I honestly don’t know why people say this place is terrible I honestly loved it they help me a lot here like I’m very satisfied with this place thank u for your help

I wrote a very long and thorough review but I realized that I used my personal email.. any who it was flagged and is not being posted publicly only makes me more sure of the one star.I dont think they want to know how people truly feel about this facility..or want it to be shared with any one.. just dont take your child there.. PLEASE. Called the number below, no answer, left a message no callback..

I went twice about two years ago for self harm. Overall, Id say my experience was okay. I remember the first time I went, some of the staff didnt listen to my needs. Im sensitive to loud noises as they cause episodes to come more frequently. I was put in a certain group of people who i got along with just to be moved to one with kids that were a lot more violent. When i mentioned that being with those kids made me feel a lot worse, the lady who was looking over me replied with how i needed to prepare for the outside world as if i didnt go to the hospital to learn how to instead of being put in the exact same environment that brought me there. The second time i went, shed treat me differently than others and would skip over me in certain activities. I think all thats needed is that certain staff is more considerate on the kids theyre dealing with. I also still deal with nightmares from this place. Overall, I believe some people are better off not coming here and looking for someone else as it can lead to worse mental health

Overall it was great, the bed was uncomfortable, and they had one rude doctor but the techs and nurses where really nice and helped me with everything i needed. Art and music therapy was very fun and helped me take my mind off a lot of things. 9/10 good learning experience.-Tj :)

The techs are the only good aspect about this place. I was admitted twice and each time it was disappointing. Ill go into detail.The first issue I was presented with, was when being asked if I had any problems with sleep. I said yes, I have sleep paralysis. The tech said have you been watching too much keeping up with the kardashians? Whats that even supposed to mean tbh.Secondly, Dr. Hannah, when evaluating me, scolded me for not maintaining eye contact. She made it out to be as if I was disrespecting her for the lack of eye contact. I told her it was because I had a headache but it was because I was anxious. That wasnt an excuse for her, though.Thirdly, Dr. Williams (or whatever his name was) chastised me for seeking reassurance from the techs. I am not going to lie, I WAS excessively seeking reassurance, but only because I was unsure and scared and needed to vent to someone. Dr. Williams and Dr. Hannah DID NOT in any way, shape, or perform, provide that level of care or even a semblance of empathy. This should be apparent in me looking for care in the techs. My sessions with Dr. Williams and Dr. Hannah were pretty cut and dry.Fourthly, Dr. Williams again chastised me because I kept saying I was going to be honest about what was going on. I was never lying to him, but I was trickle truthing because I was afraid of what would happen to my family had I said something. However, it frustrated him and he made that very clear, going so far as making a point that he has heard all kinds of cases, then described in detail a case of one of his patients (he did not disclose any personal information at least) that was incredibly traumatizing. I guess he said it to show that whatever I was going to say wasnt gonna phase him though, so I dont know.Finally, I kind of felt like I was being punished... for having emotions? There was a point where I was given packets upon packets of work to complete...in the hallway.. by myself.. while everyone else got to hang out or go outside. This was only a couple of times though. It just felt like I was being reprimanded for having feelings. The only highlight of my day were the techs.

The food was a little bit dry, the staff were tolerable the bed was uncomfortable however when i put it on the floor i was in heaven. they heavily drugged on melatonin, free of charge! (included with my stay). overall i believe my experience would be overall better if the ice cream wasn’t generic.

Staff was rude. one staff member (i think a tech) yelled at crying children and told a kid she was arguing with to hit her while she was surrounded by security guards. treatment team rarely listened to your concerns. you got a longer stay if you asked when you’d be going home. same breakfast every day. was told to “pray” to get better even though i’m an atheist. they keep you for as long as your insurance will allow bc they just care abt the money. hated it here.

Scheduling needs to be fixed. I had scheduled an appointment a month ago only to show up today and its not on the schedule. Now I have to wait another month to get my daughter in for a follow up.

