Since 1991, Lifeskills South Florida has offered customized treatment programs for men and women ages 18 over suffering from mental health and substance use disorders such as: anxiety disorders, bipolar disorders, borderline personality disorders, depression, substance use disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and thought disorders. As a national Center of Excellence, our goal is to provide affordable, customized treatment options that transform lives and empower clients to sustain long-term recovery.

Residential Treatment
Detox Services
Behavioral Disorder Treatment
Dual Diagnosis
Outpatient Services
Intensive Outpatient Services
Sober Living Home
Day School
Private Rooms
Pet Friendly
Exceptionally LGBT Friendly
Men Only
Women Only

CARF
JCAHO
ADP
NAATP

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Klay Weaver

Executive Director

With over 25 years of behavioral healthcare management experience, including over 18 years in executive leadership, Klay Weaver joined Lifeskills South Florida in 2015 as CEO. Prior to joining Lifeskills South Florida, Klay served as the COO of Skyland Trail, a national center of excellence, where he oversaw the organization’s strategic growth, financial operations, clinical operations, and marketing. With roots in community mental health, Klay led two of the largest community mental health centers in the state of Georgia, providing services to over 17,000 individuals annually in 11 counties. Klay received a Bachelor of Arts in Education and an M.Div. from Asbury Theological Seminary and an M.S.W. from the University of Kentucky. A licensed social worker for more than 20 years, Weaver has enjoyed being active in the community serving on multiple non-profit boards including the Red Cross, Georgia Community Service Board Association and most recently on the Delray Drug Task Force. Klay is passionate about developing evidence-based best practices and outcomes

Harriet Salzgeber

HR Director

Harriet has been working in the Human Resources field since 1984, where she enjoys interacting with everyone in our staff. In the process, Harriet has received vast experience in manufacturing, marketing and health fields. Harriet has a very strong work ethic and has a commitment to employee satisfaction.

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1.0

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I would NOT advise anyone to send their loved one here. They are all about taking you in as long as you have insurance and or can pay privately which is excess of $30K a month. As soon as my son's insurance notified them they were no longer paying for residential, within a few days I was told to come pick him up since they were not getting paid. He was in a wheelchair and was discharged without any Discharge Plan for after care or to discuss next level of care. Thankfully he is now in a center that actually cares about nothing else but making sure my son gets the care he needs. This place is called GRACIOUS CARE RECOVERY SOLUTIONS....They are Angels on Earth

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bailey

1.0

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This is a terrible cash grab rehab. This place looks good on paper but is absolutely disgusting. Quick on the trigger to 5150 clients, constant client thefts with no repercussions. Narcotics being traded across the facility. Inept therapists solely concentrated on paperwork and books that had nothing to do with therapy. Many groups consisted of unhelpful practices. Clients who broke confidentiality rules were not reprimanded. If you had cash, you were stuck.unless you leave against medical advice. Providers who paid for treatment were duped into keeping the client in treatment. Essentially therapists could say whatever they wanted and the individuals were deemed resistant to treatment or mentally unstable. PLEASE save your money or insurance and go to a different rehabilitation center.

