Expertise provided by Javier Verdin, Clinical Director
Detox, residential, PHP, IOP, outpatient. If you have started calling programs for someone you love, you have probably heard all of those words this week, usually from people who assumed you already knew what they meant. You do not, and that is not your fault. Most pages about addiction treatment in Tennessee list the letters, show a row of insurance logos, and stop there. You are left to guess which level fits, how long it lasts, and what your family will owe.
This guide comes from inside T.R.U.E. Addiction & BH in Murfreesboro, TN, where one team treats addiction and mental health together. T.R.U.E. Addiction & BH checks benefits and bills Tricare, Cigna, Aetna, UHC, BCBS, Anthem, and Optum to help make accessible care easier to plan for, and the admissions team starts that check on the very first call. Below you will find the real structure of each level of care: the hours, the weeks, how insurance works, where your loved one can live during treatment, and what happens when the program ends. This guide provides information you may find helpful as you explore your options.
What Do the Levels of Care Actually Mean?
Addiction treatment in Tennessee runs on a ladder of care:
- Medical detox handles safe withdrawal.
- Partial Hospitalization (PHP) gives the most daily structure outside a hospital.
- Intensive Outpatient (IOP) steps that structure down.
- Outpatient aftercare keeps support going after daily programming ends.
Each rung asks the person to carry a little more of their own recovery than the one before.
Think of it like healing from a badly broken leg. First comes the emergency room, where the bone is set and the pain is managed. Then comes a cast, which holds everything steady while the bone mends. After that comes a walking boot, and finally physical therapy a few times a week. No one jumps from the emergency room straight to physical therapy, and no one wears a cast forever. Levels of care work the same way, so the right level is the one that matches where your loved one is today, not where you hope they will be next month.
Detox is the emergency room stage. It is for people whose bodies have become dependent on a substance and who may face dangerous or very hard withdrawal when they stop. T.R.U.E. Addiction & BH does not provide detox on site. Its admissions team handles pre-treatment needs instead, coordinating a detox referral or medical stabilization so your loved one may arrive ready to take part. You may also hear the word residential, which means 24-hour live-in treatment inside a facility. T.R.U.E. does not offer a residential level, which is part of why its housing option, explained later in this guide, may matter to some families.
PHP at T.R.U.E. Addiction & BH in Murfreesboro means 5 hours of programming a day, 6 days a week, for 3 to 6 weeks. That adds up to about 30 hours of treatment every week, close to the time a full-time job takes. PHP is the cast: enough structure to hold things steady while the real work begins.
IOP at T.R.U.E. means 3 hours a day, three or five days a week, for another 30 to 45 days, which works out to 9 or 15 hours a week. IOP is the walking boot, because support is still there but the person carries more of their own weight. T.R.U.E. also lists an Evening IOP among its levels of care, which can matter for people balancing treatment with daytime responsibilities. After IOP, outpatient aftercare (OP) offers lighter, ongoing support as life settles back into a rhythm.
If you want to see how the state itself studies these options, Tennessee’s Comptroller of the Treasury keeps a research collection on treatment for substance use disorder in Tennessee.
| Level of care | What it is for | Weekly time at T.R.U.E. | Typical length at T.R.U.E. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Detox | Safe, medically managed withdrawal | Arranged by admissions through a referral before PHP | Depends on the person and substance |
| PHP | Stabilization with daily structure | 5 hours a day, 6 days (about 30 hours) | 3 to 6 weeks |
| IOP | Practicing recovery with more independence | 3 hours a day, three or five days (9 or 15 hours) | 30 to 45 days |
| OP / aftercare | Ongoing support after daily programming | Lighter, ongoing schedule | Varies by person |
Which Level of Care Does Your Loved One Need Right Now?
Knowing what each level means is the first step. The harder question is where your loved one should begin, and that depends on four things:
- How risky withdrawal could be.
- Whether a mental health condition is part of the picture.
- How stable home is right now.
- What happened in past attempts at recovery.
A clinician makes the final call. Still, knowing these four factors may help you answer the admissions team’s questions clearly and understand why they ask them.
