Browse · Day Treatment in Needham
About this program
The most support you can get without a bed
Day Treatment is the most structured level of care at our Needham center. You spend full clinical days on weekdays in group therapy, individual counseling, psychoeducation and skills work, with medical and psychiatric check-ins built into the day, and you go home in the evening. There are no overnight stays and no beds. It gives most of the clinical support of a residential program while you stay connected to your home, your family and, where it is workable, your job. In Massachusetts we call it Day Treatment. Your insurance carrier may recognize it as partial hospitalization when it authorizes care, and admissions confirms the exact benefit before you start.
The program is 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. It treats substance use disorders and the anxiety, depression or trauma that so often sit underneath them, and medication-assisted treatment with Suboxone, buprenorphine, naltrexone or Vivitrol is prescribed inside the program day when it fits. Medical detox is not provided on site. When withdrawal needs to be managed in a medical setting first, we arrange it with a partner facility and plan your first day with us for when it is complete.
Who it fits
Who Day Treatment in Needham is for
Day Treatment tends to be the right starting point when you need a high level of support and structure during the day but do not need round-the-clock supervision. It is a good fit if you:
- Are stepping down from a Boston-area detox or residential program and still need most of the day structured.
- Have cravings, mood swings or stress that feel unmanageable with a lighter schedule.
- Are new to recovery and want the fastest path to stability before returning to work.
- Have a co-occurring mental health condition that benefits from daily clinical contact and medication management.
- Have a safe, stable place to go home to each night and people around you who support your recovery.
- Can take medical leave or arrange your work around weekday program hours for a few weeks.
If home is not a safe place right now, or withdrawal could be medically risky, a licensed clinician will say so at your assessment and help you plan a safer first step. If your days are spoken for and you need structure in the evening instead, Evening Treatment on Monday through Thursday evenings may be the better fit, and many people step down into it from Day Treatment when they return to work.
What a day looks like
A day in Day Treatment at our Needham center
Every plan is personal, and the mix shifts as you progress, but a typical program day at 392 Chestnut Street runs like this:
- 01
Morning check-in and process group: How last night went, what came up, what you used your plan for. The group is the backbone of the program: people at different points in recovery learning and practicing skills together.
- 02
Psychoeducation: How substance use changes the brain and body, what recovery does to reverse it, and how mental health symptoms fit into the picture, so you can recognize your own patterns.
- 03
Individual counseling: One-on-one time with your counselor to work through your specific history, triggers and goals, scheduled inside the program day.
- 04
Skills work: Managing cravings, coping with stress, recognizing and avoiding the situations that cause setbacks, and using those skills the same evening at home.
- 05
Medical and psychiatric check-ins: Visits with our medical team to monitor health, manage medications and adjust medication-assisted treatment, without a separate trip.
- 06
Regular evaluations: Progress reviews with your clinician that adjust the plan, and that decide when you are ready to step down to Evening Treatment or the Outpatient Program.
How long you stay depends on your progress rather than a fixed calendar. Many people attend Day Treatment for a few weeks before stepping down. Your clinical team reviews how you are doing with you rather than holding you to a timeline. The step-down is planned before it happens: Evening Treatment for people returning to work, then our Outpatient Program in Needham, then aftercare. If you are weighing Day Treatment against the evening program, our comparison of the two levels lays them side by side.
Getting here
Commuter rail and route notes for Needham
Our center is at 392 Chestnut Street, Suite 200, Needham, MA 02492, with free on-site parking. By car it sits just off Route 128/I-95 at the Needham exits, about 30 minutes from downtown Boston, 10 from Newton, 6 from Wellesley by Route 9, 8 from Dedham, 15 from Waltham and 20 from Framingham. By train, the MBTA Needham Line from South Station, Back Bay, Ruggles and Forest Hills ends at Needham Heights, a short walk from our door, which makes a weekday program workable for people without a car. Because Day Treatment runs during the day, most people drive against commuter traffic in both directions.
Paying for treatment
MassHealth and Massachusetts insurance for Day Treatment
Most Massachusetts plans cover Day Treatment as a behavioral health benefit at a higher level of care, which usually means the carrier authorizes a set number of days at a time and reviews progress before approving more. Our Needham program works with Harvard Pilgrim, Mass General Brigham Health Plan, Optum, Point32Health, TRICARE, Tufts Health Plan, United Healthcare and VA Community Care, and more. MassHealth covers substance use treatment through its ACO and managed-care plans, and coverage at our Needham program depends on your specific MassHealth plan, so call and we confirm your benefits before your first visit. Massachusetts parity law requires most plans to cover medically necessary addiction treatment on par with other medical care. We are not in network with Medicare at this time. Admissions requests any prior authorization for you and explains your deductible, copay or coinsurance before you start. See 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.
Same-day admissions
Call before lunch and in many cases you can be assessed the same day and start Day Treatment within days.
Court, probation and employer referrals
If a court or an employer asked you to complete treatment
Many adults come to Needham because a Massachusetts court, a probation officer, an attorney or an employer asked them to enter treatment. Day Treatment is often the level a court expects when the situation is serious, because it is the most structured care available without a bed. Tell admissions on the first call. The clinical team will plan with you how enrollment and attendance are documented for your situation, what can be shared and with whom, and on what timeline. Nothing about your treatment leaves our office without your written consent, and a referral from a court or an employer does not change the confidentiality of your care.
New Hampshire
Closer to Londonderry, NH?
Our Londonderry, NH center runs the same level of care, called a Partial Hospitalization Program in New Hampshire, at 1D Commons Dr, Units 21 & 22, off Route 102 at I-93 Exit 4, about 15 minutes from Manchester and 20 from Nashua or Salem. One admissions line, (603) 769-8981, covers both centers. See our New Hampshire day program page.
