Contemplating Treatment? Let's Talk Admissions

The hardest part of getting help is often the moment before help begins: that first phone call. We sit down with Alycia Aldieri, a behavioral health professional, who leads admissions for eating disorder treatment programs, to explain what “higher level of care” actually looks like from the inside and how the admissions process can be supportive, clear, and deeply human.

We walk through the real flow of admissions step by step: the first call that gathers basics and offers validation, the deeper clinical screening that reviews mental health history and eating disorder behaviors, and the practical pieces people worry about most like insurance verification, cost expectations, bed availability, and waitlists. Alycia shares how her team sets a “boutique” standard for caller experience so you are not repeating yourself, guessing what comes next, or feeling like a number.

From there, we dig into the emotions that derail decisions. What do you do when fear shows up as twenty questions in an email? How do you respond to “I’m not ready” when an eating disorder thrives on delay? We talk about reading online reviews without letting anxiety drive the narrative, addressing concerns about treatment trauma, and answering parent fears about whether a teen might “learn” new behaviors in care. Alycia also explains the guardrails that protect clients, including supervision, boundaries, and what happens when someone cannot comply with safety expectations.

If you are contemplating residential treatment, PHP, IOP, or any other level of eating disorder care, let this conversation be your map and your reminder that willingness can exist alongside anger, grief, and anxiety. Subscribe, share this with someone who needs it, and leave a review so more people can find steady guidance when they are ready to reach out.

https://odysseybehavioralhealth.com/ 

Show notes:

Trigger warning: this show is not medical, nutrition, or mental health treatment and is not a replacement for meeting with a Registered Dietitian, Licensed Mental Health Provider, or any other medical provider. You can find resources for how to find a provider, as well as crisis resources, in the show notes. Listener discretion is advised.

Resource links:

Hilltop Behavioral Health: https://hilltopbehavioralhealth.com/ 

Alliance for Eating Disorders: https://www.allianceforeatingdisorders.com/ 

ANAD: https://anad.org/

NEDA: https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/

NAMI: https://nami.org/home

Action Alliance: https://theactionalliance.org/

NIH: https://www.nimh.nih.gov/

How to find a provider: 

https://map.nationaleatingdisorders.org/

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us

https://www.healthprofs.com/us/nutritionists-dietitians?tr=Hdr_Brand

Suicide & crisis awareness hotline: call 988 (available 24/7)

Eating Disorder hotline: call or text 800-931-2237 (Phone line is available Monday-Thursday 11 am-9 pm ET and Friday 11 am-5 pm ET; text line is available Monday-Thursday 3-6 pm ET and Friday 1-5 pm ET)

If you are experiencing a psychiatric or medical emergency, please call 911 or go to your nearest emergency room.

Transcript

Mission And Trigger Warning

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Join us as we redefine, reclaim, and restore the true meaning of health.

SPEAKER_02 0:04

Let's dive into the tough conversations about mental health, nutrition, eating disorders, diet culture, and body image. This is Nourish and Empower.

Sponsor And Resource Disclaimer

SPEAKER_02 0:20

This episode is brought to you by Hilltop Behavioral Health, specializing in eating disorder treatment. Hilltop offers integrated therapy and nutrition care in one compassionate setting.

SPEAKER_00 0:38

Visit www.hilltopbehavioralhealth.com because healing happens

Meet Alicia And Her Path

SPEAKER_00 0:45

here. Hi, everybody. Welcome to this week's episode of the Nourish and Empower Podcast. Today we have with us Alicia Aldiri. She achieved her master's in clinical psychology and is a dedicated behavioral health professional with a passion for creating supportive, compassionate environments where individuals can heal and grow. She has experience in program development, admissions, and operations within residential eating disorder treatment with a strong focus on providing high-quality person-centered care. Alicia enjoys building systems that enhance both the client and staff experience while ensuring treatment programs operate with excellence. She is committed to fostering meaningful connections, promoting recovery, and helping create spaces where individuals feel safe, respected, and empowered throughout their healing journey. Trigger warning: we are identifying the following triggers that will be discussed, but are not limited to eating disorders, mental health, sobriety, and higher levels of care. Listener discretion is advised. This show is not medical nutrition or mental health treatment and is not a replacement for meeting with a registered dietitian, licensed mental health provider, or any other medical provider. You can find resources for how to find a provider as well as crisis resources in the show notes. Thank you so much for being here with us today.

SPEAKER_02 2:05

Thanks for having me. Thank you. And can I give you a compliment out of like not that has anything to do with anything? Sure. You've great hair. I swear, like a lot of a lot of the people that we have been interviewing, all I do is stare at the hair. I don't know why. It's like the first thing that comes to and your curls, the bangs, the whole like the va va boom. It looks so good. I said to thank you so much.

