I Just Got Back From Sheppard Pratt And Learned A Lot

[zeckster81]

Hi Everyone,

I just got back from Sheppard Pratt Trauma Disorders Unit in Towson, MD. It was a phenominal program. It is rated one of the top programs in the country. The doctor I had Dr. Loewenstein and Dr. Wait are the top doctors in the world for PTSD and DID. I learned a lot and am using some awesome skills they gave me. If anyone has any questions about the program I'm here to help. If you are on the edge and want to get inpatient treatment I encourage you to do it. I was VERY apprehensive at first but am super happy I went. I feel like I can live again!!!

 

[Laura 2]

@zeckster81
That sounds amazing! First time ever I've heard such a glowing report of PTSD treatment.

How would you sum up their success secrets?

What tools and techniques and treatments are on offer?

Which of these impacted you most and are useful to you?

How long were you there?

How do you think the centre's treatment could be translated to outpatient use?

How much of your positive takeaway is due to the 24/7 camaraderie of other people in similar states of PTSD?

;) ... just a few Qs off the top of my head.

 

[amy4k]

That is good to hear. My therapist keeps bringing up their program to me and would really thinks that it would be good for me. After the experience I had 20 years ago at another hospital I am really leery. After last night I am thinking about giving her the green light to start the referral process.

 

[Deleted member 1860]

@amy4k,
I say go. I was there 5 years ago and learned so much. I still use many of the skills to this day.

 

[zeckster81]

So I know how to respond, @Laura 2 are you a therapist? I will use the actual terms if so.

That is good to hear. My therapist keeps bringing up their program to me and would really thinks that it would be good for me. After the experience I had 20 years ago at another hospital I am really leery. After last night I am thinking about giving her the green light to start the referral process.

The Nike motto "Just Do It" If you go tell Quinn I said hi. He is the sweetest nurse ever!

 

[zeckster81]

How would you sum up their success secrets?

I would say acceptance and true knowledge of PTSD/DID. THey are VERY consistent in their treatment of everyone and rules. Consistency is important in trauma survivors because many of us had very hectic lives. THey hire the best of the best mental health workers. Coping with Trauma and DID Book is pretty much their treatment focus.

What tools and techniques and treatments are on offer?

THey use:
Dialing Down
Containment
Distraction
Healing Light
Healing Pool
Therapy 3 x/week
DBT
CBT
Mindfullness
Distress Tolerance
Emotion Regulation
Internal awareness/communication techniques
Journal-Imagery
THey teach safe places for each part and a safe place for all parts to go to communicate together with rules.
Groups:
Art THerapy
Daily Living Cognitive Tasks Skills Therapy
Tension Reduction
Pain Management
Stress and Symptom Management
Ask Anything: Psychiatrist
Ask Anything with Dr. Walters: Director of Pharmacy
Journal Groups
Collage Group
Goals Group morning and night
DBT Group
CBT Group

Green Chair 24 access. Anytime day or night if you had a problem or were struggling with a technique, flashback etc. you could sit in a green chair and a staff member would come by and talk with you. Usually a mental health worker, but sometimes a nurse.

All staff before hired have to read the coping with trauma book and go through (I think its 6 weeks) of rotations following another staff member. They are highly trained in DID and PTSD.

Which of these impacted you most and are useful to you?

Really all of it at different times. The Green chairs were helpful, the skills of Internal COmmunication, Dialing Down, Mindfullness, HEaling Light and Pool work well for me depending on what type of flashback or which part is forward. I found practicing the skills outside of "high Stress" times to be the most helpful. I would practice them when I had no symptoms. So when I did have symptoms they would work well.

How long were you there?

4-5 weeks

How do you think the centre's treatment could be translated to outpatient use?

Read Coping with Trauma and Dissociative Identity Disorder I think there three authors. One being Susan Boone or something like that.

How much of your positive takeaway is due to the 24/7 camaraderie of other people in similar states of PTSD?

I did learn a lot from my peers, but would get frustrated with them as well. I found them to all be accepting and miss some of them. Others were triggering because at times would not follow rules, but over all I left there with great memories. One person and I are FB friends and will continue to be friends.

 

[Laura 2]

@zeckster81
Thank you very much for your answers.

It's like a 'total immersion' - but in a positive way. With all that safe cocoon around, I imagine you can do e.g. 'exposure' work and feel completely understood, encouraged and supported.

There are some approaches and tools in there that sound brilliant to me - like the Green Chair system, the Ask Anything sessions, the Healing Pool, Therapyx3 weekly.

Also, having the best of the best staff - it's obvious really that good staff are going to be most helpful and healing. (For me, who will never be able to go to such a place, having really good, knowledgeable staff out in the community would be a major help, could even turn everything around.)

I'm a little surprised that there is no 1:1 bodywork as in massage/shiatsu/acupuncture etc. (Just that my body holds a lot of the trauma and I'd find this healing.)

I wonder if you could say more about the "acceptance and true knowledge of PTSD/DID"? Who is doing the accepting? How is this communicated? What do you think is different between the Centre's approach in this and the way doctors and therapists in the community approach PTSD/DID?


