The science is complex, our process isn't

How our treatment works and why it's different

Getting started with NorthStar takes one conversation and less than five minutes. There's no waiting list, no facility to visit, and no requirement to stop drinking or using before you begin. Your full treatment kit ships within 48 hours, and a dedicated clinical team wraps around you using your biology, your history, and your goals from day one.

Explore your options 855-302-9191

A NorthStar clinician and patient in natural light

Why NorthStar is different

Treatment that finally matches the science

AUD and SUD are chronic, biologically driven medical conditions involving genetic vulnerability, brain chemistry changes, and nutrient depletion. Treating them with a 30-day behavioral program is like treating diabetes with a motivational workshop; it misses the biology entirely.

"People don't fail treatment. Treatment fails people when it ignores the biology."

NorthStar was built to close that gap. Every element of the program, from genetic testing to medication protocols to nutrient repletion to the length of care itself, was designed in direct response to clinical evidence drawn from over 2,600 peer-reviewed papers1 across the US, UK, EU, and Australia. The result is the most scientifically advanced alcohol and substance use treatment program available today, and an 85.7% patient success rate that is more than six times more effective than traditional rehab.2

The evidence is in the brain

Brain scans show how much is truly at stake

In a PET imaging study conducted with the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), researchers compared brain glucose metabolism, a direct marker of neural activity, before cessation and across early recovery. The scans tell a sobering story: activity drops sharply once substance use abruptly stops, and does not meaningfully rebound on its own, even months later.4

It's the clearest picture of why simply stopping isn't healing, and why treating this condition means actively treating the brain.

Pre-abstinence

Baseline activity

10 days after cessation

Activity severely limited

100 days of abstinence

Little restoration on its own

Brain activity is severely limited just 10 days after abrupt cessation.

Even at 100 days, there is no meaningful brain restoration without significant nutrient repletion or support.

Traditional treatment doesn't address brain health, less than 0.4% ever receive any medication for substance use.

Nutrient repletion, the primary intervention for brain restoration, isn't used at all.

Why this matters: most programs measure success by whether someone has stopped using, but the brain underneath can stay depleted and dysregulated for a year or more. That gap is what drives cravings, low mood, poor sleep, and the high rates of return to use that define traditional treatment. Lasting recovery depends on restoring the brain itself, not just removing the substance.

This is the gap NorthStar was built to close, with medication and nutrient repletion that actually help the brain heal.

Simplifying the science

Dr. Lisa Chiodo, PhD

Co-Founder, President & Chief Science Officer

Internationally recognized developmental psychologist, researcher, and statistician.

What those brain scans are actually telling you

When you look at those PET images, you're seeing how hard the brain is working. Brighter areas are burning more glucose, the brain's fuel. In active addiction and early abstinence, whole regions simply go quiet. The brain isn't lazy or broken. It has been running on a chemistry that alcohol and other substances hijacked, and when the substance suddenly disappears, it doesn't just switch back on.

This is the part most treatment misses. Stopping removes the substance, but it doesn't refuel the brain. The cells that regulate mood, sleep, and craving still lack the raw materials they need to work: amino acids, B vitamins, and minerals. It's why so many people white-knuckle through 30 days and still feel foggy, anxious, and fragile months later. They were never given what the brain needed to rebuild.

"Healing isn't the absence of a substance. It's the return of a brain."

Once you see it this way, the path forward is obvious. We don't simply ask the brain to heal on its own. We give it medication to steady it and the specific nutrients to rebuild it, then measure whether it's working. For a biological condition, that isn't an add-on to treatment. It is the treatment.

Your struggles are at home, care should be too

Why virtual, at-home treatment works better

Most people assume you need to go away somewhere to get better: check into a facility, step back from your life, heal in a controlled environment, but think about what actually happens. You spend 30 days away from every real-world trigger, every stressor, every relationship, and then you're sent back into all of it without the support you had while you were away. That's not a plan for success. That's why 87% of people who go through traditional rehab don't achieve lasting change.3

"Treatment adapts to you. You don't have to adapt to treatment."

