The Gooden Center - Pasadena, California

KIM H.

Pts are incredible working tirelessly! However, the psychiatry Dept Greg is lacking all the way around, I was there for 1.5 months and saw the resident psychiatrist a total of 3x, where as he went on leave/vacation on 2 separate occasions for 1 week each 14 days costing my insurance company $750x14=$10,500.00 ta da!!!!!! Something’s not right here! So I’m out!

J R.

I went to La Crescenta. I often think about the time I spent there and sometimes wish I could go back. I loved my time there. Staff was friendly, the therapist was great, food was okay, and I benefited from having some structure in my day. It changed my life and I could not recommend it enough.

Jaron A.

The Gooden Center has outstanding counselers that really care. It is one of the best rehab values around: avoid paying $35,000 per month and get all your needs met here. Probably their best asset is their flexibility in meeting the diverse needs of each client. Difficult circumstances always pop up in addiction treatment, from insurance issues, to family drama, to housing and job stress, and Gooden Center is there with you every step of the way, offering compassion and dignity.

SVLEM S.

I'm currently attending the gooden center. It's been an amazing time Going for my recovery and doing the 12 steps. Much appreciate the staff there and I'm glad I'm finally seeking the help I needed. Strongly recommend this place if struggling with any addiction.

Brian K.

During my short stay ( 8 days) at the Gooden Center, I have concluded it as being the best treatment I've received inside an In-Patient Treatment Center. I've been to multiple treatment centers from the Salvation Army to Spencer's Recovery right on the beach in Laguna. I've been to treatments where clients come second to money, and treatments where they just dope you up on medication with no real treatment plan. This is NOT the case with Gooden. They are a non-profit. The program is client centered, which means you create your goals with your counselor for the duration of your stay. That, backed up by a Counseling and Clinical staff that is genuine and professional made me feel that much more determined to be committed to my recovery. None of my previous stays in treatment compare to the community, and fellowship I felt at Gooden. I highly recommend this place to any male seeking treatment for addiction. I had only one problem during my stay. One Program Assistant had a condescending and negative attitude towards me, and It seemed like he would rather be somewhere else other than work. Maybe I had caught them on an off week. Who knows? Nobody is perfect all the time.

Mike S.

The Gooden Center is just an OK place for the first 30 days of treatment. It is not great, but it is OK. The first 30 days are spent in the main house. The staff are a bit clueless but their hearts seem to be in the right place.

The house is very poorly maintained. In fact, 99% of the cleaning is done only by the patients. Yes, you pay $10,000 for thirty days and you are expected to live in a place that is cleaned only by the patients. They do have one person who works in the kitchen that cleans the bathrooms twice a week, but everything else is supposed to be cleaned by the people who are there to get well, the majority of which are young men between the ages of 18 and 25. Needless to say, the place is usually filthy. When I was there, there was a couple rats running in and out of the dining room and one was in the sleeping quarters because guys were keeping food in their rooms.

The food is very basic and often it was not the best quality. When I was there, they were trying to save money and on several occasions they did not prepare enough meals to feed everyone. More than once, I went to the dining room for a meal within the 30 minute period that meals were served and they had run out of food. And yes, meals are available for a 30 minute period only (and sometimes less when the kitchen staff was anxious to go home and closed early). So if you didn't get there within the 30 minute window, you were out of luck.

The gym is a broken down universal and a few free weights outside in the parking area. It was not adequate to get a decent work out, and the area was filthy.

And the treatment provided by the staff was below par; it consisted almost entirely of attending AA meetings two or three times a day. The staff was barely qualified to effectively handle the issues they were presented with. On the positive side, the staff were mostly very kind and did their best given the situation.

And that is what you get in the first 30 days for $10,000. I am a generous person and an easy grader, so I would rate my overall experience from fair to good.

However, after the first 30 days in the main house at the Gooden Center, you can move to one of the sober living places they or is terrible.

At first, the quarters seemed to be decent; but they are not clean or maintained. So the places are dirty and broken down. But the real problem is the staff. They are staffed only by other recovering addicts who are not paid a salary but are allowed to live there rent free. So what you get is a dirty house run by recovering addicts who are only interested in living rent free.

In short, sober living at the The Gooden Center is so poor that it could constitute a threat to maintaining your sobriety at a crucial time in your treatment. I do not recommend sober living at The Gooden Center and would advise anyone recovering from addiction to avoid it.

Alex E.

The Gooden center is one of the few places that focus on recovery for the alcoholic/addict. Placed in a safe environment in the beautiful city of Pasadena CA! I've met a number of men come out of their with a strong foundation, with the help of the alumni to guide them through the process with work in the big book of Alcoholics Anonymous, I highly recommended this place for anyone struggling with alcoholism and/or addiction

Spencer W. J.

My frame of reference isn't very broad on recovery centers. I've only done one once, but I can say this. Gooden seemed to do all they could to work with my insurance to make a stay at all possible, I learned a lot about addiction and recovery and over a year and a half later I have remained entirely sober, no relapses, and tons of good things have happened since. There were some difficult moments with administration and some social problems that could've been handled better, but nothing that left me bitter or scarred. It was far from luxurious and the sober living facilities particularly in the back house behind the main house were truly atrocious....major mold issues in the bathrooms and the carpet was beyond the help of a shampooing that never happened. Those are just the facts of my experience. Maybe it's changed since. It's not a spa or a luxury recovery resort by any means! They will demand that you work on house and personal upkeep if you are able, but I feel that is part of a well rounded rehabilitation. After all, this was a stay that was within my low budget. I did not expect luxury nor was that pitched as a selling point. If a price can be put on recovery, I think I got a very fair deal.