Frequently Asked Questions

Forge Health’s care model was developed by deeply experienced, leading mental health and substance use care experts. A study from a large national health insurance company found clients who participated in Forge Health’s treatment achieved significant health benefits, even a full year later. Forge Health alumni utilized emergency room services 62% less, were admitted to the hospital for medical reasons 75% less frequently, and were admitted to hospitals for any reason 39% less often. Additionally, clients who participated in treatment with us saw their primary care physicians 20% more regularly, which has been shown to improve overall health.

The Forge VFR (Veterans and First Responders) program is available at many of our locations and staffed by clinicians who are frequently veterans, former first responders, or both. Built by veterans and first responders for veterans and first responders, it’s specifically designed to address the unique culture, preferences, and values of these communities and is part of a first-of-its-kind partnership with the US Department of Veterans Affairs (the VA).

Treatment at Forge Health can be delivered in person or via telehealth video calls—whichever works best for you.

There are no contracts, and you’re under no financial obligation for a set number of sessions.

As part of our commitment to providing a safe, affirming, and comfortable environment for recovery, many of our locations offer weekly Pride at Forge support groups to help LGBTQ+ participants process issues specific to them (Some locations even provide specialized care for members of the LGBTQ+ community who are also veterans, active-duty military, or first responders). Our experienced clinicians provide care that addresses the unique perspectives, priorities, and needs of LGBTQ+ individuals.

Forge Health focuses on care for adults 18 years of age or older. Select locations provide care for adolescents aged 16 and up, but we don’t currently provide care for children.

Click on the Contact Us button at the top of the page and fill out our confidential inquiry form, or call us at (888) 224-7312 between 8:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday.

No two people are alike. The duration of treatment is dictated by your unique experiences and needs.

Treatment is 100% confidential. Trust and openness are essential to effective care. We’ll neither confirm nor deny you’re a Forge Health client to family members unless you sign a consent form permitting us to do so. We’ll neither confirm nor deny to an employer—including if you’re active-duty military—that you’re under our care, and your insurance carrier is legally prohibited from doing so.

Overall, 97% of Forge Health clients report they would recommend our program to people they care about; 100% report they feel safe with us, at our facility, and in our care; 98% of our clients report feeling they receive support from the program when they need it; and 97% report working on the issues they identified as important.

The Forge Care Model is an evidence-based, goal-oriented, multi-disciplinary approach that provides effective, integrated treatment for mental health, substance use, and associated trauma.  Components of care can include Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), and Prolonged Exposure (PE) therapy, as well as the development of coping skills, and the exploration of trauma themes, negative cognition, and related memories. 

Forge was founded by deeply experienced, leading experts in the field of mental health and substance use care. We’re dedicated to challenging traditional industry thinking to better serve individuals and communities suffering from addiction and mental health issues. The Forge Care Model has been tested and proven to work, and our multidisciplinary care teams of highly-trained clinical staff provide the highest-quality, evidence-based, affordable, and compassionate care that reflects your individual needs, preferences and values.

Call Forge Health or use our contact form to let us know you’d like to talk.  We’ll get back to you within 1 business (we don’t return phone calls over weekends or on holidays), and send you some simple documents to fill out prior to your first appointment.  Attend your initial appointment and start your journey to better health.

Forge Health’s trauma-informed, client-centered approach to treatment incorporates cognitive behavioral techniques and other skill-building interventions found in evidence-based practices such as motivational enhancement therapy (MET) and cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) but goes deeper to provide holistic treatment for trauma to treat the root causes of our clients’ mental health and substance use issues to effectively provide the best care. 

Our multidisciplinary care teams of therapists and psychiatric providers work closely with you to develop an individualized treatment plan to ensure you receive effective and compassionate care and to provide you with guidance and tools to help you better understand and manage your symptoms, strengthen your resilience, and improve your health going forward. Together we seek to forge a path to your well-being that’s best for you. 

To reduce disruption to your daily life, all of our care is outpatient and delivered through therapy and counseling, intensive outpatient programming (IOP), and medication-assisted treatment (MAT), as appropriate. 

Forge was founded by deeply experienced, leading experts in mental health and substance use care. We’re dedicated to challenging traditional industry thinking to better serve individuals and communities suffering from addiction and mental health issues. The Forge care model has been tested and proven to work, and we can assure you our multidisciplinary care teams of highly trained staff will provide the highest-quality, evidence-based, affordable, and compassionate care that reflects your individual needs, preferences, and values.

Clients do not need to disclose sexual orientation.  We ask all clients about their gender identity, sexual orientation, and pronouns in order to give them an opportunity to explore these topics, but no one is required to share information they’re not comfortable disclosing.  We do not condone discrimination of any type, and that includes sexual orientation and gender identity.

