clinician

registered nurse

licensed practical nurse

behavior technician

clinical therapist

Advanced Recovery Systems

RUN FAST!
This place is very unsafe and always understaffed. The nurses, BHT’s, and kitchen staff are overworked and unappreciated. This is like a jail. But there call center is marketing this place like a 5-star hotel; we had to deal with patients' complaints because the management team is not open for positive change. They want everyone to be dysfunctional, like their broken system. Multiple patients complained about this place online, but I didn't know why nothing has changed.  We have more unsatisfied and angry/upset patients because the car center lied about the amenities. This place doesn’t have a private chef mind you, but their sales call center lies to patients so they can bring patients in the facility. The patient have no choice but to stay for a full treatment or end up leaving after detox; the medical provider has to see the
The leadership team from the corporate level down to the onsite management has no clue on how to run a drug rehab. The patients are very unsatisfied due to disorganization in all the departments. There policies and procedures change every day without further notice. It changes all the time (we could not keep up), meaning they have no idea about what or how to implement their policies and procedure. The poor communication within the management team (upper and lower management/Corporate) affects not only us but the patients. Some patients walked out in this facility due to very poor communication, structure, and professionalism among leaders. This place is for-profit, which reflects how poor they treat the patients and staff members. No one stays or would like to work longer than what a person can take. ORC is an unsafe work environment, very hostile. By all means, don’t apply in this place; if you don’t want to regret every day you’re working in this, please find a better one. They have job openings all the time because they don’t care about keeping their employees. Everyone is replaceable in this facility. There are some good employees in this place, but they all have decided to leave because they couldn’t take how poor the place is being run. There’s so much negativity ORC that is rooted from the management team; their poor management skills (authoritative) destroys good employees. PLEASE WORK OR APPLY SOMEWHERE THEY TREAT THEIR EMPLOYEES WITH DIGNITY. I couldn’t be happier that left ORC, and I will never look back.

The people I worked with were great, except for management who had absolutely no idea how to run a company. My first month there they let almost ten people go with no warning what so ever! Mind you, some of these people had been there since the company first started. Then when they finally put me on the floor after training, I discovered that the phones barely even ring (and it is a call center!!!) They expect you to do at least 6 admits/month but their phones don't even ring. Until one morning with no warning at all (after all of management continuously tells you, you're doing such a great job) you get that phone call that the company is doing cut backs and they have to let you go... nothing you did wrong... but they have to let you  go. Meanwhile, they have a new training class beginning every second week of the month. People quit their jobs to come work at this company because they sell you a dream and then from one day to another you are left jobless for absolutely no reason. Not to mention the fact that you are selling substance abuse treatment to people that call in. Most of these people are homeless and do not have a single penny to their name, but they are trying to sell them treatment that costs $30,000/month. They are only in network with 2 insurance companies and since they are out of network or dont accept the rest, their deductible is typically between $9,000-$12,500!!!! This is impossible unless the client or their family are filthy rich! And then to make matters worse, they only have 2 facilities on the west coast so they are expected to fly from whatever state on the west coast they're coming from on their own expense. The same thing with the east coast. This place does not try to help ANYONE, not their clients or their employees! Oh, and they do not accept any type of government or state insurance either, plus 100+ outbound phone calls per day. Stay away from this place! They are money hungry and will not care about you!

A typical day feels unpredictable and tightly controlled. Upper management micromanages staff throughout the day via constant Teams messages, directing even minor decisions in real time. The culture is rigid and blame-oriented rather than supportive.

New nurses receive little to no onboarding. You’re expected to “just know” how to complete complex, multi-hour admissions without training or reference materials, which sets people up to fail. Asking questions or offering input feels risky.

Management focuses on control over care. Even basic staff needs are restricted—there is no coffee station for employees because “a patient might want some.” Anyone in healthcare knows nurses run on coffee, so this feels less like patient-centered care and more like power for power’s sake.