Withdrawal risk comes first. Stopping alcohol or sedatives such as benzodiazepines suddenly can be medically dangerous, which is why screening for detox happens before anything else. Opioid withdrawal is rarely life-threatening on its own, but it is often so painful that people go back to using just to make it stop, and this is where medication support may help in some cases. On an intake call, expect questions like these: What substances is your loved one using? How much, how often, and when was the last use? Have they ever had shaking, seizures, confusion, or hallucinations when they tried to stop? If the answers point to withdrawal risk, T.R.U.E.’s admissions team arranges a detox referral or medical stabilization first, and PHP may begin once your loved one is ready.
Mental health is the second factor. Many families notice the drinking or drug use first. Underneath, though, there may be depression, anxiety, PTSD, trauma, ADHD, or borderline personality patterns. When a program treats only the substance, the condition that was driving the use may resurface. The National Institute on Drug Abuse’s principles of effective treatment note that no single treatment fits everyone and that care often addresses a person’s many needs, not only their drug use. T.R.U.E. Addiction & BH treats co-occurring mental health conditions and substance use disorder together. This approach is called dual diagnosis care, and at T.R.U.E. it even shapes how groups are divided, with separate mental health and substance use disorder groups during the week.
Home and history make up the third and fourth factors. Maybe home is where the using happens, or there is constant conflict, or no one can safely be there during the day. In those cases, the daily structure of PHP, along with the option to live in T.R.U.E.’s housing, puts real distance between your loved one and the old patterns.
You may also be carrying a thought you have not said out loud: We did this before, and it did not hold. That fear is fair. Many people arrive after other programs or after trying to stop on their own. Treatment outcomes vary from person to person, and what worked for one individual may not work for another. What you can do is ask what will be different in the plan itself.
Once treatment begins, the next decision is when to move from PHP down to IOP. That is a clinical decision, not a date on a calendar. A step-down conversation usually looks at a few questions. Is withdrawal behind them? Are mental health symptoms steadier? Is your loved one taking part in groups? Can they handle more unstructured hours without slipping? Some people may be ready at three weeks, while others may need the full six.
What Does Treatment Cost, and How Does Insurance Actually Work?
For most families, money is the next worry after safety. What your family pays depends mostly on your insurance plan, not on a sticker price. T.R.U.E. Addiction & BH verifies benefits with Tricare, Cigna, Aetna, UHC, BCBS, Anthem, and Optum. The admissions team checks your plan’s behavioral health benefits during the first call, so you may have a clearer picture of what your plan may pay before admission.
You will not find a price list on this page, and there is an honest reason for that. Two families in the same program can owe very different amounts depending on their plan, how much of their deductible they have already met, and how long the person stays in PHP versus IOP. A single posted number could be wrong for most readers and might scare off someone whose real cost is far lower. A verified look at your own benefits may be more useful than a guess.
Here is how verification works. On the first call, admissions asks for the information on the insurance card: the plan name, the member ID, and details about the policyholder. The team then checks with the insurer to see which behavioral health benefits apply to PHP and IOP. Because PHP and IOP are nonresidential (your loved one does not stay overnight in a treatment facility), many plans handle them under outpatient or partial hospitalization benefits instead of inpatient benefits. Those categories often have different rules, and your verification shows which one your plan uses and whether the insurer requires prior approval.
A few insurance terms will come up. Here is what each one means for you:
- Deductible: what you pay each plan year before your insurance starts sharing costs.
- Copay: a set amount you pay for a service, such as each day or visit.
- Coinsurance: a percentage of the cost you pay after the deductible is met.
- Out-of-pocket maximum: the most you pay for covered care in a plan year. After that, the plan typically pays the rest of covered costs.
- Prior authorization: approval some insurers require before treatment starts or continues.
Timing within your plan year can change your cost more than most families realize. If your loved one has not touched their deductible yet this year, the early weeks of treatment may cost more out of pocket. If your family already reached the out-of-pocket maximum after a hospital stay or surgery, your share could be much smaller. A good verification call should bring this kind of detail to the surface, so ask about it directly when admissions calls you back. Also ask whether housing during treatment is billed separately. If you do not have insurance, or your plan is not on the list above, say so on the first call and ask plainly about self-pay. You deserve a straight answer about money before anyone talks about a start date.
