If you or a loved one are exploring mental health treatment or treatment for a substance use disorder, you may want to consider residential treatment. This is especially true if you have struggled to achieve your goals in outpatient treatment or feel particularly in crisis. If you are at this point, it’s worth carefully considering which residential program would be a good fit for you.
Residential treatment is a high level of inpatient care where you or your loved one can step out of day-to-day life to receive comprehensive 24/7 professional care in a therapeutic setting staffed by professionals skilled in treating mental health and substance use disorders.
Residential treatment centers provide structure and daily professional support that is not typically available when receiving outpatient treatment while living at home.
Our residential treatment center, CMC:Berkshires, is on 200 beautiful acres in the heart of the Berkshire Mountains in western Massachusetts. Our team of expert clinicians provides collaborative and compassionate evidence-based care for people struggling with substance use and other mental health problems.
Here, we merge science—cutting-edge, evidence-based approaches, wellness, appropriate medication use, and kindness—a beautiful healing environment staffed by a mission-driven team, to help people make meaningful changes in their lives.
Residential treatment can be highly beneficial, particularly if you or your loved one has struggled to reach your goals through telehealth or outpatient treatment. A residential program can also be helpful if being out in the world feels too unsafe (e.g., risk of dangerous substance use, panic attacks, trauma reactions, unsafe living situations, etc.)
Research has found residential treatment can be effective in improving the well-being of those struggling with substance use disorders and other mental health challenges. Some of the benefits include:
Residential treatment programs are staffed 24/7 and offer more opportunities to interact with treatment providers intensively focused on your well-being than you can receive in outpatient care.
At Center for Motivation and Change:Berkshires, we are proud to offer a unique approach to residential treatment. Our Co-founders, Drs. Jeffrey Foote and Carrie Wilkens, co-authors of the award-winning book Beyond Addiction: How Science and Kindness Help People Change, have led the research and practice of evidence-based techniques for substance use and mental health treatment for decades. They are involved in the daily operations of our residential program, along with our full-time, double board-certified (Internal Medicine, Addiction Medicine) addiction specialist and ASAM fellow, Medical Director, Dr. Jeoffrey Hill.
At the CMC:Berkshires, our unparalleled staff-to-client ratio sets us apart from other residential treatment programs. Our exceptional 15-person clinical team is comprised of a board-certified psychiatrist, five psychologists, and six masters-level clinicians and social workers, which enables us to provide truly individualized attention and care to clients and their families.
Our clients meet with their primary clinician four times weekly for individual sessions, far exceeding the industry norm of 1-2 times a week. Additionally, clients have at least two weekly individual sessions with their family therapist and additional family sessions, including other family members, surpassing the typical “family weekend” offered by other programs. Our psychiatrist meets with clients weekly, while our full-time Medical Director and nursing team are available daily to address medication and physical health concerns. This intensive level of contact and comprehensive support from our dedicated team of clinicians ensures that clients and their families receive the personalized care they need to address the issues that led them to residential treatment.
At CMC:Berkshires, we also recognize that unresolved trauma often leads to substance use and makes it difficult to change. Our clinicians are trained in gold-standard treatments for complex trauma and PTSD, and our interdisciplinary team uses a trauma-informed approach, ensuring that we understand, recognize, and respond to the effects of trauma on our clients and their families. We prioritize safety, trust, collaboration, empowerment, and cultural sensitivity in our care, fostering a supportive and healing environment.
Studies have found that 30-60% of people struggling with substance problems also suffer from PTSD. Addressing the core problem is crucial for healing and reclaiming one's life. If you are experiencing symptoms of unresolved trauma, we will work with you to build an individualized plan to help you address it.
*Our outcomes demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach: clients who have completed PTSD treatment with us have experienced statistically significant (p < .05) decreases across multiple symptom categories, with an average symptom severity reduction of 83.97% as measured by the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Symptom Scale Interview (PSSI) for the DSM-5.*
84%
Clients who have completed treatment for PTSD at CMC have experienced statistically significant (p < .05) decreases across multiple symptom categories and average PTSD symptom severity, as measured by the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Symptom Scale Interview (PSSI) for the DSM-5, decreased by 84%.
80%
At CMC:Berkshires, 80% of our clients who met criteria for PTSD and completed trauma treatment no longer meet a clinical cut-off for PTSD by the end of treatment (clients received an average of 13 specific sessions for trauma treatment in addition to usual CMC:Berkshires programming).
Increased Personalized Care
As you explore residential treatment programs, assessing their ability to address your unique circumstances and needs is essential. For example, many residential programs are not equipped to offer personalized care due to the large number of clients in residence, staffing level or training, and treatment approach.
