Start with the sentence that matters most. The FDA warns that stopping benzodiazepines abruptly, or cutting the dosage too quickly, can cause withdrawal reactions including seizures, which can be life-threatening [1]. That is why benzodiazepine treatment in Colorado begins with an assessment and a prescriber, never with a plan made at home.
If someone is having a seizure, is unresponsive or has trouble breathing, call 911. For a mental-health crisis call or text 988.
Our Colorado sites split the work. Denver Mental Health & Counseling by The Recovery Village, in Highlands Ranch, lists outpatient care, an intensive outpatient program and dual diagnosis treatment [7]. The Recovery Village Palmer Lake lists medical detox, inpatient treatment, partial hospitalization, intensive outpatient care, outpatient care and aftercare planning [8]. This page covers what the FDA says, when supervision is not optional, what each site runs, and how Colorado coverage works. Our overview of treatment across Colorado has the wider view.
Where Colorado Publishes Its Benzodiazepine Data
No Colorado prescribing figure appears on this page, and that is a choice. Numbers on a web page go stale quietly. State dashboards do not.
Colorado’s Behavioral Health Administration publishes a Performance Hub with data trends on four behavioral health topics: mental health, substance use disorder, complaints and violations, and child and youth data [3]. Its home page separately points people to the OwnPath Care Directory through Colorado LIFTS to search for a service [10]. Read the state number there, on the day you need it.
What can be stated without a date attached is what the class is and what it does. Benzodiazepines are approved to treat generalized anxiety disorder, insomnia, seizures, social phobia and panic disorder [1]. Most are recommended for periods of weeks or months, though the amount, frequency and duration vary by patient and condition [1].
Here is the part people are rarely told. Physical dependence can occur when benzodiazepines are taken steadily for several days to weeks, even as prescribed [1]. Dependence is not the same thing as addiction. It does mean that stopping becomes a medical event. Our page on withdrawal symptoms covers what that looks like, and our benzodiazepine addiction overview covers the class.
Where Colorado Residents Can Get Benzodiazepine Treatment: Denver Mental Health & Counseling
The Highlands Ranch site sits at 630 Plaza Drive, Suite 101, in Douglas County. It is south of Denver, off the C-470 corridor. Its own page lists outpatient care, an intensive outpatient program and dual diagnosis treatment [7].
That fits two kinds of reader well. Someone whose benzodiazepine use has become a problem but whose prescriber is already managing a reduction safely. And someone stepping down after a stay somewhere else.
It fits a third reader badly, and saying so is the point of this section. If an assessment finds that stopping needs medical supervision, the route is The Recovery Village Palmer Lake, whose own page lists medical detox and inpatient treatment along with the step-down levels [8]. Ask admissions how that handover works on the first call. Who assesses, where the first days are spent, and how care moves back down afterwards. Our levels of care explainer describes each tier.
Does Benzodiazepine Use Need Medical Detox First?
Often, yes. Benzodiazepines belong to the group of drugs where withdrawal itself can hurt you.
Federal treatment guidance makes the grouping explicit. Unlike alcohol and sedative withdrawal, uncomplicated opioid withdrawal is not life-threatening [2]. Read that the other way round and it tells you where benzodiazepines sit: on the alcohol side of the line, not the opioid side. That is not the whole of the opioid picture, though, and the rest of it matters to anyone here about a benzodiazepine taken alongside one. Most opioid overdose deaths occur in people who have just detoxed [9]. Withdrawal reduces the person’s tolerance, so someone who has just gone through it can overdose on a much smaller dose than they used to take [9].
If someone is having a seizure, is unresponsive or has trouble breathing, call 911. For a mental-health crisis call or text 988.
The FDA says the same thing in plainer terms. Stopping abruptly or reducing the dosage too quickly can cause withdrawal reactions, including seizures, which can be life-threatening [1]. To reduce that risk, the agency tells prescribers to use a gradual taper [1].
This page publishes no taper schedule, and no page on this site will. The FDA’s own words are the reason: no standard benzodiazepine tapering schedule is suitable for all patients, so a patient-specific plan has to be created, with ongoing monitoring and support as needed [1]. A schedule copied off the internet is by definition not patient-specific.
There is a second risk worth naming. Abuse and misuse can result in overdose or death, especially when benzodiazepines are combined with other medicines, such as opioid pain relievers, alcohol, or illicit drugs [1]. Tell the assessing clinician about everything being taken, including alcohol. Our explainer on medical detox covers what supervision adds, and inpatient rehab covers the stage after it.
