How can I find an inpatient or residential treatment facility?
Note: NAMI volunteers are not medical or mental health professionals, and we cannot offer medical or mental health advice. The material outlined below is informational and we hope that it helps provide guidance toward getting support.
An inpatient or residential treatment facility may be helpful if your mental health symptoms have made it difficult for you to stay safe, fulfill responsibilities at home, work, or in your community, or take care of your basic needs like eating and hygiene.
A good place to start with finding a residential treatment facility in your area is to talk with your therapist or psychiatrist. You can also dial 2-1-1 or contact your local NAMI affiliate to learn of inpatient treatment facilities in your area. Try speaking with others in your community, including other members of support groups you may attend, to get recommendations for treatment facilities that have been helpful to them.
Some inpatient/residential treatment programs exist in publicly funded hospitals or within the community mental health system of services in your county. If you visit your local emergency department or community psychiatric facility in crisis, you may be referred to an inpatient or residential treatment program.
Other residential treatment programs are private and require payment out of pocket. Families who can pay out of pocket may find success searching online for “residential mental health treatment in [city] [state]”
If you are a parent seeking residential treatment for your child or teen, visit NAMI’s Residential Treatment webpage to read about indicators that residential treatment may be appropriate for your child and considerations for finding a program that is a good fit.
Use the resources below to find inpatient and residential treatment facilities in your area:
- SAMHSA Treatment Locator is a federal agency website that provides referrals for substance use disorder treatment facilities. SAMHSA is a good resource for locating low-cost/sliding scale mental health care, substance abuse and dual diagnosis facilities. SAMHSA’s Treatment Locator can narrow search by insurance, cost of treatment and type of treatment. Their website also includes programs like assertive community treatment and residential treatment.
- You can reach SAMHSA at (800) 662-4357; Spanish-language calls are accepted.
- SAMHSA offers a “Find a Treatment Facility Near You” locator function. Search by city or zip code; filter results by type of treatment, payment options, ages served, languages spoken, special programs (e.g. veterans, LGBT, services for deaf and hard of hearing), and more.
- Once you have identified a provider, contact your insurance company to verify coverage.
- Psychology Today offers a “Find a Treatment Center” locator function to search for treatment facilities. Once you have identified a provider, contact your insurance company to verify coverage.
- American Residential Treatment Association offers a “Find a Residential Mental Health Facility” locator function that is searchable by program type and location. Please note that the resource lists both private and public facilities in a limited number of states. Private facilities may come with high out of pocket costs.
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