Discovery Mood & Anxiety Program - Vista - Vista, California

ava A.

I got there on November 7th of 2024 and I was there about 62 days, at first I wanted to leave really badly, but after a week or 2 I started to get used to it. Some people said that they are to strict, but honestly it really was not. The rules were just to keep us safe, like no touching, no covert communication, and stuff like that. It taught me so much, like learning to just say the truth when i do something wrong and just come forward. I learned so much and I am so grateful I got to have this experience. I came out a whole new person. The staff there are great, and the supervisor Shawana is also amazing, I respect her a lot. She truly cares for us and I really looked up to her! The therapists there were also great. All the staff were really good with handling situations like bullying or and drama. When there was any drama the staff would quickly shut it down and we would work it out. We were not just trapped, we got to go on an outing every Sunday. We also would get take-out on Thursdays. I highly recommend this place. It is one of the BEST! I honestly did not want to leave!

Mo O.

Hi! My names Mary and I wanted to give a summary of my visit. Well first of all I met my therapist, Megan, and when I met the clients they were all very sweet. There was me and this other girl who became a little closer than others because we were the only black girls there. And I had met my roommate she seemed really sweet. But one day I noticed she would say things that were sexual towards me and other girls there but were ignored. But one day we were taking a ride in the van and she had touched my hand and I screamed because I was shocked that happened and I said she just just touched my hand. Did you see that? And nothing was said. Forward to the part where it became a serious issue one night we went to our bedroom and, she had said she was going to do something to me while I was asleep and I basically laughed it off because I again I didn’t know what to do. I had discussed this with my therapist and she said that i should’ve said something sooner, but I didn’t know what to do. But at one point they had to talk to her about this and it seemed that she stopped doing things like that, but also my parents were very much not informed of this so that is my biggest concern that happened there. I started getting in trouble for going over a lot of time with hygiene and my therapist asked me what was going on and I said I don’t like the hygiene time. I remember specifically she had said that I would get more hygiene time if I had done affirmations in the morning and that’s where we got to an argument and she took away my five extra minutes and I got really mad at her and it just became like that I guess. So then one day I was just really upset with her and we went into family therapy and I wasn’t “participating in family therapy”and she had asked me do I just want to leave family therapy and have to go work on homework and I had said yes so we went out and while we were walking, she had said very loudly in front of everyone Mary doesn’t want to participate in family therapy so she gets to do nothing fun and only work on homework and so I said like that’s very mature of you and I started getting really upset so I went to talk to Shawana one of the staff and I had told her i was so mad right now I could just chuck her computer across the room so when I went out and I basically told everyone what happened, so basically we went up to the bedrooms, and I had made it a joke because they thought it was pretty funny that said I wanted to chuck her computer across the room and next session she had brought up that she heard that I said I was going to her computer across the room and so I laughed because I thought it was funny that she took that very seriously and she got really upset with me but she had told me that just like what happened with my roommate, she crossed my boundary, but when I said, I would chuck her computer that crossed her boundary, which were totally different situations, but I wrote a letter to her because I felt bad. But I ended up staying in San Diego because I had to go to a PHP program, and they had asked me a question about my past substance abuse, and there was this one time I had but the only person I told was my therapist and she said she would talk to my parents about that before I had left but I didn’t ever get an answer from her and I didn’t want to talk to my parents about it until I knew she didn’t. So as soon as I talked to my therapist at The PHP, I had asked her is there anyway that I could talk to my therapist from Vista and she said I can send her a message from you. But then I just decided to call Vista myself and when I did everyone kept saying that they would send a message to her and this continued for about, I would say two months maybe so at one point she just emailed my mom saying that it is really inappropriate for me to constantly call Vista just to talk to me and so that was the end of Vista like contacting the whole program itself, and that’s why I would like to give this program three out of five.

Sherrie J.

This is a beautiful home, but don't let that fool you. I was very excited to have my daughter start her treatment here, but the very first day we had a session with the Therapist and the plan of care for my daughter was questionable, so that was concerning to me, but I still wanted to give this place a try. Then they show you around this beautiful home, in hopes that your child gets to use the items they show case, but that is not the case. There is a pool there and during my daughter's stay they used it once, they have grass, basketball courts, never used while my daughter stayed there. Instead they sat inside watching documentaries or completing worksheets instead. Another one of my concerns when I went during visiting hours, I heard a staff member tell one of the clients that she doesn't know what real problems are. That was quite concerning to me.