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1.0

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This place is a microcosm of the shameful state of mental health care in America. It is hard to write about ‘Lifeskills’ of South Florida without evoking anger and revisiting the worst period of my life. Yet, it is my duty to do so, as objectively as possible, if it saves just one other vulnerable person. Disclaimer: I hope those reading this review can set aside their potential biases of it been written by someone who struggles with depression (and possibly bipolar disorder). I am a professional who is not a criminal, does not abuse illicit substances, and is a contributing member of society with a large capacity to care for others. Hopefully, the eloquent and objective nature of this review will convince you of the legitimacy of my experience. I was in their PHP program. My assigned therapist (who I was to see 1:1 only twice a week) was a young, smug, spindly little guy who inspired exactly zero confidence. I don’t know where he graduated from, but it’s an indictment of that educational institution. He never got to know me as an individual, never tailored sessions at all to my unique experience. It appeared the facility had one psychiatrist who served the entire population. You got to see him for EXACTLY 5 MINUTES each week while he made snap decisions on how to alter drugs that affected your brain chemistry. Sounds adequate, right? There was literally a line of patients outside his door on those days. Both the psychiatric and psychological aspects of PHP were almost negligible – the sessions were so infrequent and non-personalized that at best they make zero impact, at worst they contribute to a worsening of one’s condition. The group sessions would almost be funny if they weren’t so pathetic and useless. There were a few where you got your classic CBT/DBT workbook that you could order off of Amazon and sat in a circle with other patients. Again, there was zero personalization and it was so cookie cutter. Some examples include a cooking class and a class on how to sell pretend products. No joke. Here I am a few months removed from running international clinical trials and I’m fake selling a toy phone to a recovering addict. So, I’d show up and go through the motions while primarily being surrounded by addicts. The other patients were comprised of people with severe mental/mood disorders and/or people with dual diagnoses. Almost every class was interrupted and side-tracked by one of these people acting out. There were no like-minded professionals who were stuck in a terrible depression. Being in that environment only contributed to further deterioration of my condition. I would lay on the floor of the day room by myself and quietly cry some days, struggling with what I was going through while simultaneously feeling horribly selfish in that I couldn’t support my own mother who was dying at the time. The staff would just walk right past me. Luckily I was just well-off enough at the time to absorb the financial hit. My insurance paid out in full, and likely even overpaid. Funny how quick and efficient this place is in hitting up your payer with a multitude of repetitive claims given how incredibly passive and ineffectual they are in treating their patients. I have refrained from using staff names so the place doesn’t have cause to remove my post but there is a truly horrendous person in their leadership who views the patients as dollar signs and has blatantly ignored me for over a year. I am happy to report I am back in CA and building my life back. ‘Lifeskills’ delayed my recovery. It was a complete waste of time and money and could have easily contributed to another attempt on my life. I am still battling to get the full refund of my up-front payment. It took 20-30 emails and a roughly equivalent number of phone calls to receive a partial return. I open up this dark chapter of my life to hopeful benefit you. If you are reading this, know that you have value and things really can change. Please avoid exploitative facilities like this. I personally believe this place should be investigated and shutdown.

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2.0

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This facility is a sham. The staff is not informed and despite their impressive education backgrounds, they misdiagnosed my nephew who came to Lifeskills in acute schizophrenic state. They are irresponsible and condescending. Unbeknownst to them, I have a background in mental health and I was appalled when I came to visit and discovered that my nephew was not being oppositional and difficult, but was suffering from delusions and was subsequently successfully diagnosed with schizophrenia and treated at a different facility. The psychologist who treated him at Lifeskills was under the impression that dellusions can be treated with behavior therapy. I was floored. Either this man barely passed the coursework, or he just stopped caring about the patient/client and their ultimate well being. Lifeskills is not equiped to house those with serious mental health condition such as schizophrenia. However, we were never told that this was not an appropriate placement. Instead, every communication was about how difficult and oppositional my nephew was. They also refused to change his meds despite the fact that the medication he was on was clearly ineffective. NEWSFLASH to the staff of Lifeskills, when he was treated with appropriate medication, his delusions went away and he is now able to hold down 2 jobs while attending a university. He plans to study psychology in hopes of helping those so misunderstood by the general public and, it seems, by the mental health community as well. It is a shame that these "doctors and professionals" are allowed to practice without accountability. They inflict a lot of damage to their patient's and the patient's families.

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JKS

No Rating

I Suffer from Bipolar. Lifeskill's is a safe environment to be & get treated.The groups I attended helped me a lot as well as the therapists & staff that work there.Very pleasant to work with. Lifeskill's is the place to be with mental illness or addictions.I would love to thank select staff for all the support & patience with me. The staff & therapist's are always at point. I'm truly glad my family made a choice for me to be at Lifeskill's. Thank you again for all the support I received & got back on my feet very fast.

