Luxury Treatment in New England: A Visit to McLean Hospital

While New England might not be the first place that comes to mind when thinking of luxury addiction treatment in the U.S., McLean Hospital’s Signature Recovery Program definitely puts it on the map.

As a Harvard Medical School affiliate, McLean offers a level of clinical excellence that can be hard to find in addiction treatment. Its two beautiful locations include McLean Fernside, a historic bed and breakfast overlooking the city of Boston in the distance, and McLean Borden Cottage in a spectacular mansion on Penobscot Bay. This facility’s accommodations hold their own against the best luxury centers out there.

Watch as our team gets an inside look at McLean’s Signature Recovery Program.

Steeped in History

Arguably the most historic region in the U.S., New England is home to Revolutionary War battlefields, quaint small towns, and historic institutions. One such institution is McLean Hospital, founded in 1811.

Originally a mental health facility, in the late 1960s, McLean recognized the importance of treating addiction and began offering addiction treatment programs.

They now offer programs across the spectrum of care at a number of locations. Paired with another historical institution, Harvard (which is in fact the oldest institution of higher learning in the U.S.), McLean has hundreds of years of experience and some of the greatest minds in the world to draw from.

Administration building on McLean’s main campus in Belmont, MA

Evidence-Based Care

As a treatment program embedded in a research hospital, the decisions made at McLean Signature Recovery are based on research and evidence-based practices. That shone through especially when discussing their thoughts on group therapy. Typically, a luxury center might de-emphasize group therapy, but at McLean, they believe it to be an important part of treatment.

One of the rooms typically used for group therapy at McLean Borden Cottage

As McLean Fernside’s Director, Dr. Rocco Iannucci explains, “Group therapy has been shown to be uniquely effective for treatment of substance use problems. There’s a way in which peer-to-peer interactions that are facilitated by an experienced and well-trained clinician can really add to recovery in a way that just the one-on-one interactions may not. People can bond with each other. They can communicate with each other in a different sort of way.”

International Leadership

Not surprisingly, institutions around the world look to McLean as a leader in the field. As Director of McLean’s Psychology Department, Dr. Philip Levundusky told us, they are especially excited about a consulting relationship they’ve had over the past six years with a major rehabilitation centre in Abu Dhabi, helping a relatively new program bring their substance abuse capabilities to a world-class level.

McLean also frequently provides care to international clients and is able to tailor the program to each individual’s cultural needs. McLean’s Middle East Center for Culturally Informed Care is one result of that and has a proven history of helping clients from that part of the world.

Deconstructing Stigma

McLean’s Deconstructing Stigma display at Boston Logan Airport

An example of McLean’s leadership in driving the conversation around addiction and mental health can be found in their Deconstructing Stigma campaign. This campaign features stories from people affected by mental illness, using their real names and real stories. Participants volunteered to be part of this campaign in order to help tear down the stigma surrounding mental illness, and it is hard to miss, with eight-foot-tall photos and stories encompassing an entire hallway at Boston Logan Airport.

Learn More

• Learn more about McLean Fernside and Borden Cottage by viewing our listing of New England luxury treatment centers. You’ll see more details, images, and contact information for each location.
• Curious about the term “luxury rehab?” Check out our post entitled What Is a Luxury Rehab? (And Why Do They Exist?) for a good overview. Includes contributions from leaders at 10 luxury centers worldwide.