Continuing care at Radix is clinical, not just social. It is built for the period after residential, PHP, or IOP ends, the phase where most relapse risk lives, and it is designed to run for 12 months or longer. It is one of our full range of programs, sitting between intensive outpatient and the alumni community.
Continuing care is the right fit if you have completed a more intensive level of treatment and are ready to step down to weekly clinical support. Whether you completed our residential inpatient rehab, our partial hospitalization program, or our intensive outpatient program, it gives you a clinical home for the long term, including ongoing dual diagnosis treatment. It is a strong fit when:
If most of these are familiar, anxiety dual diagnosis treatment is likely the right fit. Our admissions team can talk it through with you, confidentially.
Speak With Admissions NowRelapse rarely starts the moment someone picks up a drink or a substance. The clinical models developed by Marlatt and Gorski describe relapse as a process that unfolds in three stages, often weeks or months before any substance is actually used. Recognizing the early stages is the foundation of effective relapse prevention.
Emotional relapse comes first, and it usually does not involve any thought of using. The signs are isolation, bottled emotions, skipped meetings, poor sleep, irregular eating, and resentment that does not get talked through. The person is not thinking about using; they are simply drifting out of the practices that hold recovery together. Catching this stage is where continuing care earns its keep: a weekly therapy session catches the drift while it is still emotional, before it becomes a craving.
Mental relapse is the internal tug-of-war. One part wants to stay sober; another part is romanticizing past use, minimizing consequences, fantasizing about controlled drinking or use, or planning a relapse without naming it as such. Cravings get louder. Old friends and old places start to look appealing again. The relapse prevention plan is the tool that interrupts mental relapse with concrete steps: who to call, what to do for the next hour, and how to ride out a craving without acting on it.
Physical relapse is the return to substance use. By the time someone reaches this stage, the work of preventing relapse has typically been missed for weeks. The clinical response is not shame; it is rapid re-engagement. We treat a physical relapse as clinical information, not failure. The treatment plan is updated, the level of care is reassessed, and the relapse prevention plan is rebuilt with the new information about what triggered the return to use.
The full continuum of care at Radix Recovery includes Residential Inpatient Treatment with 30, 60, or 90-day pathways, Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP) for comprehensive day programming, and Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) three days per week, plus outpatient care and medication management with Suboxone and Vivitrol.
Because every level of care at Radix is delivered by a connected clinical team, residents do not start over when they move from detox to residential to outpatient. It is one of the reasons families choose Radix for alcohol and drug rehab in Iowa.
A relapse prevention plan is a written, personal document that names your triggers, your warning signs, and the concrete actions you will take when you notice them. It is not theoretical; it lives in your phone or your wallet. We build it together in your first weeks of continuing care and update it as new information emerges. Every plan includes seven components, reviewed with your therapist every 60 to 90 days.
Continuing care uses several clinical tools alongside your weekly individual therapy. Tap each to see how it works.
CBT continues to identify and restructure the thought patterns that drive cravings and risky decisions.
In practice →MBRP layers awareness practices on top of CBT, building the capacity to notice an urge without acting on it.
In practice →Facilitated group sessions provide the peer accountability that solo therapy cannot, with connections to 12-step, SMART Recovery, and Refuge Recovery in your home city.
In practice →Any MAT started earlier is continued and monitored in continuing care: Suboxone and Vivitrol, managed by our prescribing team.
In practice →Continuing care is how recovery becomes durable. Our admissions team is available 24/7 to discuss the right fit for you or your loved one.
Continuing care is level 5 of 6 in our continuum, the longest-running clinical phase, designed to outlast the more intensive phases that come before it. The alumni program at level 6 is the social and peer network that runs alongside it, not the same as clinical maintenance.
Medically monitored withdrawal management, the first stabilization step.
Medical detox in Iowa →Immersive on-site programming at the most intensive non-acute level.
Day treatment with evenings at home or in sober housing.
Structured outpatient care built around work and family.
The longest-running clinical phase: weekly contact for 12 months or more.
Social and peer network that runs alongside continuing care.
Alumni and aftercare community →Radix Recovery is based in Cedar Rapids and serves continuing care Radix community members from every region of Iowa. Most weekly sessions are in person at our Cedar Rapids campus, with telehealth options for people in farther-out cities or during travel weeks.
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Chief Clinical Officer, Radix Recovery
June 2026
Radix Recovery clinical leadership
A relapse prevention plan is a written, personal document that names your triggers, warning signs, and the concrete actions you will take when you notice them. Every continuing care plan includes triggers, warning signs, coping strategies, a named support network, daily practices, a medication plan, and a crisis plan, reviewed every 60 to 90 days.
The three stages are emotional, mental, and physical. Emotional relapse looks like isolation and skipped recovery practices. Mental relapse is the tug-of-war between staying sober and romanticizing use. Physical relapse is the return to substance use. Recognizing emotional relapse early is where weekly continuing care makes the biggest difference.
Core skills include trigger identification, urge surfing, thought restructuring, structured daily practices, calling a support person before a high-risk situation, mindfulness practice, and using your written plan when a craving spikes.
We recommend a minimum of 12 months in continuing care after completing more intensive treatment. Session frequency typically steps down over time, from weekly to biweekly to monthly, based on your clinical stability.
Aftercare often refers to any care after residential treatment, including peer support and our alumni program. Our relapse prevention program is a specific level of clinical outpatient care: a licensed therapist, weekly sessions, medication management, and a structured plan.
Our intensive outpatient program runs 9 to 20 hours per week for a defined window. Continuing care runs 1 to 2 hours per week and is designed to last 12 months or longer. IOP is the active middle phase; continuing care is long-term maintenance.
Yes. Most major plans cover outpatient continuing care because it is clinically necessary maintenance treatment. Radix is in-network with Wellmark BCBS, TriWest, Midlands Choice, Cigna, Health Choice, and Medical Associates.
Our continuing care program is based in Cedar Rapids, with telehealth options across the state. We serve people from Iowa City, Marion, Waterloo, Cedar Falls, Dubuque, Davenport, Des Moines, Ames, Sioux City, and Council Bluffs.
Continuing care is what keeps recovery durable long after residential, PHP, or IOP ends. Our admissions team is available 24/7 to discuss the right fit and verify your benefits.