If someone is having a seizure, is unresponsive or has trouble breathing, call 911. For a mental-health crisis call or text 988.
Benzodiazepine treatment in Colorado starts with an assessment
Denver Mental Health & Counseling by The Recovery Village is in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, and lists outpatient care, an intensive outpatient program and dual diagnosis treatment. Where stopping needs medical supervision, the assessment routes to The Recovery Village Palmer Lake, which lists medical detox and inpatient treatment.
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Denver Mental Health & Counseling by The Recovery Village is part of our family of treatment centers. See the Denver Mental Health & Counseling campus.
Levels of Care at Denver Mental Health & Counseling: Outpatient, IOP, Dual Diagnosis
Highlands Ranch runs outpatient care, an intensive outpatient program and dual diagnosis treatment, and for benzodiazepines each one does something particular.
Dual diagnosis treatment is the one to understand first. Benzodiazepines are prescribed for anxiety, insomnia and panic disorder [1]. So the reason someone started taking them is frequently still there when they stop. Treating the drug and ignoring the condition underneath it tends to end the same way twice. This level treats both at once.
The intensive outpatient program gives several sessions a week, group and individual, arranged around work rather than instead of it. It is the usual next step after inpatient care and a reasonable starting point where a prescriber is already managing a gradual reduction.
Standard outpatient care is the long tail: regular appointments while life carries on. With benzodiazepines it often lasts longer than people expect, because sleep and anxiety take time to settle.
None of the three is a detox setting. Where an assessment calls for supervision while someone stops, that happens at Palmer Lake [8], and the plan returns to this ladder afterwards.
Medication Options for Benzodiazepine Use Disorder
This is the section where a page can do real harm, so it is worth being exact about what we will and will not say.
We will not publish a reduction schedule for benzodiazepines. No medication names, no figures, no timings. Those belong to a prescriber who knows your history. The FDA’s position is that no standard benzodiazepine tapering schedule is suitable for all patients, and that the plan has to be patient-specific with ongoing monitoring and support as needed [1].
What we will say is what to expect from the process. The FDA advises health care professionals to monitor patients throughout therapy for signs of abuse, misuse or addiction, and, where a substance use disorder is suspected, to evaluate the patient and start or refer them for early treatment [1]. That is the pathway an assessment puts you on.
Where opioids are in the picture as well, the position is different and better established. Research points to medication as the first line of treatment for opioid use disorder, usually combined with behavioral therapy or counseling [6]. The FDA also tells prescribers to take precautions when benzodiazepines are used alongside opioid addiction medications [1]. Our overview of medication assisted treatment sets out how that works.
One more thing worth hearing. A return to use is not evidence that treatment failed. NIDA gives relapse for substance use disorders as 40 to 60 percent, and 50 to 70 percent for hypertension and asthma [6]. Those chronic illnesses relapse more often, which is the whole reason the comparison gets made, and a return to use is read as a signal to resume or adjust treatment [6].
Paying for Benzodiazepine Rehab in Colorado: Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Colorado, Health First Colorado
Federal parity law is the first thing to know about a commercial plan. It stops a plan that covers mental health and substance use care from imposing harsher limits on that care than on medical and surgical care [5]. The reach includes prior authorization and step therapy, not only caps on days and visits [5].
Its scope is specific. It covers non-federal governmental plans with more than 50 employees, group health plans of private employers with more than 50 employees, and the individual market [5]. Small-employer plans sit outside it. They pick up comparable protection through the Affordable Care Act’s essential health benefits requirement. And no part of the Act forces a plan to cover this care in the first place [5].
Network status is a separate question from parity, and a plan-by-plan one. Whether an Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Colorado product treats either Colorado site as in network depends on the product line and the employer group. A benefits check settles it; a general statement does not. Our guide to whether insurance covers rehab is the place to start on how coverage is structured.
Health First Colorado is the state’s Medicaid program, run by the Department of Health Care Policy & Financing along with Child Health Plan Plus [4]. Members get behavioral health through regional bodies rather than one statewide plan. Regional Accountable Entities are responsible for administering the capitated behavioral health benefit, establishing and supporting networks of providers, and coordinating medical and community-based services for members in their region [11]. So ask which one authorizes the level of care you were recommended. Paying directly is the third option — our breakdown of what rehab costs sets out our own published ranges.
