No two days at CRTC are identical because no two patients are identical. What you can count on is that every day is intentional. Structured enough to provide real containment and purpose. Human enough to feel like a place where you actually belong.
Your schedule is built around your treatment plan. Not the other way around.
At CRTC your daily schedule is not a fixed timetable applied to everyone. It is built from your individualized treatment plan and it evolves as your treatment evolves.
In the early phase of treatment the structure is more intensive. More clinical touchpoints. More support. More containment. As you progress and build confidence, the structure gradually opens. Real-world activities begin. Independence increases. By the time you approach discharge you are not stepping into the unknown. You are stepping into something you have been practicing.
What follows is a general picture of how a day at CRTC unfolds. The specifics will be shaped by who you are and where you are in your recovery.
Morning
The day begins with the body
Mornings at CRTC begin with movement. Not as a formality. As a genuine clinical practice.
Yoga, breathwork, meditation or time in nature are common ways the day starts. At Riverside, the mountains are already present. The air is different. The stillness creates a particular kind of space that is hard to find anywhere else. At San José, the morning rhythm is urban and purposeful, the day beginning with intention before the city fully wakes.
This morning practice is not optional wellness padding. It is part of how the nervous system is regulated, how the body begins to reconnect to recovery and how the clinical day starts with something other than urgency.
Morning activities
Yoga
Breathwork and pranayama
Meditation and mindfulness practice
Forest bathing and nature time
Gratitude circles
Morning nutrition and breakfast
Midday
The real work happens here
The core of the clinical day runs through the late morning and afternoon. This is where the most intensive therapeutic work takes place.
Individual therapy sessions are the centerpiece. One on one with a therapist who truly knows you. This is not a brief weekly check-in. It is deep, regular work with someone who has been part of your team since day one and who understands your history, your patterns and your progress in real detail.
Group sessions run alongside individual therapy. The small scale of both centers means group work happens within a genuinely intimate community. With a maximum of 18 patients at San José and 10 at Riverside, you are not anonymous in a group. You are known. Psychiatric support, specialized therapeutic sessions and psychoeducation are woven through the clinical day depending on each patient's individual plan.
Midday activities
Individual therapy sessions
Group therapy
Psychiatric support sessions
EMDR sessions
CBT, DBT and other modality-specific sessions
Psychoeducation groups
Family therapy sessions where scheduled
Occupational therapy
Afternoon
Where the holistic dimension comes alive
Afternoons at CRTC are where the holistic and experiential dimensions of treatment come alive.
These are not recreational extras. They are a deliberate part of how recovery happens here.
On some days afternoons include holistic modalities. Sound therapy, somatic work, forest bathing, art therapy or the Integrative Recovery services. These practices address the body, the nervous system and the dimensions of healing that clinical work alone cannot fully reach.
On other days afternoons include adventure therapy. White water rafting, volcano tours, beach trips, hiking in the Costa Rican landscape. The purpose is always the same: to help clients begin to build a picture of what life after addiction can actually look like.
Afternoon activities
Sound therapy
Somatic work
Forest bathing and Shinrin-Yoku
Art therapy
Integrative Recovery services
White water rafting
Volcano tours
Beach trips
Hiking and nature excursions
Physical fitness and nutrition sessions
Self-directed recovery time
Evening
The day ends with connection
Evenings at CRTC are quieter and more personal. The clinical intensity of the day gives way to something more reflective.
Dinner is communal. At a center with a maximum of 18 patients, a shared meal is not just nutrition. It is a genuine community experience. The kind of simple, human moment that many people in active addiction have not had in a long time.
Evening programming may include recovery meetings, gratitude circles, spiritual development sessions or quiet personal time for journaling, reading or reflection. The pace is designed to allow the day to settle. To give the work done during the day space to integrate.
Lights out and sleep are taken seriously. Rest and sleep are part of the clinical plan. The body and brain need them to heal.
Evening activities
Communal dinner
Recovery meetings including 12-step, SMART Recovery and Refuge Recovery
Gratitude circles
Spiritual development sessions
Personal reflection and journaling time
Self-care and rest
As treatment progresses
The day evolves as you do
The structure described above reflects the earlier phases of residential treatment.
As treatment progresses and the clinical team observes growth, confidence and readiness, the day gradually opens.
Real-world reintegration begins. A client might leave the center for a supervised activity in the community. Then for a semi-supervised outing. Then with increasing independence as the clinical team monitors and supports the transition.
By the time a client approaches the end of residential treatment they are not simply completing a program. They are already living a version of the life they will have after discharge. They have practiced the tools. They have built the confidence. They have begun to understand what recovery actually looks like in the real world rather than just in the protected environment of the treatment center.
This gradual reintegration is one of the most important differentiators of the CRTC approach. We do not talk about recovery. We practice it.
Costa Rica is not the backdrop. It is the treatment.
Every week clients participate in experiences that take them beyond the walls of the center and into the natural and cultural landscape of Costa Rica. These are not recreational rewards for good behavior. They are a formal part of the therapeutic program.
White water rafting
Costa Rica's rivers as therapeutic terrain. Challenge, presence and aliveness outside the therapy room.
Volcano tours
Day trips to active volcanoes. Scale, wonder and perspective that daily life rarely provides.
Beach trips
Pacific or Caribbean coast excursions. Open sky, open water, a genuine reset for the nervous system.
Hiking and nature excursions
Rainforest and mountain trails. Cardiovascular work that doubles as mindfulness practice.
Cultural experiences in Costa Rica
Markets, towns, food and people. Rebuilding a relationship with the world beyond the treatment center.
Adventure tailored to the group
Every activity is assessed for clinical appropriateness and adapted to the readiness of the group that week.
When I arrived at CRTC, I was hopeless and broken. The night before, I had almost ended my life with a bottle of methadone pills just to make the pain stop. I didn't really feel like I deserved another chance at recovery.
Before coming to…
I'm so grateful I chose CRTC. They gave me the knowledge to understand, address and change my self destructive behaviours. I really liked the holistic approach to heal my mind, body and spirit. The program content was comprehensive enough…
CRTC gave our daughter her life back and a fighting chance.
I have waited a full year to write this review. I am a mom of a 21 year old girl that went through the full 90 day in-patient CRTC program, arriving in September of 2023. We are…
Structured enough to provide real containment and purpose. Human enough to not feel institutional. The level of structure adjusts as treatment progresses. Early in treatment the day is more intensive. As confidence builds the structure opens and real-world reintegration begins.
How many therapy sessions will I have per week?
This varies by individual treatment plan. Individual therapy sessions are a regular feature of the weekly schedule. The frequency and type of sessions depends on the clinical team's assessment of what is needed and what is appropriate at each stage of treatment.
Are the adventure activities mandatory?
Adventure and experiential activities are a formal part of the therapeutic program and are strongly encouraged. The specific activities are always assessed for clinical appropriateness and adapted to the readiness of each patient.
Will I have personal time?
Yes. The schedule includes self-directed time for rest, reflection, journaling and personal care. Recovery requires both structured clinical work and genuine space to integrate that work.
Can I have contact with family during the day?
Contact with family is managed according to what is clinically appropriate at each stage of treatment. Family therapy sessions are a scheduled part of the program. Outside communication is discussed with the clinical team.
The structure and clinical content are consistent across both centers. The environment is different. San José has an urban residential feel. Riverside is a mountain retreat. The day reflects those different settings.
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