We offer mental health counseling, as well as co-occurring outpatient treatment (alcohol & drug outpatient treatment with a mental health component), as well as a variety of court ordered services. Most of our groups are offered both virtually (Zoom), as well as in person. For more information, scroll down, or click on the relevant service:
Co-occurring Outpatient Treatment (or Alcohol & Drug Outpatient Treatment or Substance Use Outpatient Treatment)
Co-occurring Treatment indicates a treatment for mental health and substance use disorders. Our programs are designed to address substance use alone or in combination with mental health disorders. Please note that if you are exclusively suffering from a mental health disorder not related to substance use, these programs are not for you.
We offer two levels of intensity for our co-occurring outpatient treatment:
- Low-Intensity Outpatient Program (L-OP or simply OP), also known as Outpatient Treatment, Aftercare, or Relapse Prevention
- Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP), also known as Intensive Outpatient Treatment
Consult the table for quick information, with more in-depth explanation below. The length of the programs can be adjusted if needed:
| IOP | L-OP | |
|---|---|---|
| Content | Initial intake (Assessment) 16 sessions 2 hr treatment group 1 hr life-skills | 8 – 12 sessions 1 hr treatment group |
| Frequency | 4 sessions every week: Mon, Tue, Wed and Thu | Once or twice weekly: Mon, Tue, Wed or Thu |
| Times | 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM OR 5:30 PM – 8:30 PM | 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM OR 5:30 PM – 6:30 PM |
| Cash Pay | $250 / session Contact us to get an estimate for cash-pay discounts | $50 intake fee (free if done online) $50 / session |
| Accepted Insurance* | BCBS, BlueCare, UHC, UHCCP, ambetter, aetna | BCBS, BlueCare, UHC, UHCCP, Cigna, Magellan, ambetter, aetna |
| How to Enroll | Part of paperwork can be online contact us to schedule intake | online paperwork or schedule an intake appointment contact us to pay for first session |
*If you have been court ordered to complete treatment and have no insurance you might be eligible for ADAT, SPOT or CTC grants – talk to your probation officer or attorney (for ADAT/SPOT), or Forensic Social Worker (for CTC).
Both the Intensive Outpatient Program as well as the Low-Intensity Outpatient Program are important parts of the continuum of care. IOP corresponds to the ASAM level of care 2.1, while L-OP is 1.0.
Anyone who attends IOP with us, or, completes the L-OP program can attend additional L-OP sessions for as long as they want for free – as long as they don’t receive another charge. This is part of our “open door policy”.
L-OP is coincides with the first hour of IOP. Each session consists of a check-in, followed by a group topic chosen by our alcohol & drug counselor, Michele Bowdoin. The sessions are based on CBT, the Matrix model and other evidence-based models.
After the treatment group, the IOP participants continue with the life-skills session. Depending on the day and who is conducting the part, we discuss various life-skills that can help you succeed in your sobriety and life in general. Anger Management, Financial education, meditation are some of the topics that we talk about. This second group is taught by Tomo Umer, Savannah Holey or Claire Alexander Umer.
After enrolling in either program, the participant will receive an enrollment letter. For L-OP and IOP we can provide weekly or monthly updates on participants attendance (typically to a probation officer or forensic social worker).
Finally, after a successful completion, the participants will receive a certificate and letter verifying how many sessions of L-OP or IOP they attended with us. IOP attendants will also obtain an anger management certificate (8 hours, if they don’t miss any sessions), as well as a parenting certificate (if they have kids and/or wish to attend, 8 hours).
Anger Management
Bowdoin Recovery Services offer either an all-day Anger Management (AM) class, or a weekly Anger Management (AM) class. If you have been court ordered to take an anger management class, our advice is to check with your probation officer (or attorney) whether you are required (or recommended if pre-trial) to take a weekly class or all-day one.
Consult the table for quick information, with more in-depth explanation below. The length of the programs can be adjusted if needed:
| All-day Anger Management | ||
|---|---|---|
| Content | 8 – 12 hr all in one day | |
| Frequency | once monthly (always on a Sat) | |
| Times | 10:30 AM – Completion | |
| Cash Pay | $75 for 4 hours $125 for 8 hours $140 for 10 hours $160 for 12 hours Zoom Fee: additional $10 to attend the class virtually | |
| Accepted Insurance | insurance will not pay for this service | |
| How to Enroll | contact us to get the dates and reserve a spot online paperwork pay before class date |
Our Anger Management curriculum has been developed by Claire Alexander (Umer).
If someone is considering to attend Anger Management voluntarily, we highly encourage to attend the weekly class.
Assessments or Evaluation
We at BRS offer three different assessments and one evaluation:
- Alcohol & Drug assessment (for state of TN and/or for other states)
- Parenting Assessment
- Domestic Violence or Anger Management Assessment
- Mental Health Evaluation
Consult the table for quick information, with more in-depth explanation below:
| Assessment or Evaluation | |
|---|---|
| Content | The average duration for assessments or evaluations is about 1 hr, but it depends on the person, situation and the assessor. It may take up to 14 business days to deliver the results. |
| Frequency | One-time service, unless you need to be re-assessed |
| Times | Typically Mon – Fri between 11:00 AM – 4:00 PM |
| Cash Pay | A&D Assessment (TN) – $150 A&D Assessment (out of state) – $225 Parenting Assessment – $150 DV / AM Assessment – $150 Mental Health Evaluation – $315 |
| Accepted Insurance | BCBS, BlueCare, Cigna, Magellan, UHC, UHCCP, ambetter, aetna |
| How to Schedule | Complete paperwork online, then contact us – Zoom or in person availability |
Most of our staff members are trained in doing the three assessments. The Mental Health Evaluation can currently only be performed by our clinicians, so the availability is more limited.