NorthStar was designed around a different idea: treatment should happen where life happens. Your challenges don't show up in a facility, they show up at home, at work, at family dinners, on difficult Mondays. By delivering care in the environment where you actually live, the skills you build, the medications that stabilize you, and the relationships you form with your care team are already working in the place you'll need them most. There's no "day 30" cliff. There's no jarring transition back to real life, because you never left it.

We make starting treatment easy

What happens when you reach out

Stigma-free conversation

Your first step is a confidential, no-pressure conversation with NorthStar's Program Experience Team to answer your questions and help you decide if this is the right fit.

Onboard & start the same day

If you decide to move forward, enrollment begins immediately, completed virtually at your pace. Care can start the same day, even before your treatment kit arrives.

No need to stop use right away

You don't need to stop drinking or using before you start. NorthStar focuses on safety first, because waiting for "rock bottom" is an outdated model that costs lives.

Opening the NorthStar treatment kit at home

Your treatment kit

Everything you need, shipped to your door

NorthStar provides personalized, evidence-based treatment across a wide range of substances, guided by your genetics, supported by a 9-person clinical team, and sustained for a full year. Select a condition to learn how we treat it.

Customizing your treatment plan

How your care is built around you

NorthStar does not use a one-size-fits-all protocol. Your care plan is built around your biology, your history, and your goals.

Genetics are at the foundation.

Your DNA is analyzed for hundreds of variants that influence addiction risk, medication metabolism, neurotransmitter production, and nutrient absorption. Treatment is personalized from the beginning, not after months of trial and error.

Your whole-health is reviewed.

Medical history, substance use patterns, mental health screening, and personal goals are integrated by your multidisciplinary care team into a protocol tailored specifically to you.

Medication & nutrients begin ASAP.

The goal is to stabilize brain chemistry as quickly as possible, reducing cravings, improving sleep, calming anxiety, and giving the brain the foundation it needs to heal.

The most scientific treatment available today

What makes NorthStar's treatment work

Medications that ease and support early treatment

Reduces cravings, supports safe tapering, and treats co-occurring conditions. Foundational to care, and temporary for many. As the brain heals, medications are tapered.

Nutrient repletion guided by your biology

Restores the building blocks your brain needs to produce neurotransmitters and recover cognitive function. 25% cognitive improvement at one month. Over 40% at one year.

Remote biometric health monitoring & tracking

Real-time breathalyzer, blood pressure, and symptom data so your care team can respond immediately, not weeks later.

Anonymous peer support through virtual reality

Connection with people who share your experience, protected by total anonymity and matched to your life circumstances. Improves retention by up to 300%.

9+ person interdisciplinary clinical care team

Physicians, nurses, psychiatric providers, therapists, navigators, and peer guides; all coordinating, all focused on your progress.

A full year of wraparound, at-home care

Because chronic conditions require longitudinal treatment, and because the brain does not heal in 30 days.

Our at-home, yearlong care is setting the standard

85.6%

Longterm Success Rate

86%

30 Day BAC Reduction

40.3%

Cognitive Improvement

95.2%

Still Engaged at Month 6

Get started

You don't need to be ready, you just need to get started

Readiness doesn't usually come before treatment. It comes during treatment as the brain stabilizes, cravings quiet, and clarity returns. You don't need everything figured out. You don't need to be in crisis. You just need to be open to one conversation.

Start the conversation Call 855-302-9191

References & methodology

Program design informed by a structured review of 2,600+ peer-reviewed studies across the US, UK, EU, and Australia.
85.7% patient success rate; comparison to traditional rehab from NorthStar clinical outcomes data (2026). Methodology available on request.
Long-term outcome figure for traditional residential treatment, per published relapse-rate literature. Citation available on request.
PET imaging comparison conducted by NorthStar Care in collaboration with the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Scans shown are illustrative; full study methodology available on request.