When something goes wrong, frontline staff are quickly blamed and thrown under the bus rather than leadership addressing system failures. Expectations change without notice, and morale suffers.

What I learned is how critical psychological safety and clear communication are in healthcare. The hardest part is working under constant scrutiny with little autonomy. The most enjoyable part is the patients and the dedication of frontline staff, who do their best despite the environment.

I’ve been with the Palmer Lake location for about a year now. I have worked at other addiction centers and ARS does an amazing job with both staff and patients. The nursing directors are incredible and ridiculously supportive. They will never ask you to do anything they wouldn’t do themselves- whether that is passing meds, doing admissions, handling crises, etc. Our directors are always willing to step in, come in early, stay late, or do whatever needs to be done. The job is a job- meaning it is not always exciting! But, it IS meaningful to see patients leave and be successful. Those who have experience in the field of addiction know that it is incredibly common to see patients return; however, I have seen both medical and clinical staff not only “accept” a patient back, but actually fight for their return. And I have seen many of our patients succeed in their sobriety, never to return! Compared to other centers I have worked in, the return rate for patients is much lower at ARS.
I have worked elsewhere in centers that did the absolute bare minimum for their staff, and I’ve found that ARS is supportive of nursing staff, nursing ratios, and flexibility in scheduling. The benefits are good, I’ve always been able to take the time off that I need, and I can truly say my fellow nursing staff make a solid team. I am also currently in school- as are MANY of my colleagues- and the nursing directors are very supportive and flexible in regard to school assignments, clinical/intern hours, and needed time off. We also have a phenomenal new Executive Director who is one of the most personable and team-oriented people I’ve ever met. If you want to work in addictions, I highly recommend working for ARS. 

Initially, they make it sound  like the Onboarding/  orientation-goes smooth and that you have 3 months of orientation or until you are ready.  Not true!!!! you get trained for 2 weeks , then  they  assign you your cases that you cannot finish unless you work 2-3 extra hours  if you have questions, they  get short  and refer you to read their manual.  Who has time to read the manual when they are working you to death, working  long hours to finish the assigned cases, being a new employee2 who is still learning the process. You are required to work one weekend per month, so no break for 2 weeks and weekends are  without financial compensation except for a  half day  off that you have use or lose . After 2 weeks orientation, you pretty much fend your way around the system. You ask questions, they give short answers without elaborating and when something goes wrong, you get reprimanded and the person who gave direction avoids full accountability. Therefore, it becomes your fault while you only did your best  to tackle a task based on the limited information you were given. They will insist that you were made aware of that  during your orientation, and again, point you back to the department manual. I loved the job but management from that facility were not forthcoming, director of the department was yelling at me on tiger text. Worse place I’ve ever worked. My co-workers were all great people though, they we fun, helpful and they supported a newbie like me.  I never felt better since I finally got out of that place. 

I’ve been in this field over 20 years and know what it’s like to start my own treatment company.  It’s not easy, especially when you’re committed to integrity and best practice principles.  Doing that right takes a lot of time, money, and a good, solid, committed workforce.  Including leadership.  

ARS has committed the resources necessary for their programs to be highly successful.  They have a great operational and clinical design, and are flexible as each different facility can focus on the individualized needs of their patients.  It would have been much easier to simply go the “cookie cutter” route and made every program the same, without any autonomy or innovation.  This company gets it.  They are trying what the treatment field has lacked for decades...a complete and truly individualized approach to client care.  

I have met a lot of employees, managers and senior leadership of this organization, and they are all approachable, supportive, directive and relatable.  They take great effort in hiring the right people who they feel can be trusted with their education and experience to help create and work in the systems that will be successful for the clients they serve.  Future opportunities with this company are remarkable, however there will be high expectations to meet.  Their patients deserve that, and that is their focus.