This was one of the more scaring experiences of my life I was sent here in 2015 when I was 14, I am now 20 and this place still haunts me. I got there very early in the morning ( around 4 am ) after not sleeping for two days, only to be forced to stay up for the rest of the night to do questionnaire and a physical examination. Later in the day I went to see Dr. Hanna and she told me the reason why I was depressed was that I was making a big transition into high school and that it was too overwhelming for me, so that is why I was sad. Not the case really, in fact I was never truly able to talk about why I felt sad or the reasoning behind it. Also it is rather hard to open up about childhood trauma and the recent death of my older brother when you are sitting at conference table and all these people with clipboards are just sitting there and watching you, all while taking their little notes. Within the next three days they had my hyped up on 100 mg of zoloft without even giving me a low dosage for a short period of time so that they could see how it affected me. We were locked in our rooms for prolonged periods of time while the nurses changed shifts and at night. The clock in the room didnt work, none of them did. I had no concept of time or even what day it was, I was just there. I have high functioning autism and they never even took that into account or explained anything to me, so I was left dazed, confused, and hyped up on drugs that I didnt even know existed. I watched people fight with the nurses only to have a code white called on them, which was when all the hospital staff came to that certain floor, restrained that patient onto a gurney that was laid on the floor, and sedated them. I saw this happen several times. I witnessed patients try to hang themselves and another who beat a nurse upside the head with a fire extinguisher they ripped out of the wall. I was there for two weeks and in that time I was only allowed to go outside once for 15 minutes. Me and the other girls on my floor all became relatively close and we all wrote down our numbers in tiny places in our workbooks so that we could check up on each other when we all got out. They go through your stuff, they found those numbers and punished us by taking away our level 3 privileges so we didnt have extra time to call our families or the chance to go to the playroom. There was one male nurse that was particularly kind to me and I would stay up at night at the nurses station talking to him about marvel and rock music. He was kind, he routed for me and I thank him for that, he was the only person in that hospital that seemed to have my back. It seemed as if though we were all just diagnosed with depression and anxiety and the doctors just left it at that. I acted my way out of there, becoming a yes man to anything they said just so that I could return home. I was told that the reason I was depressed and tried to commit suicide was my fault, and I left there saying that, blaming myself of my mental state, WHICH IS NOT MY FAULT AT ALL. Young kids should not be told that it is there fault, no one should. Because it is not your fault that you have depression or any phycological problem. I was just taught to ignore my depression and left is fester up inside me. The practices with archaic and unethical here. My heart goes out to all who have been here, I understand your pain and I am so sorry this ever happen to you. Hopefully youve all gotten better and received the proper mental health treatment you deserve. I am so sorry. This place should be shut down and all the doctors have their licenses taken away. This is solidary confinement. This is not okay.

I stayed here before Christmas and just recently got out. The techs, nurses, and doctors were all very nice and very clearly cared about the patients health. My experience here was much better than my experience at Cypress Grove Behavioral Health. They do mostly everything they can to make sure youre comfortable and they always use your preferred name and pronouns. If youre going to send your child to a mental facility, id reccomend this one. Music and art therapy helped me find a lot about myself that I didnt know and the outdoors area is very nice. Loved the staff and the people I met there.-Logan

I was just discharged today. some of the staff are actually really considerate but some arent. the nurses are amazing

It was a very hard decision to make to either put 4 or 5 stars for this place. i stayed here all the way back in early september, so things might’ve changed since then. it was the first behavioral center i had been to, so it was a new experience for me. at first it was pretty scary, but it is most likely the best out of the few here in the area of louisiana. absolutely loved the staff. loved the kids. PARTIALLY liked the program they provided. the food was not good, but not gross. i HATED the group where you had to go inside a room with your doctor and tell over 10 random adults all of your problems in one room while theyre all writing it down. made me uncomfortable. some staff were creepy, and childish in a way. like that would help- 😐 the enviorment is alright, isnt the best. makes me feel a little bit uncomfortable. place isnt interactive enough. they have music and art therapy, thats it. but it was honestly really fun. staff were fun and interacted with the rest of the kids. i met a few kids who were like me, and i really felt safe around.if you’re thinking of trying to send your child here, i definitely recommend it. it depends on the child and how they percept the experience itself. overall, its a behavioral center. 4/5 . :)-liz

Went there and gave me trauma most of the nurses did not care when you had panic or anxiety attacks one literally ignored me and turned around to talk to someone else only about 4 of them were nice in my 9 days there and honestly i don’t like the environment either there was fights and constant drama when the other kids they also did not help me i forced myself to get on medication and to try to get past why i was there just to get out because it was hell.

