Mental health conditions and substance use can affect each other in complex ways. For some women, alcohol or drug use becomes a way to cope with anxiety, difficult emotions, intrusive thoughts, relationship challenges, or other mental health symptoms. For others, substance use can make existing mental health concerns harder to manage.

At Women’s Recovery, our mental health rehab in Denver provides integrated outpatient care for women experiencing co-occurring mental health and substance use concerns. As a women-centered mental health treatment center, we look at how these needs interact rather than treating them as completely separate problems. Your care is built around you as a whole person.

Our approach considers a range of mental health concerns that can occur alongside substance use, including OCD, personality disorders, anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, ADHD, and trauma-related conditions.

What is dual diagnosis?

Dual diagnosis, also called a co-occurring disorder, means that a person is experiencing both a mental health condition and a substance use disorder. When these concerns occur together, each one can affect how the other is experienced.

Some people may use alcohol or drugs in an attempt to cope with difficult mental health symptoms. Substance use can also affect mood, behavior, sleep, relationships, and other areas of mental health. Stress, trauma, genetics, environment, and other shared factors may also play a role.1,2

Co-occurring disorders treatment addresses both concerns as part of a single coordinated plan. SAMHSA supports integrated screening and treatment approaches that consider mental health and substance use needs together.3 A dual diagnosis treatment program can help a treatment team understand how these concerns may be connected and what forms of support are appropriate.

At Women’s Recovery, your treatment plan is shaped by your symptoms, experiences, strengths, goals, and current needs. You do not have to fit neatly into one diagnosis to deserve thoughtful support. 

Learn more about our dual diagnosis treatment programs and how integrated care can support your healing.

Co-occurring conditions we treat

Mental health and addiction can intersect in many ways. There’s no single experience of a co-occurring disorder, which is why treatment should reflect the woman receiving care.

Women’s Recovery provides integrated support for mental health conditions that may occur alongside substance use, with treatment shaped around your individual symptoms, experiences, and needs.

OCD and addiction

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) involves recurring unwanted thoughts, urges, or images called obsessions and repetitive behaviors or mental acts called compulsions. These symptoms can take up significant time and interfere with relationships, work, and daily life.

OCD and addiction treatment should consider how both concerns are affecting a woman’s life. Some women may turn to alcohol or drugs in an attempt to quiet intrusive thoughts, ease distress, or temporarily cope with uncomfortable emotions connected to obsessive or compulsive patterns. Substance use may offer short-term relief without addressing the underlying concern.

At Women’s Recovery, care is personalized to the symptoms, behaviors, and coping patterns that affect you. Treatment may include evidence-based therapy, group support, psychiatric care, medication management when appropriate, and strategies for responding to distress in healthier ways.

We approach past coping patterns with curiosity and compassion rather than judgment. Understanding what’s been happening can create a starting point for building tools that better support your mental health and recovery.

Personality disorders and addiction

Personality disorders can affect patterns of thinking, emotions, relationships, behavior, and a person’s sense of self. These patterns may make it harder to manage stress, navigate relationships, regulate emotions, or respond to difficult experiences.

Personality disorders and substance use disorders can also occur together. Research has found overlap between these conditions, although the relationship can vary based on the specific personality disorder, substance, population, and other factors.4

Women’s Recovery provides care for women with certain personality-related concerns, including borderline personality disorder. When personality disorder and addiction occur together, treatment considers how emotional regulation, relationships, impulsive behaviors, coping patterns, and substance use may affect one another.

Therapies such as dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) can help clients build skills in emotion regulation, distress tolerance, mindfulness, and relationship skills. Treatment may also include other therapies, psychiatric support, medication management when appropriate, and group-based care.

A diagnosis is one part of your story. Treatment focuses on understanding the patterns affecting your life, recognizing the strengths you already carry, and building healthier ways to respond to difficult experiences.

Anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, and trauma/PTSD

Women’s Recovery also supports women experiencing other mental health conditions alongside substance use.

Women's Recovery treatment programs Anxiety and addiction Anxiety may contribute to substance use when alcohol or drugs become a way to manage worry, fear, panic, or social discomfort. Explore Our Anxiety Treatment Program → Depression and substance use Some women use substances in an attempt to cope with sadness, low energy, isolation, or other symptoms of depression. Explore Our Depression Treatment Program → Bipolar disorder and addiction Changes in mood, energy, sleep, and behavior can make substance use and recovery needs more complex. Explore Our Bipolar Treatment Program → ADHD and substance use Challenges involving attention, impulsivity, organization, or emotional regulation may affect treatment and recovery needs. Explore Our ADHD Treatment Program → Trauma and PTSD Trauma can influence mental health, relationships, coping patterns, and substance use. Treatment can consider how trauma-related symptoms and substance use affect one another while helping women develop safer, more supportive ways to cope. Explore Our PTSD Treatment Program → Women's Recovery treatment programs Anxiety and addiction Anxiety may contribute to substance use when alcohol or drugs become a way to manage worry, fear, panic, or social discomfort. Explore Our Anxiety Treatment Program → Depression and substance use Some women use substances in an attempt to cope with sadness, low energy, isolation, or other symptoms of depression. Explore Our Depression Treatment Program → Bipolar disorder and addiction Changes in mood, energy, sleep, and behavior can make substance use and recovery needs more complex. Explore Our Bipolar Treatment Program → ADHD and substance use Challenges involving attention, impulsivity, organization, or emotional regulation may affect treatment and recovery needs. Explore Our ADHD Treatment Program → Trauma and PTSD Trauma can influence mental health, relationships, coping patterns, and substance use. Treatment can consider how trauma-related symptoms and substance use affect one another while helping women develop safer, more supportive ways to cope. Explore Our PTSD Treatment Program →

Our integrated treatment approach

Mental health treatment for women should go beyond a diagnosis. Relationships, history, physical health, stress, identity, responsibilities, and past treatment experiences can all influence what you need from care.

