Substance use treatment · Hopkins, Minnesota
Outpatient Substance Use Treatment in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Substance use treatment for adults who need more than a weekly therapy hour and less than a hospital, and who go home every night.
Northwoods Haven Recovery provides outpatient substance use treatment for adults across Minneapolis and the Twin Cities, from our center in Hopkins. Alcohol, opioids, methamphetamine, cocaine, benzodiazepines, marijuana, prescription drugs, and the rest: one chemical use assessment, two levels of outpatient care, group therapy with people who understand, and individual counseling with your own licensed alcohol and drug counselor. Then you go home.
In-network with Minnesota Medicaid, Blue Cross Blue Shield, HealthPartners, UnitedHealthcare, and Medica
Outpatient substance use treatment
One assessment. Two levels of care. Every substance.
One path
Whatever the substance, the path is the same.
The substance shapes the first weeks. It does not change the level of care, the therapies, or the counselors you work with. Every substance we treat leads back to the same honest path.
1
Chemical use assessment, where everyone starts
2 to 4
Months in IOP, then the Relapse Prevention Program step-down
3 hrs
A group session, most programming days
0
Nights away from home. Every level of care here is outpatient
What outpatient substance use treatment is
Treatment you attend, not treatment you disappear into
Outpatient substance use treatment means you get clinical care for a substance use disorder several days a week and live at home the rest of the time. At Northwoods Haven Recovery that care is group therapy in three-hour sessions, individual counseling with your own LADC, treatment for the depression, anxiety, trauma, or bipolar disorder that so often sits underneath the use, and a written relapse prevention plan you build as you go. Work, school, and family continue. Recovery gets practiced in the life you actually live, which is where it has to hold.
It starts with a chemical use assessment: about an hour with a licensed counselor that turns a worry into a diagnosis, establishes how severe the disorder is, and identifies the level of care that fits. We also complete DUI and court-ordered assessments. If you already have an assessment from another provider, send it over and we will review it instead of repeating it. If your assessment shows you need medical detox, inpatient, or residential care first, we will say so, help you find it, and welcome you back when you are ready.
We are outpatient only. No detox, no inpatient, no medical services, no prescribing. Medications a medical provider prescribes for recovery, such as buprenorphine, methadone, or naltrexone, are welcome; tell us during the assessment so your plan accounts for them. What we do provide is structure, honest people, evidence-based therapies taught as options rather than prescriptions, and a path that does not end the day the program does.
When a higher level of care comes first
Alcohol and benzodiazepine withdrawal can be medically dangerous and need medical management. Severe opioid dependence, an unsafe home, or repeated failed attempts at outpatient care may call for residential treatment first. We do not provide those levels. We help you find them and welcome you back after.
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 you need treatment
Signs substance use has become a disorder, not a habit
Substance use disorder is diagnosed on a set of criteria that apply across every substance. If a few of these are true, a chemical use assessment is worth an hour of your time.
Behavioral
Loss of control
Using more or longer than you intended, wanting to cut down and not managing to, spending a lot of time getting, using, or recovering from the substance, and cravings that arrive whether or not you want them.
Physical
Tolerance and withdrawal
Needing more to get the same effect, and feeling sick, anxious, shaky, or unable to sleep when you stop. Using to prevent or relieve withdrawal, or to get through the morning.
Consequences
Life around the use
Missed obligations at work, school, or home, arguments about the use, a DUI or legal trouble, money stress, and pulling back from people and activities that used to matter.
Psychological
Using despite the cost
Continuing to use even though it is hurting your health, your mood, or your relationships, using in dangerous situations, and knowing all of this and reaching for the substance anyway.
Levels of care
How the two levels of outpatient care fit together, and who needs a higher level first
Most people start in the Intensive Outpatient Program. IOP is three-hour groups on most programming days, individual counseling with your own licensed alcohol and drug counselor, and co-occurring mental health treatment, for about two to four months. It is the level of care for someone whose substance use is serious enough that a weekly therapy hour would not hold, but who is medically stable, safe at home, and able to stay sober between sessions with support. Programming starts right after intake.
When the IOP work is done, you step down into the Relapse Prevention Program: ten to twelve weeks of low-intensity outpatient care with the same counselors. The pace slows, the sessions are fewer, and the focus shifts from stabilizing to sustaining. You leave with a written relapse prevention plan that names your triggers, your early warning signs, your supports, and what you will do in the moments that used to end in a drink or a drug. The two levels are one path, and relapse prevention runs through both rather than being sold separately.
