Integrative Life Center

After completing all three levels of care at ILC, my experience was mixed. The positives: William was the best therapist I’ve ever worked with and was the primary reason I stayed as long as I did. Lexie and Michele were also excellent facilitators. Same goes for Michaela, the food coordinator, who consistently went above and beyond to accommodate my dietary needs. The biggest weakness however was the lack of depth in treatment. There was a heavy focus on psychoeducation and lot of time wasted on check in’s (would often take the bulk of, if not the entirety of the allotted group time!) but very little experiential work or practical guidance on how to apply what was being taught. Furthermore, In PHP and IOP, the time spent on check-ins was insane, with very little time on actual therapy, making groups feel dull and unproductive. But my biggest disappointment was the nurse in PHP/IOP. Britney is impatient, dismissive, and disrespectful toward clients. Downright snarky even. People in treatment deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, and that was not my experience with her. Yes, ILC has some exceptional individuals, but the overall program is sorely lacking and would benefit from stronger group facilitation.

The community is great and some of therapists are great too. so lets start with the positive. being in group therapy has helped me so much and i met amazing girls in the process. I see progress and the schedule was helpful for discipline. JD you are an amazing RA thank you. Michelle, thank you for letting the group vent on our frustrations with ILC and thank you for your psycho ED. Unfortunatly it is extremely disorganize. on my first day i was send to group and no one told me the schedule or where to go to eat (its another building) or when or where to come back. thats unfortunatly the experience i have heard from every other girls during all my time there. i didnt have a schedule for the first week. no staff talks to each other so you need to ask the same thing over and over again to find out it was never done by the people you talked to. Sometimes i asked more than 10 staff for something and nothing. Therapy that are promised on the web site are very difficult to get and also to an extra cost that is not indicated on the web site. Most of the mornings groups are only check ins for 3 hours, no psycho ed and no somatic work. So if you are IOP, most likely its going to only be check ins 90% of the time. I asked for emdr the first week and only got it week 8 or 9 and thats only because i never stop asking for it otherwise i wouldnt have got any. talking about the weekly session, some week i would not get my one on one appointment with my therapist and nothing was done about it. Hippa was violated many times in my case, by therapist and other staff. nurse : They drew my blood and forgot to order the test, medication error for me and other girls that would push us to be in withdraw from our meds. Cleanliness : Something that i have seen also is the cleanliness of the treatment center and housing is really not good! Windows were broken even during winter. One of the room of the treatment center where we have the group therapy and in one of the bedroom in housing and still not repaired. chairs, walls, the one blanket available and the floor are not clean. picture frame and dust bunnies were there, on the floor when i started and where still there on my last day. Housing : girls coming in the bedrooms would have to clean the room themself and their bathroom, on their first day if they wanted to have a clean place because it was never done before them. no hangers and dirty drawers, just dirty everywhere. In the housing, RA would not be there every day so you only breathlize when they are there which very often means you didnt have to on friday and saturday. The contract says they provide transportation for meeting but all i have heard from the girls was it was not possible to get it 99% of the time. Structure didnt make any sense, they would count even your underwear when you came in (which is INSANE) then people could easily sneak in anything they wanted in the house even alcohol and needles after their initial move in the house. getting urgent help in the housing would be near impossible. i was very lucky that in my case the first time i asked i was able to talk with someone and im eternally grateful for it but the second time i asked i waited all day, for an emergency. i know other girls who had a crisis in the house during the night that were not able to talk with anyone, luckily nothing happend. this place has A LOT of work to do. theres a real disconnect between administration and the center itself. I would always have to talk with the new girls on their first week because they wanted to leave and i would always tell them, its worth it for the community. Please ILC, you have something that can be really good, that can help people. Please invest time to immerse in the enviroment and see what needs to change. Please invest money to provide RA in the house at night and cleaners in between girls, and supply for the house. im grateful for my time there but i wouldnt say it was worth the money at all

I had a great experience except for Sara the RA. She was horrible, disrespectful, rude, and made me feel repeatedly unsafe. I would recommend this place unless Sara the RA is still working there- I deeply suggest you ask about her place there before you admit.

I am a Clinical Psychologist and a managing partner at a group practice in Chicago, IL and ILC has been excellent to work with. I had the opportunity to meet with their clinical team and they are committed to providing personalized care for each of their patients. I highly recommend them for addictions treatment.

I attended ILC’s residential program over the past month. While their framework and ideology of healing is fantastic, their delivery and follow-through is subpar, which is very unfortunate because there is a lot of value in their services WHEN they are provided. I discharged with no EMDR, which was promised to me in my initial phone call. Unfortunately, the disorganized case management and lack of communication between both the patient and the overall treatment team was a huge interruption in my time here. I would only recommend this place to someone both unfamiliar and new to therapy whose insurance will pay for it, but as an out-of-pocket, seasoned patient, the experience was not worth the money. Huge shoutout to the RA’s, their genuine care and concern was palpable. RA’s like Alexis, T, and Kelby made the experience much more bearable.

My experience at ILC was life-changing, without a doubt. I attended the in-patient program for 28 days, then transitioned to PHP and ultimately IOP over the following two months. The staff, facilities, and environment at each level were all top-notch. ILC’s wholistic, trauma-based approach offered a multitude of tools and strategies to live a happier and healthier life moving forward. I don’t have one bad thing to say about ILC, and I would highly recommend their program to anyone looking to transform their life.

I just got home today from my 28 day mental health program at ILC. It was life changing. From the therapists to the RA’s to the culinary team, I am honored to say I know them. I can’t believe that in only a month I have gone from wanting to end it all to wanting to hit the refresh button and get this show of life on the road again. Thank you ILC. I won’t ever forget this.

Cannot recommend highly enough. Knowledgeable professionals who actually give a shit about making changes at the roots, not trimming bad fruit. The world would be a better place if everyone could have a dose of what is offered here. Strength from within and through community. Top notch and I am forever grateful.

As a Case Manager who has had clients at ILC, and also as someone who has toured the campus, I would absolutely feel comfortable giving ILC the highest of recommendations. When my client was in their care, I received updates and excellent communication. It felt like a true collaboration, which was refreshing. ILC has a true focus on trauma informed care that we got to experience when we visited. Highly qualified clinicians and wonderful staff.

Therapists at residential were exceptional. Operational staff relatively incompetent. PHP therapists/group staff were hit or miss. Overall; extremely poor case management, but quality treatment from (especially at residential)