Bob Forrest Set to Shake up the Treatment World with New Center
Malibu, CA (PRWEB) April 10, 2014 -- No stranger to controversy, Bob Forrest is rattling the cages of the treatment establishment in the so-called ‘Rehab Riviera’ of Malibu, California. Known affectionately as ‘The Guy in the Hat,’ and made famous as Dr. Drew Pinsky’s right-hand man on ‘Celebrity Rehab,’ Bob Forrest makes a huge statement by opening his first rehab center in Malibu, or as Bob would call it, ‘The Belly of the Beast.’
This new center, ‘Acadia,’ is built on Forrest’s relentless commitment to doing things differently. Treatment has taken a wrong turn, according to Forrest. And the epitomization of this turn is happening here in Malibu. “I started noticing it in 2003, where more and more, the business side had more say over the clinical side.” A year ago, Forrest sat down for lunch with one of his mentors, Promises founder, Richard Rogg. He asked Richard what is happening to treatment. Bob recounts, “‘Well, it’s like a pendulum,’ he told me, ‘and it swung way out into the direction of client accommodation, and so it will swing back to the basics.’” That’s been Bob’s mantra for the last year: ‘Back to the Basics.’
For Forrest, the ‘basics’ of good treatment are “love, kindness, acceptance, tolerance, and doing your job excellently.” At Acadia, the focus is on young adults who have experienced ‘a failure to launch.’ So the goal of the program is to inspire and empower those people to achieve autonomy from their parents, to learn to live their own lives, to find their passion, and to succeed at life. “I don’t give a f#@k about 700-threadcount sheets and concierge services. I care about these kids getting off of drugs, and thinking that being drug-free and sober is something to desire.”
The mission of Acadia is to help the greatest number of people for the least amount of money. “But a lot of people are doing that,” says Forrest. “We do it better than other people, and in more of a family-style environment.” Acadia’s ‘secret weapon’ is Clinical Director, Suzi Landolphi, whose background is in treating veterans with PTSD and substance abuse issues, and whose ability to reach her clients is extraordinary. “Suzi is the best therapist I’ve ever worked with,” according to Forrest. “This woman is a genius. And as long as we have her, we’re head and shoulders above any other treatment center. Because a treatment center is only as good as the people who work in it.”
Bob Forrest and Suzi Landolphi both share a deep love for what they do. And it shows. They both constantly look for new and exciting ways to connect and engage clients in a transformative healing process. The environment at Acadia crackles with dynamic, spontaneous, fresh energy as a result. Forrest, true to his punk rock roots, seeks to disrupt the culture of treatment in America. “I’m not worried about offending anyone. I think that if people are offended by the things I say, it’s because they don’t know what their job is … Profiteering is the way that the American public sees Malibu.” And in a country where even the best treatment centers struggle with a 90 percent failure rate, why not try something new?
Please visit our website for more information: http://acadiamalibu.com.
Evan Haines, Acadia Malibu, Inc., http://acadiamalibu.com, +1 310 975 5344, [email protected]
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