Browse · Alcohol Rehab in Massachusetts
Alcohol rehab near Boston
Outpatient alcohol rehab near Boston that fits around work and home
If you live or work near Boston and you are worried about your drinking, treatment does not have to mean a month away. At our Needham center, adults get alcohol treatment on an outpatient schedule and sleep at home every night. Evening Treatment meets Monday through Thursday from 6 to 9 pm for people who work during the day. Day Treatment gives full clinical days on weekdays for people who need more structure at the start. Both pair group therapy and individual counseling with medication when it helps. Both are run by master's-level clinicians and licensed practitioners, with medical oversight from our Medical Director, Dr. Richard Marasa, MD, who is board certified in Addiction Medicine, Emergency Medicine and Internal Medicine.
Where you start comes out of an assessment on your first day. Adults with a stable home, no history of severe withdrawal and a job to keep often begin in Evening Treatment. People who have been drinking heavily, or who are coming out of detox or a residential program, usually begin in Day Treatment and step down from there. A clinician works that out with you plainly and without pressure.
Your options in Needham
Evening Treatment and Day Treatment for alcohol use disorder
Alcohol treatment at our Needham center runs inside one of our structured programs, and your assessment decides which one fits:
Evening Treatment
Monday through Thursday, 6 to 9 pm, four evenings and twelve hours of treatment each week. For adults who work or study during the day and have a stable home. You finish work, take Route 128 or the Needham Line to Chestnut Street, spend the evening in group and sleep at home.
Day Treatment
Full clinical days on weekdays with no overnight stays, our most structured level of care. The usual start after detox or a residential stay, or when drinking has been heavy and recent. Group therapy, individual counseling and medical check-ins are built into the day.
As you stabilize, care steps down to our Outpatient Program in Needham, weekly individual counseling and a weekly group with the same clinical team. Every plan ends in aftercare, which is planned before the primary program ends.
Safety first
When alcohol detox has to come first
Alcohol withdrawal can be medically dangerous, so the first thing a clinician checks is whether it is safe for you to stop at home. Heavy daily drinking, a history of withdrawal seizures or delirium tremens, or a home that is not safe right now all mean medical detox comes first. If you are drinking heavily every day, talk with a clinician before you stop on your own.
We don't provide detox at our Needham center. Our admissions team helps you get into a detox program, then plans your start with us for the day it is complete, so there is no gap between the two. Our page on getting into detox in Massachusetts explains how that works.
Medication
Medication for alcohol use disorder: naltrexone and Vivitrol in Needham
Medication helps many people with alcohol use disorder, and it works best alongside counseling. Naltrexone (including the monthly Vivitrol injection), acamprosate and disulfiram are the FDA-approved options, and our medical team decides with you whether one fits. Naltrexone reduces cravings and blocks the rewarding effects of alcohol. At our Needham center it is prescribed as a daily tablet or given as Vivitrol, a monthly injection in our office. For alcohol use disorder there is no waiting period before naltrexone, only a liver function check. Medication runs inside the program your assessment recommends, and how long you stay on it is a decision you make with your prescriber. Read more about medication-assisted treatment in Massachusetts.
- Naltrexone as a daily tablet, with no abuse potential.
- Vivitrol, the monthly naltrexone injection, given by our medical team in Needham.
- Every prescription written and overseen by our Medical Director, Dr. Richard Marasa, MD.
- Counseling from day one, in Day Treatment, Evening Treatment or the Outpatient Program.
Work and privacy
Keeping your job during alcohol treatment
Most people who call us about drinking are still working, and many are parents. Evening Treatment is built for them. Groups start at 6 pm, after the workday, and Friday through Sunday stay free. Individual sessions and medication visits are scheduled around the group nights, so treatment does not have to cost you a shift. Nothing about your treatment is shared with an employer, or with anyone else, without your written consent.
If you need time away from work for Day Treatment, leave laws may protect your job and replace part of your pay. Our guide to keeping your job during treatment in Massachusetts and New Hampshire explains FMLA, Massachusetts paid leave and what an employer can be told.
Getting here
From Boston, Route 128 and MetroWest
Our Needham center is at 392 Chestnut Street, Suite 200, Needham, MA 02492, with free on-site parking. By car it is about 2 miles from the Highland Avenue exit on Route 128/I-95, and about 30 minutes from downtown Boston, 12 from Newton, 10 from Wellesley by Route 135, 10 from Dedham, 20 from Waltham and 25 from Framingham. By train, the MBTA Needham Line from South Station, Back Bay, Ruggles and Forest Hills stops at Needham Junction, a short walk from our door, so a person who works downtown can come straight from the office to an evening group without a car.
Who it fits
Who outpatient alcohol rehab in Needham is for
Adults across Greater Boston and MetroWest come to Needham when drinking has started to cost them something: sleep, a relationship, mornings at work, their health. Some have tried to cut back on their own and found it did not last. Some are stepping down from a Boston-area detox or residential program and want one team to carry on from there. Some have been told by a court, a probation officer, an attorney or an employer to enter treatment. Tell admissions on the first call and the clinical team will plan the paperwork with you.
Many people who drink heavily are also living with anxiety, depression or trauma. Our team treats both together, and you can read about our mental health treatment program in Massachusetts. Outpatient care is not the right first step for everyone. If withdrawal could be medically risky, a clinician will say so at your assessment and detox comes first.
Length of treatment
How long outpatient alcohol rehab takes
Treatment follows your progress, with no fixed calendar. A common path is a few weeks of Day Treatment, then Evening Treatment, then weekly sessions in the Outpatient Program. Many working adults start in the evening program. Research links the strongest outcomes to staying engaged for at least 90 days across those steps. The risk of going back to drinking is highest right after structured treatment ends, which is why your aftercare is planned with you before your last session.
Paying for treatment
MassHealth and Massachusetts insurance for alcohol rehab
Our Needham program accepts all MassHealth plans. It also works with Harvard Pilgrim, Mass General Brigham Health Plan, Optum, Point32Health, TRICARE, Tufts Health Plan, United Healthcare and VA Community Care, and more. Massachusetts parity law requires most plans to cover medically necessary addiction treatment on par with other medical care. We do not accept Medicare, and admissions will help Medicare members find a program that takes it. Admissions checks your benefits with the carrier at no cost and explains any deductible or copay before you start. See MassHealth at Clear Steps Recovery, Massachusetts insurance or how cost and payment work.
Check my coverage
Your name and a number is all we need to start. Admissions calls you back with what your plan covers, usually within minutes during the day.
For families
If you are calling about someone else
Many first calls come from a husband or wife, a parent or an adult child. You can call (603) 769-8981 to ask how treatment works, what a first day looks like and what insurance covers, before the person you are worried about is ready to call. Once treatment starts, family sessions are scheduled for the people close to them when that helps.
If the person is refusing help and is at risk, Massachusetts families often ask about Section 35, the court process for involuntary commitment. Our family guide to Section 35 in Massachusetts explains who can file, what happens at the hearing and what families can do after.
New Hampshire
Closer to Londonderry, NH?
Our Londonderry, NH center treats alcohol use disorder at 1D Commons Dr, Units 21 & 22, off Route 102 at I-93 Exit 4, about 25 minutes from Manchester or Nashua and 20 from Salem. One admissions line, (603) 769-8981, covers both centers. Read about alcohol addiction treatment at Clear Steps Recovery or our Londonderry, NH center.
