Avalon Hills came highly recommended and this was quickly confirmed
Prior to arriving at Avalon Hills, our 21 year-old daughter struggled with a life-threatening eating disorder for over 4 years. Over the years, she was in and out of the emergency room and psychiatric facilities, and was also in-patient residential at two of the most highly regarded facilities in the country. While she had made some incremental progress over the years, her life remained at high risk, and she battled her anorexia on a daily basis. Our family was not sure what to do, and if she would ever overcome this horrible disease, and lead a full life.
Then the best thing which could have ever happened to us occurred, something which I still think about on a regular basis. A respected family source highly recommended that we try yet another facility, Avalon Hills in Utah. We were reluctant for many reasons. We hadn’t experienced success at previous highly regarded facilities and had no reason to believe that we should try any additional places, we were worn out and exhausted, and Utah was on the other side of the country from where we lived.
Well – long story short, we became convinced to give Avalon Hills a try, and in an understatement, it was a life-changing decision for our family. The first month or so was very difficult, however an amazing thing eventually, unexpectedly occurred, where it was obvious she was turning the corner and there was potentially light at the end of the tunnel. This first hit us – quite a shock – when we made our first “family visit” to Utah after she had been in-resident for about 2 months. We met her for a family meal on day 1, and then subsequent meals over the weekend, and it was actually readily apparent to us that she was doing better. Wow!
She continued to improve, and was able to discharge after a little less than 6 months in the program. It was important to us, as well as her, and her treatment team, that discharge only occur when she was at a point where she would be successful for the long-term. At this point, she is coming up on 2 years post-discharge, and we’re happy to say is living by herself, and eating healthy meals and committed to a healthy lifestyle! This would not have been possible without Avalon, and it’s sobering to think that we almost didn’t give them a chance.
Over the months of treatment, we were in close contact with her treatment team, and developed an appreciation for what leads to their successful outcomes. They have such a strong and unwavering commitment to successful patient outcomes, treat each individual’s overall psychiatric needs (not just ED), and are constantly working on ways to make further advances and improvements. They also work very closely with the insurance companies to ensure that the insurance companies are kept closely in the loop with treatments and understand (and approve ☺) the treatment approach. At family week, we were really impressed with their work with leading ED physicians and researchers, and their work to determine the impact of ED on the brain, and methods to be used to advance treatment. In fact, I was so impressed by this, that it led to me joining them in Washington DC (I have attended ED advocate day 4 times now) to be an advocate for legislative changes relating to treatment and prevention of ED in the future.
In summary, our family, without hesitation, recommends Avalon Hills to any patient in need of treating for eating disorders.
Kevin H, father
