We admit women ages 12 and older, including numerous women in their 50’s and 60’s.

We recognize that recovery from eating disorders, addiction and the other conditions we treat is a lifelong process. Women require different tools as they move through different phases of life. Our individualized program addresses the dynamic treatment needs of women at various stages of life.

Many adult women come to TK after having been in recovery for many years, even decades. Often a family or career transition, or traumatic life event such as a divorce or the loss of a loved one, can trigger a return of symptoms of anorexia, bulimia, addiction, trauma and/or mood disorders. We offer programming tailored to the specific needs of mature women, including those of mothers with children at home.

Residents live in separate lodge settings based upon their age. Adolescent girls attend school at the state-approved Timberline Knolls Academy. They benefit from the tight integration between the classroom and a therapeutic living environment that supports their social and developmental needs.

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Possibly. Our admissions team can help you determine whether your insurance benefits may help cover some portion or all of your treatment. Each insurance plan is unique; some provide excellent coverage for residential treatment centers.

Timberline Knolls Residential Treatment Center is an in-network provider for many insurance plans, and also works successfully to negotiate single-case agreements for women who must rely on out of network benefits. We have particular expertise working with women and families who need specialized dual diagnosis treatment or evaluation for cooccurring disorders.

We have extensive experience working with most major insurance carriers for women to get the treatment they need to address all their symptoms. At times, that includes coordinating with other providers across the continuum of care, such as inpatient hospitals, outpatient treatment providers, and transitional living facilities.

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Our treatment staff strongly believes that women benefit significantly from sharing living quarters during residential treatment. This offers them an antidote to the soul-stifling isolation of their diseases. Living with roommates also allows women and girls to practice recovery skills that are important to forming positive relationships with siblings, friends, roommates and family members.

Most women share a room with two or three other residents. Rooms include a private bathroom, and separate closet or dresser storage for each woman.

On occasion, a woman’s treatment team may conclude that is therapeutically beneficial for her to stay in a single room.

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No. Some women may stay as few as 30 days, and others may stay six months or more.

Numerous factors impact a woman’s length of stay, and we cannot begin to evaluate them fully until a woman has been admitted and assessed in person by our medical and clinical staff. These factors include:

• Medical complications or side effects of addiction, anorexia nervosa, bulimia, or other eating disorders
• Past treatment history at other inpatient/residential facilities or rehab centers
• Family relationships and support system
• Presence of co-occurring disorders
• History of traumatic life experiences
• Severity and length of time a woman has been suffering with her disease

We recognize the significant commitment of time and financial resources each woman and family makes by coming to a residential treatment center. Each woman’s treatment team keeps these realities in mind when formulating her treatment plan, both for residential treatment at TK and for her ongoing treatment once she leaves.

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During the admission process, our team will provide each family with a current list of items that are acceptable and prohibited, as well as suggestions on personal items that may make a woman or girl more comfortable during her stay.

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You will work with your treatment team to formulate an individualized treatment program to address your unique recovery goals. Many past residents who lack eating disorder symptoms have told us that they’ve found the treatment approaches we use to address anorexia and bulimia to be highly effective for controlling symptoms of mood disorders or addiction, and for coping with past trauma.

Additionally, women and teens who have struggled with long-term alcoholism or addiction also fail to recognize the impact their substance abuse has on their diet. Our nutrition and dietary staff leverage their expertise with anorexia, bulimia and compulsive overeating to help these women to also regain a healthy relationship with food and eating.

Timberline Knolls will not place you on a pre-defined eating disorder or substance abuse track based on your symptoms. Our treatment team believes that regardless of your diagnosis, you will benefit from programming that includes women who experience both similar and different symptoms.

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The Timberline Knolls treatment approach targets the core, underlying issues that are common among women with many different disorders, including those with a dual diagnosis or cooccurring disorder. Some women seek residential treatment for a single diagnosis, while others may have multiple diagnoses, or conflicting diagnoses from multiple treatment providers.

Regardless of a woman's past diagnosis, staff also place a strong emphasis on identifying and addressing cooccurring mood disorders, eating disorders and addiction. This holistic treatment approach is reflected throughout our programming, so that individual courses focused on eating disorders, addiction and trauma are consistent with our overall philosophy on recovery.

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Yes. Each lodge provides phones and computers with internet access, which residents are permitted to use at specified times during the course of treatment. You will work with your treatment team to determine appropriate parameters for communicating with your loved ones during each stage of treatment.

