Trauma and PTSD treatment · Hopkins, Minnesota
Trauma & PTSD Treatment in Minneapolis, Minnesota
An outpatient trauma center approach for adults whose drinking or drug use started as a way to survive something that already happened.
Northwoods Haven Recovery treats trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder alongside substance use disorders on an outpatient basis for adults across Minneapolis and the Twin Cities, from our center in Hopkins. Trauma-informed care in every group, individual counseling with your own licensed alcohol and drug counselor, and skills from CBT, DBT, and acceptance and commitment therapy for the memories, the nightmares, and the urge to numb them. Then you go home.
In-network with Minnesota Medicaid, Blue Cross Blue Shield, HealthPartners, UnitedHealthcare, and Medica
Trauma and PTSD
You do not have to relive it to recover from it.
Trauma and substance use
No story required before you are ready.
Many people who come to us for drinking or drug use are carrying something older. We do not ask you to tell the story before you are ready. We ask you to stop having to drink to get through it.
4
Symptom clusters of PTSD: intrusion, avoidance, mood, arousal
2 to 4
Months in IOP, then the Relapse Prevention Program step-down
18+
Adults, including young adults
0
Nights away from home. Every level of care here is outpatient
What trauma and PTSD are
Trauma is what happened. PTSD is what the body keeps doing about it, and substances often join in
Trauma is an experience, or a string of them, that overwhelms your ability to cope: violence, sexual assault, a serious accident, combat, a sudden death, childhood neglect, or years of living on guard in an unsafe home. Most people who go through something like that recover in time. For some, the nervous system never gets the message that it is over. Post-traumatic stress disorder is the clinical name for that stuck state, and it is diagnosed when symptoms in four areas last more than a month and interfere with daily life: intrusion, avoidance, negative changes in mood and thinking, and heightened arousal.
Alcohol and drugs are extremely good at quieting a nervous system on high alert, at least for a few hours. A drink slows the racing thoughts. An opioid softens the body. Cannabis or a benzodiazepine takes the edge off the nightmares long enough to sleep. This is why trauma and substance use disorders so often show up together: the substance started as a solution. Over time it stops working, tolerance builds, and the person now has two conditions feeding each other, plus shame about both.
At Northwoods Haven Recovery we treat trauma and PTSD as co-occurring conditions alongside chemical dependency programming, using trauma-informed care in every group and session. That means predictable routines, choice about what you share and when, and no pressure to recount the details. If trauma is your primary concern and substance use is not part of the picture, a program built specifically for PTSD will serve you better, and we will help you find one.
Who this treatment is for
We treat trauma and PTSD alongside substance use, not on their own. If you are struggling with trauma symptoms and do not have a substance use concern, a dedicated mental health program is the better fit, and we will point you toward one. Call anyway. Every caller leaves with resources.
Our space
Inside our outpatient treatment center in Hopkins, Minnesota
A safe haven should feel like one. Our suite on Green Oak Drive looks out over water and trees, and the rooms where groups meet were built to feel calm, comfortable, and homey. Not clinical, not institutional. You are more than your diagnosis here, and the space is meant to say so before anyone does.
The lounge
Where people land and catch their breath before group.
The group room
Three hours a day, in a circle, with people who understand.
The view
Water and treeline out every window: the northwoods, in the metro.
Another Group Room
Three hours a day, in a circle, with people who understand.
Quiet corners
Somewhere to sit with a thing before you say it out loud.
Room to breathe
Daylight and treeline out every window. No clinical fluorescence.
Signs and symptoms
Signs trauma is still running the show
PTSD is diagnosed across four clusters of symptoms. You do not need every one of them. If several are familiar, and drinking or using is how you cope with them, treating both together is the point.
Re-experiencing
Intrusion
Unwanted memories that arrive without warning, nightmares, flashbacks where the past feels present, and intense physical reactions to reminders such as a smell, a sound, or an anniversary date.
Behavioral
Avoidance
Steering around people, places, conversations, or feelings connected to what happened. Drinking or using before situations you cannot avoid. Keeping busy so there is never a quiet moment to think.
Psychological
Mood and thinking
Persistent guilt, shame, or blame turned inward. Feeling numb, detached, or unable to enjoy things. A belief that the world is dangerous, that you are damaged, or that no one can be trusted.
Physical
Arousal
Being on guard and easily startled, irritability or angry outbursts, trouble falling or staying asleep, difficulty concentrating, and reckless or self-destructive behavior, including heavier use.
How trauma and addiction interact
Why the substance stops working, and what treating both looks like
Trauma and substance use form a loop. Hyperarousal and intrusive memories create the urge to numb. The substance brings relief, so the brain learns to reach for it. But alcohol fragments sleep and blocks the dreaming stage where the mind processes fear, so nightmares get worse. Stimulants push an already overactive nervous system higher. Withdrawal from almost anything mimics anxiety and panic, which the body reads as danger. Each round of use leaves the trauma untouched and a little harder to face.