1.7

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Was concerned how many patients were severe there . I did not feel safe at times and quality of location, setting, people and food was below average for the money they charged us. Disappointed as now I have gone somewhere else to get better treatment and see a big difference.

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5.0

Excellent

Totally discrete and right on point

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ESS

5.0

Excellent

Good care.

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Lori

5.0

Excellent

Excellent therapists.

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5.0

Excellent

Thanks to Lifeskills my life is back on track.

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5.0

Excellent

As a licensed mental health professional I feel extremely blessed to have Lifeskills South Florida nearby. I am able to refer my clients that need more help than i can offer and they are hopeful once they receive the treatment from Lifeskills. No matter how complex the case i feel very secure that the staff and the leadership at Lifeskills will be able to assist. Again, I am so very appreciative of the hard work and the great work that goes on there.

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Brad

5.0

Excellent

LifeSkills South Florida is one of the best treatment centers in the country. Everyone I met has been nothing short of a professional. I highly recommend this place for your recovery.

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Anonymous

1.0

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Major decline in client and employee care. Their primary focus is to make money not help and support people in need. The way staff are treated sickens me. Never promote from within. Favoritism is alive and well with administration. It is heartbreaking because it was once a great company that had integrity and truly cared about helping people.

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No Rating

I wouldn't send my worst enemy there. Therapy includes sitting in a room with other clients for hours. Therapists are a joke. Horrible experiences here. Please don't subject your loved one to this.

1.3

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As a parent of client that attended this program I do not recommend it.

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5.0

Excellent

My 22 year old son, who is severely mentally ill and addicted to drugs, had a really rough spell this year. He had been in about eight psychiatric hospitals over a period of three months, and had been unable to be stable enough to stay in several other treatment facilities, even though they were primary mental health. In other words, he was in really rough shape. He was dealing with some violent behaviors due to his mental illness, hallucinations, total lack of impulse control, etc. We finally found Lifeskills South Florida, and it was such a wonderful place for him. They were more equipped to deal with his mental illness than any other place he's ever been, and I am so relieved to know that they are there in case he ever needs to return in the future. So many places that call themselves "dual-diagnosis" don't have a clue, but Lifeskills South Florida knows what they're doing, and does it in a compassionate and professional way. I am so appreciative for them! Thank you, Lifeskills!

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1.7

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Surprised by the issues in the program, felt unsafe at times. Variety of very intense situations happened while there. Felt like many clients should have been hospitalized and not here. Overheard staff commenting on they will take anyone to fill the beds. I then found out they are for profit so it makes sense that it felt more about money than me getting the best treatment . My wife helped find this place and has now heard she heard they have sales reps and they get paid extra money to fill the place up. Then we heard that many of these places pay admitting staff money too as they help fill it up and MAKE money on our pain! Health care in this country has taken a new low and mental health places like this make my stomach hurt due to these practices are allowed to continue.

