Residential Mental Health Treatment · Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Residential Mental Health Treatment in Fort Lauderdale, FL
Still Mind is a Joint Commission accredited residential mental health treatment center for adults 18+ with severe mood, anxiety, trauma, and psychotic disorders. Our stabilization-first model, led by a board-certified psychiatrist available 7 days a week, helps you restore sleep, normalize medications, and rebuild structure first. Trauma work begins only once that foundation is solid.
If you or someone with you is in immediate danger, call 911 or the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988.
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Before anything else
Take One Breath With Us
If you've landed here, today is probably heavy. Before you read about programs and insurance, try one guided breath cycle, the same paced breathing our clinicians teach on day one. In for four. Hold for four. Out for six.
Stabilization Comes First
What Is Residential Mental Health Treatment?
Residential mental health treatment, also called inpatient psychiatric care, is 24/7 live-in treatment for adults whose symptoms have become too severe to manage safely in outpatient therapy. At Still Mind, every admitted client is rated LOCUS Level 5, the highest voluntary level of psychiatric care. As a Joint Commission accredited facility, we are held to the same national safety and quality standards as leading hospitals.
Our philosophy: stabilization comes before everything else. Trauma processing while dysregulated isn't safe or effective. We restore sleep, balance medications, and rebuild daily structure first so deeper recovery work has solid ground.
Within your first week, our clinical team builds a measurable treatment plan: normalized sleep (7–8 hrs/night), medication consistency, and a tracked mood baseline (PHQ-9). This becomes your roadmap for the entire stay.
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Two Minutes · Private · Nothing Is Stored
Is Residential Care the Right Level of Care?
Six honest questions, answered privately on this page. At the end, we'll tell you plainly whether a conversation with our admissions team makes sense for you or someone you love.
Level-of-Care Self-Check
A Different Level of Psychiatric Care
Why Choose Still Mind in Fort Lauderdale
As a Joint Commission accredited psychiatric provider, Still Mind delivers high-acuity mental health care grounded in clinical evidence, where stabilization is the strategy, not an afterthought.
7-Day Psychiatric Coverage
Board-certified psychiatrist on-site weekdays, on-call 24/7 weekends. Medical director, clinical director, and nursing team all accessible. Daily medication optimization accelerates stabilization.
Brain Mapping & TMS On-Site
Quantitative EEG mapping and transcranial magnetic stimulation administered by a licensed technician, which is rare at the residential psychiatric level. Neuromodulation complements medication and psychotherapy.
Stabilization-First Model
Treatment plans built in week one around measurable goals: sleep 7–8 hrs, full medication adherence, tracked PHQ-9 mood baseline. Trauma work begins only after stabilization is confirmed.
Evidence-Based CBT & DBT
Manualized cognitive-behavioral and dialectical-behavior protocols matched to your diagnosis and progress-tracked weekly, alongside psychodynamic, trauma-informed, art, and experiential therapies.
Behavioral Expertise for Complex Cases
Facility-wide BPD and neurodevelopmental training. Daily safety monitoring, emotion-regulation coaching embedded in every activity, and de-escalation skills taught throughout the day.
Out-of-State Admissions Coordination
Most clients travel from across the country. We coordinate arrival, family lodging, and transportation. Beginning week four, we plan your step-down program anywhere in the U.S.
Measured Outcomes
Conditions We Treat · Evidence-Based Results
We specialize in adults whose symptoms require 24/7 psychiatric oversight, including complex, co-occurring presentations other facilities decline.
Mood Disorders
PHQ-9 scores show a 72% reduction in depressive symptoms at 42 days (n=412). Severe episodes stabilized through medication management, daily structure, and CBT-focused group therapy.
Psychotic Disorders
PANSS scores show a 65% reduction in active psychotic symptoms at 60 days (n=89). Specialized psychiatric medication management with 7-day weekly monitoring and close clinical attention.
Anxiety & Trauma
GAD-7 scores show a 68% reduction in anxiety symptoms at 42 days (n=156). Trauma-informed stabilization that prepares you for safe EMDR or trauma-focused CBT after discharge.
Additional Specializations Complex & co-occurring
Integrated dual-diagnosis care addresses psychiatric and substance-use conditions in one program. We do not treat eating disorders.
Inside the Program
What Your Treatment Looks Like
Structure is therapeutic. Every day follows a full clinical rhythm of six hours of group therapy, daily living goals, catered meals, and outdoor time, all inside a plan built specifically for you.