At CMC:Berkshires, we understand one size does not fit all. Some of the clearest evidence we have concerning behavior change is that people decide to make changes for different reasons and in different ways. We also know that every person is unique in temperament, physiology, brain chemistry, and life experiences. The families, friends, and communities that support them are just as diverse. Our team is trained to collaborate with you to determine the best course of action to achieve your goals.
CMC:Berkshires has a maximum of 15 clients, and we are staffed with 12 clinicians who have been intensively trained in various evidence-based treatment approaches tested over many years and found to be the most effective in addressing substance use and mental health issues. We collaborate with you to identify your values and
goals and provide you with practical and effective skills to reach them. Our healing environment gives you a place to start practicing while we help you build an aftercare plan to help you progress once you re-enter your world. Treatment at CMC:Berkshires is collaborative and compassionate. Our therapy approach promotes positive self-esteem, hope, and empowerment.
We have decades of experience treating substance use disorders, trauma, mood disorders, executive functioning and attentional issues, and relationship problems. Let us help you find the support and resources you need to thrive.
Residential treatment programs offer safe environments where you can be supported while you try to make changes.
CMC:Berkshires is a beautiful haven where we use non-stigmatizing language and believe in people’s capacity to change. We provide the scientifically proven tools a person needs to change and treat them with the respect and kindness they deserve.
CMC:Berkshires is a luxurious, retreat-like setting on 200 acres in the rolling hills of the Berkshire Mountains. It provides a natural healing environment with an extremely high level of privacy. The containing and calming environment of the CMC:Berkshire's residential treatment program helps clients step away from the hectic, pressured activities and demands that often make behavior problems like substance use or mental health problems tougher to manage. In this healing space, you will be better equipped to reflect on the changes you need to make to improve your mental and physical health while having the time and support to practice these new skills.
CMC:Berkshires is a 15-bed residential facility less than three hours away from New York City and Boston. It includes a stunning manor house as residence. Each client has a private, spacious, and well-appointed bedroom with an ensuite bathroom. The private rooms allow for reflection and peaceful downtime.
At CMC:Berkshires, the entire team is focused on helping our clients develop the skills they need to sustain positive change. In this beautiful Berkshires setting, we provide clients with ongoing exposure to and practice in life-enhancing activities, including exercise with certified personal trainers, yoga, meditation, and mindfulness practices with expert yoga and meditation teachers, nutrition and consultation, and pleasurable recreation such as massage and cultural activities in the community.
People struggling with mental health issues like anxiety, depression, or substance use often have a variety of habits that run counter to their goals, such as avoidance instead of engagement. Residential treatment programs offer a high level of support to establish new routines and habits that can influence positive change.
At CMC:Berkshires, we work with you to formulate an individualized treatment plan to address your unique needs. The team focuses on helping our clients develop more fulfilling lives. Our clinical team uses motivational, relational, and cognitive-behavioral strategies to help clients identify their values and goals and learn the necessary skills to reach them. They will help you understand the historical reasons problematic habits have taken hold while they expose you to new alternative ways to cope. The rest of our teams, including wellness, help you practice your new skills while in the healing environment of CMC:Berkshires.
Many people struggling with mental health issues like substance use struggle with guilt, shame, and isolation. Our culture's predominant messaging around mental health and substance use is punishment, shame, and stigma instead of the compassion and support that science shows us is most helpful when it comes to making lasting changes.
At CMC:Berkshires, you’ll be surrounded by treatment professionals who have spent their careers trying to change these cultural norms. Our Co-founders have written an award-winning book, Beyond Addiction: How Science and Kindness Help People Change, to empower family members to help without the cultural baggage of concepts like codependency and tough love. Every team member at CMC:Berkshires is committed to reducing the shame and stigma experienced by people who struggle with substance use and mental health issues and those who love them.
Our 15-resident community is small and very different from larger residential programs. Clients who decide to come to CMC:Berkshires are motivated to be in treatment, creating an environment that’s nurturing and inspiring.
While an outpatient or telehealth treatment program can give you access to some effective treatment techniques, they lack the high level of contact you can get from treatment in a residential treatment facility.
CMC:Berkshires is a unique treatment environment that integrates expert clinical support with exercise, nutrition, stress management, and nature to help you balance your emotional and physical well-being.
Our wellness team communicates daily with our clinical team and is considered an essential part of the CMC:Berkshires experience. Clients can access our yoga studio, massage rooms, and fitness and steam room facilities for therapeutic value. Our wellness team is trained to help clients improve their health through better relationships with their bodies.
Residential treatment centers often allow family and loved ones to participate in treatment.