SPEAKER_01 2:30

Can I just say I started cutting my own hair and I started doing so? I was like in a meeting with someone last week, and I could see, and I was like, I'll be back in five. I just gotta like put some layers in. And she's like, What? And I'm like, I'll be back. I'll be back.

SPEAKER_02 2:45

That's incredible. That's like Maggie paints her own nails, and like I just could never, and I just feel like people that can like do self-care beauty things of those like natures solo. I'm like, power to you. Cause I just I could never.

SPEAKER_01 3:00

Well, now it's gotten to the point where I'm like, stop cutting, like, stop stop cutting your hair. Like, you're done.

SPEAKER_02 3:05

You know, you see it, and like every time you just see something, you're like, Okay, well, I could do this, and I could do see that's how I shaved my eyebrows off in seventh grade.

unknown 3:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:14

Which is a time now, you know. Because once you see, you're like, Oh, but this one is now like this, I gotta do this, I gotta do this. And then I literally have my eyebrows were this big from eighth grade formal. I was like, Well, that was a time. Oof, oof character building. We all went through an eyebrow phase, you know what I mean? Mine was just very prominent.

SPEAKER_01 3:34

Yeah, yeah, yep, totally.

SPEAKER_02 3:36

Uh yeah, I just have to put that out there because for the listeners that can't see the hair, the hair's herring.

SPEAKER_00 3:42

Oh my gosh, thank you so much. Thank you. All right. Well, now that you're like you're comfortable, right? Because we yeah, Jesse's great at that. She just throws a compliment right up at the beginning, and you're like, this is great. Okay, perfect.

SPEAKER_01 3:59

Yeah, I'm flying high. Yeah, perfect.

SPEAKER_00 4:01

Okay, well, we're so excited to have you. I was saying before we started recording, I have always wanted to do an episode talking more about the admissions process for higher levels of care and like for people contemplating treatment, you know, like what that could look like. But before we kind of jump into that topic, so curious what you got you into, like the role that you're in right now.

SPEAKER_01 4:24

Yeah, it's it's been a progression, right? So, like straight out of grad school, everyone that I knew was working at this treatment program local, and it was like a residential eating disorder mental health substance abuse program. So I just started there as like a behavioral health specialist, and then it was a fantastic just exposure and opportunity. But eventually I was like, well, I did get my master's, so I should probably like transition into something with all this debt. So their admissions department had an opening, and when I transitioned there, I was like, oh, this is like a beautiful blend of client care and like with how my brain works, like processes and like protocol and efficiency, and then it kind of just went from there. But I've always been in the residential world, eating disorder world, and I've been with my compodsey now for I think like eight and a half years. So yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:24

I love that this was the question that Maggie started this podcast with because I feel like with people in the mental health field, they don't realize that there are things outside of clinical care that you can go into with your master's degree in clinical care, right? Like just because I have my LPC doesn't mean I have to stick with individual therapy. Like there's so many other things that I can do. So I love that you are like a prime example of here other things that the R field has to offer that isn't just one-on-one, because not everybody loves the one-on-one individual care, right? You don't have to, right? Like even I I know somebody, I grew up with her, and she does organizational industrial um psychology or whichever. I always forget if it's OI or IO. And it's like there's so many different things with psych that you can do. So I love, love that you are a prime example for that.

SPEAKER_01 6:22

Thank you. Yeah, no, yeah, I mean, there's there's just tons of opportunity, and really like my my undergrad was in music therapy, and I just realized like, oh, I like music to be a hobby and not a job. And then so I was like, what can I transition to? Because I knew I wanted to like be of service to people. So yeah, it was it's just like a beautiful blend.

SPEAKER_02 6:43

Yeah, also love that. Gosh, this is so good already. I'm so upset. Because again, right, like so many people, they're like, Well, if I love it, right? Like Maggie's also a great example because right, like there's so many things that we can love to do, but if we love it as a hobby, if we do it as a job, it can root it for us, right? Like that was Maggie with baking. I know she's talked about it on the podcast before, and like you with music, sometimes the love for something doesn't always blend as beautifully as we would like to. Totally. Yeah, totally. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:16

I love that you said too that like working in program development and admissions, like that there's still a clinical care component because I think people don't always realize that. But you know, that when somebody is, you know, calling a higher level of care program to get more information or do an assessment, things like that, that like there's clinicians on the other end there because you need that background to know what questions to ask, or you know, how to phrase something or to answer questions, even right. So I think that's such an important piece that people don't always realize when they're calling out and you know, not it maybe having that understanding that like they're speaking to somebody who has like clinical expertise here too.

