Interesting place. It has been a number of years since I went to this treatment center and in the intervening years I have become an alcohol and drug counselor and worked for several years at a different treatment center in a different country. The good aspects of Impact as I recall them were the food and some of the support staff - there were occasionally counselors who would deviate from the dehumanizing techniques that were favored among the other staff members. Some of the group facilitators were amazing and charismatic and group was rarely boring. Some of the negative aspects - Impact was not what one would term a compassionate care facility. The approach was one of humiliation and dehumanization. Clients who caused problems were subjected to what were colloquially called \'\'clusters\" whereby a fairly large group of counselors and staff would encircle the client in an office somewhere and talk to them. A client\'s troubles when expressed would be derided or demeaned. There was a common description of the approach as \"they tear you down and then build you up again\" - this would be done by way of punishments or consequences that were more geared towards humiliating clients rather than constructively engaging them in solution-focused therapeutic approaches. As a counselor I question the effectiveness of this approach except in some very rare (potentially institutionalized) cases. I wonder, would it not be more effective to meet a client where they are at and build them up from there? I will refrain from being anecdotal in this review and I want to emphasize that there were many good aspects of the program, however there was a power dynamic between counselors and clients that some of the unhealthier staff members appeared to take relish in. One other baffling feature of the facility is that it was co-ed...this begged the question as to why women and men had group together and ate in the same room. There are 2 or 3 counselors I can recall who appeared to have moderate to severe personality disorders. All in all a very strange place, but one that I can\'t say was entirely bad. One thing they did do for me was enable me to come there free of charge because of someone I had met at an outside meeting who happened to work there. This is something I remain grateful for to this day. Another point I must make in this review is that it has been almost ten years since I went there, and things may have changed dramatically in that time. This review is for the Impact that I experienced in 2007. All in all, I would say that many of the components of an effective program existed at Impact and there were some very talented staff members there and the organization was well run and extremely efficient. However, I would say that one could only give it a somewhat average to positive rating in light of the factors I have outlined.
