to group. Nothing happened. As me and my friends talk in the hall, the topic is credit cards, and how three people’s were stolen. 8 30 PM group two people are smoking heroin in their bathroom. They get caught w burned foil and straws. Due to not enough proof of heroin nothing happen. At 9 30 I went to the laundry room where 2 people were having sex for like the 8^th time. Due to knowledge on how to manipulate ins companies that’s all that matters. The first day I walked in it smelled so bad I got a flashback of being in a crack house. My father came to c Me and told me «it smells like piss in here «. The reason I stayed was BC of two counselors Britten, and Michelle were beyond amazing. After spending 65,000.00 CASH BC I was tricked by the internet, I ended up leaving w a huge stye on my eye. I had to get it cut open by a doc. The reason for this was BC they do not wash the comforters. It was 2 months and not once washed. The doctor told me when your face touches sheets, or a pillow, that are so filthy and haven’t been cleaned, you will get a bad infection.
Thank you Chris Spencer

SPENCER RECOVERY SAVED MY LIFE!!! I entered treatment here as a broken person due to my drug addiction and conflict with my family. I was the type of addict that would lie and steal from my own mom which I am not proud to admit. During my treatment I received amazing counseling from my counselor and attended groups that had huge impact on my life and allowed me to see the changes I needed to make to become the man I wanted to be. The chef serves us great meals every day and we also go on daily trips to the beach. I cannot say enough positive things about this program.
I was also transferred to the Palm Springs facility toward the end of my treatment and was so impressed with the way I was treated when I arrived. The staff there are absolutely amazing and make you feel so comfortable from day one. I have over 6 months clean and sober now and I am so excited for my future!

AMAZING CENTER!!! I have a friend in recovery at Spencer’s and I must say that since entering treatment his whole life has changed. I have visited him there often and I am always impressed with how immaculately clean the facility is and the staff members are always very helpful. I don’t do reviews that much but I just felt the need to do this one because I am so happy to finally have my friend back! Thank you Spencer Recovery!!!

Horrible place. My son was transferred to them with medication and an evaluation. We were told they could handle dual diagnosis. It is all a lie. They took our up front money and insurance then put him out. They never gave him the medication. They tried a couple of days before they kicked him out but by that time he was unstable. They do not provide the professional help that is needed. They have rude people that are not qualified. They mostly use former addicts. Please do not bring your loved ones to this place. I will be making a complaint to the license board. They need to be shut down. I wish I had read these other complaints before sending him there. They have been doing this type of thing for years. Making money off of peoples pain. Shame on them. God is watching and karma is right around the corner.

do not go to spencers at all costs. they are extremely rude and unprofessional. i would especially recommend that robin and andrew in their admissions dept be required to attend training in being both professional and courteous. these two are prime examples of why spencers is a horrible place to recover. shame on you both

Spencer Recovery Center is a fantastic place to begin a new sober life. I am so thankful to have completed 90 days at this facility. My life has never been better. I have learned so much since being there and continue to expand my knowledge in life. I enjoyed the program they offered and it was impeccably structured. I gained so much from the groups they offered, they had outside AA meetings, AA panels in the group room, groups that focused on issues addicts deal with daily, thorough 1 on 1 counselor meetings, and assignments that helped re-​evaluate how our lives were unmanageable, and this was all on a daily basis. They also had a personal trainer named Robert Layton which had a workout class 5 times a week. Robert has been sober for over 18 years and has expansive valuable knowledge for everyone. He teaches a class called Recovery in Motion and it was one of my favorite. Robert teaches how to do yoga stretches, elastic band workouts, meditation, and body workouts that can be done anywhere.
The staff was polite, attentive, and understanding. All the counselors are knowledgeable and well experienced. Carol Coleman was my counselor, she was always pleasant, considerate, and enthusiastic. I am pleased to have had her as my counselor.
The best gift I have received in sobriety is having a meaningful relationship with my family. I am thankful for the support of all the staff at Spencer’s and my parents.
It is a great day to be sober.