Pros
Facility structure is updated and nice
Good client to Therapist ratio

Cons
Not enough one on one Therapy for the clients not sure why when only six clients in this residential.
Staff unprofessional almost like they don't like there job.
Limitied parking for families
Amenities of the house not being used(ex: pool, basketball courts, grass area outside and horseshoe pits.)
Some areas of care they are very strict and by-the-book, but others things such as code ID when calling your child was never followed or when it was recreational time they majority stayed in the house watching movies.

Ceana P.

Was a patient there and gotta admit, this is not a good place to be. The indidual therapy is nice however group therapy and strict schedule with no leniency gets exhausting. You do not feel heard and you're constantly told what to do, when to do it, how to do it, and if you dont do it right then you get a consequence. A very discouraging place to be. After leaving and finding the rightfit of a therapist I improved immensely. This is not a program for kids with very intense mental health problems. This is more a place for the kids who need a little mental reset. 100% not recommended for kids with defiance issues as it is avery trapping environment.

Lisa D.

I live next door. For SIX WEEKS I've been telling whichever staff member I can catch that they have a broken sprinkler. That it's shooting up in the air probably 30 feet, lands on the sidewalk and down a drain. It does this for 10 minutes every time the sprinklers come on. Obviously no one seems to care and whoever's in charge must have better things to do than talk to a gardener. It's only water, right?
If they can't be bothered to even fix a water wasting sprinkler, I might be concerned about how well they're taking care of other things, like maybe your kids.
Water conservation is a well known responsibility in California, except for maybe these guys.

J D.

I am EXTREMELY disappointed with Discovery. Before my child was admitted, I was up front with them and let them know up front that I had limited income and could not do large payments at all. The staff assured me that they work with many families of different income levels, assured me that there would be an affordable payment plan option. In fact, we discussed payments of less than $200 or I would have to go with a facility that offers such low payment options. Now that the bill is due and I am communicating with the accounts department, there is NO affordable option, they offered a financial aid application which I don't qualify for because I'm just above the income level so they offered 25% discount and monthly payments of over $500 and if I can't do that then the account goes to collections. There is absolutely NO compassion for people who are barely making it during these times. I have to choose between feeding my 3 children or paying my child's bill.... and Discovery DOESN'T CARE! They didn't follow through on Their word and they are not willing to accept payments of what you can afford. If they would have been straight with me I would have NEVER had my child admitted and they know it!!!

Dana M.

My daughter was a patient here last year. It was the worse experience of both our lives. Her therapist refused to accept her diagnosis and treated her incorrectly for the majority of her stay. Each time we viseted I noticed her eating huge plates of Nutella. When she reacted to the enourmous amounts of sugar they tried to medicate her for ADHD. When we asked that they try and take care with the amount of sugar before they try more medication, they told me she was anorexic (her BMI shows her as slightly overweight) and that it was my fault. Her therapist did way more damage than good. She was, in a word, a Kook. We found it necessary to pick our daughter up one night because she felt threatened by her after being locked in a room and interogated. She had called us earlier and had complained about some of the treatment she was recieving which we relayed to the program director. That offended her thereapist so she verbally attacked our daughter.
I could go on for hours. There was not one positive thing that happened in that house. Don't be fooled by the exterior. Find a better alternative. CFD made my daughters situation much worse.

Annette

As a parent I was worried Sending my Daughter too this program I read all the reviews ..Now that my daughter completed 6weeks, I can say she learned coping skills, and family therapy really helped us in many ways.. As a parent its hard too accept we also need help or change or ways , Center for discovery was the best choice I made for my daughter. I want too Thank, Daria for all her hard workwith Admission, Tracy the Director for answering all are questions, concerns , Family nights , She give us alot of information, we learned alot and Getting my daughter the aftercare she needs, and Shayne Facility Manager for Giving us updates on my daughter when calling, answering my questions too and making her stay feel like a home and all Staff ..It was very hard the first week and letting go , I question everything but in the end Dr, Therapist, Staff, know what's the best interest for your child. We are very Thankful and happy for my daughter improvement I strongly encourage any parent Center for Discovery for your teenager..