Former patient of Praxis Landmark Recovery tells ABC57 about his experience

MISHAWAKA, Ind - A local addiction treatment center, Praxis Facility located on Bodnar Boulevard in Mishawaka, has come under fire for its repeated emergency incidents leading to a formal complaint filed by St. Joseph County to state regulators. 

The latest development coming out of the facility is an overdose of a 28-year-old patient Thursday morning and on top of that, there were three patient deaths this month alone. 

A former patient at Praxis Landmark Recovery spoke about his brief one-week experience at the facility. 

“It’s basically like a zoo, there's no structure, the workers don’t seem to care.”, said Gage Cissell, a former patient of Praxis. 

21-year-old Gage Cissell was admitted to Praxis Landmark Recovery in late June but told ABC57 the facility has done more harm than good on his recovery journey. 

“Um well, I went there seeking treatment for my addiction, and um my experience, I wouldn’t recommend it for anyone that’s trying to seek help for their addiction, I've been treated better in county jail.”, said Cissell. 

Praxis opened back in August of 2022 and St. Joseph County Police confirm there have been repeated serious incidents there ever since. 

In a span of 192 days this year, a total of 217 emergency calls for service were recorded. 

Seven involved drug overdoses, at least two fatal, and three were related to sex crimes, including rape with another for a stabbing.  

They are now calling on state regulators to shut the troubled facility down.

Cissell admits he's a recovering addict and he's even been accused of bringing drugs into the facility that lead to one of the deadly overdoses but denies any wrongdoing,

“The allegations that’s being placed with my name, I just want to clear them, I had nothing to do with the overdoses.”, said Cissell. 

Cissell's father, Gus Sena, who's also a recovering addict, was treated at the old Salvation Army Recovery Program.

He said he's been clean for about 10 years and has a message for families searching for help ending the cycle of addiction.  

“To the families, do your homework, people looking for recovery do your homework, check out the places and the facilities and see the ratings and see their comments because it could be your families last chance, it you know really hits my heart.”, said Cissell. 

Praxis said they are committed to patient safety and gave a statement saying Landmark Recovery is committed to cooperating with all investigative efforts and self-reported to all regulatory and accrediting organizations and we'll keep you posted on the investigation into what's really happening inside this facility.