All Posts Tagged Tag: ‘Dr. Lee Bloom’
VIDEO: Pasadena Recovery Center
The video above does an excellent job explaining the Pasadena Recovery Center in less than two minutes. PRC CEO and Co-owner, Mike Bloom, narrates the piece which covers many important topics.
Mike mentions that the center has always been a family run facility that got it’s initial inspiration from Mike’s father, world renown psychiatrist, Dr. Lee Bloom. While Dr. Bloom passed away a few years ago, his legacy continues to be felt throughout PRC — especially his compassionate approach to fighting the disease of addiction.
In addition to practicing compassion at every turn, we also adhere to the 12 Steps treatment philosophy. And we specialize in treating dual diagnosis or co-occurring disorders.
Finally, Mike evidences some of the qualities – from our location in the Pasadena foothills to some of our weekly offerings like yoga, acupuncture and art therapy – that differentiates PRC from other facilities. And we do it all at an affordable price.
Be sure to watch the video for more information.
Addiction Warriors
We just dug up a fantastic April, 2001 article, “Addiction Warriors,” from the Pasadena Star-News, about the opening of the Pasadena Recovery Center by the Bloom family:
The Pasadena Recovery Center opened Jan. 15 and offers a range of services centered around a 12-step approach to helping people overcome their addictions.
“Our idea is to really build a quality drug and alcohol treatment center where we really have people for a long enough time to make a difference,” said Dr. Lee Bloom, a longtime psychiatrist who invested his life savings into the center.
While a few things have changed in the last 11 years – amazingly, we’ve lowered our monthly cost by $1,000 – our philosophy remains the same:
Bloom said he wants to empower addicts to see themselves as capable of living a drug-free life.
“You do a lot of outside, external things, But what you are really looking for is an inner change in the individual, where they begin to look at themselves as somebody who can live without drugs and alcohol,” he said.
“That’s really, I think, the essence of the treatment, is to have people own that life is better without drugs and alcohol… Because life is really not all that terrible and all that fearful. Life is really good.”
Dr. Lee Bloom is missed but not forgotten as we continue to honor his legacy and practices at PRC.
Pasadena Magazine: A Legacy in Bloom
Pasadena Magazine published “A Legacy in Bloom: At the Pasadena Recovery Center, compassion is a family tradition” in April 2011. We’re reprinting the piece by Linda Immediato below but you can view the original here.
The waiting room of the Pasadena Recovery Center is sun-drenched, warm, painted with soft, muted colors. Orchids bloom in pots on little wooden tables, sleek post-modern chairs line the walls, above hang photographs of exquisite and exotic locales. It looks more like a lobby in a boutique hotel than a rehab hub.
The building was purchased by the late Dr. Lee Bloom with his daughter, criminal defense attorney Alison Triessl, in 2000. Bloom brought his son Mike on as “the money guy.” And after major renovations, the center greeted its first patient in January 2001.
The center treats everyone — and they mean everyone — from celebs to people who would otherwise go to jail, or have gone to jail (no violent sex offenders or anyone deemed a threat to the health and safety of others). The PRC provides scholarships for those who need financial assistance, accepts all insurances and offers a wide range of healing services, from group counseling and one-on-one sessions to acupuncture, yoga, art therapy and massage. And the 50 staff members employed at the center work to help people afflicted with a variety of issues, from alcohol, drug and sex addiction to eating disorders.
Several reality shows have been filmed at the center including all three seasons of Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew and several episodes of A&E’s Intervention.
“When VH1 and Dr. Drew approached us to do his reality shows, my father and I thought it was absolutely perfect,” says Mike Bloom.
Dr. Lee Bloom, who passed away last year, had treated 18,000 people in his life and was widely known and respected by clients and staff alike for his compassion. Mike Bloom remembers his father instilling that same compassion into his sister and him from a young age. “We’d be on our way to a Dodger game,” he says, “but he’d have to stop and do an admission into a psychiatric hospital. We’d be sitting there in our Dodger shirts and hats waiting, while someone was brought in with restraints. I feel like we’ve been cultured into this. I’ve been doing this by osmosis for as long as I can remember. My father used to say, ‘I’m leaving a legacy to my kids.’ And he’d say it in half-joking way, but it is truly a legacy that we inherited.”
Treissl agrees. “This is our life’s work. People have causes and things that mean something to them and for us it’s helping people get recovery.”
VIDEO: Great Overview of the Pasadena Recovery Center
This Crown City News video gives a great overview of the Pasadena Recovery Center (PRC). While the Center is famous for the many seasons of “Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew” and will be featured again this September on “Rehab with Dr. Drew” which will concentrate on young adults rather than celebrities, the vast majority of the nearly 6,000 patients treated at PRC are regular folk that come from all walks of life. As Alison Triessl, daughter of the late PRC founder Dr. Lee Bloom, states:
“We will treat anybody from Yale to jail, Park Place to park bench. It’s a 98 bed facility, co-ed, men and women, from age 18 to 80, and we believe that treatment should be affordable.”
PRC is also a family run center. Dr. Bloom’s son and Alison’s brother, Michael Bloom, acts as CEO. In the video he explains some of the many activities that residents can participate in:
“We have yoga, we have acupuncture, art therapy, we have a gym. we play softball nearby, we go to the Rose Bowl. And then we have the traditional 12-step meetings that are on site, and we have group therapy with counseling, one-on-one therapy, and a family group. And we do have DirecTV for the residents.”
Finally the video stresses that while the majority of patients come from Los Angeles, the Center’s visibility through the Dr. Drew shows has brought many people seeking treatment from abroad — including from London, Macau, and Guam.
If you have any questions about the Pasadena Recovery Center or are seeking treatment please call us at (866) 663-3030.
Dr. David Smith And Dr. Matthew Torrington Help PRC Celebrate 11 Years
PASADENA, JANUARY 16, 2012 — Eleven years ago on Martin Luther King Day the Pasadena Recovery Center opened it’s doors and admitted it’s first client. Founded by psychiatrist Dr. Lee Bloom, his daughter, Alison Triessl and his son, Michael Bloom, the Pasadena Recovery Center has always been dedicated to providing compassionate, comprehensive and affordable treatment to those suffering from chemical dependency. Today marked the center’s 11th anniversary and to celebrate the occasion a special luncheon was held. Distinguished guest speakers Dr. David Smith, founder of the Haight-Ashbury Free Clinic and noted expert on addiction, and Dr. Matthew Torrington discussed advances in addiction treatment with 50 plus guests who gathered at the center.
