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San Diego, San Diego CountyVirtual intensive outpatient program for San Diego
Intensive outpatient care by video, for people in San Diego who need more than a weekly therapy hour and less than a hospital bed. You attend from home. Our clinicians are licensed in California and you need to be physically in the state during each session.
No building in San Diego.
Shift has no clinic in San Diego. Every session is delivered by video, and the program was built that way from the start. If you have already looked at the in-person options here, you will have noticed that most of them assume you can be in one specific part of the county at one specific time, five days a week. That assumption is what we removed.
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.
Shift work and on-call weeks
Morning, afternoon and evening cohorts exist so that a rotation does not end your treatment. When the rotation turns over, we move you.
Check your benefits If someone in the household is awayFamilies split across distance
A household can be running on one adult for months at a time. Care you attend from your own kitchen is care you can actually keep.
Check your benefits If you are the only one who knowsNothing to explain to anyone
You attend from a private room on a laptop. Substance use treatment records carry the stricter protection of 42 CFR Part 2, which limits what we may disclose and to whom.
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 San Diego County, the County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency, Behavioral Health Services 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 San Diego?
No. We have no treatment site in San Diego County. Care is delivered by video and you attend from wherever you are in California.
Can I join from North County or East County?
Yes. Escondido, Oceanside, El Cajon, Chula Vista. The only geographic rule is that you are physically in California during each session.
What happens if I need medical detox first?
Detox that needs medical supervision in a bed needs a building. We offer ambulatory withdrawal management for low-risk withdrawal, and when the clinical screen says the risk is not low we say so and point you to inpatient care.
What are the public options in San Diego County?
For a crisis, call or text 988, or 911 if anyone is in immediate danger. the County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency, Behavioral Health Services runs the county's public mental health and substance use treatment network.
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.