St. Gregory Retreat Center

St. Gregory’s Retreat Center offers a 7 week residential addiction treatment program which caters to all forms of substance and alcohol abuse. Sessions use cognitive based therapy (CBT) which has been proven by medical and scientific studies to be more effective than traditional 12 step disease model programs. The facilities are located in rural Iowa (1.5 hours from Des Moines). The cost of the program is roughly $ 32,000, and is covered by most insurance providers. Guest demographics consist mainly of people in their early 20’s with addictions to pain killers and other hard drugs. Think of a Fraternity house atmosphere — this might be a difficult environment for older guests who have families or careers. There is a religious /​Catholic overtone. This was my first experience with any treatment program so I don’t have much to gauge with but will make this as objective as possible.
Pros
* The Detox center offered a positive experience. There are nurses on site ²⁴⁄₇ to conduct your admission, initial assessment and treatment.
* The facilities are comfortable. You will have to share a room with someone else. There is a housekeeping staff that will clean your room, bathroom and change your. There are 2 TVs, a «pseudo» movie theatre, ping pong tables, a pool table, books, and board games. (No video games).
* Most staff are very personable and friendly. As long as it doesn’t violate a rule or policy, staff will bend over backwards to accommodate your needs.
* The food is hit or miss. Some nights it is fantastic, other nights it is «meh.» The Sunday brunches are excellent, as well as the Reubens, Cincinnati Chili, or Rib Eye steak nights. The kitchen staff is open to special requests. There is always juice, coffee, iced tea, cereals, nutrition bars, fruit, lunch meats and cheese, and a salad bar. You will not go hungry, or leave skinny.
* The health and nutrition program is great — mandatory gym time is just what many of us need, and it has helped get to get in shape, as well as providing much needed dopamine and endorphins.
* The disease model is avoided, with the entire program focused on the concept that addiction is a choice. A lot of emphasis is spent on building self-​esteem and overcoming personal weaknesses.
* The program really focuses on helping people get back on their feet — much more than just concentrating on the addiction. Guests who slip up during the program are extended at no additional cost. They want to see their guests succeed.
Cons
* The restrictions are completely overbearing and somewhat insulting. No guests are allowed to leave the facilities without a staff member. All personal electronic devices (phones, tablets, laptops, flash drives, cameras) are confiscated. All prescription medications and vitamins are seized. Television is censored (no South Park). Even DVDs and reading material deemed inappropriate are taken away. Rated R movies are strictly prohibited on any of the facility’s television sets.
* Internet censorship is ridiculous. Almost EVERYTHING is blocked other than general news and personal email. (Ie: No Twitter, Facebook, Digg, Reddit, SkyDrive, iCloud, or DropBox). The three computers (meant to be shared by 40 – 50 guests) are almost always in use. It is difficult to use the phone as they are in constant use during the evening.
* When the food is off, it’s WAY off. Rice and pasta are either underdone (crunchy) or overdone (mush). Some meals (ie: unseasoned baked fish and broccoli) merit going to the local gas station for the fried stale food they have to offer instead.
* There are no licensed psychotherapists or psychologists on staff.
* A «one size fits all» approach is used for addiction treatment. Dependencies on alcohol, opiates, cocaine, heroin, are all treated the same.
Warnings
Beware of claims made on the web site; some of the treatments described are misleading:
Neurotransmitter Testing and Repair — Never conducted (unless playing online quizzes with
counts) A daily regimen of amino acids (SynaptagenX) is provided, but their efficacy has not been proven, nor have they been tested by the FDA. Intravenous vitamin therapy is given in detox, which consists of a vitamin /​amino acid blend that can be obtained at any GNC.
Neurocognitive Therapy — This consists of group sessions, workbook exercises, writing an autobiography, creating a life goal collage, and drafting a list of recovery goals.
Summary
If you can deal with the overbearing rules and loss of personal freedoms, then this place is OK. It does offer a comfortable environment to get healthy and to get away from your addictions. The detox process was great (considering how tough it is on guests), and the facilities themselves are nice. They guarantee their program for one year — if there is a relapse you can re-​enter for only $ 1,000 to cover the detox costs.

This place does not deal with patients who are dual diagnosis but do not tell you that. I was told by admissions staff to bring all my meds with me, but even after getting through detox, I was not allowed to go back on depression meds i had been taking for years. The medical doctor you see is not a psychiatrist and he told me that St Gregory treats addiction not mental health issues. This was after having to wait weeks to even talk to the doctor regarding my worsening depression. I would not recommend this place.