Another Q is bottom line: how much does it cost? And who pays for it?

 

[zeckster81]

Hi,

It's about 1500 dollars a day, but covered by most health insurance plans. They have scholarship and payment arrangements as well. I would call Amanda Cole if you are interested at all because she would be willing to work with you. Her number is online. Sheppard and Enoch Pratt Trauma Disorders Unit. You can see some of the staff and their pictures etc. Not the nurses or mental health workers but the doctors etc.

They accept you where you are at. They don't expect you to be ok. If you end up hurting yourself or staff in a flashback they show complete compassion and don't hold you against it. I had bit myself and staff in a flashback and had a code while there. They had to hold my arms down and restrain me. They calmed me down and took me out of the restraints immediately. I was only in them for 5 minutes. Then they sat kindly and talked with me and did a physical evaluation as well. They won't touch you unless you are harming yourself or someone else. It rarely happens on the unit. But I was in severe flashback. Other places will leave you in restraints for hours. My husband was in them for 24 hours at another place which was unneccessary. He was fine after a half hour.

THe groups are fun, the staff play all kinds of games with you and keep you entertained as well every night. They let you order out. etc. They go above and beyond.

That is good to hear. My therapist keeps bringing up their program to me and would really thinks that it would be good for me. After the experience I had 20 years ago at another hospital I am really leery. After last night I am thinking about giving her the green light to start the referral process.

Would you consider trying this program. It really is good!!! I wish you peace in whatever decision you make :)

 

[lux.]

@zeckster81

My therapist and I are currently in the process of filling out the application form that the Pratt team reviews to see if you'd be a good fit for their program. I've heard that it's very hard to get into and it often takes like six months. For them to review your information and then there's usually a waiting list. How long did you have to wait?

I'm wondering if it's best to maximize my symptoms so they'll feel that I really need to be in there or if that will make them decide I'm not "stable" enough for the program. I'm not suicidal and I don't self-injure, but I am bulimic and have recently been very reckless and had some very bad encounters with men, including a sexual assault. Which is really why it sucks that I have to wait so long to get in.

Do you have any opinion on whether they're more likely to take you if your application indicates that you're very sick? The people there won't really tell you what they base their decisions on (I'm sure because they want you to be honest). But I can be honest but just give brief basic information or give longer responses that explain my whole history, especially my severe problem with trauma reenactments.

The application says that you have to meet medical necessity--basically being a danger to yourself or others--but also says that if you have co-occurring disorders like an eating disorder, that condition needs to be "stable" in order for you to get in. Yet they do not specify what stable means. I'm not underweight, (I'm bulimic), I think if I can just keep my binging and purging to a low level, they'll probably consider that stable.

When you were there, were there any patients with EDs? Were the staff able to monitor them, provide support, prevent use of behaviors, etc? In the packet it mentioned that patients were allowed to have food and that there were vending machines. These might be problems for me.

I think that all of my other disorders stem from trauma, and until I can truly deal with that, I will never get better. I've heard wonderful things about this program and desperately want to get in. Any advice you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks! I hope the progress you made at Pratt has continued to improve your life and help you move forward with trauma work. :tup: :hug:

 

[rdholl22]

I am on the waiting list and I am freaking out. I would like to hear a little bit about the program from a patient. I have DID/PTSD. Any advice or info will help.

Thanks for the review!
R

 

[Deleted member 1860]

I was there in 2009, so its been awhile. I know that things have changed/advanced in the program, but many things are likely the same.

Please try NOT to freak out. Yes, its scary as hell to go into such a program. I was in there for a month, and then two months later I was back for another month long stay.

You'll probably hate being locked up as you don't have control over a lot of things. You have to follow a lot of rules. You don't have as much privacy as you're probably accustomed to. I called home and cried every day because I hated being in there. My dad remarked to me a few years ago how he knew how horrific it was for me....I quickly replied that I would go back in a heartbeat if things got bad again. I think this in and of itself speaks volumes for how much the program pushed my healing forward. It would have taken me many years to get the same amount of treatment that I got in there in just a few months.

Do you have specific questions? I've posted about the program a number of times (as have others) so you can do a search on the forum to see the other posts that we have made on the program.

 

[Laurie2001]

This is a year after the last post. I am thinking of going to Sheppard Pratt and am very anxious about it. just started filling out the application I have complex PTSD with I guess some dissociative symptoms and minor cutting episodes only recently. I feel the program seems excellent and I want to go to get more control over myself but I'm terrified of being locked up and having all those rules. Although I have a lot of suicidal ideation I'm not actively suicidal so I also wonder whether they will accept me. And i am afraid of feeling out of control because of not having control over my belongings, etc. There's this fear that being hospitalized itself will make me worse, while at the same time I can't going on with the emotional flashbacks, mood swings, self deprecation, fear and so on. The whole reason I want to go is to feel more in control of my life and my emotions and to feel hopeful.

Any advice regarding what I'm saying would help.