I had gone here a few years ago, but reading the reviews, it doesnt seem to have changed much. at first i thought the place was alright, but as soon as i had to see dr. hanna. she didnt let me talk, when i tried saying what was bothering me she told me i was wrong and thats not why i felt the way i do. the room you talk to her in was set up like some kind of business meeting. youre on opposite ends of a long table and on either side theres ~6-8 people who all just stare at you while you attempt to discuss whats wrong. i was extremely uncomfortable and started having a panic attack, she threatened to send me to the quiet room if i didnt stop and wouldnt answer her. thats where i ended up being sent. i was left to cry by myself for 30 or so minutes in an all white, cold room, no one came check to see how i was doing, the staff maybe poked their head in for a second to see when i stopped crying. in total, i was in there for 45 minutes because the time you spend in there technically only starts when you calm down, not when you first go in. after i was let back with everyone else, i tried confiding in someone i made friends with, but was shut down. they didnt like us making friends or talking to each other at any point aside from when it came to group therapy. we were supposed to keep to ourselves and not talk to anyone because it would hinder the process of us getting better which is total bs. when i had been in trouble for talking to them, i got sent out in the hallway for the rest of my stay and made to write an essay. i couldnt sit with everyone else to eat, i couldnt look at them, talk to them, or do anything aside from sit in the hallway and write that essay. thats how i spent the last two days of my stay. i faked being better so i could get out of there as soon as possible. it left me terrified of being sent back to that hospital to the point of never reaching out to professionals for help for a a good year or two after. my stay still affects me and i still think about it all the time. that place is not how you should treat kids with mental illness. i know during the time i was there, one girl tried hanging herself and another kept trying to escape because of how they treated them. the bad kids were either locked in the quiet room for most of their stay or brought somewhere i dont even know, but we wouldnt see them again for hours at a time. at least the food was pretty good and some of the staff were kind to us.

Unlike the bad reviews, those are the old campus where the bad reviews are coming from. The new campus is amazing, the staff is very nice! Very understanding. I would like to give a shoutout to Dr. Sonnier she was very nice to me. I would also like to give a shoutout to one of the techs, Ms.Samantha. She was also nice, this is a very good facility.

I was hospitalized eight times, in the span of four months, before eventually being treated at a long term facility for three months. After seeing some of the reviews for Calhoun, I only felt it was right for me to share my experience. (: Being admitted, sometimes forcefully, sometimes myself, I was terrified, however each time I was discharged, I felt renewed, I felt that I was in a better headspace than before. The program that they offer is immensely helpful. They give you a packet upon admission which provides helpful resources, such as emergency hotlines, coping mechanisms, etc. There is a set schedule everyday, which includes art therapy, music therapy, and therapy groups. The majority of the staff is super helpful & understanding, and you can always talk to them. I truly would recommend Calhoun, despite some of the negative reviews. This is simply my experience. I’m sixteen now, and after a few years of inpatient visits here, it does get old. But eventually, you’ll wake and be thankful for everything this place and the people in it have ever done for you. Thank you! Love & light 🦋

This place is useless. My child was there for 1 week. They did not help us get to the bottom of what is going on with him. They sent him home saying they cannot help him and diagnosed him with depression which is not the case. They couldnt figure out the correct diagnosis so just sent him home saying he was depressed.

