Castlewood Treatment Center

My family was basically destroyed after sending my teenage daughter for treatment of an eating disorder at the Castlewood Treatment Center
Very soon after her arrival, Castlewood staff encouraged her to alienate immediate family members and this was particularly distressing since family therapy is the empirically supported approach to eating disordersInstead, to treat her eating disorder, Castlewood used several "memory recovery techniques" including; powerful psychotropic drugs, hypnosis, IFS - parts therapy, regression therapies, guided imagery, literal dream interpretation, journaling,"drama therapy", and even peer pressure from other patientsAccording to statements made by several experts in eating disorders, use of these controversial treatment modalities is not the standard of care for eating disorders primarily because patients are malnourished and vulnerable to psychological damage
Clinical Staff encouraged my daughter to remain at Castlewood for nearly six months, during this time she withdrew more and more from her family and the world around her and sank deeper and deeper into the inward-directed rituals of recovered-memory therapyI felt it was an extremely controlled environment where she was bombarded with strange ideas and encouraged to search for buried memories and hidden alter personalitiesOver time, she became disturbingly worse, to the point of sufferingEventually a diagnosis of Dissociative Identity Disorder (previously known as multiple personality disorder) was suggested by one of her therapistsA Staff person even convinced my family member that she would die if she left Castlewood By the time my insurance ran out, Castlewood was paid more than $150,for this treatment
Bizarre and implausible beliefs were developed in the course of her treatment at CastlewoodWhile under the influence of various medically prescribed psychotropic medications she started believing that she endured horrendous physical abuse, the kind of abuse that should have left lasting physical scars, and yet she had noneShe also began to think that she was sexually abused by more than different individuals including family members, coaches, lawyers, and policemenShe came to believe that she operated an underage prostitution business from her home, that she was high level drug abuser, and that her family members were aware of all of this abuse and did nothing but laugh at herThe only thing more tragic than actually being subjected to this kind of abuse is to believe it happened when in reality NONE of it is true
After Castlewood Staff encouraged my family member to cut all ties with us, the remainder of my heart-broken family was devastated by her and impossible allegations of abuseBefore destroying my family and attempting to ruin our reputation, I feel that Castlewood Staff should have sought out independent validation of her claims, especially the more bizarre and less than plausible stories that emergedYet no attempt whatsoever was made to vet or verify ANY of the ridiculous claims she began making as a result of their recovered memory therapeutic techniques
Luckily, however, the officials in our state were compelled to look more objectively at these claims of abuseMy family and I were thoroughly investigated by the Special Victims Unit of the State Police, Child Protective Services and Family Court JudgesAfter many months and several hearings we were officially cleared of any wrong-doingBeyond being cleared, not a single portion of any of the hundreds of abuse allegations were supportedAfter almost a year of intensive investigation one lead investigator looked at my husband and said simply, "Sir, there is absolutely nothing here." A simple sentence that summed up the entire horror storySadly, this did little to restore the broken ties with our daughter, with whom we remain estranged from to this very day
Therapy should be a very gentle exploration and unburdening of problems, not cause a fresh gaping unhealable woundTherapy should never manufacture delusional problems and horrors for the patientToday my family member is left in an untenable psychological state, one that is much worse than when she began treatment with The Castlewood Treatment CenterTheir treatment caused serious damage to my child and to my family and at great expenseI am aware that some patients have stated that they have been helped by treatment at CastlewoodI am grateful for thisBut it does not change what happened to my familyAs a result, I encourage anyone seeking treatment to get help, but to look at facilities other than CastlewoodThe Castlewood Treatment Center has a long history of similar claims, but few people speak out because of the fear and shame that results from this experienceMy family will never be the same as the result of our involvement with Castlewood, but I need to speak out and hopefully prevent some other family from suffering as we have