Any experience with Khiron Clinics in UK?

[enlguy]

Looking for any direct experiences, it can be quite difficult to find reviews of places like this.

A little context: I am running out of money, and the only option (and I have considered a lot of things, looked for people I could stay with, considered even going to live in a tent in France and pick grapes for less than minimum wage which I suppose is still on the table), but I will be on the streets in a matter of days if something doesn't give. I went back to a childhood abuser to ask for money, having no other option than suicide for the immediate future (and I was actually set on doing that, but couldn't source what I needed, and already survived one real attempt, so ... I'm a bit picky about suicide method at this point, I can't deal with another failed attempt).

He's pushing for me to go into residential treatment, and I already did a lot of research on this and told him it's not a good idea. I find almost nothing but bad stories online about it, people saying they left worse than when they entered. It doesn't surprise me - I would NEVER want my housing tied to that crap, I need autonomy and seclusion to be safe and function okay. I am trying now to once again advocate for myself before my choice is either a) die on the streets starving, or b) go into a program that will f*ck me up even worse. And no, I do not have access to public aid here, that's a whole other matter.

Any good experiences with residential might be re-assuring, but if you have bad ones, you can share them all the same so I can 'add it to the evidence folder' in pushing to not do residential treatment, but regular outpatient with money to use for housing rather than dump on a crazy expensive program that won't help.

 

[Sideways]

I’ve done a lot of time in hospital and inpatient programs. Like…a lot.

A whole lot of it was really unhelpful. A whole lot of it just plain made everything worse.

But…the time I spent in a trauma-specific inpatient programs was a complete game changer. Yes, it was challenging, hard, distressing at times. But they understood at a very foundational level, that if I didn’t feel safe, then they weren’t going to achieve anything.

I’ve not been to Khiron. I don’t live in the UK. But if someone offered me in a place in treatment facility recommended by names like van der Kolk, Fisher, Porges…? I’d fly my silly-self across the world for an opportunity like that.

 

[enlguy]

Well, it seems like you're pulling their marketing spiel in saying it's recommended by all those people. Who really knows.

And that's why I'm looking for people with direct experience, because most of the stories I read online about inpatient treatment for C-PTSD say it only makes things worse.

You do mention your more targeted inpatient experiences were better. Do you care to comment on your experience any more? If you truly felt like one, or several of those, were "winners," maybe you can even mention the names of the clinics.

Thank you, and I hope you're well!

 

[Sideways]

Do you care to comment on your experience any more?

I’m in Australia, so the place I went to won’t be helpful.

The program had been running for about 20 years by the time I got there, and I respected the guy in charge who developed the program (I’d read his work). It was diverse - as in, they offered a lot of different therapy formats (art, music, 1:1, trauma-informed yoga, group work, etc), but also very structured.

They had a number of rules which they were very upfront about, and very inflexible about, to ensure that the place remained safe for everyone involved (trauma folks, neck deep in trauma work together, can be a bit of a precarious situation). That was uncomfortable at first, but I went back several times because ultimately, I could see why the rules were necessary and that they worked really well.

Had my own room. Wasn’t the Hilton. But it was clean and fresh and they were really good about allowing us to make it feel like our own private sanctuary.

I worked through a lot of really hard stuff there, and learnt how to tolerate, and get past, some seemingly impossible hurdles. I’ll been pretty hellbent on suicide, for years, and the time I spent in that program helped me finally turn that around.

It wasn’t easy. Nothing about recovery is easy. You can go to this place or not. You asked for people’s experiences - my experience is that I’ve done a lot of inpatient stays over the years, across 6 different hospitals. Mostly they were hell. The one trauma-specific program I somehow managed to get into? Wasn’t that.

 

[enlguy]

I’m in Australia, so the place I went to won’t be helpful.

The program had been running for about 20 years by the time I got there, and I respected the guy in charge who developed the program (I’d read his work). It was diverse - as in, they offered a lot of different therapy formats (art, music, 1:1, trauma-informed yoga, group work, etc), but also very structured.

They had a number of rules which they were very upfront about, and very inflexible about, to ensure that the place remained safe for everyone involved (trauma folks, neck deep in trauma work together, can be a bit of a precarious situation). That was uncomfortable at first, but I went back several times because ultimately, I could see why the rules were necessary and that they worked really well.

Had my own room. Wasn’t the Hilton. But it was clean and fresh and they were really good about allowing us to make it feel like our own private sanctuary.

I worked through a lot of really hard stuff there, and learnt how to tolerate, and get past, some seemingly impossible hurdles. I’ll been pretty hellbent on suicide, for years, and the time I spent in that program helped me finally turn that around.

It wasn’t easy. Nothing about recovery is easy. You can go to this place or not. You asked for people’s experiences - my experience is that I’ve done a lot of inpatient stays over the years, across 6 different hospitals. Mostly they were hell. The one trauma-specific program I somehow managed to get into? Wasn’t that.

I appreciate you sharing. In my case, someone that abused me is trying to force me into this, and most of what I've read, and my own personal feelings, don't align with that, so it's a tricky thing, and I appreciate being able to gather some more information about what these programs can be like. Thank you for sharing your experiences.

 

[Sideways]

I appreciate being able to gather some more information about what these programs can be like.

The facility I went to, they got you to come in before your admission to familiarise yourself for the place and the staff, to get a feel for whether it might work. Maybe you could reach out to them and ask if you could meet someone there and talk to them about their program?

 

[number1clippyfan]

I've never been to this clinic before, so I'm not the most helpful person, but everything about this seems quite sketchy, the positive reviews feel fake and copy pasted meanwhile the negative ones are in a lot of detail. Someone also mentioned that they're awful at handling medication, and that most of the time the staff is agency staff, meaning they switch through staff quite often, and someone said that there's no therapists in the centre after 5pm. Another review said that someone was able to commit suicide at the facility? Again, I don't know what is up with this place and I don't know if its true. But the founder of the place, Benjamin Fry, wrote a book titled 'How to be rich', which he tries to hide from his catalog. And while that isn't direct evidence that this is a money grab, the whole thing just gives me bad vibes. I don't know. If I were you, then I'd look around for other places first. There's a lot of paid for residential centers in the UK.

 

[anonanonanon]

I worked here and you are correct

 

[theonetwothree]

ive been to khiron and would not recommend it.

 

[Djuno]

I appreciate you sharing. In my case, someone that abused me is trying to force me into this, and most of what I've read, and my own personal feelings, don't align with that, so it's a tricky thing, and I appreciate being able to gather some more information about what these programs can be like. Thank you for sharing your experiences.

What is the name of this facility?

 

[flymetothemoon]

Correct about which bit?

I worked here and you are correct