Co-Occurring Disorder Treatment
Integrated care for adults living with both a mental health condition and a substance use disorder.
Treating one condition and ignoring the other rarely works. Our integrated model addresses mental health and substance use at the same time, with a single team working from a single treatment plan.
Roughly half of adults with a serious mental illness will also experience a substance use disorder at some point, and the reverse is similarly common. Despite that, care is still frequently split between separate providers who do not share information.
Integrated treatment is the standard supported by federal behavioral health guidance for a reason: outcomes improve when the same team addresses both conditions concurrently. Clients stop having to explain themselves twice, and clinical decisions account for the whole picture.
In practice, that means one comprehensive assessment, one plan, and shared documentation between your therapist and your psychiatric provider. Craving management and mood regulation are taught in the same skills groups, because in real life they show up in the same moments.
What this program includes
Integrated assessment
One comprehensive evaluation covering both conditions.
Unified treatment plan
Therapy and psychiatry working from the same document.
Skills groups
CBT and DBT informed coping strategies for mood and cravings.
Aftercare planning
Continued support across both domains after discharge.
Therapies and clinical modalities
Programming draws on treatments with established evidence for the conditions we treat. Your plan will name the specific approaches your clinicians are using and why.
What a week looks like
- 01
Shared case review
Your clinicians meet about your care, not just about their piece of it.
- 02
Dual focus groups
Programming that addresses mood and substance use together.
- 03
Medication coordination
Prescribing decisions that account for substance use risk.
- 04
Recovery environment work
Practical planning for housing, work, and relationships.
Who this is for
- Adults with a dual diagnosis
- Clients who have returned to use after single focus treatment
- Adults with trauma histories underlying substance use
- Families trying to make sense of a complex diagnosis
What clients gain
Questions about co-occurring disorder treatment
What does dual diagnosis mean?
It describes the presence of a mental health condition and a substance use disorder at the same time, for example post traumatic stress disorder alongside alcohol use disorder. Each condition tends to worsen the other, which is why they are treated together.
Do I need to be sober before starting treatment?
No. Requiring sobriety before mental health treatment is one of the reasons dual diagnosis care historically failed people. If you need medically supervised withdrawal management first, we will help arrange it and pick up care immediately after.
Which condition gets treated first?
Both, concurrently. Safety and medical stability always take priority, but there is no waiting list between the two conditions inside an integrated plan.
This page is general health information, not medical advice. Level of care recommendations are made only after a clinical assessment. If you or someone you love is in immediate danger, call 911, or call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
Recovery starts here.
Our admissions team can answer questions, verify coverage, and help you take the next step, on your timeline.
Contact admissions