SPEAKER_01 7:57

Yes, and not and even for my team, not everyone on my team is a licensed counselor, like so, because we aren't providing diagnoses, but the way that I train a new hire is very it's like a three-week long training with a lot of micromanagement afterwards. But for me, it's like finding the person who's mission-driven, who has a at some understanding of an eating disorder, has a healthy relationship with food already, and wants to be of service in that way and like wants to help. If I have that, then I can, and you know, a smart, hardworking person, then I can more often than not like get them to a place to even do this job really successfully. But even so, I think if people are mission-driven, even if they don't have, you know, the training from education, of course, again, we're not put providing diagnoses, but they can still become an expert with understanding eating disorders from this position for sure.

SPEAKER_02 9:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:00

Oh, absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 9:01

I mean, if we even think about like Maggie and I, right, as like the people like in 100% clinical care, we weren't experts until we were in the field for a while. Right. You know what I mean? Like me in grad school, I can tell you right now for my LPC program, I think eating disorders had 10 minutes of showtime in our addictions class, or even I don't even know if we talked about it in our diagnosis class. Yeah, so it's not like coming into like I worked at Center for Discovery, their PHP I OP in New Jersey. Excuse me. And like I understood eating disorders because I started there, like it wasn't something that I learned in school. So I completely understand that for your team as well, they can build the knowledge and they can build the education based on everything that they're doing, even at the level that they're at, because once you're immersed in it, you're eating up all of that for you know, you're eating up all of that.

SPEAKER_01 9:54

Well, and it's such like a niche kind of it's a small world, like the eating disorder world, treatment world is so small too that yeah, I just find like you have to love working in this field to stay.

SPEAKER_02 10:08

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:09

Otherwise, like you burn out, people burn out, they don't like it, you know, whatever it is. So I find the people who connect to the mission are the ones who typically stay. Yeah, I agree.

SPEAKER_00 10:21

Yeah, definitely.

What Admissions Actually Does

SPEAKER_00 10:23

So, can you walk us through what an admissions process

The First Call And Screening

SPEAKER_00 10:27

looks like? So, for somebody who doesn't have familiarity from like the very first, you know, kind of phone call or online inquiry all the way to admission, like what does that typically look like?

SPEAKER_01 10:38

Yeah, so the way that at least for how my team is structured, we have this kind of like one call many solution approach where I have a team designated to our residential programs, and then I have a smaller team designated to our outpatient programs, but we all work together, but really that means that, and with with our company, we have five residential programs and five outpatients. So someone could call into one of our residential programs, and in that call, it could be identified that maybe one of our sister programs is better suited. So that coordinator can seamlessly, or they need a lower level of care, so we can do like all kinds of. So, with that being said, really like the first call is we are gathering demographic insurance information. We're understanding what led to them reaching out, what do behaviors and struggles look like now? It's like a 15-minute phone call, 15, 20 minutes. But I think it's pretty packed in with like just also validating whatever is going on and whatever they're feeling. And then typically the second call, we are reviewing insurance information and completing a screening over the phone. That I mean, again, this could happen, this is all very flexible, but typically in the second call, we are reviewing information with insurance, meaning what their insurance plan looks like, what cost of treatment would typically mean for them. And then we're doing that screening, which can take about an hour, give or take, and it's covering everything history, current mental health, substance abuse, eating disorder, uh, family history, medication, you know, providers, it's uh, you know, it's pretty in depth. And then we send that off to have the on-site team review if it is something that needs further conversation. If in that call, when that screening is completed, the coordinator on my team can identify you know, there aren't any concerns or things that need to be talked about more, then if that facility has an open bed, we can offer them to admit. Or if there's some stuff that might need just further conversation, maybe a medical diagnosis or very acute medical presentation, we can get feedback from the on-site team of what they need, work that out. And then if the bed has availability, we'll we'll schedule them to admit. Otherwise, they go on a wait list if there's a wait list.

Timeline And Boutique Expectations

SPEAKER_00 13:07

Now, I know I get this question all the time as a clinician in terms of timeline. And I feel like it's such a tricky question to answer when clients are kind of going through an admissions process because it's like, like you said, like there could be a bet available and we could go through those those first couple of calls really quickly, and that could all happen within a very short period of time. Or there could be more follow-up or things that you know you need to obtain first, and or there could be a waiting period too. And so if you had to give, I get it, I know it's like a rough estimate, but like what would you say is like a typical timeline for people? Because I think that's that's such a huge question I get.

SPEAKER_01 13:50

Sure. So if there aren't any clinical medical concerns, insurance is not an issue, and we have an open bed, and they're willing, it could probably be like a three-day. I mean, we've done 24 hours. You know, so what we what I've asked the coordinators on my team to do is in that first call, they should be talking about giving the caller expectations, like how I want my team the experience I want people to have is I don't want a call center experience because we're not a call center for one. And I want it to be like a boutique experience. It's what I would want, right? So it's like you go to the boutique and they're like, What's your name? And they, you know, put your name on the dresser and like, can I, what do you need? How can I? And they're kind of always two steps ahead when you're at a boutique. That's what I want a caller or a loved one to experience when they call us. Like, let me tell you the expectations, let me tell you about the facility. Here's what this process will look like, here's of what availability looks like. You know, because I just want it's so hard. It's so hard to call in that I want people when the coordinator is saying, like, do you have any questions? They're like, No, you answered all of them. Like, that's what I want. I want people to feel taken care of. So that should be provided up front, but it can be rather quick of a process.

