Counseling Associates

Counseling Associates, based in Ellsworth, ME, is one of the SAMHSA-registered treatment programs operating in ME. The facility's programming is outpatient (Outpatient, Dual Dx), not residential. What this page can help with is the frame — what to ask, what to verify, what to compare against.

Care levels at Counseling Associates

Counseling Associates is an outpatient-focused program (Outpatient, Dual Dx) — patients live at home or in sober living and attend treatment sessions. This level of care is clinically appropriate for mild-to-moderate substance use disorder, or for patients stepping down from residential. The useful move is to have an ASAM-aligned assessment done before admission — ideally by someone outside the facility's admissions team — to confirm that the level of care offered here is what the clinical picture calls for.

Insurance and payment

On insurance specifically: Counseling Associates accepts both Medicaid and commercial insurance, which is the broadest payer profile and typically correlates with programs that operate at scale across the economic spectrum. Before admission, ask the facility's utilization-review team for a written Verification of Benefits — not verbal assurance, which is where most post-treatment financial surprises come from. Also ask for specific plan-level confirmation, not carrier-level (e.g., "your Aetna PPO plan" not just "Aetna").

Specialty programming

The facility's documented specialty programming includes: Clients with co-occurring mental and substance use disorders, Clients who have experienced intimate partner violence, domestic violence, Clients who have experienced trauma. The specialty question rewards specific follow-up: what clinicians provide the specialty content, what their credentials are, what percentage of weekly programming is specialty-specific vs. general programming.

Before you call

Three questions to put to Counseling Associates before admission: the specific ASAM level the facility is billing; the written Verification of Benefits for your specific plan product; the MAT policy (continuation of buprenorphine or methadone during residential, specifically). If the clinical situation involves opioid use disorder, confirm explicitly whether Counseling Associates offers medication-assisted treatment — buprenorphine, methadone, or naltrexone. Programs that do not are operating outside the current standard of care. Getting answers in writing protects against the downstream surprises.