Once a woman is admitted and assigned to a residential lodge, her loved ones will be provided with instructions for sending mail and other care packages.

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Yes. Highly trained medical staff is onsite 24 hours per day. This is one of the important differences between licensed residential treatment centers like Timberline Knolls and many other drug rehabs, eating disorder treatment centers, and addiction recovery programs. These treatment facilities often staff programs primarily with therapists or counselors and other unlicensed recovery personnel, and only bring medical personnel onsite on a case-by-case basis.

Our treatment staff believes that women in the early stages of treatment require ongoing access to medical personnel in order to make a safe transition into a life of recovery. This also assures that any new or previously unidentified medical complications of anorexia, bulimia, or substance abuse are addressed promptly. It also assures that qualified personnel are on hand to immediately evaluate women and girls who experience medical events or changes that may require a temporary transfer for inpatient treatment.

The Timberline Knolls residential treatment team is led by Dr. Kimberly Dennis, MD, a board certified psychiatrist who specializes in the treatment of eating disorders and addiction. Our industry-leading multidisciplinary medical team includes psychiatrists, internal medicine physicians and nurses with extensive experience in treatment for bulimia, anorexia, substance abuse, trauma and co-occurring disorders.

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Yes. Visiting hours are scheduled each week. You will work with your treatment team to determine when you are ready to receive visitors, and when it may be clinically beneficial to go off-campus on a pass.

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Yes. Timberline Knolls employs full-time Christian therapists who have training in biblically-based counseling and the relationship between the Bible and principles of recovery. If you seek to deepen your understanding of Christianity and the Bible, we can arrange for work with a pastoral counselor.

If you desire to pursue a Christian treatment program, it is important that you make this request during the admission process.

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No. Timberline Knolls Residential Treatment Center welcomes women of all faith traditions and religious beliefs, and those with none at all. Our staff is trained to support you regardless of your religious preferences, and help you find resources you need to nourish your spirit.

We believe our common focus on spirituality will help you connect with peers who may help you develop and strengthen your own beliefs. We offer access to spiritual services and resources whether you are Jewish, Catholic, Christian or of another religious background.

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Yes. Timberline Knolls Academy provides an educational program that is approved by the Illinois State Board of Education, so credits earned during residential treatment are equivalent to those earned at any other public school in Illinois.

TK Academy is led by a full-time principal, who works with a woman’s home school to establish appropriate educational goals. Masters’ level teachers who are also learning behavioral specialists, and certified paraprofessionals, coordinate closely with each woman’s treatment team and clinical support staff.

Many other eating disorder treatment programs and drug rehab centers only provide tutoring to help a young woman keep up with classes at her home school. We believe that approach provides inadequate support, and puts undue stress on a resident when her treatment needs may be at their greatest. Additionally, we recognize that the time an adolescent spends in the classroom is an important part of her day, and that learning to use recovery skills in the classroom is a crucial part of substance abuse or eating disorders treatment.

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Yes. Our treatment staff believes that an all-female environment has significant therapeutic value for women struggling with eating disorders, substance abuse, trauma, and the other conditions we treat. As TK residents work to uncover their authentic selves and find their true voices, they benefit from the closeness and freedom that are fostered in the loving and supportive community of other recovering women. The lifelong friendships that women develop here are an important part of their foundation for recovery.

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Timberline Knolls is not a psychiatric hospital, and the success of your treatment requires willingness to participate in your recovery program. We recognize that treatment is difficult for everyone, even terrifying, and that your first few days or weeks at a residential treatment center are likely to be especially emotional.

Adult women, if not subject to legal guardianship, are free to leave our treatment program at any time if not in danger of harming themselves or others in the near future. Leaving against medical advice usually has a significant negative impact on a woman’s chances for recovery. It may also have ramifications for a woman’s ability to use insurance benefits for future addiction or eating disorder treatment, as well as for compliance with any legal agreements requiring participation in treatment.

Young women under age 18 do not leave the residential lodges without being accompanied by a staff member. Minors are admitted for treatment by their legal guardians, and when they leave treatment, they must be released to their custody. We will work with families and other treatment providers to identify appropriate placements for adolescent women who are resistant to treatment.

While this situation is rare, women who leave TK against our advice often seek to return later with a much-improved openness to recovery.

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Visit our archive of selected Timberline Knolls Articles.

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 No.

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Generally, no.

Service animals are permitted only with a doctor’s order. Our campus is not animal free, however. Dr. Dennis’s puppy, Lily, is a regular visitor and a favorite with residents. Click here to meet Lily.

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