Some people need a higher level of care before any of this. Heavy daily alcohol or benzodiazepine use can produce withdrawal that is life-threatening without medical management. Severe opioid dependence sometimes needs medical detox or a residential stay to get stable. An unsafe or substance-filled home, or several outpatient attempts that have not held, may also point toward residential care first. We do not provide detox, inpatient, or residential treatment. The assessment tells you honestly whether you need them, we help you find them, and we welcome you into outpatient care when you are ready.
If someone is in danger now
An opioid overdose, a seizure, confusion or hallucinations during alcohol or benzodiazepine withdrawal, chest pain after stimulant use, or a person who cannot be woken is a medical emergency. Call 911. Naloxone reverses opioid overdose and is available at Minnesota pharmacies. Treatment here can start once the person is medically stable.
Who it is for
Outpatient substance use treatment is probably the right fit if you
- Use more than you want to and have tried to cut back or stop on your own without it holding
- Have a job, a family, or school you are not willing to step away from for weeks to get treatment
- Are using to manage anxiety, depression, trauma, or mood swings, and want both problems treated together
- Have finished detox or a residential program and need structure that holds while you return to daily life
- Need a chemical use, DUI, or court-ordered assessment and want an honest answer about what comes next, not a sales pitch
Not sure yet
A comprehensive assessment answers it.
A chemical use assessment determines whether you meet criteria for a substance use disorder, how severe it is, and which level of care fits, here or somewhere better suited to you. If you need medical detox or residential care first, we will say so and help you find it. 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 outpatient substance use treatment works at Northwoods Haven Recovery
Whatever the substance, the path has the same three parts. The assessment decides the level. IOP does the heavy work. The Relapse Prevention Program makes it hold. Relapse prevention and aftercare planning run through every level rather than being sold separately.
Step one
Chemical use assessment
An hour with a licensed counselor that turns a worry into a diagnosis and a level of care. DUI and court-ordered assessments too. If you need a higher level first, we help you find it and welcome you back after.
Where everyone starts
Most people start here
Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP)
Three-hour groups most programming days, individual counseling with your own counselor, and treatment for co-occurring mental health conditions. 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. Triggers named, a written plan in hand, and the hard moments practiced with support still in reach.
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.
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.
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.
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
Hennepin Health
Medica
Private Pay
Not listed? Call and we'll check.
Common questions
Questions people ask about outpatient substance use 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
What is outpatient substance use treatment?
It is clinical treatment for a substance use disorder that you attend several days a week while living at home. At Northwoods Haven Recovery it means a chemical use assessment, then an Intensive Outpatient Program with three-hour groups and individual counseling, then a Relapse Prevention Program step-down. No detox, no inpatient care, no medical services.
Which substances do you treat?
Alcohol, opioids including heroin and fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine and other stimulants, benzodiazepines, prescription drugs, marijuana, ecstasy and MDMA, LSD and other hallucinogens, ketamine, and inhalants. We treat every one of them. If yours is not listed, call: the disorder and the treatment are the same across substances.
Do I need detox before outpatient treatment?
It depends on the substance and how much you use. Heavy daily alcohol or benzodiazepine use can cause withdrawal that is medically dangerous, so a medical provider should manage those first days. Most other substances do not require it. The chemical use assessment sorts this out, and we help you find detox if you need it.
What is the difference between IOP and the Relapse Prevention Program?
IOP is the intensive level: three-hour groups most programming days, individual counseling, and co-occurring care for about two to four months. The Relapse Prevention Program is the step-down: ten to twelve weeks of lower-intensity care with the same counselors, ending with a written relapse prevention plan. Most people move through both in order.
Can I keep working while I am in treatment?
That is what outpatient care is built for. Programming is scheduled around work, school, and family rather than in place of them, and most people keep their jobs throughout. You go home after every session.
Do you take people on Suboxone, methadone, or naltrexone?
Yes. Medications a medical provider prescribes for recovery are part of your picture, and people taking them are welcome. We do not prescribe or manage them ourselves. Tell us during the assessment so your plan accounts for it and we can coordinate with your prescriber when helpful.
Do you do DUI and court-ordered assessments?
Yes. Alongside the standard chemical use assessment, we complete DUI and court-ordered assessments. If the assessment shows a substance use disorder, you can begin treatment here right after intake. If it does not, we tell you that honestly, and you still leave with resources.
Does insurance cover outpatient substance use 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 outpatient treatment 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