There is also a reason people with PTSD who stop using suddenly feel worse before they feel better. The substance had been holding a lid on symptoms, and when it comes off, the memories, the startle, and the sleeplessness rush back. Programs that treat only the addiction and defer the trauma often lose people at exactly this point. Treating both at once, with the same counselors, is what keeps people in care through those early weeks.
At Northwoods Haven Recovery that looks like trauma-informed group therapy where you decide what to share, individual counseling with your own LADC, and skills you can use the same night: grounding for flashbacks, DBT distress tolerance for the moments that used to end in a drink, CBT for the thoughts that say you are to blame, and acceptance and commitment therapy for building a life around your values rather than around avoidance. If your assessment shows you need a specialized exposure-based trauma protocol, we will say so plainly and help you find it, so both kinds of care support each other.
If you are in crisis right now
If you are in crisis or thinking about suicide, call or text 988 (Suicide and Crisis Lifeline) or call 911. Both are available every hour of every day. Treatment here can begin once you are safe, and we will be glad to hear from you.
Who it is for
Outpatient trauma and addiction treatment is probably the right fit if you
- Drink or use to sleep, to stop the memories, or to get through situations that put your body on alert
- Have been told you have PTSD, or suspect it, and every attempt to quit has collapsed when the symptoms came back
- Want the trauma taken seriously without being made to describe it before you are ready
- Have finished detox or residential care and need trauma-informed structure while you return to daily life
- Have a job, a family, or school you are not willing to step away from for weeks to get treatment
Not sure yet
A comprehensive assessment answers it.
A chemical use assessment establishes whether you meet criteria for a substance use disorder, screens for trauma and PTSD symptoms alongside it, and identifies the level of care that fits, here or somewhere better suited to you. If your needs are trauma-primary without substance use, we will say so and help you find the right program. If you already have an assessment, send it over and we will review it instead of repeating it.
For families
About half our calls are from someone else.
You can ask a question without committing anyone to anything, and family involvement is part of the work when the client wants it.
How we treat it
How trauma and PTSD treatment works at Northwoods Haven Recovery
Trauma shapes how we run the room: predictable, consent-based, and never forced. It does not change the level of care, the therapies on offer, or the counselors you work with. Relapse prevention planning includes the trauma triggers from the start.
Step one
Chemical use assessment
An hour with a licensed counselor that maps the substance use, screens for trauma and PTSD, and lands on a level of care. If a dedicated trauma program is the better fit, we say so and help you get there.
Where everyone starts
Most people start here
Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP)
Three-hour trauma-informed groups, individual counseling with your own counselor, and CBT, DBT, and acceptance-based skills for the memories and the urges. About two to four months, then you step down.
Explore IOP →
Then
Relapse Prevention Program
Ten to twelve weeks of low-intensity outpatient care with the same counselors. Your written plan names the anniversaries, places, and body signals that raise risk, and what to do instead of using.
Explore relapse prevention →
Therapies
Evidence-based addiction therapies, taught as options, not prescriptions.
We’ll walk you through every approach we use and why, then build your plan around the ones that fit your beliefs and your life. No single pathway, no ideology, no judgment.
Cognitive behavioral therapy
Find the thought patterns that drive use, and learn to interrupt them.
Dialectical behavior therapy
Skills for distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and hard relationships.
Acceptance & commitment therapy
Move toward what you actually value, even when it’s uncomfortable.
Motivational interviewing
Your reasons for changing, in your words. Nobody lectures you here.
Individual counseling
Your own licensed counselor, where the plan gets built and adjusted.
Group therapy
Three hours a day with people who know the terrain you’re crossing.
Addiction counseling
One-on-one counseling with your own chemical dependency counselor.
Trauma-informed care
Care that accounts for what happened to you, not what’s wrong with you.
Relapse prevention and aftercare planning run through every level of care rather than sitting off to the side, and whole-person care means mental health psychoeducation happens alongside all of it.
Mental health
Co-occurring mental health conditions we treat alongside addiction
Treating one and ignoring the other does not work. Northwoods Haven Recovery treats co-occurring mental health conditions alongside chemical dependency programming. If your needs are mental-health-primary, a program built for that will serve you better, and we will help you find one.
Trauma and PTSD
Care that accounts for what happened to you, not what is wrong with you.
Depression
The loop between using and feeling worse, treated from both ends at once.
Anxiety
Using to quiet it works for an hour and costs more than that.
Bipolar disorder
Care that steadies mood episodes while chemical dependency programming continues.
ADHD
Structure and skills for adult ADHD when stimulants, alcohol, or cannabis became the coping strategy.
Something else?
If a mental health condition is tangled with substance use, tell us. We treat both together or help you find who can.
Substance use
Every substance use disorder we treat in Minnesota
Seven groups, one outpatient path. The substance shapes the withdrawal risk and the early weeks, not the level of care or the counselors you work with.