SPEAKER_00 15:12

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, no, that's that was quicker than I expected, which is so helpful. And I love everything you're sharing too, because I've been with clients when we have made that first call together because making that first call is huge, right? And can bring up so, so many feelings. And I think overall, people are scared, like they don't know what to expect. They've heard a really, you know, kind of tough recommendation from their treatment team of, hey, we think you need more support. Let's find out what that looks like. And they you're spot on, right? It's like to have a person on the other end of the phone who is, you know, compassionate and kind and you know, maybe has their own kind of personal connection to this experience. But to just like talk to them like a person and be, you know, supportive and really listen and know their name and all of those pieces. I mean, it makes all the difference for the client, the family, and then also us as the clinician, like we love that personal handoff too, because clients trust us to recommend programs that we feel, you know, like we we feel will really take care of them. And so there's so much throughout this process that involves, you know, all parties.

SPEAKER_01 16:24

Yeah, and like ultimately we say like you get to set the pace here, and this is what this is where I'm coming from with this. This isn't this is why I'm motivated to come from you know this level of urgency, but you are in control, you know, like we are not here to control you or you have free will in all of this. I am gonna speak honestly, and I may see say things that are hard to hear, but it's all for that person's benefit, you know.

SPEAKER_02 16:54

Can

AI Tools Without Losing Human Care

SPEAKER_02 16:55

I ask a completely like off-cuff question? Yeah, because I thought about this when Maggie was like, it's so important to talk to a person, and I'm curious. This is like I feel like really off cuff, but like, is AI negatively impacting the admissions process, right? Because like I know everyone's always thinking, like, am I gonna be talking to like a bot or you know, things of that nature? And I'm just curious, in your line of work, is that impacting negatively or even positively, like to help with that process, or is that a concern anybody ever has?

SPEAKER_01 17:29

I don't know why that pops in my head, but I was like, No, it's it's an interesting question because when our companies started to like introduce AI more, which I think all companies are, I was like, are we gonna be without a job? Like, you know, like you know, which the answer is no. But the way that we are utilizing AI is because I have a team that oversees admissions to multiple programs, it's hard to always remember like what is the visitation for. And I mean, I'm it's really impressive how my team does actually have this all memorized, but we kind of have cheat sheets, and so we actually now are rolling out this like chat AI thing where they can chat with the AI and get the answers more quickly than having to like open up the document, which I think will just make the caller experience more seamless. But outside of that, like yeah, we're not really using it in terms of like caller engagement experience. That's so nice.

SPEAKER_02 18:26

Because I I agree with what you both are saying, that like that person-to-person connection is so important, especially when you're going to a higher level of care or you're in that contemplative stage of change of like, I know I have a problem, I know I really need treatment, but like I don't want my life disrupted, I don't want to have to go to treatment, I don't want my because residential's hard. You're eating your living, breathing recovery 24-7. Like there is no break, right? So being able to know that like that hasn't completely like infiltrated and like taking, I think is just phenomenal.

SPEAKER_01 19:02

Yeah, and I would be totally against it. Yeah, for that exact reason. Yeah. Yeah.

Fear Of Pausing Life

SPEAKER_00 19:10

And I feel like that lends into something else we wanted to ask you more about. But I mean, Jess, you hit the nail on the head. It's like a really big fear that people have is like I'm pausing my life to to go to treatment, especially when it's residential, right? Where it is that, you know, that 24-7 and I'm leaving work or school or my family for a period of time. So I imagine that comes in, you know, in the admissions process as people are weighing the pros and cons. So, how would you describe kind of your role in supporting people as they are weighing the pros and cons of going to treatment?

SPEAKER_01 19:42

Yeah, I think I think our job is to speak from a, you know, again, this is all about human connection, I think. And so from a loving place, from an and to be speaking from a loving place means to be honest and to yeah, be honest, authentic, and transparent, right? So it is sometimes playing the tape forward. So, okay, if you weren't, you know, going, if you weren't to come to treatment and this is what your life looks like now, what will that look like a month from now? What do you think that'll look like a year from now? Is that something that you really want to align yourself with? Is that really the future you see for yourself? Sometimes I get pulled into conversations because I am in recovery, so or other people on my team too, or we'll pull alumni into conversations as well. But it's speaking to I think it can be really impactful to talk to someone who's into the dark and just saying, like, I know, I know, and I'm telling you it's worth it, you know. So yeah, I just I think we just try to really be honest about what are the pros, what are the cons? Are the pros really pros of postponing or you know, and really trying to identify are these thoughts and feelings really coming from their authentic self, or is it coming from the eating disorder? And who do they want to align with? This you know, this quieted authentic self that's screaming for help. Do we want to give her more power or him? Or do we want to continue to empower this disease that's ruined their life?

