Why Drug Addiction Treatment Starts With an Assessment, Not a Label
People start using drugs for a lot of reasons: curiosity, social pressure, self-medicating pain or a mental health condition that was never treated, or managing a legitimate prescription that turned into dependence. Whatever got you here, treatment starts with a confidential assessment, not a judgment about how you got here.
Signs a Substance Has Become a Problem
- Needing more of a substance to get the same effect, or feeling withdrawal when you stop
- Spending a lot of time getting, using, or recovering from a substance
- Continuing to use despite problems it’s causing at work, school, home, or in relationships
- Trying to cut back or stop and finding you couldn’t
- Pulling away from people or activities that don’t involve using
Levels of Care
- Detox and residential care, for substances where stopping can be medically risky without supervision, like alcohol or benzodiazepines.
- Day treatment (PHP), structured programming five days a week, while you sleep at home. See our day treatment program.
- Evening treatment (IOP), a few hours a day, a few days a week, built to fit around work or school. See our evening treatment program.
- Outpatient and aftercare, ongoing counseling and support once the most intensive phase is behind you.
- Medication-assisted treatment, FDA-approved medications combined with counseling, used for opioid and alcohol use disorder in particular.
Therapies We Use
- Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)
- Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT)
- Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)
- Relapse prevention therapy
- Group therapy
- Family therapy
Substance Use in the U.S. and Massachusetts
An estimated 40.3 million Americans had a substance use disorder in 2020, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug nationally, and nearly 2 in 5 young adults reported using an illicit drug in the past year, per SAMHSA’s 2021 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Drug overdose deaths in the U.S. reached a record high of over 106,600 in 2021, according to the CDC. These numbers reflect a national and state-level public health issue, not a personal failing.
Co-Occurring Mental Health Conditions
Anxiety, depression, trauma, and other mental health conditions are common alongside substance use, and treating both together, rather than one after the other, tends to work better. Our dual diagnosis treatment addresses both at once.
Insurance and Cost
Most major plans cover addiction treatment when it’s medically necessary. We work with Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna, Harvard Pilgrim, UnitedHealthcare, UniCare, and others. Check your insurance; it’s free and doesn’t commit you to anything.
How to Start
Call or send your insurance details
Talk to our admissions team at (877) 920-6583, or use the insurance form. We check your benefits for you.
Confidential assessment
A conversation about your substance use, mental health, and history, so we can recommend the right level of care.
Start treatment
We handle the paperwork and coordinate with your insurance, and your care team adjusts your plan as you go.
Questions about drug rehab
What kinds of drug addiction does GBAC treat?
We treat addiction to opioids (including heroin, fentanyl, and prescription painkillers), stimulants (including methamphetamine and cocaine), alcohol, benzodiazepines, marijuana, and polysubstance use involving more than one substance at a time.
What if I'm not sure which substance is the "main" problem?
That's common, and it's exactly what the intake assessment is for. You don't need to diagnose yourself before calling. We sort out what's going on and recommend a level of care from there.
Do you treat mental health alongside addiction?
Yes. Anxiety, depression, trauma, and other mental health conditions are common alongside substance use, and treating both together tends to work better than treating either alone.
What happens at the first assessment?
A confidential conversation about your substance use, mental health, and history, so we can recommend the right level of care. It doesn't commit you to anything.
Does insurance cover drug rehab in Massachusetts?
Most major plans cover addiction treatment when it's medically necessary, including Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna, Harvard Pilgrim, UnitedHealthcare, and UniCare. We check your benefits for you before you start.