Horizon Treatment Services

Shannon Bernardin-Smith Ph.D., RN - Sobering Centers Ep 01

Horizon Treatment Services Episode 1

What are sobering centers in the continuum of addiction and mental health care? Horizon Services' Director of sobering program design, Shannon Bernardin-Smith, is a top expert in this field. She is President and co-founder of the National Sobering Collaborative which brings sobering care workers from around our nation together to develop best practices. Enjoy the episode!

From Sobering Center FAQs by Shannon Smith-Bernardin PhD, RN:
A sobering center is a typically community-based program that provides short-term (4-12 hour) care and monitoring of individuals during acute intoxication, often as an alternative to the emergency department or jail. The essential goal of a sobering center is to reduce the harms associated with acute intoxication, such as injury or poisoning, and help the individual return to a baseline where they can safely care for themselves. It is not a treatment program, though most sobering centers screen for and provide education around substance use disorders and prioritize assisting people to access appropriate stabilizing services such as detoxification and treatment.​

Media - Podcasts (horizonservices.org)