For the assessments we normally provide a letter stating if we have any recommendations for treatment or education. There are some cases where we may have to obtain additional information (DCS involvement for example).
If you are required to complete a Parenting Assessment, a Domestic Violence assessment or MHE for a different state, it is your responsibility to find out if you are allowed to complete in TN.
For the Alcohol & Drug Assessment we use the ASI 5th edition . Due to the fact that we are a state of TN licensed co-occurring treatment facility, our A&D Assessments have been accepted in TN, as well as in other states (often times for DUI arrests, but it could also apply to other convictions). If we’ve dealt with a state before, we may already know what additional paperwork they require. We still recommended that you contact the DMV / probation office in the other state to make sure what’s required of you. The validity of the Alcohol & Drug Assessment is 90 days.
Men’s Batterer’s Intervention Program
Our Men’s BIP is a state of TN certified program that we developed, based on the Duluth Model.
Consult the table for quick information, with more in-depth explanation below. The length of the programs can be adjusted if needed:
| Men’s BIP | ||
|---|---|---|
| Content | Intake (assessment + workbook) 26 sessions 1 hr 30 min groups | |
| Frequency | once weekly – Tue, Thu or Sat | |
| Times | 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM (Tue) OR 9:00 AM – 10:30 AM (Sat) | |
| Cash Pay | $100 intake fee (+ workbook) $35 / session | |
| Accepted Insurance | insurance will not pay for this service | |
| How to Enroll | part of paperwork can be done online contact us to schedule intake |
Normally the BIP classes are court ordered, although there are some attorneys that recommend their clients (depending on the charge) to begin attending preemptively. We also have some people who decide to attend them voluntarily.
The Men’s BIP program has a workbook and homework that goes along with the covered topics and sessions and is mandatory for participation. The initial intake (which includes an assessment) needs to be scheduled before starting to attend the class.
Counseling Services / SAP Services
We currently have two counselors working with us:
- Michele Bowdoin – alcohol & drug counselor and Substance Abuse Professional (SAP for Department of Transportation professionals)
- K. Claire Alexander Umer – licensed masters social worker (mental health counseling)
- Shirley Marks – licensed family and marital therapist (mental health counseling); not with kids / adolescents / teenagers
Consult the table for quick information, with more in-depth explanation below:
| Counseling | SAP Services | |
|---|---|---|
| Content | 1 hr counseling sessions | Initial consultation Follow-up consultation; release to duty |
| Frequency | as desired or required (weekly, bi-weekly, monthly) | 2 appointments – if another violation occurs, the process needs to be restarted |
| Times | scheduled with counselor | scheduled with counselor |
| Cash Pay | $125 / session | $350 |
| Accepted Insurance | BCBS, BlueCare, Cigna, Magellan, UHC, UHCCP, ambetter, aetna | insurance does not cover this service |
| How to Enroll | online paperwork contact us to schedule | Select “Michele Bowdoin” in the clearing house as your SAP part of the paperwork can be done online contact us to schedule appointment |
For counseling, if it is strictly mental health related (no substance use problems), it has to be scheduled with Shirley Marks or Claire Alexander. Due to the number of requests we get, there may be a waiting period.
Michele Bowdoin is more readily available, though the counseling has to be related to substance use (alcohol & drug use) – cannot be only mental health, but it can be both.
For the SAP services, you will be assessed by Michele Bowdoin once you select her as your SAP provider in the clearinghouse and contact us to schedule your initial appointment. After that, you will be given some recommendations to be completed elsewhere (as per DOT, Michele and Bowdoin Recovery Services cannot profit from the given recommendations). Once you have proof of completion, contact us again to schedule the follow-up.
DUI School / Alcohol & Drug Education / Prime for Life
Education related to a DUI offense, or some other drug or alcohol related charge. Can also be done preemptively (some times advised by certain attorneys). Everyone in the state of TN has to use the Prime for Life curriculum for DUIs (or DWIs or similar).
Consult the table for quick information, with more in-depth explanation below. The length of the programs can be adjusted if needed:
| DUI School / Prime for Life / A&D Education | |
|---|---|
| Content | 12 – 24 hrs class includes Victim’s Impact panel |
| Frequency | once monthly (Sat) |
| Times | 10:30 AM – Completion (Sat) — for more than 12 hours: 10:30 AM – Completion (Sun) |
| Cash Pay | $175 for 12 hrs $215 for 16 hrs $255 for 20 hrs $295 for 24 hrs Zoom Fee: additional $10 to attend the class virtually |
| Accepted Insurance | insurance will not pay for this service |
| How to Enroll | online paperwork contact us to reserve a spot |
The classes described in this section are counted as education and not treatment. In the state of TN, for a first offense DUI (even if it gets dropped down to reckless driving), the requirement is usually to complete the 12 hour DUI/PFL class, with the Victim’s Impact panel. We do both classes together.
The Alcohol & Drug education class (not a DUI), it is typically a recommendation from an alcohol & drug assessment, or, for some other non-violent drug related charges.