Getting started
The full admissions path in detail: the introductory call, your assessment, your care plan, and a smooth intake into treatment.
Getting started
What to expect at Lovett
in Houston.
Reaching out is the hard part, and not knowing what comes next can make it harder. This guide from The Lovett Center walks through what starting care here actually feels like, from your first phone call through your first week, so the first step feels less like the unknown.
Start here
Starting care is simpler
than it probably feels.
Most people who reach out are carrying two things at once: the weight of whatever brought them here, and the worry of not knowing what they are walking into. That second part is the one we can take off your plate right now. Care at The Lovett Center is outpatient, which means you live at home and come in for sessions, and the path from a first call to your first week of treatment is more straightforward than it tends to look from the outside. Here is what to expect at each step.
What kind of place Lovett is
Lovett is an outpatient practice in Montrose, not a hospital or a residential facility. You keep living your life, at home and at work, while you get structured support a few hours at a time. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration describes treatment as a continuum, a range of options at different intensities, and its guide to the types of treatment explains where outpatient care fits. Lovett has offered outpatient mental health and addiction care from Montrose since 2014, with more than 25 licensed clinicians who have supported over 7,000 people. You can see the full range of programs we offer and the conditions we treat whenever you want the wider picture.
Your first conversation
Everything starts with a single phone call, and it is a low-pressure one. It is private, it is with someone who does this every day, and there is no obligation to enroll. On that first call, our admissions team listens to what is going on, talks through how our programs and approach work, helps you sort out insurance or self-pay, answers your early questions, and begins matching you with a therapist who fits. If it helps to know what your plan covers before you call, you can verify your insurance for free first. Either way, our admissions team is the door in, and walking through it is just a conversation.
Getting matched to the right care
After that first call, the next step is a thorough diagnostic assessment, which can happen virtually or in person. This is where we get to understand your history and what you are hoping for, so the care you get actually fits you. Together, you and your clinician build a personalized plan and settle on the right level of support, whether that is weekly therapy, a more structured intensive outpatient schedule, or a partial hospitalization program, our most intensive outpatient level of care. If you are unsure how much support you need, our guide to choosing a level of care walks through each one and how to tell them apart. The point of the assessment is not to slot you into a box. It is to make sure you start in the right place.
What a week of care looks like
Once you start, treatment becomes a rhythm rather than a single event. A week usually blends individual sessions with group and, where it helps, family work, drawing on evidence-based therapies. The National Institute of Mental Health describes how the main psychotherapies work, including approaches we use like cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavior therapy, and EMDR for trauma. For substance use, care can include our medication-assisted treatment program when it is clinically appropriate. Individual sessions tend to run around 45 to 50 minutes, and the American Psychological Association notes that psychotherapy works best when you and your clinician set goals together and revisit them as you go. When getting to Montrose is hard, secure virtual sessions keep care within reach.
Your privacy, and your family
What you share is confidential, and that does not change once treatment begins. For many people, healing also involves the people closest to them, so family sessions and education are woven in where they help, with your consent and at a pace that feels right. You decide how much of your circle is part of the process. The goal is support that holds up outside the session, not just inside it.
Settling in and getting started
When the plan is set, our team handles the logistics of scheduling your intake and easing you into treatment, so you can put your energy where it belongs. You do not need to have everything figured out to begin. The simplest first move is a conversation: reach out, or check your benefits, and we will take it from there. Our insurance and payment page lays out the plans we accept if cost is on your mind.
If you or someone you love is in immediate danger or thinking about suicide, do not wait for an appointment. Call or text the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline any time, or call 911. It is free, confidential, and available around the clock.
What you can count on
A few things are true
no matter where you start.
However you come to us, these hold from the first call onward.
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A confidential first step
Starting is a private, supportive phone call with no obligation to enroll. We listen first, explain your options, and go at your pace, whether you are reaching out for yourself or for someone you love.
See how admissions works -
Care that fits around your life
Because treatment here is outpatient, you live at home and keep up with work, school, and family while you get support. Daytime and after-work options are built around a real schedule.
Explore our programs -
A plan built around you
After an assessment, your care is matched to the level of support you actually need, and it can step up or down over time without starting over somewhere new.
How to choose a level of care
Still have questions?
A short conversation can answer most of them.
A free benefits check or a quick call with our Houston team can tell you what your plan covers and what a good first step looks like for you.
Keep going
Where to go
from here.
A few next steps, depending on what would help most right now.
Levels of care
What outpatient therapy, IOP, and PHP mean, and how to tell which level of support fits where you are right now.
Paying for care
Which plans we are in network with, how benefit verification works, and your out-of-network and self-pay options.
Here to talk
Ready to take the first step?
You do not have to know exactly what you need. Call and a member of our Houston team will listen, answer your questions, and help you find the right place to start, at your pace.
Confidential, and there is never any obligation.