What a Week Looks Like at PHP Versus IOP in Murfreesboro
With the levels and costs in view, it helps to picture an ordinary week. A PHP week at T.R.U.E. Addiction & BH in Murfreesboro means about 30 hours of programming across six days, and an IOP week drops to 9 or 15 hours across three or five days. The program stays connected from one level to the next. What changes is the balance: PHP holds your loved one inside structure, while IOP gives them more time to practice recovery in real life.
In PHP, the days are built around group programming. T.R.U.E. Addiction & BH divides its groups across the week three ways: by gender, by faith-based focus for clients who want faith woven into recovery, and by whether the primary concern is mental health or substance use disorder. This may matter to some individuals. A woman working through trauma may speak more freely in a room of women, and a person whose main struggle is anxiety or PTSD may need different tools than someone in early recovery from alcohol addiction. Splitting groups this way means your loved one is not sitting through a one-size-fits-all lecture, because they spend time with people who share what they are facing.
At T.R.U.E. Addiction & BH, psychoeducation groups, which teach how addiction, mental health, and the brain work, are sometimes led by the CEO and the Chief Clinical Director themselves. That is not common in most organizations, where leadership rarely sets foot in a group room. The point is to show clients that every person in the building, top to bottom, is willing to go the extra mile for the care they receive. If you are concerned that your loved one may become a case number in a big system, this is a detail worth asking about on your call.
Treatment at T.R.U.E. can reach beyond the individual. Family therapy and partner or couples therapy integration may bring you into the work. If you are a spouse living inside this crisis every day, that means you are not necessarily left on the outside wondering what happens in the group room.
For people with opioid or alcohol use disorder, Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) is part of T.R.U.E.’s services and works alongside PHP and IOP programming. SAMHSA describes MAT as the use of medications combined with counseling and behavioral therapies to treat substance use disorders. If you want to understand how the state approaches one common medication, the Tennessee Department of Health publishes nonresidential buprenorphine treatment guidelines for prescribers.
When your loved one steps down to IOP, the program does not change character so much as pace. Programming drops from 5 hours a day, 6 days a week, to 3 hours a day, three or five days a week, which leaves much more of the week in their own hands, and that is exactly the purpose. IOP is where people may start using what they learned in PHP, such as noticing triggers, handling hard emotions, and following a daily routine. For families getting help with addiction recovery, this step-down approach offers continued support while allowing loved ones to practice these skills in everyday life.
with the program still close enough to provide support if something slips.
Where Will Your Loved One Live During Treatment, and What Happens After IOP Ends?
During both PHP and IOP at T.R.U.E. Addiction & BH, clients may have the opportunity to live in the program’s housing. After they step down from IOP, they need to be in their own supportive housing, and the admissions and case management team works out referrals to outside sober living homes to bridge that move.
Housing during treatment may solve a problem many families do not see coming. Outpatient programs are built for people who go home at the end of the day, but home may be where the using happens, where the arguments start, or where nobody can safely keep an eye on things. Living in T.R.U.E.’s housing during PHP and IOP may give your loved one a place to stay that supports the work they do during the day, without forcing a choice between treatment and a safe bed. This is not a residential treatment level, and T.R.U.E. does not provide sober living. It is housing tied to active treatment that may make an outpatient program workable for people who need distance from home.
Because the handoff after IOP is predictable, plan for it early, in the first week rather than the last. Your loved one’s next step might be a sober living home found through a case management referral, a move back in with family under clear agreements, or another supportive arrangement that fits their life. Case management can talk through the options. Your job as a family member is to be honest about what your home can and cannot offer right now.
If your loved one is coming back to live with you, family therapy may be a good place to prepare. You can talk through expectations, boundaries, and what to do if old patterns start to show up. After IOP, outpatient aftercare may keep some structure in place during the months when the safety net of daily programming is gone. That stretch is often when families feel the most anxious, and it may be better faced with a plan than with crossed fingers.
How to Start Addiction Treatment in Tennessee: Timeline from First Call to Admission
All of this can feel like a lot, but getting started at T.R.U.E. Addiction & BH comes down to three things:
- Insurance verification, which begins on the first call.
- Detox, and whether it is needed before PHP.
- Readiness, meaning whether your loved one is willing to say yes.
When detox is not needed and benefits check out, the conversation about a start date may begin right away, so ask on that call whether a start this week is possible.
Here is what the path usually looks like:
- You call admissions at (615) 378-6159. You can make this call on behalf of your loved one. The team will ask about substances, recent use, mental health, home situation, and past treatment.