The most common reason people call us, and the one most often hidden behind a functioning life.
Prescription opioids, heroin, and the fentanyl that now contaminates most of the illicit supply. Detox often comes first. We do not provide it, but we help you find it.
Methamphetamine, cocaine, and prescription stimulants. Group work is where most of the traction comes from.
Benzodiazepines, sleep medications, and other prescriptions that started as treatment. Stopping abruptly can be dangerous, so a medical provider guides the taper.
Legal does not mean harmless. Cannabis use disorder is a real diagnosis.
LSD, ecstasy and MDMA, ketamine, and PCP. Usually part of a wider pattern, which is what the assessment sorts out.
Inhalants, nitrous oxide, and substances that show up faster than the research does.
Not on the list?
This list is not a filter. Call us and we will tell you honestly whether we are the right fit, and help you find who is if we are not.
Paying for treatment
Insurance-covered addiction treatment that's accessible to anyone who wants it.
Medicaid was the first network we joined, on purpose. We’re also in-network with major commercial plans. We’ll verify your benefits and tell you plainly what your plan covers before you commit to anything.
Minnesota Medicaid
Blue Cross Blue Shield
HealthPartners
UnitedHealthcare
Medica
Hennepin Health
Private pay accepted
Not listed? Call and we'll check.
Common questions
Questions people ask about trauma, PTSD, and addiction treatment
If yours is not here, ask us directly. We would rather tell you honestly that we are not the right fit than have you find out later.
LegitScript Certified
Verified addiction treatment provider
Do you treat PTSD on its own, without addiction?
No. Northwoods Haven Recovery treats trauma and PTSD as co-occurring conditions alongside substance use disorders. If trauma is your only concern, a program built for PTSD will serve you better, and we will help you find one. If you drink or use to cope with trauma symptoms, you are exactly who this treatment is for.
Will I have to talk about what happened to me?
Not before you are ready, and never in front of a group unless you choose to. Trauma-informed care means you control what you share and when. Much of the early work is about stabilizing sleep, managing triggers, and staying substance-free, which does not require recounting the details.
What is trauma-informed care?
It is an approach, not a single technique. Counselors assume that many clients have a trauma history, build predictability and choice into every session, avoid re-traumatizing practices such as confrontation, and understand why certain sounds, spaces, or conversations set off a body on alert. Every group at Northwoods Haven Recovery is run this way.
How do you treat trauma and PTSD here?
Through trauma-informed care, cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavior therapy, and acceptance and commitment therapy, alongside chemical dependency programming. If your assessment suggests you need a specialized trauma protocol such as EMDR or prolonged exposure, we will say so and help you find a provider so both treatments support each other.
Why did my PTSD get worse when I stopped drinking?
Because the alcohol had been holding a lid on it. When the substance comes off, nightmares, startle, and sleeplessness often surge before they settle. This is expected, it is temporary, and it is why treating both conditions at the same time matters so much in the first weeks.
Can I keep working while I am in treatment?
Yes. Outpatient care is scheduled around work, school, and family rather than in place of them. You attend groups and individual sessions several days a week and go home every night. Most people keep their jobs throughout.
I take medication for PTSD or sleep. Is that a problem?
No. Medications a medical provider prescribes for PTSD, depression, or sleep are part of your picture. We do not prescribe or manage medication, so tell us during the assessment so your plan accounts for it and we can coordinate with your prescriber when helpful.
Does insurance cover trauma and addiction treatment?
We are in-network with Minnesota Medicaid, Blue Cross Blue Shield, HealthPartners, UnitedHealthcare, and Medica. Give us your plan information on the first call and we will verify your benefits and tell you plainly what is covered before you commit to anything.
Related articles
Related reading on trauma, mental health, and recovery
Getting started
How to get started: four steps, no waiting eleven days.
Reaching out doesn’t commit you to anything. It means you asked a question, and we answered it.
01
Call
We listen to what’s going on and where you are in the process. No script, no pressure.
02
Chemical use assessment
A comprehensive assessment to determine diagnosis and the level of care that fits.
03
Referral to the right care
Ideally with us. If another program fits you better, we’ll connect you to it.
04
Intake
Programming starts immediately after intake. Already have an assessment? Send it over and we’ll review it.
Your team
Meet the counselors who answer the phone and guide your treatment.
Take the first step
When you're ready, we're here.
Reaching out doesn’t mean you’ve committed to anything. It means you’re asking a question, and we’ll answer it honestly, even if the answer points somewhere else.
100% confidential
Insurance verified fast
No commitment to ask
Outpatient only
Referring professionals
Send a comprehensive assessment, plus treatment plan reviews, discharge summary, med list, and insurance information if applicable. A list, not a portal.
Visit us in Hopkins
Northwoods Haven Recovery
5900 Green Oak Drive, Ste 306
Hopkins, MN 55343