Traveling Within Colorado and From Neighboring States
Both Colorado sites sit on the Front Range. Highlands Ranch is on the southern edge of the Denver metro area. Palmer Lake is further down I-25, between Denver and Colorado Springs.
For the intensive outpatient program the repeated weekday trip is the thing to test honestly before committing, because benzodiazepine treatment tends to run over months rather than weeks. Drive it once at the hour you would really be traveling. For inpatient care the journey happens twice and the distance stops mattering.
Readers do arrive from Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas and New Mexico. The obstacle is usually coverage rather than miles: an out-of-state plan may treat a Colorado site differently from an in-state one, so verify before anyone travels. Our page on how admission to rehab works covers the order of events, and our directory of treatment centers shows where our campuses are.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where can I get benzodiazepine treatment in Colorado? We run two Colorado sites. Denver Mental Health & Counseling by The Recovery Village, in Highlands Ranch, lists outpatient care, an intensive outpatient program and dual diagnosis treatment. The Recovery Village Palmer Lake lists medical detox, inpatient treatment and the step-down levels. Colorado’s Behavioral Health Administration points people to the OwnPath Care Directory through Colorado LIFTS to search for a service.
Do I need detox before benzodiazepine rehab? Often, and this is not a decision to make alone. The FDA warns that stopping benzodiazepines abruptly or reducing the dosage too quickly can cause withdrawal reactions including seizures, which can be life-threatening. If someone is having a seizure, is unresponsive or has trouble breathing, call 911. For a mental-health crisis call or text 988. An assessment decides the setting. Where supervision is needed, our Palmer Lake campus lists medical detox.
Does Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Colorado cover benzodiazepine rehab? It depends on the plan, because network status varies by product line and by employer group. Ask admissions to verify against your own policy rather than trusting a general statement. Parity law does fix a floor: a plan that covers substance use care cannot apply harsher limits to it than to medical and surgical care, including on prior authorization.
How long is benzodiazepine treatment? Longer than most people expect, and no single figure fits. The reduction itself is prescriber-led and patient-specific, because the FDA says no standard tapering schedule suits all patients. Therapy usually continues past that point, since sleep and anxiety take time to settle. The plan written at assessment should say when it gets reviewed.
Can I be admitted this week? Often, though no page can promise a date. Ask what sets the pace: how quickly a benefits check clears, and whether a place is open at the recommended level of care. A screening call is the fastest route to a realistic answer, and it is also where the choice between our two Colorado sites is made.
Sources
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (2020). FDA requiring Boxed Warning updated to improve safe use of benzodiazepine drug class. https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-safety-and-availability/fda-requiring-boxed-warning-updated-improve-safe-use-benzodiazepine-drug-class
- SAMHSA. Detoxification and Substance Abuse Treatment (TIP 45), Chapter 4: Physical Detoxification Services for Withdrawal From Specific Substances. National Center for Biotechnology Information. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK64116/
- Colorado Behavioral Health Administration. Performance Hub. State of Colorado. https://bha.colorado.gov/data-and-reports/performance-hub
- Colorado Department of Health Care Policy & Financing. Department of Health Care Policy and Financing. State of Colorado. https://hcpf.colorado.gov/
- Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA). https://www.cms.gov/marketplace/private-health-insurance/mental-health-parity-addiction-equity
- National Institute on Drug Abuse. Drugs, Brains, and Behavior: The Science of Addiction — Treatment and Recovery. National Institutes of Health. https://nida.nih.gov/publications/drugs-brains-behavior-science-addiction/treatment-recovery
- The Recovery Village. Denver Mental Health & Counseling by The Recovery Village — Levels of Care. Advanced Recovery Systems. https://www.therecoveryvillage.com/locations/denver/
- The Recovery Village. The Recovery Village Palmer Lake — Levels of Care. Advanced Recovery Systems. https://www.therecoveryvillage.com/locations/palmer-lake/
- MedlinePlus. Opiate and opioid withdrawal. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health. https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/000949.htm
- Colorado Behavioral Health Administration. Home — Find help for mental health, drug, or alcohol use through Colorado LIFTS. State of Colorado. https://bha.colorado.gov/
- Colorado Department of Health Care Policy & Financing. Accountable Care Collaborative Phase III. State of Colorado. https://hcpf.colorado.gov/accphaseIII
This page is for general information and is not medical advice. Only a licensed clinician who knows your history can tell you what is right for you. If you or someone you know is in immediate danger, call 911. For free, confidential support 24/7, call or text 988.
Author
Chief Medical Officer,
The Recovery Village