SPEAKER_02 21:20

You know? That's such a good point. How do you because I'm thinking about, you know, I can't ever stop talking or asking questions, and I literally, hence why I'm a therapist. Totally. But even as like it through the admissions process, right? If someone is like, oh my god, I'm scared, I'm nervous, I have all these questions. How on

Too Many Questions Means Fear

SPEAKER_02 21:43

do you keep that to a 20 minute conversation? I'd have each call would be an hour and a half. I'd probably get fired because they'd be like, Jessica, we got to keep this moving, and I just can't do it. How do you keep them to such like time sensitive phone calls when this is such like an emotional? charged conversation that you're having with people.

SPEAKER_01 22:03

Yeah. I mean, you know, some calls are three minutes. Some calls are 20. Some are 40. You know, like it really depends. But I think more to what you're asking, it's like, because we'll sometimes get an email and it'll be 20 questions down to like what's the temperature of the room. You know what I mean? So it's like, ow. Yeah. But it's like, what's actually under this? So really when I get a handful of questions, I would rather just one not email them back or if I am saying when can you speak on the phone? And then what I would want to do is talk more about like I'm not I'm not against answering your questions, but I also just want to know what is motivating these questions, what's the feeling behind these questions. And I'd rather talk more about that. And of course I can get them answers for things that would be important for them to know. But when it gets to a place of like we're just kind of spiraling it's usually when there's that many questions, it's usually wanting a sense of control. And the sense of control is because there's fear.

unknown 23:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:08

So let's talk about the fear and like what is the fear? You know? Yeah. Yeah. That's like a whole therapy session right there. It kind of is sometimes yeah.

SPEAKER_02 23:18

So that's why I'm like I just I I think it's incredible that you guys can have such informative and like jam-packed like educational conversations of like this is what you're going through, this is what you need. Let's figure it out. Let's find your placement in such like a time like because me in an hour session I'm like maybe it's an hour and 15, maybe it's five like so I can't imagine when really facilitating someone taking the next step of their recovery into such a scary space how someone might just want to go and go and go and how you're able to ground them. That's that's even a thought too of like the amount of work and grounding you're giving people before they even go to treatment is probably also one of the first times they even feel protected in such a way that it's even like from the admission call they're receiving therapeutic care that they don't even realize they're getting which is amazing.

SPEAKER_01 24:09

Yeah. Yeah I think I think it's trying to identify and this is drastically like generalizing but it's like am I getting the person who is chronically helpless and then would it be helpful for me to continue to treat them like they're chronically helpless or would it be helpful for me to speak to them like you are powerful. You know let me remind you you are a powerful you know go there versus getting the person who is guarded and you know has all the answers and gets things done and is not emotional and for me to say like how are you feeling you know what I mean so it's also just trying to like yeah offer them that kind of feeling that like this is just a human conversation our goal is just to help you and and I've said to many people like who are very very sick I said this to a woman last week of like whether she comes to our program or not she needs to go somewhere you know and like that's it at the end of the day it's like you you can continue living your life this way absolutely it's a life of hell but you can choose that you have free will. Yeah but if you are going to choose treatment I hope I hope it's with us but

Reviews Expectations And Reality

SPEAKER_01 25:27

I just hope you say yes somewhere you know like something's got to give you you know so yeah yeah it's tough.

SPEAKER_00 25:37

Yeah and it's not even just therapeutic what you're describing but it's like trauma informed too because just having like setting expectations having consistency in the message from the admissions all the way to when somebody is actually you know in whatever level of care they they wind up in you know even just calling at the times that you say you're gonna call like having you know that dependability like all of that literally starts with like the first time that somebody reaches out and goes throughout this entire process.

SPEAKER_01 26:06

Totally and it's like pulling in loved ones if needed providers you know it's like how can we all wrap around this person? Because even that woman in particular like she was kind of iffy and so I was just like can I talk to your husband you know like okay I'll talk to your husband then and he you know and he gave some helpful context of like he's also kind of on at his wit's end and so we talked about boundaries but it's like because like addiction it's a family disease like eating disorders are it's not just the person it's a family disease for sure.

SPEAKER_00 26:42

Yeah I have a question I am curious to ask you more about how you all navigate people calling after having read reviews because that comes up a lot with us as clinicians where you know when we recommend the higher level of care to somebody we might say hey here's you know two to three options of places that we're gonna call but like go on the website see what you feel comfortable with and I don't know almost every single time people come back and they're like well I read the reviews right as look we we do that right and so I think you know sometimes people read reviews and they have an expectation of like wow this transforms somebody's life and that's going to be my experience and now they're going into it with this really really elevated expectation or sometimes people you know write reviews of their experience and somebody takes that and they're like well now I'm not sure if this is maybe the best fit for me. And I know how I approach that as a clinician in those conversations but I'm curious how you all do when that comes up in the admissions process.