I was a patient at Calhoun multiple times when I was 12-14. Back then, I would have told you I would be dead before high school. I would have told you that I see no point to life. Now, I’m 18 years old and the happiest I’ve ever been. It all started with Calhoun. At the time, I hated Calhoun. I don’t think any child would like to be away from their everyday routine and family. I wanted out more than anything. Now I am forever grateful for my stay there. Today I saw one of the men that worked there. I don’t know his name but I remember that he did music therapy with my group. I took away the most from him because I am passionate about music, but I learned so much from everyone there. He probably felt so awkward but as soon as I recognized him I teared up. These people changed my life. I would not be here today if I hadn’t gone there. There’s so many bad reviews on here and I can’t understand why. Although it isn’t an ideal situation, it is the best situation you could be in when you’re in a harmful mindset. To all of the staff at Calhoun, I am forever grateful for you. You are life changers. Thank you for all that you do.

I was in this hospital twice, a lot of the staff don’t respect your triggers. when we would tell the staff something had triggered us, they would brush it off as if nothing had happened. i did learn a lot of coping skills & some of the staff were very much helpful.

I am very grateful for this place. My son came home a much better child. He didn’t mind being there at all and the staff treated him extremely well. Thank you so much for your help!!

This place is abusive. They lock kids in solitary confinement if they have panic attacks. They sedate you and tie you to a bed. Its glorified babysitting for thousands and thousands of dollars in medical bills. Id much rather die than ever have to return for an inpatient stay.

I really love this place they are very caring and nice and they always help me

I had an alright experience at Calhoun. The staff members are incredibly empathetic and lovely people. If I ever needed to talk to somebody, I would always have either an MHT or a nurse there for me to listen. That was an incredibly helpful aspect about this program. The groups were also helpful. In my opinion, the most helpful group was process group. My social worker and the rest of the patients in process group were understanding, empathetic, optimistic, and offered wonderful advice.While there are countless of good things about this program, the one thing that I really want to talk about is Dr. Williams and his treatment team. I felt like I wasnt being truly heard while talking to Dr. Williams. It was heartbreaking because I had support from the rest of the staff, but the psychiatrist and his treatment team made me feel unheard and quite frankly bad about myself. I dont mean to bash Dr. Williams. He is incredibly intelligent. However, I believe that he doesnt use the best communication skills, which can be very harmful to some patients. Some of the things he says are incredibly patronizing and belittling, which, again, can be very harmful. It seems like he tries to challenge his patients more than he tries to empathize with and help them. During some of my meetings with treatment team, he would barely even talk to me. He would just sit behind his computer, which was a bit strange. During my time at Calhoun, I was taught an acronym called the L-I-S-T-E-N-I-N-G acronym. The L stands for look at the person you are speaking to, the first I stands for (dont) interrupt, the S stands for show the person you are hearing them, the T stands for try to stay positive, the E stands for empathize, and the G stands for good posture. During some of my treatment team meetings, I felt like Dr. Williams was not using the L, I, S, T, E, and G of the L-I-S-T-E-N-I-N-G acronym. At my last treatment team meeting today, I was told that I was going to be discharged. I reacted quite negatively to this news because I still feel incredibly suicidal. Despite this, the treatment team sent me home. Im not quite sure what to do at this moment, if I am being honest. I am going to try to get some more help. I dont want Dr. Williams and his treatment team to get hate or anything. I just dont want other patients to get hurt and feel misheard. Being severely depressed, suicidal, and having bad anxiety is incredibly difficult. It can be isolating. When you feel like your psychiatrist and his treatment team are not listening to you, it makes you feel even more isolated. I hope my review is taken seriously by Childrens. Thank you.

The food is horrible... BUT i met good people there and it really helped me going there :) also some of the staff are disrespectful and they need to know where they are

Going into Calhoun with an open mind and a WANT to get better is more effective than going in with a negative outlook. The staff is kind - despite what other reviewers say - for as long as they can be; as long as you are cooperative and kind in return, you wont have any issues with them. Calhoun was a good place to focus on your mental health.

I went in because of suicidal thoughts. The treatment they provided wasn’t new information for me, as I’ve been independently studying psychotherapy for about a year now. The therapist seemed to be reading out of a manual, with no open-mindedness or flexibility. Personally, this experience was unpleasant and traumatizing. This doesn’t mean that someone else might not walk out a completely better person, but it just didn’t work for me.

