KeyStone Center Review
United Health Services’ KeyStone Center has been providing residential and outpatient substance abuse treatment for adults in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, since 1985. Located only five miles south of Philadelphia International Airport, the facility provides individualized treatment plans, using a comprehensive biopsychosocial assessment to evaluate each client’s specific treatment needs with a focus on co-occurring disorders.
Accommodations and Food
Residential treatment takes place in a beautiful Victorian mansion built in 1891. The estate boasts tree-lined grounds and an expansive campus that is listed in Delaware County’s Historic Register. The three-story manor house hardly resembles a rehab. At capacity, it houses 130 residents, men on the third floor and women on the second. There are three to four residents to each room with dorm-style showers and restroom facilities. All rooms have twin beds with nightstands, desks and shared closets—decor is warm and homey with matching curtains, comforters and linens. All counseling offices, therapy rooms, nurses’ station, dining area and detox unit are located on the ground floor. There is also a TV room, which is off limits until afternoon and evening free time.
Meals are prepared by staff and served buffet style in the main dining area. Some dietary requests can be accommodated but must be discussed during the admission process.
Treatment and Staff
The six-bed detox unit is conveniently located next to the nurse’s station on the first floor so clients can be medically monitored 24 hours a day. KeyStone Center uses the drug Subutex for detox, and the process takes anywhere from three to seven days before clients, in most cases, move into the residential treatment unit.
The inpatient program varies in length, but there is the traditional 28-day option. Treatment care plans provide a systematic approach to dealing with difficult situations, past and present stressors and adjustment to sobriety. Board-certified psychiatrists head up the KeyStone Center treatment teams, each with years of experience treating individuals suffering from co-occurring disorders. Psychiatrists are available for consultation six days per week and are on call 24 hours per day, seven days a week.
The rehab’s philosophy is that unrecognized or inadequately treated psychiatric illness is a major barrier to achieving a lasting recovery from drugs and alcohol. The treatment teams use evidence-based therapeutic strategies such as CBT, relapse prevention techniques and/or Motivational Interviewing (MI). Working as part of a multidisciplinary treatment staff, the psychology department also helps to coordinate the need for other services such as psychiatric evaluations, dual diagnosis support and family therapy. The focus of the counseling staff is to identify stumbling blocks to abstinence and build a foundation for learning based on the Stages of Change Model.
Residents have a full, busy schedule, with breakfast at 6:45 am and the first group at 8 am. Each day, they participate in a core therapy group as well as several educational seminars, lectures and experiential task groups. Group therapy topics include relapse prevention, introduction to the 12 steps, anger management/coping skills and relaxation techniques. Clients have individual therapy once a week with additional sessions added depending on the individual assessment. Residents attend onsite AA and NA meetings four nights a week. Family program is on Wednesday evenings from 6 pm to 7:30 pm. Visiting is on Sundays, and is permitted after one week in treatment.
KeyStone Center also has two outpatient program options. The Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) is three days a week for three-hour sessions. Sessions are divided by topic with a break every 90 minutes. Clients see their individual therapist once a week and are encouraged to commit to at least four weeks of treatment. The outpatient program meets twice a week for one hour. This option does not include individual therapy, but sessions may be scheduled at the client’s discretion. The program typically lasts six to eight weeks.
In both IOP and outpatient, group size is limed to eight people. Outpatient services are offered in Ambler and in Brookhaven, both about 30 minutes from the main facility. Like the residential facility, both locations are historical landmarks. Counseling and group rooms are serene with comfortable seating and plenty of natural light.
Each residential client has a case manager, a counselor and a therapist. The ratio of clients-to-caseworkers is 25-to-one, clients-to-counselors is 10-to-one and each therapist is responsible for 10 people. All therapists are Master’s-level and all counselors have at least a bachelor’s degree in addiction studies. Along with counselors and therapists, the KeyStone Center employs licensed support staff, most of whom are in recovery themselves. There are usually around 13 clients per tech, depending on the census.
Extras
KeyStone Center offers a young people’s track, both residential and outpatient, for clients between the ages of 18 and 26. Using a similar approach to its other services, this specialized program focuses on “failure-to-launch” issues—how substance abuse stops clients from maturing and how trauma at a young age often leads to addiction.
In Summary
KeyStone Center looks like a good place for people suffering with difficult dual diagnosis issues and chronic relapsers who just can’t stay sober—they have the resources to help complicated cases figure out their underlying issues. Being such a large program can affect the level of personal attention, though. There are a lot of clients at KeyStone Center, but there are also a lot of highly educated professionals employing evidence-based practices to recovery at an affordable price point. And living in a historic mansion is a pretty cool perk.
KeyStone Center Location
2001 Providence Ave
Chester, PA 19013
KeyStone Center Cost
$11,200 (28 days). Reach the KeyStone Center by phone at (800) 558-9600 or by email at Jennifer.east@uhsinc.com.
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Sponsored DISCLAIMER: This is a paid advertisement for California Behavioral Health, LLC, a CA licensed substance abuse treatment provider and not a service provided by The Fix. Calls to this number are answered by CBH, free and without obligation to the consumer. No one who answers the call receives a fee based upon the consumer’s choice to enter treatment. For additional info on other treatment providers and options visit www.samhsa.gov.
