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For familiesIf you’re the one looking up substance use treatment for someone you love, this page is for you.
Most calls we get start with a spouse, a parent, or an adult child, not with the person who needs help. You are doing the hardest part of this. We wrote this page, and the guide below, for the situation you’re actually in.
Three situations we hear about every week.
Family-side calls usually come in around the same patterns. None of them are unusual. None of them are signs you did something wrong.
1. They won’t admit there’s a problem
You see it. They don’t, or won’t. Every conversation about it goes sideways. You’ve started to keep a private list of incidents and you’re wondering whether you’re losing perspective or finally seeing clearly.
2. They’ve relapsed after treatment that worked, for a while
They completed a program. Maybe more than one. There was a stretch where things got better. Now it’s back, and it feels worse this time because you both believed it was solved.
3. Something just happened
An overdose. A DUI. A medical episode. A call from their workplace. The crisis broke the surface and now there’s a narrow window before everyone tries to put the pieces back in their familiar order.
What a virtual outpatient program can do for the situation you’re in.
We are an outpatient program. We do not have beds. We are not residential. Here is what we can do, and what we can’t.
They keep their job and their housing
Three to five hours a day, weekdays. Most sessions are virtual, with in-person intensives in California available when the work calls for it. Morning, afternoon, or evening cohorts. Many of our patients work a full shift around their treatment hours, which is often the only way they would agree to start at all.
Substance use and mental health, one team
Co-occurring depression, anxiety, and trauma are common, and untreated they are one of the main reasons people relapse. Our clinicians treat both together, with coordinated medication management when it’s indicated.
Family programming when it’s clinically right
Weekly family sessions for the people closest to the patient, when the patient consents. Sometimes that means you. Sometimes it doesn’t. We talk about the framing together so it doesn’t turn into a confrontation.
Medication-assisted treatment
Buprenorphine, naltrexone, Vivitrol, acamprosate, managed inside the program. Patients on methadone maintenance stay with their opioid treatment program. We coordinate.
What we don’t do
We don’t do medical detox. We don’t do residential. We are not a 24-hour facility. If your loved one is in acute withdrawal from alcohol or benzodiazepines, that is a medical emergency and the first step is the ER or a medically managed detox, not us. We can take it from there.
What we promise
We will run a benefit check the same day and tell you, in plain English, what the cost would be. We will do a short clinical screen to confirm the right level of care. If we’re not the right fit, we will help you find who is. We don’t pay for referrals. We don’t make outcome promises we can’t back up.
The first 24 hours, in order.
If you call today or fill out the form below, here is roughly how the next day looks. Most of it is on us, not on you.
Intake call
A short conversation, usually within the same business day. You tell us what’s going on. We tell you what we do and don’t do. No commitment.
Benefit verification
We verify the patient’s specific plan and tell you, in plain English, what their out-of-pocket cost would look like before they commit. Same day or next business day.
Clinical screen
A short ASAM-aligned conversation between the patient and one of our clinicians, on the phone or by video. This confirms the right level of care: ASAM 1.0 (outpatient), 2.1 (intensive outpatient), or ambulatory withdrawal management. If the patient needs a higher level than we can deliver, we say so and help you find who does.
Level-of-care match decision
If we’re the right level of care, we set the intake date, often next business day. If we’re not, we tell you why and we help you find who is. We’d rather you land somewhere right than land with us wrong.
Substance use records have stricter privacy protection than the rest of healthcare. Here’s what that means for you.
42 CFR Part 2, in plain English
A federal law called 42 CFR Part 2 governs the privacy of substance use treatment records. It is stricter than HIPAA. The program cannot release information about someone’s treatment, including whether they’re in the program at all, without their written consent.
The law exists because, for decades, fear of disclosure (especially to employers, courts, licensing boards, and family) has been one of the largest single barriers to people seeking treatment. The protection makes it safer to ask for help.
What this means for you as the family member
If your loved one is over 18, we can’t tell you whether they showed up, what’s in their treatment plan, or what they talked about, unless they sign a release authorizing us to share that with you. Many patients do sign a limited release for basic things like attendance confirmation. It’s a conversation between you and them.
If you’re paying and want some accountability about whether the program is being attended, the cleanest path is to ask your loved one to sign a limited release covering attendance and program status. We have a form for it.
How to talk to someone you love about substance use treatment.
A clinically grounded guide for the family member or close friend who is doing the hardest part of this. Plain language. Reviewed by our Medical Director. Free. Email it to yourself and read it in pieces.
- Why most TV-style interventions don’t work, and what does
- How to validate without enabling
- Five conversation openers, for five different situations
- What to do if they refuse, and what boundaries actually look like
- Why co-occurring depression, anxiety, and trauma matter for treatment choice
- Insurance, virtual vs in-person, what week one of IOP actually looks like
- 42 CFR Part 2 confidentiality, in plain language
- Resources: SAMHSA, Al-Anon, Nar-Anon, SMART Recovery Family & Friends, Allies in Recovery, CRAFT-trained clinicians
- Taking care of yourself, because you’re also experiencing trauma
On its way.
We’ll email the guide in the next few minutes. If you’d like to talk through your specific situation, the easiest next step is a 20-minute call with our Medical Director.
Or download the PDF nowIf you want to talk it through with a person.
A 20-minute call with our Medical Director, Oren S. Raphael, MD, is the best way to figure out whether we’re the right fit and what the next step looks like if we’re not. No commitment. No paperwork yet.
Shift Support Network is a virtual outpatient program for substance use and co-occurring mental health. We are not residential. We are not inpatient. We are not a 24-hour facility. We are out-of-network with the commercial carriers as of publication; in-network credentialing is in progress. We do not pay for referrals. If you or someone you’re with is in immediate danger, call or text 988 or call 911.