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1.0

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To preface: I am a friend of a client that is attending Lifeskills, and I am also a counselor so I understand the challenges faced by an organization dedicated to serving those with mental health needs. I am thoroughly disgusted by Lifeskills South Florida. In the past week I have made more attempts than I can count to make contact with my friend and each time I've called there has been a 75% chance that I've been met with rude people on the phone. One person even went so far as to mock my ability to understand English by repeating the same phrase "call back during clinical hours" repeatedly even after I attempted to explain that I had already done so multiple times without any success and just wanted to talk to someone who could explain agency policy to me because I was concerned for my friend. Other staff members were either actively malicious or did not understand agency policy and told me that they would leave a message for a client when in reality this was not being done at all or even possibly forbidden by agency policy. Either way I am utterly confused right now which is not somewhere I should be after speaking to as many staff members as I have. The one time I did manage to make contact with my friend a month ago, I spoke directly to and specifically asked a mental health technician to assist my friend with filling out a release of information so that we could communicate with each other more easily. Clearly this basic request was not followed through with at all since more than a month has passed and I am still not on said client's authorized contact list which makes communicating with them impossible as staff members cannot even confirm or deny that the client is attending the facility (this much is reasonable and commendable due to maintenance of strict confidentiality). Each time I've called I've done what was asked of me - I left voicemails, I sent emails explaining the situation - I have been extremely courteous considering the rudeness I have had to endure. I will commend one staff member or actually being willing to assist me, but the fact that I've jumped through every hoop placed before me and STILL have not been able to talk to anyone who can actually help me? This is utterly absurd. Now. I may not be a client that attended Lifeskills. I cannot speak to the quality of the facility or even the treatment. But for those of you considering sending a loved one to Lifeskills, I want you to seriously consider the following: 1. These counselors and staff members I have been speaking to are guaranteed to be spending the MOST time with your loved one during their stay. Such is the nature of a residential facility. 2. If I, as an outsider, am already being treated this discourteously with regards to simply ASKING QUESTIONS - how do you think your loved one will be treated? 3. Your loved ones are often unstable and difficult to work with. I was reasonable and expressed gratitude in the face of extreme callousness - how do you think tired, frustrated mental health technicians are going to treat your loved one at the end of a rough day? Your loved ones and your family are going through an extremely difficult time. They are vulnerable and need help. But from what I can tell from my interactions with Lifeskills staff - they are going to be treated with disrespect by jaded staff members who can't even answer the phone saying "Hello my name is X, how may I help you". No, you'll be lucky if they just say the word "Lifeskills" without sounding completely like they hate everything about their career. In summary: These are the staff members that will guide the spiritual, emotional and physical development of your loved ones for months. These are the staff members that will care for your loved one's wellbeing. These are the staff members that your loved ones will turn to for help in crisis and to survive. Do you want to take that risk?

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GUY

5.0

Excellent

I tried suicide 15 times in my life before Life Skills. Put a shotgun to my mouth, and pulled. 150+ pills, hung myself, put a gun to my head, you name it; I did not want to live! Thank you Life Skills!!!! You are amazing, you make me want to live, to be better, I am happy and grateful on a daily basis because of the entire staff!!!! I spent 5 months in residential due to the nature and complexity of my case (borderline, bipolar, trauma, and more). I probably got them bored of me trying to leave!!! Would not be impressed if I found out they had side bets on how many times I would request AMA (jajajaja). THEY ARE NOT IN IT FOR THE MONEY, they are in it For the love. I was an arrogant, egotistical, rude, pain in the ass for my first 3.5 months. They never gave up on me, and for that my family and I are eternally thankful. The staff are all amazing human beings. They all made me fall in love with life, and have motivated me to help others!!!!!

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5.0

Excellent

LifeSkills saved my life. Years of unsuccessful treatment brought me to Lifeskills for intensive DBT treatment. I still will deal with my Borderline Personality issues the rest of my life, but I have a fighting chance to succeed now. LifeSkills grounded me and gave me the coping skills I need. This was the best decision I've made.

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Official Facility Response

Thank you for the positive feedback regarding the treatment you received at Lifeskills South Florida. Our professional staff uses DBT as one of our five distinct clinical tracks in our individualized treatment program to equip clients with coping and self-care skills as they work toward an independent life after treatment. We are pleased that your experience at Lifeskills gave you the insight and skills you needed to recover, and wish you the very best as you continue your journey.

Norka

5.0

Excellent

Lifeskills changed my life. The people I met there, the tech and the therapists are focused on each client- not just all at once as if we all had the same story. I recommend it.

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Official Facility Response

Thank you for your thoughtful and positive feedback. At Lifeskills, we take great pride in providing a treatment program that enables our clients to sustain long-term recovery. We appreciate your recommendation and wish the best as you continue your journey.

