Residents at this treatment center express gratitude for individualized and comprehensive treatment plans, nurturing and knowledgeable staff, and the great camaraderie they experienced during their time in treatment.
Mt. Rubidoux Treatment Center, which is part of MFI Recovery, takes its name from the breathtaking mountain it sits beside. Located in Riverside, California, Mt. Rubidoux offers a comprehensive recovery program in a semi-private, apartment-style setting. Each client at Mt. Rubidoux has a treatment plan tailored to their unique, highly specific needs—an individualized approach that helps people struggling with addiction, depression, anxiety or other dual diagnoses to learn strategies that help them long after they’ve left the treatment center. Addiction specialists, psychiatrists and therapists work together with residents to develop the treatment plans, and also to help the residents understand the deeper reasons behind their behaviors.
Former clients of Mt. Rubidoux described their fellow residents as aged anywhere from 20 to 60 and coming from “all walks of life.” The center welcomes people with a wide variety of backgrounds and personalities but, as one client said, “What they all tended to have in common was a sincere desire for sobriety and recovery.” Another person who replied to our survey agreed with that sentiment, adding that Mt. Rubidoux gave him “the tools I needed to get through some of the darkest times in my life.” Alumni were generally positive about the center’s one-bedroom studio apartments in their reviews, with each resident sharing their living space with a roommate. The apartments all come fully furnished, complete with silverware, cookware, cleaning supplies and a stocked fridge. “I had a roommate I still consider a good friend,” one resident commented.
Daily life at Mt. Rubidoux is structured, with each room assigned a specific chore to complete. One resident noted that aside from general housekeeping, every day’s routines were “focused on recovery—both mental and physical.” Individual and group therapy sessions occupy the majority of a resident’s daily schedule, with free time allowing for them to call family members, meditate, watch TV or visit the gym.
Alumni who responded to our survey had high praise for the large and diverse selection of activities and amenities offered at Mt. Rubidoux. In addition to the exercise center, former residents reported that they enjoyed such activities as movie nights, bowling, BBQs, hiking and beach trips, among others. There is a full time chef who prepares the meals during the week and the clients take turns cooking or barbecuing on the weekends. Overall, residents were pleased with the meals, describing them as “healthy home style” and “nutritious” and adding that snacks and coffee were always readily available. “They have what you need to live,” one client said, “[and] some of us were grateful for anything.”
The medical treatment that former residents received at Mt. Rubidoux was positively rated. While there are no doctors in residence at the center, they visited the site on a daily basis and were described as “very helpful” by several clients. (Medical services and personnel are available 24/7 in order to help residents detox safely and comfortably.)
Many alumni were very appreciative of the facility’s “nurturing,” “fair” and “knowledgeable” staff, praising the level of care they received. “The knowledge and passion by the staff for my emotional and physical health was truly amazing,” one man wrote about his counselors. “I never asked a question of staff that wasn’t followed by a [prompt] and informed answer.” The majority of former clients were also pleased with the center’s 12-step approach, singling out the camaraderie and fellowship they experienced during their time in treatment. And while spirituality is emphasized over religion at Mt. Rubidoux, all faiths are welcome. “No effort was ever made to silence people of faith,” one resident said. “Simultaneously, agnostics and atheists were respected. [It] made for a very comfortable treatment experience.”
Overall, residents at Mt. Rubidoux were grateful and appreciative for their time in treatment, counting everything from the staff to the amenities to the center’s tailored treatment plans among the reasons why. Since leaving treatment at Mt. Rubidoux, the majority of the former clients who responded to our survey reported that they’d managed to steer clear of the addiction or problem for which they sought treatment. “I will always be a recovering addict,” one client wrote, “[but] the information I learned will stay with me. It’s helping me recognize what my old mistakes were and [to] not repeat them.” Another person said he had Mt. Rubidoux’s treatment to thank for his sustained sobriety: “I continue to work the program I was gifted by MFI,” he said. “It is working awesome for me.” One individual even admitted to relapsing, but was “thankful” for his experience at Mt. Rubidoux and said he was again clean and sober.
Many of the center’s former clients would recommend the treatment program to others, as well, using words like “great” and “blessed” to describe their time spent at Mt. Rubidoux. “It’s not a five-star resort, but it provides five-star treatment,” one person said. “I would recommend it to anyone seeking an affordable treatment facility with extremely caring counselors and staff.” One former client was thankful for the second shot at life that Mt. Rubidoux afforded him: “Because of the people at MFI, my kids have a chance today,” he said. “They will go out of their way to help you, if you are serious about staying clean. I will always be grateful for them.”