SPEAKER_01 27:49

Yeah and you know like I love a review like I'm always reading as a consumer I'm reading reviews before I look into anything you know so what I tend to tell people is that like I'm glad you looked at the reviews you'll see a lot of good ones and a handful of bad ones right and so this is not to minimize the individual who's leaving the bad one they may have had a bad experience. They also are someone who maybe struggle with taking accountability in their recovery and you know that that could also be part of that conversation. It could be with someone who's just mentally unwell right like and sometimes you can get the vibe from how a review is left like does this sound like someone who's grounded in leaving a review or does this read as someone who's on a tangent and not really grounded right and so and I say with everything with all kinds of feedback whether in a review whether in real life like there's always a kernel of truth right so we we will look at whether it's a small kernel or what is the what is the truth in this was the ball dropped you know we are humans running a human program. So we also are not perfect right but we do strive to always provide really great client care you know so are there opportunities at times for us to grow yeah and does that sometimes come from dropping the ball you know and having someone have a negative experience or not the experience that they wanted yeah and do we grow from that absolutely right so but I think majority of what they'll see in the reviews is people are happy right they feel they feel like their life has changed. So I encourage people to just kind of focus on that but also we can get them in touch with alumni. We can right and for me even as someone who's in recovery like I will not work for a program I don't believe in I have quit programs that you know that I learned so much from that I carry in my heart to this day but got to a point where I was just like I can't as someone in recovery like I can't get behind this. So I left right and so I just for what it's worth right is what I try to tell people like I do believe in what we do and I've sent loved ones to our programs like friends of friends. So I wouldn't do that if I didn't think they would you know what I mean like why would I do that?

SPEAKER_00 30:27

So yeah yeah yeah no thank you for that that's really helpful and I feel like I like I said I kind of have my way of going about when clients ask that question but I love what you said too about like does this review feel like this was you know written in a way where somebody was grounded and in you know a kind of really reflective place because I think that's super helpful too. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 30:54

And just uh I do believe the person who's leaving that review I I do believe that was their experience. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 31:02

So but do they go through the world and this isn't everyone who's left a negative review right but for some of them do they go through the world being a victim of all their circumstances right um so yeah and I think too it's important to even ask the client like when they're reading the reviews which ones are you actually paying attention to right like are if you're really attaching to the negative ones is that because you're looking for something to be wrong for you to say it's not for me I can't because if you're so scared you're looking for something to validate your fear. You're looking for your narrative to be the thing that is correct right that's just like I don't know if that's basic psychology but like if I'm even thinking about like the basis of anxiety we're looking for things that validate our anxiety because we just need things to feel real in that moment. So if you're thinking I just need one thing to tell me I don't need to go to treatment or if the eating disorder is telling you that yeah the negative reviews might quote unquote my air quote sound better right but if there are more positive ones like what are we really looking at here and that's like another that we have to ask you know yeah yep totally are there any common misconceptions about higher levels of care that you feel like you you hear often and and if so anything like you want to debunk

Misconceptions And Putting Treatment Off

SPEAKER_02 32:31

there.

SPEAKER_01 32:31

Yeah I mean I think people think and I think there's truth in this but I think people think coming to treatment it's like they're going to jail they're going to prison like they're giving their life away and it's like so far from the truth like if only jail was in a mansion with 247 care. You know what I mean? Like does the eating disorder feel like it's in jail? Yeah as it should because we need it to go away right but I think yeah so I think these kind of thoughts of like I'm giving up my freedom it's a jail it's gonna traumatize me I I can understand why someone might think that but the reality is it's far from jail. It's actually the opportunity to have freedom you know we would like to break you free from the eating disorder and empower you get your life back is it going to be hard yeah is it 247 care meaning you're never fully alone yes is that hard absolutely you know but if for this short period of time whether it's one two three months you know that's a blip on the radar for the rest of their life you know so I think just trying to help people kind of pull out and see a little more globally of yes this feels really big right now and it is but in the scheme of things it's like it will be so little moving forward.

SPEAKER_00 34:08

Yeah yeah that's such a great point that like when you zoom out you know when when you're in it you're so zoomed in you're so in it but when you zoom out like the perception of it is so different. I also feel like too I hear this a lot where people will say like okay well not now but like you know but like Christmas is coming up or you know let's just wait till the end of the school year or you know like kind of always trying to move that timeline too and curious how that all gets navigated.

