Guest House: Healing and helping

The Guest House Ocala

One of Ocala's best kept secrets for healing and hope

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ALE CRETUL

People come from all over the world in search of healing and hope at the Guest House Ocala, and now its operators want to share their message with and open their doors to more Ocalans.

“Not everybody in Ocala knows about us,” said Judy Crane, the Guest House’s co-founder and chief executive officer. “We have people fly in from all over the world. We want people right here in Ocala to know we’re here.”

The Guest House, located on a rustic estate in Silver Springs, has been in operation since 2016. It is one of the nation’s leading centers for treating addiction and destructive behaviors. Located on 52 oak-shaded acres, the Guest House provides an idyllic setting with a unique and personalized treatment program that addresses any self-defeating behavior – from drug addiction and sex addiction to anxiety and depression.

The program, though, does not only focus on the particular addiction or other self-defeating behavior, but also, as Judy put it, “on the trauma and the underlying issues that cause such things as addiction, anxiety and depression.”

Judy and her partner, Guest House co-founder and managing partner John West, said the focus on unresolved trauma is what separates their program from most rehabilitation programs.

“We have people who come here who have been in program after program, but they have never dealt with the unresolved trauma in their lives,” Judy said. “This is a very traumatized world, and the United States has maybe the most trauma of all.”

Judy and John explained that while most people come to the Guest House to address a certain behavior, like gambling addiction or grief, every client has had a trauma of some kind in their life—whether emotional, physical or spiritual—that ignited and fueled their destructive behavior. And often, they added, it is not just the client who is suffering from the effects of that trauma, but the client’s whole family.

When the self-destructive behavior is diagnosed, Judy, an internationally known expert and speaker on the effects of trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, said that often what the Guest House staff finds is that there are multiple traumas and disorders in play.

Photo by Ralph Demilio

Judy Crane and John West

Every client has had a trauma of some kind in their life—whether emotional, physical or spiritual—that ignited and fueled their destructive behavior.

What makes Guest House unique, however, is you don’t have to have an addiction to go there for treatment. Much of its focus is on trauma and PTSD, but what makes the Guest House’s treatment unique is they treat addiction through the lens of trauma, based on the theory that addiction is the symptom and trauma is the cause.

“Not everyone who comes here is just a substance abuser either,” Judy said. “So, you have to unravel the trauma story to understand the addiction story and write the recovery story.”

Of course, while the Guest House program is unique in its focus, it also stands apart in the length of treatment. While most rehabilitation facilities typically offer 30-day programs, the Guest House’s program takes about three times as long. The average stay for a Guest House client is between 70 and 111 days. John said 30 days is simply not realistic to adequately address most people’s deep-seated problems.

THE FOUNDERS AND THEIR TEAM

Judy and John, who met in 2004 after John left a Hollywood career and became a patient of Judy’s, have melded into a remarkable team who have garnered international recognition as leaders and innovators in the field of addiction recovery.

The staff includes more than 70 people, including three staff doctors, 12 nurses and 14 clinicians, all of whom are trained as certified trauma specialists.

Judy is a licensed mental health counselor, certified addiction professional, a certified sex addiction therapist, a certified hypnotist and, as previously mentioned, an internationally recognized specialist for healing trauma and PTSD. Over the last 30 years, she has developed her trauma model into one of the country’s leading treatment programs specializing in trauma/PTSD and its effect on addictions. She also has spearheaded Spirit2Spirit Healing, a new movement in experiential and holistic therapies.

John, meanwhile, has made an international name for himself as an alcohol and drug interventionist and crisis manager specializing in high-profile clients such as celebrities, politicians, musicians, scientists, artists and corporate executives.

John is the son of actor J.T. Walsh and renowned businesswoman Susan West, who served as the president of biodynamically grown skincare company Dr. Hauschka. John was influenced by his parents’ creativity, fame and success. He was pursuing a Hollywood producing career when his father suddenly passed away. He was overwhelmed and grieving, which led him to seek his own trauma treatment. That helped him to find his calling as a Sober Companion and an interventionist in the film and recovery industry, where he helps those who feel unable to share their pain because of their public image.

John met Judy in 2004 during his treatment, and that relationship grew into a

Photo provided by The Guest House Ocala

friendship and business partnership.

It’s more than Judy’s and John’s expertise, however, that makes the care and results at the Guest House so remarkable.

The Guest House has a patient capacity of 27 clients. To ensure those patients get the most intensive and personalized care possible, the facility’s level of staffing goes beyond typical rehabilitation facility standards. The staff includes more than 70 people, including three staff doctors, 12 nurses and 14 clinicians, all of whom are trained as certified trauma specialists. There is also an on-site kitchen staff that makes organic dishes fresh for each meal. This team of medical experts provide care on an individual basis as well as in group settings.

“The group dynamic is where the power is,” John said of the Guest House staff. “We have the best people in the country, the best in the world. They truly are.”

While the Guest House is best known for its counseling, medical treatment and holistic care, the program also provides a unique array of therapies, including Conscious Connected Breathwork, equine therapy, adventure therapy, somatic experiencing, art in healing, grief therapy and mindfulness, among others.

Interestingly, many of the staff members are former patients themselves.

“We’re training people, we’re healing people, and a lot of the people healed come back and are now some of our best people,” John said. “We also have an alumni group, and they come back and help.”

The Guest House also provides outpatient services, which the clinical staff oversees. The outpatient program is especially well-suited for local residents who live in the Ocala area. In addition to care while they are at the Guest House, John has a separate company, Sober Companions, that provides personalized counseling for those who cannot, for whatever reason, take time off to undergo residential at the Guest House. Sober Companion provides individualized, oneon-one, day-to-day care and monitoring of patients across the country.

WHO CAN GET IN?

The Guest House prides itself on its doors being open to anyone, regardless of race, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation or gender/sexual identification. But the cost—patients pay $50,000 a month for the program—can be intimidating. But Judy and John, noting that rich people and poor people ultimately have the same personal problems, are quick to assure that cost should not stand in the way of a person seeking critical care that they need.

The Guest House is a private pay facility and works with insurance companies to reimburse the cost of a patient’s residential stay. For Guest House outpatient services, which, again, are tailored for local residents, the facility is in-network with many insurance plans.

So, Ocala, you have one of the best places on earth at your doorstep if you are trying to overcome an addiction, chronic depression, anxiety, suicidal tendencies or unyielding grief. The best care of its kind in the world is right here.

“I want Ocala to know there is help here,” Judy said. “We take insurance. If you can’t come stay because of work, we have an outpatient program.”