Posted on

Stay Calm and Connected in Connecticut Rehabs

With rigorous treatment in peaceful surroundings, Connecticut rehabs offer the best of 2 worlds. You can attend treatment nestled within beautiful nature, just a stone’s throw from a major U.S. city. This state is also home to world-renowned research universities. And as a result, rehab here can connect you with some of the greatest medical minds in the world.

Going to rehab in Connecticut is a good fit for people who want a middle ground between retreat and connection. At some centers, you can even stay in touch with your loved ones during treatment. But, in this serene setting, you’ll also have the space you need to heal.

Finding Balance

In the heart of New England, Connecticut is close to some of the biggest cities in the U.S.—and some of the country’s most beautiful nature. Clients can enjoy the stunning scenery, without feeling cut off from urban amenities. 

Enjoy a Serene Environment for Recovery

Despite being close to several big cities, many areas in Connecticut are rural.1 The Connecticut River flows through old hardwood forests and rolling hills, with the Berkshire highlands rising out of the northwest corner. In these beautiful surroundings, recovery can be peaceful and restorative. Studies show that immersing yourself in nature can improve symptoms of anxiety and depression,2 sleep quality, and stress. 

In rehabs like Mountainside Treatment Center, in the foothills of the Berkshires, clients heal “surrounded by lush greenery and open skies.” Without the distractions of urban life, you can put all your energy into recovery.

turnbridge connecticut
Turnbridge in New Haven, Connecticut

Test Your Limits With Outdoor Adventures

If you’re longing for adventures in the great outdoors, Connecticut offers easy access to world-class hiking, skiing, rock climbing, rafting, and more. These activities get your heart pumping—and they help your mind heal. 

At treatment centers like Turnbridge, patients can go on camping, hiking, skiing, and snowboarding trips, depending on the time of the year. You can also try paintball, rock climbing, even deep sea fishing. Thanks to Connecticut’s diverse geography, which includes mountains, rivers, and a rugged coastline, this is a wonderful place to go if you’re interested in outdoor adventure therapy. 

Addiction Treatment From Leading Experts 

Even if your rehab is in a rural area, Connecticut is small enough that you’ll never be far from a big city. That means you’ll be close to major universities, like Yale and UConn. And some of the world’s top experts in addiction and mental health are based at these schools. For example, The Steward House at Silver Hill is “the product of collaboration among the leading psychiatry institutions of Yale New Haven Health and the Department of Psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine.” Clients here have access to leading experts while in residential care in a non-hospital setting. These specialists can help you define your unique needs and goals for recovery.

Be Yourself in Connecticut

Recovering from addiction or mental illness is all about finding yourself again. In Connecticut, there’s room for you to be exactly who you are. 

Connecticut Rehabs Welcome LGBTQ+ Clients

It’s crucial for LGBTQ+ clients to find affirming treatment. Anything less can interfere with your recovery journey. And unfortunately, not all treatment programs are inclusive. But Connecticut has a long history of supporting LGBTQ+ rights.3

The state is well known for its progressive legislation. It even boasts rehab centers just for LGBTQ+ people, like Recovery at WildWood Farm. In this program, clients recover alongside people who share at least 1 part of their personal experience. This can make it easier to connect with the other clients in your program, and share mutual support.

mountainside treatment center connecticut
Mountainside Treatment Center in Cannan, Connecticut

Stay Independent During Recovery

Not everyone wants to connect with their peers during recovery. Some Connecticut rehabs—like Blue Sky Behavioral Health—let clients live a more independent life, even during intensive treatment. In their “intense outpatient program,” clients live in off-site housing while attending rehab. You’ll shop for your own food and have your own private space, in a house you share with other clients. And you’ll still have round-the-clock guidance from a life coach, in addition to on-site therapy 5 days a week. For people who value freedom and autonomy, this can make treatment less stressful.

Treatment for High-Level Executives

If you’re a busy professional, going to rehab might feel like an abrupt halt. That’s especially true if you think of your job as part of your identity. And unplugging from work can be stressful, instead of feeling like a break. Some of Connecticut’s rehab programs let you stay connected, while still getting the treatment you need.