Clinical and medical assessments begin day one. Within week one, your team builds a measurable plan: sleep target (7–8 hrs), medication consistency, mood baseline (PHQ-9). No processing work starts until stabilization goals are clear.
Psychoeducation, CBT-based, DBT skills, psychodynamic, trauma-informed, and art therapy led by licensed clinicians. Groups focus on stabilization, emotion regulation, and daily coping skills.
A scheduled 60-minute session with your assigned therapist, never skipped. Mid-week check-ins and homework review. Weekly family therapy when clinically appropriate.
Your LOCUS rating is formally reassessed every two weeks, giving you and your family an objective measure of stabilization. Data-driven progress tracking guides step-down planning.
Once the psychiatrist and team confirm stabilization, we engage your family, identify the right program nationwide, and arrange your transport there.
Step by Step
How Admission to Still Mind Works
Knowing what to expect removes barriers. Here's exactly how it works.
Confidential Call
You or a family member calls admissions. We listen, answer questions, and verify your insurance benefits at no cost.
Clinical Pre-Assessment
A phone-based assessment of your mental health history ensures our program is the right level of care before you commit to anything.
Travel to Fort Lauderdale
Most clients come from out of state. Our team guides your travel planning so arrival is as simple as possible.
Arrival & Orientation
You're welcomed, oriented to the facility, and personal phones are securely stored to create a distraction-free environment for stabilization.
Assessment & Treatment Plan
Clinical and medical assessments begin immediately. Your individualized treatment plan is in place within the first week.
Stabilize & Step Down
After an average of 42 days, we coordinate your step-down placement nationwide, including transportation to your next program.
The Program at a Glance
Technology-Based Therapies
On-Site Brain Mapping & TMS
Few residential psychiatric facilities offer technology-based therapies on campus. At Still Mind, a dedicated buildout houses our quantitative EEG brain mapping and TMS technology, administered by a licensed technician as part of your treatment plan.
Using visual and auditory stimulation in a controlled environment, these sessions guide you into a meditative state designed to help reconcile severe trauma, distressing memories, anxiety, and depression, without the destabilizing intensity of premature talk-based trauma processing.
Why we hold EMDR for outpatient care
EMDR requires a stabilized client to be safe and effective. Because our clients arrive acutely dysregulated, we intentionally defer EMDR until after discharge and help you plan for it as part of your step-down.
Coverage & Cost
Insurance & Payment for Residential Treatment
Still Mind works with most major insurance providers. Our admissions team verifies your specific mental health benefits at no cost and with no obligation, so you know exactly what to expect before committing.
We hold an active Tricare contract for mental health services (ages 18–20) and a formal mental health services contract with the Seminole Tribe of Florida.
- Free benefit verification: confirmed before admission, no cost
- Tricare accepted: mental health services, ages 18–20
- Seminole Tribe of Florida: contracted mental health provider
- Major carriers accepted: Aetna, Cigna, BCBS, UnitedHealthcare, and more
- Travel-friendly admissions: nationwide clients welcome
Don't see your situation? Call us. Our admissions specialists will tell you honestly what's covered.
The Setting
A Calm, Structured Place to Stabilize
Our Fort Lauderdale campus pairs clinical structure with open green space, an environment built for steady, grounded recovery.
Care Others Turn Away
Specialized Care Few Facilities Offer
One-on-One Safety Monitoring
Physician-initiated 1:1 monitoring for suicidality or self-harm, with daily psychiatrist visits, released only by a doctor, never by convenience.
Dual Diagnosis, Fully Integrated
Psychiatric and substance-use conditions treated together in one program, including substance-induced psychosis, with existing MAT plans continued under our psychiatrist's care.
Veterans & LGBTQ+ Welcome
A respectful, accommodating environment for veterans and LGBTQ+ individuals, alongside contracted mental health services for the Seminole Tribe of Florida.
Common Questions
Residential Mental Health Program FAQ
How long is the residential mental health program?
What conditions does Still Mind treat?
Do you offer EMDR or trauma processing?
Will I have access to my phone?
How is my family involved?
Does insurance cover residential mental health treatment?
I live out of state. Can I still come to Still Mind?
What are the rooms like?
Find Steady Ground Again
Severe mental illness makes everything feel urgent and impossible at once. Stabilization changes that. Our admissions team is available now for a confidential conversation about whether Still Mind's residential mental health program is the right next step for you or someone you love.
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