Patrick

1.0

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I absolutely agree with the other reviewer. The staff is mean-spirited. Treatment is based on punishment and brainwashing.

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Official Facility Response

Thank you for your feedback. We take all reviews seriously and would like to understand more about your experience. We ask that you call Klay Weaver, Executive Director, at 954.834.5099 to discuss these issues further.

4.7

Excellent

their ability to treat both mental health issues and addiction at the same time. Their staff are all licensed and nationally certified. my husband and I received weekly family therapy helping us learn how to deal with our son and his mental health and addiction issues. If the Family therapy staff were not there, I do not know what we would have done. Our son was in the best hands for his care. The campus is very beautiful, very high end. It looks like Key West style housing. However, it is a small campus. My son is approaching one year in sobriety. Lifeskills South Florida did a lot for him, including treating his bi-polar. He has just finished his last out patient counseling and moved from the halfway house after 7 1/2 months there. He has a stable management job in the area. We now have our son back and are so very thankful for everyone who took part in helping him at Lifeskills.

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Official Facility Response

Thank you for sharing your thoughtful feedback regarding the treatment your son received at Lifeskills South Florida. Our professional staff is dedicated to providing a full continuum of care through a comprehensive treatment program that enables our clients to sustain long-term recovery. We are also very proud of our Family Therapy Program and the support and education it provides while a loved one is in treatment. We recognize how important families are in achieving recovery, and are committed to supporting them throughout the treatment process. We are pleased that your son had a positive experience at Lifeskills and wish him continued success in his recovery journey.

1.0

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My son was at Lifeskills for 2 1/2 months and we realized during this time (and I would have expected professional mental health providers to realize this sooner), that our son, who was diagnosed with a psychotic disorder, could not function on his own and you need to be able to do that to live in a condo with only other clients. He could not make his own meals, and he was so upset being there, that he stopped eating and by the end of his stay, they had to give him Ensure to get nutrients into him. This center basically treated my son as if his problem was only a substance abuse issue (which it was clearly not, he was referred to them by a psychiatric hospital for a disorder that was leaning towards schizophrenia). Their goal for him was to go to AA meetings every night and get a sponsor, and then he would be rewarded with phone privileges and outings with his sponsor. He had not had a drink in a year at the time he went there. He had been self-medicating before that. He had psychotic episodes. Going to the large AA meeting in Florida, with 50-100 attendees, he told us overwhelmed him. His disorder made it hard for him to socialize and talk to people. If this facility really knew how to treat someone with this disorder, they would have had him meet with someone else who had a similar mental illness and was doing well living with it. This person could be a peer mentor. That would make more sense, I’ve since heard of this approach used at other more successful programs. When our son came home, he told us they called him and his roommate something to the effect of "the escape house" or "the runaways" because they both walked away from the facility. This is totally unprofessional and unacceptable for individuals working with the mentally ill population. They should know better than to mock or make fun. They are just there to do bed checks at night and dole out medication. Knowing what I know now, I believe he felt as though he tried so hard, but he failed the program. My biggest regret besides sending him there in the first place, is that I don't think I told him that he didn't fail, the program failed him. I'm writing this in the hopes that no one else with a mentally ill family member will send their loved one there. This place at best is only possibly capable of being a rehab facility and I'm not even sure how well they do with that.

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Official Facility Response

The well-being of our clients is of the utmost importance, and our professional staff is committed to helping individuals work through obstacles. No matter the issue, our program knows direct communication is best, and ask that you please contact call Klay Weaver, Executive Director, at 954.834.5099 for further discussion.

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Lifeskills South Florida

Services

Facility Highlights

Treatment for psychiatric, co-occurring and addictive disorders

Individualized treatment plans

Individual and group therapy

Philosophy

Facility Center Details

Accreditation/License

Disclaimer

Meet The Staff

User Reviews

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