Services for Adults
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Ambulatory (Outpatient) Programs
We offer a basic ambulatory (outpatient) program and a more intensive outpatient program at several locations. Our goal is to help you become stronger and prepare better for life’s challenges. Both programs provide those living with addiction with:
- Individual, family, and group therapies
- Supportive counseling
- Care management services
- Medication for addiction treatment (formerly known as medication-assisted treatment)
- Medication management services
- Crisis intervention and management services.
For more information, please contact us at 1-877-637-2924.
Driving Under the Influence (DUI) Program
We offer assessments, education, Alcohol Highway Safety School, intervention, and treatment referrals to individuals who’ve been arrested for Driving Under the Influence (DUI). This program is designed to:
- Foster positive attitudes
- Encourage self-examination of drug and alcohol use
- Accept responsibility for modifying behavior
- Prevent further arrests.
For more information, please call 412-442-1974 or visit our Intervention Services page.
The Hepatitis Project
The Hepatitis Project offers a range of services to persons who are at risk of contracting Hepatitis C, the most common type of blood-borne infection. Services are offered at licensed drug and alcohol programs. The program includes:
- Screening
- Education
- Counseling
- Testing for the Hepatitis C antibody
- Medical referrals for persons who test positive for the Hepatitis C antibody.
Hepatitis C treatment is offered at the Pittsburgh Mercy Family Health Center for persons who are served at the center.
For more information, please call Pittsburgh Mercy Family Health Center at 412-697-3260.
Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP)
Our Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) meets several hours per day and several days per week in a group setting. Groups are designed for those who are still in the early stages of recovery and need increased support in order to maintain sobriety.
For more information, please contact us at 1-877-637-2924.
Tobacco Cessation (Quit) Services
Through our partnership with Tobacco Free Allegheny, free tobacco cessation (quit) services are available to anyone who lives in Allegheny County. The program is tailored to meet your specific needs.
For more information, please contact us at 1-877-637-2924.
Treatment & Recovery Services
Our numerous treatment and recovery programs teach you the positive skills you need for healthy living, support, and therapy so you can recover, move forward with your life, and prevent a relapse. Meeting with our therapists on a regular basis can help you work through things that may have led to the addiction, as well as build your strength to help you avoid triggers and relapse.
For more information, please contact us at 1-877-637-2924.
Additional Resources
Pittsburgh Mercy also offers addiction services for adolescents and for persons who have intellectual disabilities. We also have behavioral health programs for adults, children, and adolescents; and services for persons who have a mental health disorder, and intellectual disability, and addiction. When one or more of these conditions exist, it may be referred to as co-occurring disorders or dual diagnoses. For more information about our behavioral health services, please visit our Behavioral Health pages or contact us at 1-877-637-2924.
We also maintain partnerships with organizations that offer higher levels of care, such as inpatient detoxification and rehabilitation services, as well as with groups including Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, and Prevention Point Pittsburgh. These groups and others can offer additional education, resources, and referrals, and help enrich your treatment and recovery.
For more information, please contact us at 1-877-637-2924.
Drug & Alcohol Services Annual Report 2022
Program Leadership
- Melissa R. Nossal, PsyD, Vice President of Behavioral Health, Pittsburgh Mercy
Practice Administrators
- Lisa Zimmerman, MSEd, Practice Administrator, Access Center
- Lori Huey, MS, Practice Administrator, Justice-Informed Care Adult Outpatient Unit
Our Program’s Response to COVID-19
Over the last year, Pittsburgh Mercy has seamlessly continued to offer a comprehensive range of substance use disorder services that are person-centered and trauma-informed, including:
- Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP)
- Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) services, outpatient groups, and individual therapy in accordance with Pennsylvania Department of Drug & Alcohol Programs (DDAP) licensing standards.
This COVID-19 pandemic introduced many unprecedented challenges. We pivoted quickly and adapted services to safely deliver therapy to persons we serve through available telehealth (video and phone) technology and in accordance with waivers granted through the federal, state, and county regulators and licensing bodies. In less than one month’s time , Pittsburgh Mercy moved more than 400 outpatient therapists to telehealth technology. Therapists have been incorporating technology and using available platforms to reach even more at risk individuals than pre-pandemic when all substance use disorder therapy and services were conducted face-to-face and in person.
Individuals were invited to meet with their therapist however they chose and felt most safe:
- Meet online using telehealth technology and resources from home
- Come on site and meet online using telehealth technology and resources that we made available to them, especially helpful to those who lack access to technology and resources at home
- Meet in person and on-site with their therapist.
Individuals who chose to visit with their therapist in person on-site or via telehealth on-site followed U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Pennsylvania Department of Public Health, and Allegheny County Health Department public health orders and safety protocols and best practices, including temperature checks, universal masking, observing at least 6 feet of physical distance, hand-washing, and self-monitoring for COVID-19 symptoms.
The pandemic, combined with civil and political strife and persistent social inequities and health disparities, added to the increased stress that the people and communities we serve experienced and needed support to help manage. Our programs continued to meet the ever-increasing needs of the substance use disorder population during these challenging times.
All therapists utilize the stages of change, motivational interviewing, cognitive behavioral therapies, and relapse prevention techniques to assist those we serve and empower them in achieving the best possible outcomes for their individual recovery journey.
Following guidelines the Pennsylvania COVID-19 Interim Vaccination Plan, Pittsburgh Mercy offered the COVID-19 vaccine to all interested and eligible persons in our programs who had difficulty accessing the vaccine before it became more widely available to the community.
As we collectively emerge from this pandemic and journey forward together, Pittsburgh Mercy recognizes that some in our communities may not be ready to return fully to in-person services. We will continue to reach out, meet them where they are, and offer solutions to address their needs. We will continue to educate persons we serve about the things we are doing to help keep them safe, encourage vaccination and in-person return to services when they feel comfortable, observe public health and safety best practices, adjust our protocols as needed, and support them in healthy decision making.
Updated June 27, 2023