Bad

If you get dr. roi, be thankful. if you get dr. williams, be careful. if you get dr. hanna, be fake and agree with everything she says even if you disagree or wanna state your own actual thoughts or opinions, or else you’ll be put into the quiet room and stay for longer.

The nursing staff seemed very attentive & caring of my grandchild. The doctors made severe changes in his medication without discussing with us or his treating physician. They added a med we had already tried without success. They basically made diagnosis changes after knowing this child for 3 short days...who was on his very best behavior in order to come home. When asked, upon discharge what he learned, this chold replied, nothing. When asked if he went to therapy today (he was there over half a day), he said no. When asked if he learned any ways to cope with anger or other issues, he replied, no. This was a draining experience for our entire family with nothing but added stressors added on top of all the other stressors we had coming in. By the way...who stops Zoloft & other same type medications cold turkey? Isnt this against all medical advice ever given? Do your research and due diligence before placing your child here, apparently we failed in that area. I fully support Childrens Hospital but do not support this facility.

I went in for hallucinations, concentration, suicidal thoughts / actions, among various other mental problems (severe OCD, PTSD, Anxiety, Depression, et cetera) about a month ago, if even that. I left feeling worse than before I went in, and that was pretty low. It was my decision to be hospitalized because I did not feel I was safe, but ultimately I was PEC’d (Physicians Emergency Certificate) meaning I had to go, whether I wanted to or not. I found out they were sending me to Calhoun Children’s and felt a bit disappointed because I had been there before, but still tried my best to stay “positive”. I went in with a good outlook, hoping to get better and try to do my best, but instantly I was hit with so much negativity from treatment team and Dr. Williams. I told him about me seeing things (legit, flashes of me hurting myself, or me hurting other people, like in Schizophrenia patients) and he pretty much told me that I was overreacting, and that they were just thoughts that would go away. As a 16 year old child, this is very scary to see these things, so obviously I was very offended. I had very specific rituals I do as a part of my OCD, which include closing the door a certain way, and a food restriction with gravy, and he wouldn’t do anything about it. So I went through my days with food that made me sick, and not being able to sleep because of my door. I also told him how before I went in, I was going to 2 different social workers once a week, and a psychiatrist every month. He told me I was wasting my free time with that much therapy. WHAT THE FRICK? I don’t understand how people can be that insensitive. You know where you work, A PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL FOR CHILDREN! These doctors have to be trained how to deal with these children in a respectful, SENSITIVE way. He told one of the other patients that they were going to become an addict and die early, when they occasionally smoked marijuana, then preceded to tell her that weed was worse than cigarettes and that she would become a crack addict. We would tell him (and treatment team) our problems, and sometimes... THEY’D LAUGH! Little chuckles here and there... How disrespectful can you be when you’re listening to a suicidal child spill their feelings and past onto you? If you have the CHOICE to send your child somewhere, I would strongly recommend either River Oaks, or literally somewhere in a different state or uptown Louisiana. Don’t give me the bs story about how “I’m sorry your experience was not up to your standards.” because I got that speech LAST time. I will be calling Patient Experiences and letting them know ALL of this, because that man, Dr. Williams, needs to be fired ASAP.

Despite if what other people are saying about this place, I have to give it 5 stars because not only did they hold the patients in safe rooms with 24 hour watch, they were very kind and felt at home, the lead doctor, Dr. Hannah was very respectful and helped me in guiding me in the path with assistance from co workers to live a better, safe, more enjoyable, life by learning to cope with alot of things, when you go there with a locked heart your not going to receive but if you go there open you will and will enjoy you time there.

Cool

They did help me, however my friends eye was infected for days before she got any form of treatment, kids that had nothing wrong with them had been there for like two weeks, the doctors always try to give you as much medication as they can and they try theyre hardest to make you stay as long as they can legally. Very avaricious doctors. Also I throw up when I take medication without food. I stressed this to them so they said theyll give it to me with my meals. They never did and messed up all of my medications (serotonin and birth control, bad things to mess up) to the point I just stopped taking them

Honestly this place was so helpful. I learned so many no things at my time there. I really liked the art therapist, (Amanda)and the M.H.Ts. They are not judgemental at all and really want to help. But I did feel like they, the treatment team, was a little unempathetic at times.