Women’s Recovery offers a warm, women-centered community where mental health and substance use treatment work together. Our “by women, for women” approach combines strong clinical care with the understanding that connection, trust, and feeling heard are meaningful parts of treatment.

Care is relational and intentional. Your treatment team takes time to understand what has and hasn’t helped before, stays engaged as your needs change, and works with you to build a plan that feels relevant to your life.

Your care may include:

  • Individual therapy
  • Group therapy
  • Family therapy
  • Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)
  • Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT)
  • Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)
  • Motivational interviewing
  • Parts-based therapy
  • Somatic and mind-body approaches
  • Psychiatric care and evaluation
  • Medication management
  • TMS for appropriate mental health needs
  • Mindfulness and meditation
  • Yoga and other integrative approaches
  • Nutrition education and support
  • Life skills and recovery planning

Psychiatric care and medication management may be incorporated when they’re appropriate for a client’s mental health and addiction treatment needs. These services work alongside therapy, group support, and other parts of the treatment plan rather than functioning as a separate approach.

Treatment is personalized rather than built around one method or diagnosis. Recommendations may change as your symptoms, goals, daily functioning, and need for support change.

Women’s Recovery is outpatient only. Depending on your needs, care may be provided through our partial hospitalization program (PHP), intensive outpatient program (IOP), or other outpatient care. This structure allows women to receive consistent treatment while continuing to practice recovery skills in everyday life.

Learn more about our outpatient treatment program and the levels of care available at our Denver treatment center.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need an official diagnosis to start treatment?

No. You don’t need to have every mental health concern identified before reaching out for help.

Assessment is part of understanding what you’re experiencing. Your treatment team can learn about your symptoms, substance use, history, current challenges, strengths, and goals. That information can help guide recommendations for an appropriate level of outpatient care.

Does Women’s Recovery treat OCD or personality disorders

Women’s Recovery provides co-occurring treatment that may support women experiencing OCD or certain personality-related concerns alongside substance use. This includes support for borderline personality disorder.

Treatment recommendations depend on the symptoms and challenges you’re experiencing, your daily functioning, safety needs, and whether Women’s Recovery’s outpatient services are appropriate for you. An assessment can help determine whether the program may be a good fit.

How are mental health and substance use treated together?

Treatment considers how your mental health symptoms, substance use, coping patterns, relationships, and daily life may affect one another. Your care may combine therapy, group support, psychiatric services, medication management when appropriate, and other supportive approaches.

Rather than separating mental health and substance use into unrelated concerns, your treatment team can build a coordinated plan based on your needs.

Does this program also treat trauma, ADHD, anxiety, depression, or bipolar disorder?

Women’s Recovery provides integrated mental health and substance use care that may address trauma-related conditions, ADHD, anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, and other approved co-occurring concerns.

Each of these conditions can affect substance use and treatment needs differently. Your care plan is based on your symptoms, experiences, goals, and the level of outpatient support that’s appropriate for you.

Is mental health treatment included for every client, even without a diagnosis?

Mental health is considered part of each client’s overall treatment needs. You don’t need to arrive with a formal diagnosis to talk with our team about symptoms or concerns you’re experiencing.

An assessment can help the treatment team better understand your mental health, substance use, coping patterns, and support needs. From there, the team can discuss which services may be appropriate.

Find care that sees the whole you

You may know that something needs to change without knowing which diagnosis fits or what kind of treatment you need. That’s okay. You can begin with a conversation.

Women’s Recovery provides women-centered outpatient mental health and addiction treatment in Denver, Colorado. Our team will listen to what you’ve been experiencing, answer your questions, and help you understand whether our services fit your needs.

If past treatment left you feeling like something was missing, a more integrated and relational approach may offer a different experience. You deserve care that recognizes your symptoms, your experiences, and the strength you already carry.

If you’re looking for mental health treatment in Denver, contact Women’s Recovery to talk with our team about your next steps. You can also verify your insurance to learn more about treatment coverage.

Sources:

  1. SAMHSA. Co-Occurring Disorders and Other Health Conditions. Accessed September 2026.
  2. National Institute of Mental Health. Finding Help for Co-Occurring Substance Use and Mental Disorders. Accessed September 2026.
  3. SAMHSA. Screening and Treatment of Co-Occurring Disorders. Accessed September 2026.
  4. Stetsiv K, McNamara IA, Nance M, Carpenter RW. The Co-Occurrence of Personality Disorders and Substance Use Disorders. Accessed September 2026.