Perhaps because the state is close to so many major cities, several centers in Connecticut offer rehab for high-level professionals. For example, Privé-Swiss specializes in treating executives. Their experts can help you rebuild the skills you need to live a life you love, sustainably. 

If you can’t leave work for inpatient treatment, some Connecticut rehabs have outpatient options. These programs might be a good fit for people who live in the area, and have strong local support networks. If you’re traveling to the area for treatment, you can attend a residential program, or ask your care team about local housing.

Traveling to Rehab in Connecticut 

Connecticut is centrally located in New England. Because this region is such a hub for travel, it’s easy to access the state from anywhere in the U.S. or around the world. If you’re flying in for treatment, make sure you plan your route carefully. Within the state, you can fly into Bradley International Airport, which serves 9 domestic and 7 international airlines. If you can’t find a direct flight from your area to Bradley, you can fly into any of the New York City, Boston, or Providence airports. 

Once you arrive in New England, it’s easy to get exactly where you’re going. You can take an Amtrak train from any of the major cities to over 20 different stations in Connecticut. There are also frequent MetroNorth trains through Fairfield and New Haven counties. 

While it’s easy to get around Connecticut, it’s still important to plan carefully. The last leg of your trip to rehab is a delicate time. If at all possible, avoid traveling alone. You might ask a loved one or support person to go with you. And many rehabs in Connecticut also offer complimentary rides within a certain radius. For example, Retreat Behavioral Health South Connecticut will transport you to treatment for free within a 4-hour radius. 

Start a Healthier Life in the Land of Steady Habits

Choosing a treatment program can be scary. This is a big decision, and you might have to make it quickly. Here, rehab will help you stay grounded as you start recovery. There’s a reason Connecticut is known as the Land of Steady Habits. Treatment professionals here welcome people of all identities, offering a balance of independence and support. If respectful, structured environments make you feel safe, these programs might be a great fit.  


Browse our list of luxury rehabs in Connecticut to learn about types of treatment, pricing, locations, and more.

Posted on

Evidence-Based Care in Quietude: New England Luxury Rehabs

When you go to rehab in New England, you’ll have easy access to beautiful nature and cutting edge treatment. These programs offer access to the outdoors, metropolitan areas, and some of the best universities in the U.S. From the Berkshires to Boston, you can choose the setting that suits your needs. But you won’t have to choose between a beautiful setting and top-notch care.  

At the Heart of Addiction Research

Rehabs in this region can connect their clients with some of the best research universities in the U.S.1 Many of these schools have renowned addiction research centers. Some of them also partner with nearby rehabs to offer clinical care.

For example, McLean Hospital is a Harvard Medical School affiliate in the suburbs of Boston. Their clinicians teach at the university, and pioneer state-of-the-art addiction treatments. In Connecticut, Yale New Haven Health and the Department of Psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine team up to run The Steward House at Silver Hill. In this executive rehab, you’ll get treatment from Yale’s renowned professors. 

Not every rehab in New England is connected to a research center. But clients throughout the region benefit from the cultural emphasis on evidence-based treatment. Brown University, in Providence, Rhode Island, is home to The New England Addiction Technology Transfer Center. And their mission is to make evidence-based treatment more available to local rehabs. 

spruce mountain inn new england
Spruce Mountain Inn in Plainfield, Vermont

Year-Round Natural Beauty

New England is famous for its great thinkers, but there’s more to recovery than research. This region combines academic prowess with beautiful natural scenery. Quinn Tremblay, Admissions Coordinator at McLean Fernside, says that going to rehab in New England can help you, “stay mindful and keep yourself in a serene mode.”  

Experience the Best of All 4 Seasons

This area has 4 distinct seasons, and you can look forward to different activities in each of them. Summer in New England is warm with cooler nights.2 Clients at McLean Borden Cottage can enjoy the season by hiking, sailing, and spending time at the beach.