SPEAKER_01 34:40

Yeah I just encourage people to really again I just try to bring like reality to the conversation so like yes school is important yes it is hard to leave your children you know like yes all those things and the reality is or you know a big vacation the eating disorder doesn't take vacation the eating disorder does not care that you have a big exam. It doesn't care that you have kids it doesn't care. So if we're really thinking about this big thing or or these things that are going on in life like if you want to continue living life with the eating disorder during these things you can choose to do that. But the reality is you are still going to be doing these things with an active eating disorder is that the way you want to experience these things and I think even with school like my own experience of just for my own mental health my graduating was delayed you know and it's okay. Guess what I'm still A VP of eating disorder admissions like it's all good. It didn't still got to where I'm going you know so I think it's it's important to remind people too of like not to forget who they are like you are a high achieving very bright goal oriented person you're gonna get you will graduate you will get the job you will have the times with your kids you will you know like wouldn't you rather do that whole and healthy you know so it's just kind of talking it out yeah I have two questions and a statement I'd write them down so I didn't forget because this mom brain loves to forget things.

SPEAKER_02 36:28

So my statement because you brought up like you said like something about a mansion and that's something I always do with clients is I'm like well let's look at a treatment shall we like let me look let's look at the houses that you could stay in because I think clients are always thinking doom and gloom right like oh I'm gonna be like it's gonna be like an asylum where it's like everyone with like socks and road like no yeah literally like and I'm like you're in a beautiful home and a lot of times I show clients and they're like that's where I could be and I'm like if that's gonna one yes two is this enticing please let us continue in that direction like the houses are beautiful and they emulate homes for a reason like there's like there's you know what I'm saying like so I always I love that you brought that up because that's something that I do with clients whenever we do talk about a higher level of care. And then another thing you brought up that one of my questions is that clients I know have spoken to Maggie and I and I'm curious how the admissions handles when a client is on the phone or a parent is on the phone and they're like my kid actually has legitimate trauma from a treatment facility. Obviously you can't guarantee nothing traumatic is going to happen. Right but how do you handle that conversation with parents or the client themselves that they're old enough to have that phone call.

Past Treatment Trauma And Repair

SPEAKER_01 37:52

Yeah we have like a variety of things right so it's do you want to speak to the executive director? Do you want to speak with the director of clinical? Do you want to do a tour? Do you want to speak to alumni? So we have these things that can at least give them some concrete feedback and experiences I also encourage people to consider it being a reparative experience right so when we have trauma if we always avoid the trigger then we go through the world putting that that on everything. So yes that was a traumatic experience that's valid what that's done to you is valid and not every treatment program is going to traumatize you so but you can't learn that until you give yourself that opportunity and allow us to be a safe space to repair that otherwise everyone's unsafe and to go through the world thinking everything or everyone or it's that doesn't just keep people stuck. A hundred percent and we're voluntary right so you can leave anytime right so like we're not gonna keep you against your will unless you're at risk of harming yourself or others you can go you know we and especially for like teens and parents they can communicate every day there's visitation on the weekends like we're not trying to keep you from your family you know there's no secrets.

SPEAKER_02 39:22

Yeah yeah no that's awesome thank you thank you for that because I know it's so true when and it's one of those things where clients can have a traumatic experience there and absolutely you're going to be fearful of going to a similar environment and we have to ask that question who's using that and driving this boat right like is the eating disorder saying like oh we can't go to another treatment facility or is it like a genuine fear and learning how to break that down and saying like okay I I need this help how do I push through that is so so crucial. And I love that out of the gate you guys are like who do you want to talk to I've got a phone they've got like they have time to answer your questions andor comfort like I love that how personalized like again right from the beginning that you got with

Parents Fear Peer Contagion

SPEAKER_02 40:16

it's a big deal.

SPEAKER_01 40:16

It's hard I guess absolutely the other question I had because I feel like this is another question that I hear a lot is through the admissions process if you get a parent on the phone and they say to you is this going to make my kid worse going to learn when they're there how do you navigate that type of conversation with parents I just have this conversation and it's a valid question right like if if I'm gonna trust you know what guarantees can I you know and I say like we can't guarantee anything and we are a controlled environment there's 247 staffing you know if if we're gonna say a parent's asking this for a teen right there's definitely more eyes and ears there's boundaries around what conversations can be had topics talked about and there's just a policy and protocol in place right there's check-ins there's yeah all kinds of things are put in place and does it still happen yes it still happens because teenagers are teenagers right so then it gets addressed right so why what's happening in this dynamic or what is motivating this teenager to continue to push the boundaries it can be a therapeutic opportunity right and the other thing I speak to is like the truth is your kid has a phone they have access to anything so whatever they might get here they absolutely have at their fingertips if they haven't gotten it already 100% yeah we're but they're in an environment where we can address it versus them being in the room learning about God knows what yeah yeah that's so true and that's such a good point because I don't think parents are aware of like the pro social media things that are out there that are so upsetting that it's a real thing.

