For those who want the rehab services offered by Passages Malibu but can't afford the price tag, there's another option — in Port Hueneme.
With administrative and counseling offices in a small business park, and residential and recreational facilities in an established neighborhood, the Passages Ventura center has been operating for about two years.
There isn't anything on the outside to single it out, but the business is housed at a former treatment center — New Seasons Recovery — in a gated cluster of buildings. The main residential facility has been renovated and painted in bright colors.
"There are a lot of people who would like to have the treatment program Passages Malibu offers but cannot afford it," said co-founder Pax Prentiss, who has his own story of overcoming addiction. He said Passages receives about 100 calls a day from people inquiring about treatment.
Many types of insurance pay for treatment at Passages Ventura, he said. But just because it's less expensive than the high-end Malibu center, it's not cheap. Prentiss said Passages Malibu costs clients $88,500 a month. Passages Ventura costs either $32,500 or $16,500 a month, depending on the amount of individual therapy a client receives.
Prentiss hopes the center will appeal to more insurers once it completes the long process of receiving Joint Commission behavioral health accreditation.
The Joint Commission, an independent nonprofit organization that accredits and certifies U.S. healthcare programs, will not release information on accreditation applicants or even verify whether they have applied until after the process is complete, a spokeswoman said. But Passages Ventura officials said they should be done with the process this month.
As a residential detox facility, Passages Ventura is licensed with the state Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs for up to 90 residents. In April, renovation of a wing of the center will be complete, expanding its capacity from 40 beds to 90.
With the expansion, the business expects to grow to more than 100 employees. The center now has about 75 employees and 12 independent contractors. Jobs include therapists, maintenance workers, administrators, nurses and cooks.
Passages Ventura reports an annual payroll of $3 million and expenditures of $268,000 in 2010 with county businesses for services such as catering. That doesn't include money spent by clients on weekend excursions to restaurants and local shopping, such as trips to The Oaks mall in Thousand Oaks.
Despite being in the city for two years, the business keeps a low profile, according to city officials. Which kind of fits, because clients are coming to the site in part for its discretion.
The most common addiction treated at the center is alcohol, followed by prescription pills. Prentiss said common causes are stress, depression and insomnia.
The Passages approach has received its fair share of criticism, from the high price of treatment to the program's claim that it can cure addiction. The centers emphasize they do not follow a 12-step program such as Alcoholics Anonymous.
Prentiss said the 12-step approach didn't work for him, and Passages offers an alternative. He defends using the term "cure," saying addiction is a dependency, not a disease, and a holistic approach is a way to cure that dependency by getting at the underlying causes.
"We don't subscribe to the disease concept," Prentiss said.
About 25 percent of clients come from California, Prentiss said. Most stay on average from one to three months.
Clients have group sessions in the mornings and evenings, but the bulk of their weekdays are spent meeting one-on-one with about nine different therapists, including a psychologist, a hypnotherapist, substance abuse counselor, medical doctor, physical trainer, life-purpose coach and after-care planner.
"It all comes down to the outlook of just body, mind and soul healing," said Cheryl, who spent a month at Passages Ventura last year. "Those three just come hand in hand. You can't take away the drugs and you'll be fine."
Cheryl, who did not want her last name used because of the stigma of past drug use, said Passages gave her a fresh start. The 24-year-old was addicted to opiates and cocaine. She had tried other programs but shied away from sharing in big groups and never felt the treatment got to the core of why she had formed those dependencies.
Her mother found Passages Ventura, and Cheryl came from the East Coast for treatment, which was covered by her health insurance. She's been clean for seven months. She has a job, her own place and wants to go back to school to study physical therapy, she said.
"You don't hear enough stories about how people can put it down and move on with their lives," she said.
Passages does some major and minor things differently from a lot of centers. For example, clients can use their cell phones and have computer access while at the center. Prentiss said he believes it is beneficial for clients to be in contact with their families, and some need the access to continue running their businesses.
The halls of the Port Hueneme facility have the feel of a college dorm, with most clients sharing rooms and a rec room down the hall with a television, computers, puzzles and games. But there's also a nurses' station in the middle of the hallway and a 10 p.m. curfew.
Prentiss said the pairing of Passages Malibu with Passages Ventura has been successful and the business is considering replicating that on the East Coast, creating a high-end center in the Hamptons of New York and another, less-expensive center nearby.
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