Northstar Behavioral Health/St Cloud

They offer outpatient and telemedicine. Which one fits is usually decided by how much structure the first few weeks need, and Saint Cloud has 8 other centers within 14 miles.

No detox, here or anywhere listed within 14 miles of Saint Cloud. Ask whether they will take somebody straight after a detox done elsewhere, because most will.

Saint Cloud has 15 NA meetings too, and most people end up using both.

They treat adults from 26 to 64 and young adults from 18 to 25. Ask whether the groups are split by age, because in Saint Cloud that can mean one mixed room rather than several.

They take court referrals, which usually means they are used to the reporting side of it. Courts in Saint Cloud send people to places set up for it rather than to any opening.

There is no fixed length. What is on offer tends to be a 30, 60 or 90 day program. Two centers quoting the same number of days can mean very different hours of treatment inside them. Ask what the program length is and what happens if more time is needed.

The short version is a prescribed medication that reduces cravings and withdrawal, taken under supervision. Alcohol use disorder has prescribed options of its own, which is worth raising because the phrase is usually explained in terms of opioids. Ask whether counseling is included or billed separately, because the combination is the point.

One place can take somebody today and another in the same town is a month out. The longest lists tend to sit at the programs that cost the least, which is the genuinely hard part of this. Ask who to call if things get worse while you are waiting, and write that number down.