Shift Counseling Services

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

Care levels at Shift Counseling Services

Shift Counseling Services is an outpatient-focused program (Outpatient) — 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: Shift Counseling Services operates primarily on commercial insurance. The implication for patients: higher typical cost-share, potentially more intensive programming, and the full burden of MHPAEA parity-rule dynamics — including appeal rights when the plan denies. 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").

Before you call

Three questions to put to Shift Counseling Services 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 Shift Counseling Services 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.