Addiction Services

Addiction Aftercare

The plan for after treatment ends: outpatient therapy, medication management, sober living, alumni support, and a written relapse prevention plan, built before discharge and continued for the first year and beyond.

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Clinically reviewed by Corey Gamberg, LADC II on September 6, 2026 How we review

Addiction aftercare at Rockland Recovery is the continuing care that follows the intensive phase of treatment: weekly outpatient therapy, ongoing medication management, sober living for people who need it, the alumni program, peer support, and a relapse prevention plan. It is planned during PHP or IOP rather than after, so that the day treatment ends is not the day support stops. Aftercare runs through our Braintree and Quincy centers and is open both to people who completed treatment with us and to people stepping down from programs elsewhere.

Why the First Year Is the Whole Game

The National Institute on Drug Abuse describes addiction as a chronic condition with relapse rates comparable to hypertension and asthma, which is a clinical way of saying that finishing a program is not the same as being done. Most relapses happen in the first year, and most of those happen in the first few months, when the structure of treatment has ended and the structure of ordinary life has not yet been rebuilt. The people who get through that window are not the ones who tried hardest. They are the ones who had something scheduled every week, someone expecting them, medication that was still working, and a plan for the bad day written down before it arrived.

That is what aftercare is. It is not a formality at discharge. It is the part of treatment that determines whether the rest of it holds. We made the longer argument in the importance of aftercare in drug addiction recovery.

What Aftercare Includes at Rockland Recovery

Component	What it is	How long
Outpatient therapy	Weekly individual sessions with a clinician who knows your history, stepping down to every other week and then monthly as recovery stabilizes.	A year or more
Medication management	Continued buprenorphine or naltrexone for opioid use disorder, naltrexone or acamprosate for alcohol, and psychiatric medication for any co-occurring condition, with a prescriber who sees you regularly.	As long as it is needed, often years
Sober living	Structured, substance-free housing paired with outpatient care, for people whose home is not a recovery environment.	Typically 3 to 6 months
Alumni program	Regular meetings, sober events, an online community, and check-ins from our team. Free, no expiration.	Indefinite
Peer support outside RRG	Twelve-step, SMART Recovery, or a recovery community center, which meet daily in every town and which we help you connect with before discharge.	Indefinite
Relapse prevention plan	A written document, built with your clinician during treatment: your triggers, your early warning signs, who you call, and what you do in the first hour after a slip.	Revised as life changes
Family involvement	Family sessions and our family therapy program, so the people you live with know what recovery needs from them.	As agreed

Not everyone needs every piece. Someone with a stable home, a supportive partner, and a first episode of treatment may need weekly therapy, medication, and a meeting schedule. Someone stepping down from a third program with nowhere safe to live needs sober living and daily structure for months. The plan is built for the person, and it is built before discharge, with the first outpatient appointment on the calendar before the last day of IOP.

The Relapse Prevention Plan

Everyone finishing treatment with us works out a relapse prevention plan before they go. It is specific to you, not a handout. It names the situations, people, emotions, and times of day that have led to use before. It lists the early warning signs that show up days before a relapse: skipping meetings, isolating, sleeping badly, the return of a particular kind of thinking. It says who you call and in what order. And it says what you do in the first hour after a slip, because the difference between a slip and a full relapse is usually what happens in that hour. Our guide to relapse prevention strategies walks through how the plan is built.

If you use again

Call the same day. A relapse during aftercare is common, it is dangerous, and it is information: about a trigger you did not see, a level of support that was not enough, or a medication dose that needs adjusting. The clinical team reassesses the level of care, which might mean extra sessions, a return to IOP, or, after heavy use of alcohol, opioids, or benzodiazepines, a referral to a partner detox with a plan to come back to us afterward. Nobody is turned away for having used. For opioids in particular, the weeks after a period of abstinence are when overdose deaths happen, so keep naloxone within reach and never use alone. Our post on recovering from a relapse covers what to do in the days after.

Aftercare for People Coming From Other Programs

Many people finish detox or a residential program elsewhere and are discharged with a list of phone numbers. That is the gap aftercare exists to close, and you do not need to have started with us to step into it. People leaving a residential program or a partner detox can enter our IOP or outpatient treatment directly, with medication management continued from wherever it was started, and can combine either with sober living if home is not a safe place to return to. The alumni program is for people who completed a level of care with Rockland Recovery, but the clinical side of aftercare is open to anyone whose assessment shows they fit.

Paying for Aftercare in Massachusetts

Outpatient therapy and medication management are standard covered benefits under most commercial plans, and federal parity law requires insurers to cover them the way they cover medical care. Sober living housing is paid separately; admissions will give you the current rate. The alumni program is free. Our admissions team verifies exactly what your plan covers before you decide anything. We do not accept MassHealth, Medicare, or other state insurance; the Massachusetts Substance Use Helpline at 800-327-5050 maintains a live list of programs that do. Aftercare runs through Rockland Recovery Treatment Center in Braintree and our Quincy center, serving the South Shore and Greater Boston.

This page is for information and does not replace an assessment by a licensed clinician. If you are thinking about harming yourself or someone else, call or text 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, or dial 911.

What is addiction aftercare?

The ongoing care and support that follows PHP or IOP: weekly outpatient therapy, continued medication management, sober living if you need it, alumni and peer support, and a relapse prevention plan you wrote before you left. The intensive phase of treatment gets you stable. Aftercare is what keeps you that way while you go back to work, family, and the situations where you used to drink or use.

How long does aftercare last?

At least a year is the standard recommendation, and for many people some form of it continues indefinitely. Weekly therapy often steps down to every other week and then monthly as recovery holds. Medication for opioid or alcohol use disorder often continues for years. Peer support and alumni involvement have no end date.

What happens if I relapse during aftercare?

You call, the same day if possible. A relapse is a reason to reassess the level of care, not a reason to leave treatment. Sometimes the answer is a few extra sessions; sometimes it is a return to IOP; if there has been heavy use of alcohol, opioids, or benzodiazepines, it may mean a referral to a partner detox first. Nobody is turned away for having used, and the people who do worst are the ones who disappear.

Is aftercare covered by insurance?

Outpatient therapy and medication management are standard covered benefits under commercial plans, and federal parity law requires them to be covered the way medical care is. Sober living housing is paid separately. The alumni program is free. We do not accept MassHealth or Medicare; the Massachusetts Substance Use Helpline at 800-327-5050 lists programs that do.

Do I have to have done treatment at Rockland Recovery to use your aftercare?

No. People who completed detox, residential, or PHP elsewhere can step into our IOP or outpatient care as their aftercare. The alumni program is for people who completed a level of care with us, but outpatient treatment and sober living are open to anyone whose assessment shows they fit.

Levels of care

Which one fits is decided at assessment. Most people move between them as things change.

Arranged through partner facilities

We do not provide these ourselves. Where an assessment shows one is what you need, admissions arranges it with a partner facility and picks your care back up afterwards.

Is this the right level of care?

That comes out of an assessment, not a form. Call and admissions will tell you what fits, what it involves, and what your plan covers.