Autumn is especially popular in New England, thanks to its famous fall foliage. You could have a front-row seat to watch the leaves put on a show. Leaf peeping season starts as early as September in Maine and New Hampshire.

Winters are cold in this area, and the mountainous regions get a lot of snow. If you dislike harsh weather, this might be the wrong time of year for you to visit New England. But if you enjoy snow sports, it’s perfect! In programs like Turnbridge, clients can go skiing and snowboarding during treatment. 

In the spring, the gray winter skies melt into a cheery blue. At Brattleboro Retreat, you can spend this season gardening. Watching a seed you’ve planted sprout and bloom can give you a sense of achievement. And at every time of year, spending time in nature can help you heal.

“Breathe a Little Easier” in New England’s Rural Areas

New England is well-known for its natural beauty,3 with rocky shores, lush forests, rugged mountains, calm lakes, and flowing rivers. But what does that have to do with rehab?

Studies show that just having a view of nature from your room can improve your mental state.4 Starting treatment in a naturally beautiful place like New England can put you in the right mindset to focus on the hard work of recovery. 

Plus, being able to get away from the demands of urban life can give you space to heal. Katie, a former patient of Spring Lake Ranch in Vermont, explains that being in rural New England helped her recover. “As soon as I got up here, I felt like I could breathe a little easier. No more traffic, no more rushing, no more people everywhere. It was exactly what I needed.”

And you can do more than just looking out of the window. For example, at Spruce Mountain Inn, in Plainfield, Vermont, patients can go hiking, rock climbing, skiing, and canoeing. And if these rural activities aren’t for you, there are other ways to heal. Many of New England’s rehabs are located in urban areas, if you’d prefer a less secluded treatment program. 

Stay Connected to Urban Life During Recovery

Rehabs in bigger cities offer some unique amenities. Because New England is home to Boston, Providence, and Hartford, as well as many rural areas, this beautiful region offers the best of both worlds.

As Dr. Frederick Goggans, the Medical Director at McLean Borden Cottage, puts it, “There’s many amenities that you would have in more urban areas, but at the same time, you have that peacefulness and sanctuary setting, which is pretty rare in today’s modern world.” For example, rehabs in New England offer some of these interesting day trips:

These trips immerse clients in local culture. If you’re from nearby, this might help you feel at ease. And if you’re traveling for treatment, connecting with New England’s unique spirit can give you important insight into your own values.

plymouth house new england
Plymouth House in Plymouth, New Hampshire

A Culture of Individuality 

New England gives you space to be yourself.5 Its people are known for being friendly, down-to-earth, and accepting. But they know how to respect boundaries. In one report on Vermont’s culture, experts note that individuality is “at the heart of the character” of the region.6 

As a result, many local rehabs offer personalized treatment. This makes them a great fit for clients of certain demographics. If you’re looking for an LGBTQ+ affirming rehab, for instance, Clearbrook Treatment Center might be a good fit. New England is also an excellent place to find rehab programs for executives. Whatever you’re looking for, this open-minded region welcomes people with diverse backgrounds.

Traveling to New England

This region is easily accessible from all over the world. There are 14 airports in New England,7 spanning its 6 states. The biggest is Boston Logan International Airport, which serves more than 40 airlines traveling to over 100 destinations. You can also fly into a smaller airport like Bangor International for Maine rehabs, or T.F. Green International Airport for rehabs in Rhode Island. 

After you land, it’s easy to get around New England by Amtrak. These trains connect the bigger cities, like Boston, New Haven, Burlington, and Providence. You can also take regional trains, Metro-North train in Connecticut, or the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Rail in Boston.  

Although it’s easy to reach this area, it’s better to travel with a support person. Starting rehab is a big decision, and the journey there can be hard. If you can, ask a friend or loved one to come along and help you with logistics. Or, you can ask your admissions team about other options. Some rehabs even offer complimentary pickups within a certain radius.