Forge Health not only employs LGBTQ+ clinicians at multiple clinical locations, we have non-LGBTQ-identifying clinicians who have been trained specifically to identify and work with issues common to the LGBTQ+ community.  Additionally, we train all of our staff to ensure we provide the highest quality of care to our clients, and that includes interactions with members of the LGBTQ+ community.

The Forge Health team includes LGBTQ+ identifying clinicians at many of our facilities, and we’ll make every effort to assign a clinician who meets your preferences.  Because of case-loads, schedule availability and other factors, however, we cannot guarantee that your clinician will be LGBTQ-identifying.

Forge Health is in-network with major commercial health plans, the Veterans Community Care Network (VACCN), and Humana Military (TRICARE).  Insurance policies vary, but being in-network means that you are covered by your insurer and that you are only responsible for your deductible and any co-pay.

CBT is the most researched and proven evidence-based practice for achieving behavioral change.  With awareness of your thoughts and inner-dialogue it becomes possible to identify underlying emotions, beliefs, and values that may be standing in the way of your highest goals.  CBT is experiential, giving you the tools to change how your mind works and gain more control of your habits and the thoughts inside your head.

CPT sessions help you explore how trauma has changed your internal system of thought and belief, and how some of these ways of thinking may keep you “stuck” in your symptoms.  CPT does not force you to re-experience your trauma, and we have seen significant success with it when it comes to resolving PTSD and other related issues.

EMDR relies on the Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) model, a theory about how your brain stores memories which recognizes that normal and traumatic memories are stored differently.  EMDR treatment involves moving your eyes in a specific way while you process traumatic memories, activating the brain to create new neural pathways and reduce the impact of trauma.  EMDR therapy doesn’t require talking in detail about a distressing issue; instead, it focuses on changing the emotions, thoughts and/or behaviors that result from trauma, allowing the brain to resume a natural healing process.  EMDR has been shown to be effective in helping people experiencing a wide range of mental health conditions.

IOP consists of an intensive, structured schedule of group and individual counseling sessions in which we work through your biggest obstacles in a direct and purposeful way.  We explore topics that will build you up and encourage change. 

Not everyone needs medication, but research shows that prescriptions like Suboxone, Naltrexone, and Vivitrol – combined with therapy – can be a highly effective route to recovery for some people.  Forge physicians are highly skilled and trained in this practice.

Prolonged Exposure recognizes the experiences and memories you have been avoiding have actually been reinforcing your fears.  PE can help reduce symptoms or post-traumatic stress by teaching you that trauma-related memories and cues are not dangerous and do not need to be avoided.  PE is a careful, gradual approach that incorporates imagery, storytelling, and other exercises to help you reprocess and reframe your traumatic experiences.

Within Therapy & Counseling, we’ll collaborate to create a personalized plan tailored to your unique goals that provides the ongoing support you need to move forward.  You’ll meet regularly with your clinician and attend weekly group sessions, by video call or in-person, to identify negative thought patterns and develop alternate strategies to approach challenges.

Forge Health partnered with a leading national payer in a retrospective, before-and-after cohort study to determine whether our intensive outpatient programming positively impacted medical services utilization, overall patient health,  and  the  cost  of  care.  Seventy adults  ranging  in  age  from  24  to  72  years  old  were monitored over  the  12  months prior to, and 12 months following, the date of initial program engagement.  This study is the first of its kind to examine national payor-validated data for a full year following mental health and substance use treatment.

The study found that clients who completed Forge Health treatment achieved significant health benefits.  Forge Health alumni utilized emergency room services 62% less, were admitted to the hospital for medical reasons 75% less frequently and were admitted to hospitals for any reason 39% less often.  Additionally, clients who completed treatment with us saw their primary care physicians 20% more regularly, which has been shown to improve overall health.

All of our care is outpatient.  It is delivered by way of Therapy & Counseling/Outpatient Programming (OP), Intensive Outpatient Programming (IOP), and/or Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT), as appropriate.  Treatment is available both in person and via telehealth.

Referring clients to Forge Health is simple and straightforward:

1. Click the Contact Us button at the top of this page to use our online referral form, or call us at (888) 224-7312.
2. We’ll schedule intake and initial evaluation within 1 business day or at client’s earliest convenience.
3. Forge sends all intake documentation electronically to the client prior to his or her initial appointment.​
4. The client attends his or her first appointment and begins the journey to recovery.​

Forge Health is in-network with major commercial health plans, the Veterans Community Care Network (VACCN), and Humana Military (TRICARE).  Clients are responsible for their deductible and any co-pay.