Nestled in a valley, surrounded by picturesque mountains and bluffs, is a place that will save your life. The Recovery Village at Palmer Lake is unlike any other rehab facility. I’ve been to two others and PLR is far and away THE place to go for recovery. The entire program is vastly different than anything I’ve experienced. It’s a well thought out program which starts in detox, then residential inpatient, followed by partial hospitalization (PHP) and finally IOP, if you choose to stay. My personal involvement included a 6 week inpatient stay at PLR, which took me through PHP 3 and thus the end of the main programming. Lengths of stay vary depending on your progress, history and insurance.While PLR offers 12 step meetings and encourages that participation, their program doesn’t completely revolve around AA/NA. Rather, the focus is on the root cause of the addiction. With the concept being that our DOC (drug of choice) was our solution and not our problem. Therefore, the program is heavily based on discovering the deep rooted traumas, histories, hurts, etc that drove to one’s use of their DOC. PLR focuses on the brain’s development and the why behind how it works and how it keeps us stuck. They discuss communication styles, family dynamics, co-dependency, psychodrama (highly recommend this class with Arno in PHP3), neurological function, relapse prevention, trauma work as well as a multitude of other concepts. The focus is on this, so that the patient can better understand themselves, in a process of detangling each one from our substances.The trauma work at PLR is incredible! The facility offers EMDR (recommend Laura, EMDR therapist) for those who stay through weeks 1-3 of PHP. I had never experienced EMDR before and I’m comfortable to say, from my experience, that it works wonders! I was able to discharge from PLR with the capacity to close past traumas and the ability to be able to think through them, process them and no longer be panicked or reactive to them. In addition to EMDR, there are groups that also do vast trauma work.Each person at this facility will change your life on a soul level. I have never felt so loved, valued, comfortable or considered as I did during my time at PLR. The clinicians, behavioral health techs, medical staff and nurses work together to treat the entirety of the patient. There are so many truly special people on staff who only want the best for you! Particular shout outs include:- Clinicians: Cindy, Dr. G, David, Traeman, Janet, Julie (recommend parenting class), Aaron, Rob, Tammy, Sayeh- BHTs: Jamie, John, Nathan, Darrell, Hannah, Melissa, Anthony, Marcos- Activity Coordinator: Elizabeth- Medical: Psych NP Joanne- Dietary: Heather, Saoirse, Karen- Case Manager: Amanda- Executive Director: Chris- RN’s: Julie, Patty, Quinn, Erin, DON KristenAll of these people have significantly touched my life and I will never forget them! I’m so blessed and grateful to have known them.Lastly, some FYIs:- Smoking and vaping are allowed within the smoking area.- Dietary: food isn’t the greatest or most healthy but the staff will work diligently with you to accommodate special needs. They were amazing to me!- The facility has a walking trail, basketball, pickle ball, a gym, a pool, volleyball, equine therapy off site, as well as other rec activities. Be advised that while in detox they strongly encourage you to simply rest due to safety concerns. Also, the pool, equine therapy and offsite activities only occur during PHP.- Housekeeping: This is the only area that really needs some help. While there, housekeeping never came to clean, nor were cleaning materials provided so patients could clean themselves.All that said, this is THE place to go for recovery. Upon my departure, my soul, my mind and my heart were completely changed. I walked out crying because I didn’t want to leave. This entire experience has allowed me to become myself again and has me on a path of achieving all I’ve ever wanted. I am deeply grateful for my experience and I know you will be too!