Solara Mental Health - San Diego, California

Diana

This residential program is great. I was taught how to manage my PTSD symptoms in a healthier manner. The staff were attentive to my needs. My therapist Stacy provided insight into my symptoms and way of thinking. She was caring and patient. I would highly recommend her. I also want to recognize other staff on sight, Moe, Tsvetelina, Glenda, Kathleen, Yodit and Molly. They were all amazing. The food and accommodations were great.

KJ G.

I should have read the 1-star reviews before seeking treatment at this place, and I encourage anyone being referred here to read this and the other reviews so you can prepare yourself for the environment you will be entering.

If you have any grievances, they will not seek to rectify the issue, and will only punish you for bringing anything to their attention. There is a serious lack of compassion, patience, and understanding from most of the people working here. And the lies are insidious to the point where you stop believing anything they tell you - you'll be doing yourself a favor if you take anything they say with a grain of salt.

For example, my first week there meeting with the supposed case worker (who never actually did anything for me); she wanted me to send her copies of my travel receipt so that I could be reimbursed from renting a car to get there. The reimbursement never happened. I was also forced to have an ex loan me money to get a plane ticket back to the area after returning the car. Again, they asked for all the details of the trip but no reimbursement, and I was reset from phase 1 to phase 0 even though I never was fully discharged from the program. Everything that they promised to reimburse me for, they never did.

I was moved from one facility to the other (twice) and not only had food expire in the heat due to the operation manager refusing to allow an RA to move my stuff in but also had various items stolen from me.

I went from initially being okay with attending groups with male veterans - with some caveats - to almost having a complete psychotic episode anytime I was in the presence of any male (not just male veterans) due to an alarming disregard of safety procedures and their staff's lack of training around providing a safe environment for residents in their care. Fortunately, I am possibly a quarter of the way back to baseline after returning to some familiar environments and seeing the same males whom I've seen working at these places for close to a decade. I pity the mental health workers who will need to work with me on getting back to a functional level with my anxiety due to Solara's negligence

Also, their inability or complete refusal to fix several issues that I and other veterans faced has led me to believe that they are only interested in the $80,000 paycheck that they request on our behalf from the VA each month.

There are a few decent staff members who actually will provide a welcoming vibe as well as one or two therapists that might have been beneficial for my treatment if I had been allowed to meet with them more if at all, but the program in its entirety is definitely overpriced and if you are on any kind of medical diet, don't expect the chef to follow it. The food he cooks is not nutritious anyway. The weekend chef and resident "chef" (if he's still there) will follow your diet and both cook delicious balanced meals.

Don't expect privacy, especially when it comes to your medical records, which I'm still trying to understand how they got ahold of as VA medical facilities I've been to in California have adamantly denied sending anything beyond an ROI for medical treatment received in July. Your medical history will be shared amongst all unqualified staff. Yes, that is a clear HIPAA violation, but what can you expect from a place that doesn't actually help veterans succeed?

Many veterans who "graduated" from this program many months ago still go to groups and seek therapy from the various therapists. Why? Because the program doesn't actually help anyone get beyond where they are stuck in life. Why is that? Because they want your money. That's it.

The only reason you should want to go here is if you are homeless and not actually mentally ill or have an active therapist and psychiatrist who can keep you balanced while you're at this place. If you are suffering mentally and don't have a closely participating mental health team, this place will likely make you feel much worse and will discard you once they have access to any monies contributed to your care by the VA.

Dakota B.

I absolutely loved my experience at Solara. Everyone there was amazing, from therapists to RAs to the people running things behind the scenes. This place helped me get my life back and helped me go from living in greyscale to living in full color again. The one thing that wasn't great was the food for someone with multiple dietary restrictions, but they are working on making it better using direct feedback from clients. I will never forget the respect I was treated with throughout the entire process, and the range of therapies offered. Some of the greatest people I ever met were at Solara with me, and I can tell you that if you are looking for a place to turn your life around, look no further.

Kathrine F.

Solara became a reprieve for my mind and my body. I met with incredible therapists, became friends with awesome people, and most importantly, got the help I desperately needed. While the whole thing isn't perfect, the therapy I received outweighed all of the rest. I'm going home with more tools, knowledge, and understanding than what I came in with.
EDIT
Additionally, there are things about Solara that need to change, mainly the communication and professional manner of the administrators. While the RA staff and the therapists are great, there’s a few key people that need to listen to what the clients have said, and follow through on this. This edit comes after the pressure of the admin team to create this review and have it reviewed by them.

sean A.

I finished my 30 days at Solara less than two weeks ago. My stay at Solara was absolutely amazing. The staff and therapist at Solara were so friendly, kind, and helpful. The therapist there help me put my life back into perspective. Their intuitiveness, knowledge, and understanding was more than I could have ever hoped for. I am happier now that I have been in decades. Not only are the staff and therapist awesome but my fellow patients were just as helpful. I was truly fortunate to be surrounded by such a loving community. That’s what Solara is....its a loving community and a safe haven from the outside world... it is a place of Zen, where you can go and heal and get the help you need. I truly believe that my stay at Solara will greatly impact the rest of my life in a most profound way. They got my life back on track by giving me the tools and the perspective I needed to be happy. Internal happiness. Happiness that cannot be taken away.
There are all sorts of reviews on here from good to bad but just remember it’s usually only people who have bad experiences that write reviews and all of these reviews were written by people going through difficult times. I would take the bad reviews with a grain of salt and put it into perspective. No, not everything was perfect. But then again, what in life is ever perfect. I’ll be the first to admit I am very particular. I like things a certain way. The staff and the therapist go out of their way to make sure that the patients are well cared for, comfortable and have everything they need to begin their new venture on the path of life. That’s what Solara does, and helps you put your life on a new path and it gives you the tools and the healthy coping mechanisms to keep you on that path long-term.
I just want to say thank you, to the therapist, all the staff, and my fellow patients. Thank you for helping me put my life back in order and back into perspective. Thank you for helping me find my inner happiness and my inner peace. For this, I will be forever in your debt.
Thank you all ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜💖
Namaste 🙏🏼

Leigh J.

I have struggled with depression, anxiety, OCD for my whole life. Nothing has come close to the help I received at Solara. I have been to treatment before and had a very negative experience so going to Solara I was nervous. However, once getting there, the staff treated me like an adult for the first time and they truly truly care. The clinical staff and the non clinical staff are phenomenal. There is always someone to talk to and to understand. Each weekend there are fun outings and activities and we got to take beach walks almost everyday. It is as least isolating as a treatment center can be. Of course, it was very hard and the first week was really tough and exhausting, but the time flies and I made life long friends. I would always recommend anyone struggling to consider Solara, as it changed my life for the better.

Lynn L.

Solara has helped me get back to my life. I came in feeling very anxious and depressed and have been able to overcome those feelings with the help and expertise of the therapists and staff. This facility is less restrictive than others I researched. The rooms are comfortable and clean, and there are outings. The facility is in a great location near the beach. My stay here has helped me to be well again. Thank you, Solara!

Cameron L.

This places has roaches. If you are a person of color run! They have camp council who are t qualified to give to medication the gave me Wellbutrin at night which is adhd meds so you can I gine the nightmare that was and I was forced to continue the program even though I didn’t sleep a wink. They are passive aggressive and didn’t allow me to get pads along with pother femnime products I’ve left this place with more harm the. Good. They gossip vey tramtic experience they sent me back on a plane and did even book for the right time which left me stranded causing me to miss a funeral that I will forever regret don’t come here no cameras unclean cook and you are with other unstable people with no safety