The Basics
Located in the DC suburb of Crownsville, Maryland, Serenity Acres is a luxury substance abuse treatment center that has been in operation since 2011. Founder Lawrence Adler started Serenity Acres with the idea that drug abuse treatment often ignores the underlying causes of addiction, so Serenity Acres aims to treat the “sicknesses of the mind and spirit” that lead to substance abuse as well as the substance abuse itself. It does this through providing a safe, comfortable environment, and offering a variety of holistic therapies along with more traditional substance abuse and mental health treatment.
Accommodations and Food
The accommodations at Serenity Acres are designed to provide clients with the comforts of home. The beautiful estate was once an upscale, single-family residence. Their philosophy holds that long-term sobriety is easier to maintain after treatment in a homelike environment as opposed to an “artificial” setting like a hospital. To this end, the program fosters community between clients and staff and provides a comfortable living situation. Located on a wooded, 12 acre property, the facility is tastefully decorated, well maintained, and includes amenities like a swimming pool, sauna, billiards and Ping-Pong tables, shuffleboard, outdoor and indoor fireplaces, and a flat-screen TV. Serenity Acres offers both private and shared bedrooms.
Like the living situation, the food at Serenity Acres it is the opposite of bland “hospital food.” A nutritionist creates the menu and meals are prepared in a gourmet kitchen. It is healthy, nutritionally balanced and varies day-to-day. Clients with eating disorders or nutritional goals can have special diets tailored to their needs.
Treatment and Staff
Since they serve a small number of clients at a time—around 15 male clients and 15 female clients the facility is able to provide highly individualized care. Clients in need of detox begin in a medically supervised setting, with access to doctors and nurses around the clock. The protocol ranges from 30 to 90 days of inpatient treatment after detox.
Clients at Serenity Acres meet with counselors for individual therapy up to ten times a week and also participate in group therapy, family therapy and on-site 12-step meetings. For those requiring dual-diagnosis support, Serenity Acres provides clients with individual counseling that focuses on mental health, along with addiction counseling.
The main approaches to traditional treatment offered at Serenity Acres include CBT, DBT, stress and anger management and grief and loss counseling. Serenity Acres offers aftercare planning that includes ensuring clients have access to medical care, psychiatric care, substance abuse counseling, employment, education and housing.
The background and training of the staff is in keeping with the variety of treatments offered. Serenity Acres employs a full medical staff to supervise detox, including two MDs and six registered nurses. The center’s addiction treatment and mental health workers include a psychiatrist, Master’s-level addiction specialists, and other counselors certified at various levels in addiction treatment. The staff also includes CSWs and various holistic practitioners.
Extras
Serenity Acres’ options in terms of holistic treatment are numerous. Serenity Acres offers acupuncture, massage therapy, meditation, mindfulness training, sauna therapy and yoga therapy. The program employs a holistic health practitioner, a dietician, a yoga instructor, a massage therapist and an acupuncturist. There are even a couple of therapy dogs who live at the facility— Bella, a licensed Emotional Support Dog (ESD) and Luna, a licensed Dog Therapist (LDT).
In keeping with its philosophy of treating the “whole person” and to help clients develop healthy, sober pastimes, Serenity Acres offers its clients a ton of of recreational options, including white water rafting, a ROPES course, bowling, horseback riding, cooking classes, fishing, skiing and trips to basketball and football games.
Serenity Acres is located on twelve serene acres of wooded landscape in order to provide confidential treatment. The outdoorsy setting gives clients a number of places to meditate in a natural surroundings, like walking paths in the woods, outdoor seating areas and a koi pond.
In Summary
Serenity Acres a good choice for a person with an interest in holistic or alternative medicines, but the medical staff also makes it a solid option for a person with serious medical or psychiatric needs along with their substance abuse issues. To offset the cost, which may be prohibitive for some, the facility offers financial aid and also accepts most insurance.
Serenity Acres Location
2015 Martins Grant Ct
Crownsville, MD 21032
Serenity Acres Cost
$37,500 (30 days). Reach Serenity Acres by phone at 1-800-335-7440 or by email. Find Serenity Acres on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube
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Photo courtesy of SerenityAcres
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.