- Insurance verification begins. Have the insurance card in front of you. Admissions checks your behavioral health benefits with your carrier, whether that is Tricare, Cigna, Aetna, UHC, BCBS, Anthem, or Optum, and walks you through what it finds.
- Detox or stabilization is arranged first if needed. If withdrawal could be risky, the admissions team coordinates a detox referral or medical stabilization before PHP may begin.
- Your loved one may start PHP. That means 5 hours a day, 6 days a week, for 3 to 6 weeks, with the option to live in T.R.U.E.’s housing.
- They may step down to IOP. That means 3 hours a day, three or five days a week, for 30 to 45 days, still with the housing option.
- They may move into their own supportive housing and aftercare. Admissions and case management handle referrals to outside sober living homes, and outpatient support may continue.
Several things decide whether your loved one may start this week or next month. Detox, when needed, adds time at the front, usually measured in days rather than weeks, though it varies by person and substance. Some insurers require prior authorization, which can add a short wait. The biggest factor is often your loved one’s own willingness. If they are not ready yet, the call is still worth making, because you will know exactly what to do the moment they say yes, and that window can be short.
Once your loved one is in, the PHP and IOP phases together run about 7 to 12 weeks, depending on clinical progress. That range is not a sentence handed down on day one. It adjusts as the team sees how your loved one is doing, which is part of what makes these care pathways fit the person rather than the calendar.
Questions Families Ask Before They Call
These are the questions families ask most often when they call T.R.U.E. Addiction & BH in Murfreesboro. The short answers below reflect how the program actually runs.
What is the difference between PHP and IOP?
At T.R.U.E. Addiction & BH, PHP is 5 hours a day, 6 days a week, for 3 to 6 weeks, and it focuses on stabilization. IOP is 3 hours a day, three or five days a week, for 30 to 45 days, and it focuses on building independence while support stays close.
Does insurance cover addiction treatment in Tennessee?
Many plans include behavioral health benefits that may apply to PHP and IOP, but your exact benefits depend on your plan. T.R.U.E. Addiction & BH verifies coverage with Tricare, Cigna, Aetna, UHC, BCBS, Anthem, and Optum. The admissions team checks your benefits during the first call so you may understand your likely costs before admission.
Do I need detox before starting treatment in Murfreesboro?
You may, depending on the substance and how much and how often it has been used. Alcohol and sedative withdrawal can be medically dangerous. If your loved one is at risk, T.R.U.E.’s admissions team coordinates a detox referral or medical stabilization before PHP may begin.
Where do people live while attending PHP or IOP?
At T.R.U.E. Addiction & BH, clients may have the opportunity to live in the program’s housing during PHP and IOP. After stepping down from IOP, they must be in their own supportive housing, and the admissions and case management team works out referrals to outside sober living homes.
How long does treatment take at T.R.U.E.?
PHP lasts 3 to 6 weeks and IOP lasts 30 to 45 days. Together, that is about 7 to 12 weeks from admission to step-down, depending on clinical progress. Outpatient aftercare may continue after that.
Is Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) available in an outpatient program?
Yes. T.R.U.E. Addiction & BH offers MAT for opioid or alcohol use disorder alongside PHP and IOP programming. Medication is paired with group and individual work, so it may support recovery rather than standing in for it.
Before you call, put three things next to the phone: your loved one’s insurance card, a list of their current medications, and your best guess at what they last used and when. Those three details answer most of what admissions needs to check benefits and screen for withdrawal risk, and they are often what lets the first call end with a real plan instead of a promise to call back.
Call T.R.U.E. Addiction & BH in Murfreesboro at (615) 378-6159 to verify your insurance, ask about a detox referral if one is needed, and find out whether you or your loved one may be able to start PHP or IOP this week.
Ready to Learn More About Your Options
If you or someone you care about is struggling with addiction, understanding the levels of care available in Murfreesboro is an important first step. T.R.U.E. Addiction & BH is here to walk you through what treatment might look like for your specific situation, answer questions about the process, and help you figure out where to start.
If your loved one is in immediate danger, may have overdosed, or is talking about suicide, call 911 or the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline right away. An intake call is never a substitute for emergency care. Individual responses to treatment vary, and outcomes depend on many personal, clinical, and environmental factors.
