UF Health Shands

About UF Health Shands

The UF Health Florida Recovery Center, part of UF Health Shands in Gainesville, Florida, is an academic addiction treatment program that has served patients from across the country for more than 25 years. They treat addiction to alcohol, marijuana, benzodiazepines, opioids such as heroin and fentanyl, and stimulants such as cocaine and methamphetamine, along with co-occurring mental health conditions. Their evidence-based approach addresses the physical, emotional, and spiritual sides of recovery and is built around the 12 Steps. Care includes multi-day comprehensive evaluations, a partial hospitalization program (PHP) with optional on-campus apartment housing, an evening intensive outpatient program (IOP), and ongoing outpatient medication management and relapse prevention.

The PHP runs seven days a week, and residents handle their own cooking, cleaning, and shopping so they can practice sober living alongside peers. Each person gets an individualized plan that may draw on cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavior therapy, motivational interviewing, solution-focused therapy, and family systems therapy, delivered through process, psychoeducational, physician-led, and life skills groups. Specialized tracks serve emerging adults, women, people working through trauma, and safety-sensitive professionals such as physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and attorneys, who are placed with dedicated therapists and profession-specific groups. The professionals track coordinates with licensing boards and physician health programs, while the IOP meets three evenings a week and includes multi-family therapy, family workshops, and an alumni community to support recovery after treatment.