New England Offers Safety and Freedom

Early recovery is a tumultuous time. And that can make it hard to choose a treatment program. In New England, you can have the best of both worlds. Enjoy the tranquility of nature, and trust the knowledge of world-renowned researchers. Climb a mountain peak one day, and explore an urban center the next. These rehabs offer plenty of support, while you define what freedom means to you. 
Reach out to one of New England’s luxury rehab centers to learn about their exact locations, amenities, and types of treatment.

Posted on

Luxury Treatment in New England: A Visit to McLean Hospital

frame 3304

While New England might not be the first place that comes to mind when thinking of luxury addiction treatment in the U.S., McLean Hospital’s Signature Recovery Program definitely puts it on the map. As a Harvard Medical School affiliate, McLean offers a level of clinical excellence that can be hard to find in addiction treatment. Its 2 beautiful locations include McLean Fernside in a historic bed and breakfast overlooking the city of Boston in the distance, and McLean Borden Cottage in a spectacular mansion on Penobscot Bay. This facility’s accommodations hold their own against the best luxury centers out there.

Watch as our team gets an inside look into McLean’s Signature Recovery Program.

Steeped in History

Arguably the most historic region in the United States, New England is home to Revolutionary War battlefields, quaint small towns, and historic institutions. One such institution is McLean Hospital, founded in 1811. Originally a mental health facility, in the late 1960s McLean recognized the importance of treating addiction and began offering addiction treatment programs. They now offer programs across the spectrum of care at a number of locations. Paired with another historical institution, Harvard (which is in fact the oldest institution of higher learning in the U.S.), McLean has hundreds of years of experience and some of the greatest minds in the world to draw from.

McLean Hospital Belmont Campus
Administration building on McLean’s main campus in Belmont, MA

Evidence-Based Care

“Our Signature Recovery Programs are based on proven methods and scientific inquiry that informs treatment.”

– Rocco A. Iannucci, MD, Mclean Fernside Director

As a treatment program embedded in a research hospital, the decisions made at McLean Signature Recovery are based on research and evidence-based practices. That shone through especially when discussing their thoughts on group therapy. Typically, a luxury center might de-emphasize group therapy, but at McLean they believe it to be an important part of treatment.

frame 9053One of the rooms typically used for group therapy at McLean Borden Cottage

As McLean Fernside’s Director Dr. Rocco Iannucci explains, “Group therapy has been shown to be uniquely effective for treatment of substance use problems. There’s a way in which peer-to-peer interactions that are facilitated by an experienced and well-trained clinician can really add to recovery in a way that just the one-on-one interactions may not. People can bond with each other. They can communicate with each other in a different sort of way.”

International Leadership

“McLean is a world-class leader in terms of measuring treatment outcome. Back in 1994 we developed something called the BASIS and the Perceptions of Care. Those are two instruments that really look to see whether people are improving or not… And that is a product that is actually used by institutions all around the country and internationally. They use our instruments. So I like to think that they’re looking to McLean as the gold standard in terms of quality of care in the substance abuse arena.”

– Philip Levundusky, PhD, ABPP

Not surprisingly, institutions around the world look to McLean as a leader in the field. As Director of McLean’s Psychology Department Dr. Philip Levundusky told us, they are especially excited about a consulting relationship they’ve had over the past 6 years with a major rehabilitation centre in Abu Dhabi, helping a relatively new program bring their substance abuse capabilities to a world-class level.

McLean also frequently provides care to international clients and is able to cater the program to each individual’s cultural needs. McLean’s Middle East Center for Culturally Informed Care is one result of that, and has a proven history of helping clients from that part of the world.

Deconstructing Stigma

McL21730 slide 1
McLean’s Deconstructing Stigma display at Boston Logan Airport

An example of McLean’s leadership in driving the conversation around addiction and mental health can be found in their Deconstructing Stigma campaign. This campaign features stories from people affected by mental illness, using their real names, and real stories. Participants volunteered to be part of this campaign in order to help tear down the stigma surrounding mental illness and it is hard to miss—with 8-foot-tall photos and stories encompassing an entire hallway at Boston Logan Airport.

See all the stories and learn more about this powerful campaign at the Deconstructing Stigma website.

Learn More