Fairbanks Rehab

Indianapolis, Indiana | See other Indiana rehab reviews

8102 Clearvista Parkway
Indianapolis, Indiana 46256

Interviews from Ghost, Eire
Why did you choose this facility?
Ghost: Hit rock bottom
Eirene: Recommendation of pharmacist; I was experiencing withdrawals after only a few month period of prescription opiates, and was just frightened.

Tell us about the experience - was it positive or negative?
Ghost: Very positive
Eirene: Negative. At the time I was there, many employees (as I have discovered since) were graduates of a now defunct rehab that was a spin-off of Straight, Inc. that was very confrontational and abusive. I was immediately accused by a few employees in a very confrontational manner of using drugs other than what I was there for. When I denied using or abusing any of them, I was told I was a liar and that I needed to be "broken down". I left four days later. Those older confrontational programs were shut down for very good reason. There was no interest in helping my withdrawal symptoms, as suboxone wean-downs were wait-listed still at that time. I believe that has changed. All the employees cared about was trying to get everyone to believe in the 12 steps, which I had no interest in (and neither use drugs nor alcohol to this day without being part of any sort of recovery program).

Do you feel the program was successful?
Ghost: extremely
Eirene: No, I left after 4 days. I believe that improvements have been made to make sure that suboxone is now available without waiting days for every patient in a standard way, and hopefully the Straight, Inc. type employees have been weeded out. However, at the time I was there, the conditions psychologically (though the facility was clean and very nice) were deplorable.

What advice would you give somebody considering going to this facility?
Ghost: It was the best thing that happened to me,even though I didn't know it at the time.
Eirene: I have gotten an apology for how I was treated by the newer Executive Director, who also promised to look out for employees such as I had bad experiences with, and this center does have a very good reputation and no true ties to abusive now defunct chains like Straight, Inc. Just ask plenty of questions before officially signing in, make sure that needs for co-occurring conditions will be treated and that medications will be available if you should need them. Also, if the 12 step model isn't for you, either discuss this with them first, or choose another facility. While Fairbanks is very top of the line in many ways, and has had administrative changes for the better which may have left them less confrontational, it is best to check beforehand and the higher level staff seem available to answer client questions, so take advantage of that.