DO NOT SEND ANYONE YOU CARE ABOUT TO THIS PLACE!!! They will accept your money as well as your insurances money and find a ridiculous reason to kick you out after the fact.
My brother has been to multiple rehab facilities and this has to be the worst. Not only did they not search him thoroughly when he arrived, but they kicked him out after four days (just enough time to receive the 10k from insurance) for bringing drugs into the facility. As a drug rehab program, you would assume that they would understand that addicts will always try to bring drugs into a facility. This place uses it as an excuse to take your money and kick you out.
To make matters worse, the owner of the facility’s DAUGHTER, who has also experienced issues with addiction spoke to my mother and I and explained that my brother would be transferred to another facility (as a procedural issue) since he clearly needed more «one on one» attention. She said he would be sent to a facility that specialized in this area. This sounded very reasonable and we agreed to it. Only a few hours later my brother called and told us that he had been locked up in an «isolation room» without his phone and was now being taken to the hospital to be «discharged». My mother and I had been told (as I previously stated, by the owners’ daughter) that he was to be transferred to another one of their facilities. Since my brother was dumped off at the hospital, my mother and I had to drive to pick him up. We arrived at the hospital and the nurse told us that there was no reason for him to be there and that this particular «rehab program» often dumped off patients there late at night (it was after 10pm) so that the patients weren’t their problem any longer. The nurse was so upset that she called the Laguna facility and they hung up on her after she stated her concern. I can personally confirm this since I was in the room and the phone was on speaker. After arriving at the hospital and being told by the NURSE that this place is a scam, we picked my brother up and drove back to the Laguna facility in order to pick up my brothers belongings and medications. Since my brother was only there for FOUR days of treatment, he had been prescribed certain meds by his doctor to help him with his withdrawals. They did not release his meds that night and made us come back the next morning. This was only after almost THREE HOURS of going back and forth trying to figure out why they dumped my brother at the hospital when they were legally liable for him. The excuse we were given is that they were the night crew and had no authority. They had many excuses but could not give an official reason why they could not accept m brother at another facility. ERIC was very helpful and tried very hard to help us. Unfortunately, ROBERT (also known as BOB) was convinced that my brother needed to go back to the hospital to «detox» off of benzo’s (Bob also told us that this was his drug of choice while he was in rehab) when in reality, my brother was being PRESCRIBED benzo’s by the programs nurse in order to help him with the withdrawals of his OPIAT addiction. BOB was emotionally swayed by his personal experience with benzo’s and kicked my brother out on to the streets and turned him away when he needed help the most.
Our insurance, like most other, only allows you to admit into ONE rehab program per month. This means that my brother was released after FIVE days and left to the streets for the other TWENTY SIX days of the month.
As if this is not bad enough, my mother was working as hard as she could to find a facility that we could afford without insurance since the SPENCER facility took all of our insurance money for the month (even though my brother was only there for less than a week) when she received a call from the facility. The call stated that they had my brother in a van and were taking him to a hospital to detox since he was addicted to benzo’s (which again, he is not and he is addicted to Opiats). My mother was very confused as to how they could be taking my brother to the hospital since he was SITTING NEXT TO MY MOTHER!!! The facility again, hung up on my mother and would not pick up her calls after the fact.
If you care about your family, send them ANYWHERE else besides the SPENCER FACILITIES!!! They will lie you, take your money, and leave your sick family member (s) to the streets (or just drop them off at the local hospital).
My brother is sick. He needs help. This place gave him false hope and kicked him out. I wish this upon NO ONE. Please avoid all SPENCER affiliated facilities in order to help your loved ones.

This place is the most unorganized and unprofessional treatment center I’ve seen. The staff is so confused as to what’s going on that it takes hours to get them to accomplish anything. This includes getting meds to finding a room for a new client. The workers in charge of the house often only have around 30 – 60 days clean. This is because the center keeps them there for free labor. I saw these «staff» members sleeping with the new female clients on more than one occasion. The staff treats the clients poorly. They lose client’s items from phones to the bags they came in with. The only genuine people there are the counseling staff. They are kind and actually care about your long term success.
I realize that a treatment center is a business first and foremost but I’ve never seen a treatment so obsessed with money.
If you can I highly recommend you look elsewhere for treatment.