Unfortunately, many residential treatment providers label family members as co-dependent or suggest tough love, detachment, and other strategies that have been proven ineffective in clinical trials. Many also only include family members during a family weekend, mostly involving psycho-educational lectures and group experiences instead of individualized care.
At CMC:Berkshires, you will have a dedicated family therapist who will begin work with you in the early days of your stay to identify the family and peer relationships that need to be addressed for you to maintain long-term change. Family members almost always have the best intentions when offering support, but many lack crucial understanding, skills, and strategies. On top of that, there is often a significant amount of anger, resentment, and hopelessness in a family when a person decides to seek residential treatment. We will help you constructively engage the people close to you while in treatment so they can learn how to play a motivating and supportive role in your life moving forward.
Our therapists are trained in CRAFT (Community Reinforcement and Family Training), ITC (Invitation to Change), and various other therapies to help you make strides as a family.
Our Co-Founders, Drs. Foote and Wilkens, along with Dr. Nicole Kosanke authored an award-winning book on these approaches. Beyond Addiction: How Science and Kindness Help People Change is a roadmap for helping a struggling loved one make positive changes. It includes critical communication and behavior change skills for constructively moving forward and information on understanding and best utilizing treatment options. The companion workbook, The Beyond Addiction Workbook for Family and Friends: Evidence-Based Skills to Help a Loved One Make Positive Change, focuses on the Invitation to Change approach and is a user-friendly guide to effective and compassionate skills to support change.
Aftercare Planning
If you decide to attend a residential treatment program, asking how they approach aftercare planning is important. Your long-term success in sustaining change will depend on the support you receive after you leave. Behavior change takes time and practice, and finding the right support is crucial.
We have been at the forefront of cutting-edge addiction treatment for decades. Our network of like-minded treatment providers is vast. Along with ensuring that you have appropriate treatment support, we will help you find outlets in your local community for activities you enjoyed—perhaps discovered!—while with us, such as yoga, meditation, exercise, and self-help meetings.
Our Client Care Coordinator will collaborate with existing treatment providers and help you add additional supports you might need to achieve your goals. You and your primary therapist will also have weekly follow-up calls for four weeks after you leave CMC:Berkshires. We want you to carry everything you learn at CMC:Berkshires back with you and be able to put it to use. It is sometimes difficult to remember everything you accomplished while in residential treatment; weekly check-ins are one way to reinforce the skills you learned and changes you made and to get refreshers if needed.
Alumni Support
If you decide to attend a residential treatment program, asking how they approach aftercare planning is important. Your long-term success in sustaining change will depend on the support you receive after you leave. Behavior change takes time and practice, and finding the right support is crucial.
We have been at the forefront of cutting-edge addiction treatment for decades. Our network of like-minded treatment providers is vast. Along with ensuring that you have appropriate treatment support, we will help you find outlets in your local community for activities you enjoyed—perhaps discovered!—while with us, such as yoga, meditation, exercise, and self-help meetings.
Our Client Care Coordinator will collaborate with existing treatment providers and help you add additional supports you might need to achieve your goals. You and your primary therapist will also have weekly follow-up calls for four weeks after you leave CMC:Berkshires. We want you to carry everything you learn at CMC:Berkshires back with you and be able to put it to use. It is sometimes difficult to remember everything you accomplished while in residential treatment; weekly check-ins are one way to reinforce the skills you learned and changes you made and to get refreshers if needed.
We treat all substance and alcohol problems along with other compulsive behavior problems. Our team is also trained in evidence-based approaches for identifying and addressing other issues that may be causing problems, including trauma and underlying mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, or obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). All CMC clinicians are well-trained in a variety of evidence-based treatments for trauma, mood disorders, and personality disorders. We recognize that you must address these underlying issues for the overall picture to improve.
Change is possible. People do get better.
At CMC:Berkshires, we are experts in potential and have built our practice on optimism — because it works. Research has shown that if you provide good options, give real encouragement, and respect people’s right to be part of the solution, things get better. One size does not fit all.
For more details about how we do what we do…
CMC:Berkshires is a 15-bed facility less than three hours away from New York City and Boston.
Located in the Berkshire mountains of western Massachusetts, its gated 200-acre retreat includes a stunning manor house as a residence. An additional wellness and therapy center hosts clinical and wellness services (yoga studio, massage rooms, fitness and steam room and full locker facilities). We have single bedrooms with private ensuite bathrooms for all clients.
The Berkshires' beautiful surroundings and the manor grounds' natural privacy allow for a calming reset after productive but often emotionally difficult clinical days.
SPEAK WITH A MEMBER OF OUR INTAKE TEAM
Call us to learn more and ask questions to determine if CMC:Berkshires may be right for you.