I've been on both sides of the proverbial desk. My mom was in the outpatient mental health field and in the liberal early '80s, I was a small child who thought it great fun to hang out and go on field trips and play games with her clients. I ended up getting my BA in psychology and have worked at inpatient facilities from transitional housing units to full lockdown hospitals.
When I was 18, I went through a series of major life events and ended up in a serious depression. I wrote a suicide note and my parents caught me right before I started on the bottle of pills. They called the cops, who told me I could go voluntarily and check myself in, or I could be Baker Acted (involuntarily committed). I knew the system well enough to know that a) voluntary was a much better option and b) I really did need help.
I was in a small private psychiatric hospital in a medium-sized city. Since I already knew the system so well, there was none of the fear or apprehension I would imagine most people go through. I had the routine initial intake (search the suitcase for contraband, take away the belt and shoelaces and other possible "weapons"). I got a list of the rules, a sandwich since it was after dinner and I hadn't eaten, a few minutes to see my room/meet my spaced-out roommate (she was detoxing), then off to evening group.
The next day I started the regular program, except for being pulled out for around half an hour for a quick physical and meeting with the nutritionist (I'm really skinny, always have been, so she reviewed my diet to make sure I wasn't refusing to eat or anything).
It was pretty much the same routine there that it has been everywhere I've worked: set time to get up, hygiene/room cleaning time, morning group, lunch, afternoon group, "house meeting" (time to air grievances/work out differences in living arrangements), dinner, evening group, lights out. At some point during the day you see the psychiatrist and/or therapist. Most of your time is spent with the hands-on staff (mental health techs, sometimes psychiatric nurses). Depending on the type and facility and your personal level of recovery, there may be field trips and you may be granted a pass to go home for a period of time.
Meds may be administered by nurses or techs, depending on local laws and facility procedures. If it's a lockdown unit, you're generally handed whatever you take, while being verbally told what it is. In transitional facilities, the idea is that you're learning to live on your own. So you're expected to know what you take when, approach the med cart and ask for it. If you don't, someone will track you down and give it to you, and it'll be noted in your chart.
I was going through some trouble with my family and trying to make several decisions about my life, so the psychiatrist recommended I stay for a week and take time to think things through. I was diagnosed with situational depression (brought on by specific events) and offered meds if I wanted them, but the psychiatrist said that in his opinion, I didn't need them. I opted out, because I didn't want to feel like I was using a crutch.
I do feel like I got the help I needed. I was fortunate that my depression was situationally induced. The hospital gave me a safe space to step out of my life and analyze it from a new perspective. I spent a lot of time talking to staff and other patients, and things in my life improved dramatically when I got out. I am actually thankful for having had that experience, as I feel that it really helped me relate to my later clients. Interestingly, around 35% of patients at the time I was there were in the mental health field themselves--psychiatrists, therapists, special education teachers, psychiatric nurses. I was told that the field is extremely burnout-inducing.
If your character just wants to go through the motions and get out, one of the biggest keys is conformity. It's really sad to say, but everything you do (or don't do) is noted in your chart and used in making decisions on when you are ready for release. Eat whatever's being served whether you like it or not. Go to every group and fully participate. Come up with a reasonable suggestion for improving residential life and present it coherently at your house meeting. Set goals with your therapist and work to achieve them. All of these actions show personal responsibility and the ability to successfully live within the community.
I don't know how common this reaction is, but I was surprised to find that I was a bit nervous about getting out. Even though I was only in for a week, it was kind of a safe and easy place to be. I had my doubts about whether I was really ready for "the real world," and I ended up spending another week at my parents' house, transitioning slowly back into real life.