This place is horrible! DO NOT SEND YOUR LOVED ONES HERE!!! Their customer service is a joke! You are treated automatically as a criminal. A liar. And not worth respect! Everything they promise you in the beginning when they are trying to sign you is a lie! Rehab is scary to be begin with and this type of treatment doesn’t help when you are away from your known environment! Plus, they violate your human rights by making you sign papers that you can’t leave reviews or talk about them which is against the law to ask! THowever, if you don’t care about any of the above and u just need a box with a bed to detox then this place is for you. If you expect more from your rehab center then you are better off at another place! ***they have the nerve to get mad at you if you refuse to blindly sign their admissions forms! I couldn’t believe it! It’s just horrible!

Spencer Recovery had quite a few similar characteristics to jail. Lockdown with extremely limited outdoor space at the facility and bad food. Also, it seems like more of a business that is highly interested in making money; almost a pyramid scheme kind of setup. I was there for about 6 weeks. My relapse risk was very high the whole 6 weeks because there were so many drugs present, circulating through the facility client-​to-​client — lots of relapses. I saw about 10 people get kicked out in a 24-​hour period for relapsing. Now that I have left (its been about 3 weeks), I have been keeping in touch with a few fellow clients that are still there, and apparently not much has changed.
Before I checked in to this rehab center, I talked to a friend of a friend who had gone there in the past. I asked him how the program was. He replied, «Its pretty much a shit show.» Spencer Recovery lived up to this description. You can get clean anywhere if you really want to, but your chances of success will be lowered significantly if you are in a high risk environment.

I want to say Please look else where before putting a loved one in Spencer’s recovery. I dropped my daughter off thinking this was a safe place for her to recover, and believed she was in a safe environment. The first week I went to family day on Saturday there was chaos throughout the whole house. People doing drugs in the mansion, and on the Laguna property to everyone having relationships with each other. I was really upset, but didn’t want to be the parent who acted irrational, and pull my daughter out especially since my main concern was her sobriety so I called with my concerns. It was exactly the response I wanted they would be moving people from the property.
After the second week they tried to move her upstairs with another patient who was caught using. I will never understand the thinking of these people as I am not an addict myself, and don’t have the understanding. I do know this was not what I expected, and began researching to find this is exactly what Spencer’s was about. The more a patient relapses the more insurance money or private pay they can continue to charge for the patient. Mind you they have all the drug paraphernalia on the premises for these vulnerable people to see daily which being new to recovery should not be on the premises in my eyes. My heart was breaking, and I just wanted to get my daughter out of the property. I just didn’t want to upset my child in anyway, as this place did enough of that with the constant bs they would pull daily.
By the third week they were moving her, and I needed to pick her up, and take her to another facility which I was happy thinking maybe I would be closer, and keep a closer eye on what is going on. Of course now more money, and less treatment. I didn’t want to argue because I didn’t like what I had seen so far. I picked her up, and took her myself, and checked out the place before I left. I was still a little unsure of what this place was all about, but had no choice, and was praying for the best. I went on the weekend to find once again one of the patients brought drugs on the premises for the patients to use. I just don’t understand how they can let this continue to go on, but regardless of what I felt this was not going to stop.
It’s insane to think this is a professional business, and this has continued to go on, and it hasn’t been stopped. I am praying people STOP before putting a loved one into any of their centers. They don’t seem to care about the sobriety of their patients because they want them to relapse so they can collect more money. It’s a shame, and could go on and on to other incidents that had taken place, but I am just begging you to stop, and rethink Spencer’s for it will be your biggest nightmare, and cause your loved to relapse. I wish I would of checked out Unilocal before sending my loved on to the pit of hell.
I would give five stars to Carol and Will at the Laguna facility and Alisha from PS as they seem to care about their clients. Most of the people in the facility breach patient confidentiality, and lie about everything they say. I guess that is a known addict behavior.

My experience with SRC comes from a friend that I have seen turn his life around with the help of SRC.
While its true, not every recovery center is perfect, nobody is. I think that remembering addicts are people who do not like to have to follow rules, we don’t like to look at our part and recovery homes will always push every button. BUT if the person sticks it out, like my friend did, they will become an honest, trustworthy, loyal and loving productive member of society. THAT is what SRC has done for one of my friends and for that, I will endorse them, regardless of my opinion. Good job T.