I stayed there for about a week and it honestly helped so much . I felt so much better when I got out that everytime I get depressed , I want to go back .EDIT: i have no idea how they are now but my boyfriend ( hes trans for anyone who was possibly wondering ) was admitted today so hopefully he has as good of an experience as i did . i was admitted there May of 2018 also , so about 10 months ago . they couldve changed alot since then , i dont know , but i enjoyed my time there when i did go there .

My kid was there a week and came out with an eating disorder problem because her new friend was there for that telling her this is how you get skinny for which my daughter went for bipolar depression mania. Go in with one thing come out with more because they are monitoring patients so well.

The nurses were amazing. I especially want to thank Paul and Liz who went out of their way to reassure me, keep me informed as a parent and keep an extra eye out for my child who also had the added stressor of a very uncommon chronic illness to boot.If this review was strictly about the nurses, social worker and care team, my review would be five stars. My child did get help and learned the coping skills needed to continue a successful life.The doctors are the issue. By doctors, I am referring to the psychiatrists themselves. It seemed that a different one called each day and NONE of them were on the same page. In fact, they gave contradictory statements! Unbelievable!!! They refused to speak with my childs interventional cardiologist and none of them knew much of anything about my childs chronic illness. I had to educate them!!!!! They refused to allow him to take the cardiac supplements and other medications prescribed for his condition other than ONE! (and I had to bring it to them after two days and thats only after they called me and said their pharmacy didnt carry this specific medication!)So my child went TWO DAYS without a crucial cardiac medication!I entrusted the care of these physicians to treat my child and they utterly failed. I even had to suggest the anti-depressant that would be best for my child and thats what the doctor ultimately prescribed.I am ENRAGED that the doctors REFUSED to talk to my childs specialist when the cardiologist even gave me his cell phone number for the doctor to call. One doctor even said he would GOOGLE my sons chronic illness. Is this a joke?!?And please, spare me the standard reply of, We are sorry that your experience was less than positive, blah blah blah.I know the drill. I WORK in healthcare and this was an absolute cluster you know what.Also, Dr. Williams was extremely dishonest with my child.Childrens, get it together. Train your doctors and residents to be on the same page and if you receive a chronically ill child, it is YOUR responsibility to follow through with the standard of care they were receiving prior to admittance.Again, kudos to the care team. Paul, you were great and I thank you for everything!

This place was terrible. The head Dr. Hannah was extremely rude and demeaning. The nurses mocked the patients. Lonely, depressing, anxiety inducing place. I am 99.9% sure that I will receive the same, generic response apologizing that Im unsatisfied. Truly an awful experience. Do not send your depressed, fragile child here. They will come back worse and scarred for life. If your child is experiencing trauma, PTSD, or an eating disorder this place DOES NOT accommodate their needs. The nights are sleepless and difficult. The staff is rude and the patients are not their priorities. Send your child to the psych ward in Shreveport. The worst week of my life was spent at the Childrens Calhoun Campus.

I hated everything. Its been a year, and I still get bad feelings when I pass by it..

They took down my last post, but they need Merch. It was Mr. Adams idea btw. Calhoun champions. Haha

The staff are inconsiderate, manipulative, and lie about serious things I’d never have known about on my own. I chose to trust them and that was a massive mistake. I left in an irreversibly worse state than when I went in. The only goal of the psychiatric ward is to check all the legal boxes and pedal people in and out as fast and recklessly as possible. Avoid this place like the plague.

The lead doctor, Doctor Hannah was very interesting is a polite way to put it. I believe she was not interested in what me and the other patients needed as she would get angry at us for unreasonable things.

Nice

I went for anger. This didnt help me at all. I cried every night and they made me madder than Ive ever been.

This is the Mc Donald’s of mental heath.

IM FREE BABYYYYYYYYY!!!!!

Great staff.