A place to get honest and build from there.
When daily life has become unmanageable and you need full support to get stable, this is the right level of care.
Residential treatment is where many people begin. At Stepping Stone, that means living and recovering at our facility on Central Avenue — surrounded by staff who understand your experience and peers who share it. It is a structured environment, and that structure is the point. The goal is to give you the space, time, and clinical support to build a foundation that holds.
Treatment here is LGBTQ+-affirming from the ground up. That is not a program feature — it is the entire environment. Staff are trained in LGBTQ+ care and many bring lived experience. Identity is not something to work around in treatment. It is part of what recovery is built on.
Daily life
What residential treatment looks like
Residential treatment at Stepping Stone runs up to seven months, though many people begin with a 28-day foundation and continue from there. The length is intentional: research consistently shows that longer treatment produces stronger long-term recovery.
Your time here is structured around individual and group work, with a clinical team assigned specifically to you. Every resident has both a substance use counselor and a licensed therapist. Treatment planning is collaborative — built with you, not handed to you.
- Individual counseling
- Regular one-on-one sessions with your assigned counselor, focused on substance use, recovery planning, and the work specific to your situation.
- Clinical therapy
- Individual sessions with a licensed therapist to address co-occurring mental health concerns. Trauma-informed approaches, including EMDR, are available.
- Group counseling and clinical groups
- Daily groups covering recovery skills, relapse prevention, trauma, sexual health, and anger management. Groups are evidence-based and LGBTQ+-informed throughout.
- Recovery planning
- As treatment progresses, the focus shifts toward what comes next: housing stability, employment, relationships, and the support network that makes long-term recovery possible.
- Community
- Recovery at Stepping Stone happens in community, not in isolation. Residents support one another. Many describe it as chosen family.
A different approach
Sexual health in recovery
Most treatment programs tell clients to simply not engage with sexuality during treatment. We take a different approach. All residents participate in Discovering Sexual Health in Recovery, a curriculum developed at Stepping Stone by international sexual health expert Doug Braun-Harvey. Healthy relationships and sexual wellbeing are part of full recovery, and we treat them that way.
Getting started
How to begin residential treatment
Residential treatment begins with Residential Program Screening and Orientation, held at Stepping Stone Residential, 3767 Central Avenue, San Diego, CA 92105.
If you have questions before you come in, you can reach our intake team directly at (619) 584-4010 ×110.
Our programs are funded through Medi-Cal, which means treatment is available at no out-of-pocket cost to eligible individuals. If you're not sure whether you qualify, our team can help you figure that out.
If you're a family member of someone entering treatment, there's a page for you too — what to expect in the first weeks, and how to take care of yourself along the way. Read our guide for families.
One continuum
Where recovery goes after residential.
Residential treatment is a beginning, not the whole path. Many residents continue with outpatient support through Stepping Out, move into one of our sober living homes, or both.
Outpatient
Stepping Out: Outpatient
For people who need structured support while staying in their lives. LGBTQ+-affirming, trauma-informed outpatient treatment for substance use disorders — whether you're starting here or continuing after residential.
Housing
Sober Living
For people building stability after treatment. Three community homes where recovery stays at the center and the rhythms of everyday life come back into focus.
Wherever you are, we'll meet you there.
You don't have to have it figured out to reach out. Tell us what's going on and our team will help you find the right place to start.