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Oakland, Alameda CountyVirtual intensive outpatient program for Oakland
Intensive outpatient treatment delivered by video to people in Oakland. A real level of care above weekly therapy, attended from home, with no residential stay and no commute across the bay to get to a group.
No building in Oakland.
Shift has no clinic in Oakland. Care is delivered by video, every session. If the program you were looking at is on the other side of a bridge or a tunnel from you, the commute is doing the deciding, and it should not be.
Our clinicians are licensed in California, and California telehealth rules follow the patient. You need to be physically in California during every session. Shift is certified by the California Department of Health Care Services, certification 191663AP, for outpatient treatment, intensive outpatient treatment and ambulatory withdrawal management.
What you would actually be attending.
Weekday cohorts in the morning, the afternoon and the evening. Group work, individual sessions and family sessions when they are clinically indicated. A treatment plan a licensed clinician signs, and a clinical review of whether this is still the right level of care.
What is in it
- Intensive outpatient treatment at ASAM level 2.1, by video.
- Individual therapy with the same clinician week to week.
- Family sessions when the clinical plan calls for them.
- Ambulatory withdrawal management for low-risk withdrawal.
- Psychiatry on the team for co-occurring mental health.
What is not in it
- Medical detox in a bed. That needs a building, and we will say so.
- Residential treatment. Same answer, and we help you find it.
- Acute psychiatric stabilization. An emergency department, not us.
- A promise about your outcome. We do not make one.
- A referral fee, in either direction. We do not pay for referrals.
Who this tends to fit here.
Work that starts early
A program with an evening cohort is a program you can attend after a day that started at six. We move you between cohorts when the job changes.
Check your benefits If your coverage runs through a unionWe read the trust document
A health and welfare trust writes its own behavioral health terms. We read the document rather than rely on a summary, and we tell you what it actually says.
Check your benefits If you have tried to start beforeWhat usually goes wrong
Most people who stop stop for logistical reasons, not clinical ones. We plan the room, the schedule and the coverage before day one, because those are the three things that end treatment in week two.
Check your benefitsWe read your plan before you commit to anything.
Covered by many PPO plans. We check your benefits first.
Shift bills most major commercial plans on an out-of-network basis. We are not part of any commercial carrier network. We read your plan, tell you what it pays toward intensive outpatient care, and give you that number before your first appointment. Nothing is committed until you decide.
Medi-Cal. We cannot bill Medi-Cal today, because we hold no county contract yet. If Medi-Cal is your coverage, tell us and we will point you to a county provider who can help now.
Pages for specific cards: Aetna, Anthem, Blue Shield of California, Cigna, UnitedHealthcare, UMR, Carelon, Magellan, Kaiser.
If Shift is not the right answer for you.
In a crisis, call or text 988. That is the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, it is answered around the clock, and it covers substance use as well as mental health. If anyone is in immediate danger, call 911. Shift is an outpatient program and is not an emergency service.
For public treatment in Alameda County, Alameda County Behavioral Health runs the county network and is the place to start if commercial insurance is not what you have.
And if the clinical screen says you need a level of care we do not offer, we tell you that and help you find it. That happens, and it is a better outcome than being admitted to the wrong program.
The ones people ask first.
Is there a Shift location in Oakland?
No. We have no treatment site in Oakland or anywhere in Alameda County. Everything happens by video.
Can I join from Berkeley, Fremont or Hayward?
Yes. The only geographic rule is that you are physically in California during each session.
Do you take Medi-Cal?
Not today. We cannot bill Medi-Cal because we hold no county contract yet. If Medi-Cal is your coverage, call us and we will point you to a county provider who can help now rather than leave you with nothing.
What are the public options in Alameda County?
For a crisis, call or text 988, or 911 if anyone is in immediate danger. Alameda County Behavioral Health runs the county's entry point for mental health and substance use treatment.
Start with a call or a benefits check.
Five minutes either way. We read your plan, a licensed clinician does a clinical screen, and if Shift is the right level of care you start. Next business day on most cases.
If you or someone you are with is in immediate danger, call or text 988 (the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline) or call 911. Shift Support Network is an outpatient program and is not an emergency service. Other cities: Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Sacramento, Fresno, Bakersfield, Riverside, Long Beach, Oakland.