Intensive Outpatient & Outpatient Addiction Treatment Services
Starting Now offers a variety of services to help evaluate and treat substance use and addictive disorders.
Our treatment philosophy at Starting Now is patient-centered, and evidence-based including:
- group and individual therapy
- cognitive behavioral therapy
- experiential activities
- medication assisted therapies (Suboxone “Spoke” services)
Our approach is designed to help clients establish a life of recovery, free from addiction to alcohol and other drugs and to improve the quality of one’s life and relationships while building the skills needed to maintain a strong recovery.
We provide an atmosphere of respect, empathy, and hope for women and men whose lives have been adversely affected by addiction and mental illness. At Starting Now clients find the support needed to learn and practice the skills that will lead to a healthier life.
Services
Intensive Outpatient and Outpatient Counseling Services
Clients who participate in Starting Now’s Intensive Outpatient Treatment (IOP) program are able to live at home and continue with work, family and other responsibilities. As its name indicates, IOP is an intensive and also a highly supportive level of outpatient care.
Individuals have the opportunity to explore what it means to create a lifestyle of recovery while simultaneously engaging in treatment during a time of great change.
Starting Now offers both morning and evening programs to accommodate clients’ individual needs. The structure of the two programs varies slightly, though both begin with several group counseling sessions per week and then shift to a less intensive, transitional phase.
Morning IOP Program:
- Phase One of the Starting Now Morning Program runs from 9:15 am to 12:15 pm on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, typically lasting 5 weeks, depending on need.
- Phase Two of the Starting Now Morning Program runs from 9:15 am to 10:15 am on Monday and Friday for a total of 10 sessions.
Evening IOP Program:
- Phase One of the Starting Now Evening Program runs from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, typically lasting six weeks.
- Phase Two of the Starting Now Evening Program runs from 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm on Monday and Wednesday for a total of 10 sessions.
Outpatient Counseling
In some situations, Intensive Outpatient Program is not needed. In those cases, outpatient counseling is often recommended instead. Outpatient individual or group treatment focuses on helping meet clients’ individual recovery needs. We have several counselors with many years of experience in this work who can help to formulate a plan of treatment that really works.
Starting Now offers weekly relapse prevention groups for people who have already received primary drug and alcohol addiction treatment and are looking for support in maintaining their recovery in a therapeutic setting. The goal of relapse prevention is to help clients return to full and healthy functioning physically, mentally and socially.
Skills learned in relapse prevention groups include:
- learning to recognize and manage relapse warning signs
- developing thought patterns that support sober living
- establishing daily structure and engaging in an exercise and healthy diet plan
- cultivating a social network that will enhance recovery.
Medication-Assisted Therapy/ “Spoke” Services
Starting Now also offers medication assisted therapy – a multi-physician Suboxone prescribing practice for clients with opioid dependence. This program offers prescribed Suboxone to clients who do not need the intensive supervision and monitoring of the “Hub”/OTP program that the Brattleboro Retreat Buprenorphine Clinic provides. In this program, clients progress through three stages of treatment that also correspond to the length of the prescriptions that they receive. Client start off receiving weekly prescriptions, but can, after meeting requirements over an extended period of time, progress to biweekly and then monthly prescriptions/visits. All Starting Now “Spoke” services are provided in a group therapy format, which are co-led by a physician along with a nurse or counselor. Nursing and counseling staff also provide some case management services to work to try to help connect clients with services that meet all of their addiction and co-occurring treatment needs. In this program, we help clients to focus on building and enhancing recovery support systems.
1 Anna Marsh Lane