SPEAKER_02 42:17

And so it's true like parents don't realize that they could just you think they're scrolling doing whatever they're just like in the room but what they're probably learning there is 10 times worse than what they probably have in and I I don't want to say that like I could be wrong but like it's probably so much worse in my thoughts than in the wild if you want to call it that than in a treatment facility.

Boundaries Safety And Discharge

SPEAKER_01 42:36

Yeah and if we have whether a teen or adult not complying consistently then they cannot stay right like we also have boundaries with within how we can maintain a healthy and safe environment so you know we we sometimes have to say like based on the choices you're making and continue to make like we're not the program for you and I don't think people realize that happens yeah not often but it happens right like it happens yeah as it should yeah because the safety is key for everybody yes and there are like the real world has consequences so for us to exist without consequences would be crazy.

SPEAKER_00 43:27

Yeah yeah 100% if there's anybody listening who is in the process of contemplating higher level of care support but they don't feel ready to take that step and make that first call what do you hope they take

When You Do Not Feel Ready

SPEAKER_00 43:47

away from this conversation what advice would you give them one I would just say call you know right obviously easier said than done but just call you you don't have

SPEAKER_01 44:00

Pick up any of our other phone calls, but just call, see how it goes, you know? But aside from that, I think it's just really I think just checking in with yourself of like who were you before this started? Or thinking of yourself as a young child and where you're at now, and is this what you would want for that person? Is this what you would want for a loved one? Like and just trying to imagine life without the eating disorder, which I think can be really, really hard. But I think whatever sliver of hope that person may have, whatever even whisper of God, my life sucks, you know, like that whisper has power. There's a reason why they have that inner thought. To me, that is their authentic self speaking to them. So I just encourage them to try to give that version of them a voice. And if they need time to think about it, then think about it. But like we're here, it doesn't hurt to call you, you know, we can't come drag you to treatment. Like we're not, you know, it's just a phone call. And I I always encourage people to make a decision that's an informed decision, not an emotional decision, right? Because the eating disorder loves to use feelings as a way to navigate life. So if you're anxious, you know, overeat. If you're anxious, restrict. If you're shameful, purge. Like it's all emotion-based. And if people can just actually come to a place of being willing, willing is a much different place to be. And it's like I can feel anxious and still be willing. I can feel real pissed off and still be willing. So it's not that they have to ignore the feeling they're having, but are they willing to make a phone call? You know?

SPEAKER_02 46:03

I love that you put in there that you don't that you can feel those more like not so great feeling emotions and willingness at the same time. Cause I feel like that's part of therapy, right? Like two conflicting things can occur at the same time. And I think people might believe, right? They're always like, Well, I don't feel motivated. And I feel like if it's like, well, I don't feel willing or I don't feel ready, but I'm because I'm angry, that anger might not be the reason you're not ready. So, like I love that you pointed that out too. Like, still call, even if that anger is there or whatever have you, because there's a curdle of willingness in there that can bloom if you just make the call.

SPEAKER_01 46:46

And recovery is action, right? And you may not always want to take the action. You may not want to complete the meal, but are you willing to complete the meal? Right. So, like it just is this like it's just a good step into recovery of just even picking up the phone.

SPEAKER_02 47:04

Yeah. 100%. Yeah.

How To Reach Odyssey

SPEAKER_00 47:08

If people specifically want to get in touch with Odyssey, what is the best way for them to do that?

SPEAKER_01 47:14

Oh, there is a number. We have like an 800 number. Okay. And that would be, I'm gonna like read it. 866-9237-333. Okay. We also have like social media. We have websites that people can submit web forums. So there's many, many ways to get in touch with us. Perfect.

SPEAKER_00 47:38

Thank you. Thanks so much for being here.

SPEAKER_01 47:40

Oh my gosh, it was my pleasure. I like love talking about this.

SPEAKER_02 47:43

It was so fun. And you were, I feel like you were just like the best person to have this conversation with because you're so easy to talk to, and you can tell just like in the like the tone of your voice and the way that you speak about it, like how passionate you are. So just thank you for answering all the questions and just being willing to talk about it today.

SPEAKER_01 48:01

I I appreciate the conversation. I I really do. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 48:05

Yeah. Thank you. Thanks so much for everybody

Wrap Up And Listener Call To Action

SPEAKER_00 48:08

listening. If you have any follow-up questions for Alicia or any questions about Odyssey, we can definitely reach out and we can get you connected. Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 48:18

Amazing. Well, thank you, everybody, and we will catch you on the next one. Bye. Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the Nourish and Empower Podcast.

SPEAKER_00 48:29

We hope this episode helps you redefine, reclaim, and restore what health means to you.

SPEAKER_02 48:36

If this episode resonated with you, please subscribe, leave a rating, and comment and share with anyone else you may feel will benefit.