The operational inefficiencies here directly impact patient safety and staff retention. Because other departments do not complete their duties, the burden consistently falls on an already short-staffed and overworked nursing team.
Orientation is virtually nonexistent, leaving new hires set up for failure from day one, with management support vanishing after the first two weeks. Time management is completely unrealistic; nurses are expected to handle complex clinical tasks—assessments, vitals, med passes, and managing patients in acute psychosis or with mobility limitations—while simultaneously managing administrative burdens. These include answering the facility's main cell phone line, handling insurance billing, repeatedly chasing the pharmacy for emergency meds, and locating patient property. Additionally, intake processes take hours, and keeping track of patients during various activities is chaotic.
Furthermore, the medication room is a major liability. The narcotic drawer is severely overloaded because meds are not cleared out when patients discharge, yet floor nurses are restricted from destroying them or sending them back. Combined with admission criteria that accepts patients beyond the staff's capacity to safely manage, this environment poses a severe risk to your nursing license.

Local management was fantastic! I felt supported and heard by immediate management but the corporate changed from patient oriented to bottom line focused. Massive layoffs and position s eliminated with additional responsibilities placed on already overworked employees - of course there was no additional compensation for the extra duties. 
Laid off employees were "offered" 2 weeks to severance. Any sick time or vacation time EARNED were taken for the laid off employees. This is legal in Florida but is morally and ethically wrong. 
Layoffs happen frequently. One large company wide layoff happened in November (right before the holidays when no one is hiring). Makes sense so that the bottom line has all that PTO dollars now in the plus column (and all the salaries off the minus column. Must have increased the upper management's End of Year bonuses to increase greatly while employee bonuses had been declining. 
Questionable intake practices of some employees cause problems at the facilities. 
This is a company that boasts they are patient oriented. Many of employees and management are in recovery themselves and others have a close association with addiction. The corporate culture has abandoned the focus on patient recovery and the bottom line is now the higher power. 

Two years later and I am finally posting this review.  The failure of this organization to attract and then retain talented staff is nothing short of breathtaking.  I was the 5th person in this position in 5 years. This should have been the first red flag, but the way I was recruited, it appeared that I might have support.  The organization appeared to capitalized on my need to retain my position and put up with many forms of inappropriate behavior.  
Gaslighting was the norm.  In my experience, management did not take responsibility and this behavior appeared to be pervasive within the organization. 
To expect that new employees will not make mistakes is a failure of the organization not new employees.  When mistakes were made, appearing to be without malice, punishment and shaming were chosen over support and additional training.  Development and learning from the error were an afterthought.  
Often times, staff were told it was a "gift" that they were not fired for making mistakes.  The organization attempted to push staff out of positions by adding work loads that were outside expectations. If an employee attempted to bring concerns to management, they might be targeted and many times they quit.
In my experience, I would not work for this company again as it appears those who are successful are more interested in covering their own rear ends at the expense of the integrity of the organization.


The work is very fast pace and very long 12 hour days. The training for new clinicians is not that good. You are shunned and looked down on if you ask for help. LMSW's beware if you want clinical supervision here. The LCPC's run the show and the only one clinical social worker that they do have there is not a good supervisor if you are looking for good clinical guidance for your training.  In addition, when you suggest new ideas or implement new ideas you are ostracized as well. The management has their favorites and the clinical team is very cliquish. If you don't brown nose or suck up to certain people you are automatically shunned.
There is a lot of gossiping and brown nosing in order to get ahead at the agency that doesn't seem that stable in terms of organization and leadership. It never felt like a team work atmosphere. The next person is trying to get a leg up  on the other. The day to day routine of running groups wouldn't be as hectic if things were better organized. There is a very high turn over rate due to lack of support. 
Some of the clients are nice but some of the clients can be very disrespectful and racist and the management doesn't seem to do anything about it. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Clinician 11 salaries reported	$77,208 per year
Registered nurse 7 salaries reported	$43.64 per hour
Licensed practical nurse 5 salaries reported	$34.80 per hour
Behavior technician 2 salaries reported	$19.00 per hour
Clinical therapist 5 salaries reported	$74,611 per year

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