FAQ · Common questions

Questions, answered plainly.

Answers to what families, patients, referring clinicians, and partners most often ask. If your question isn't here, the contact form reaches a human within one business day.

About Atlas

What we are, what we are not, and why the structure matters.
What is Atlas Wellness Holdings?+

Atlas is a holding company — not a treatment program. It was incorporated in 2024 to formalize the relationship between three independent behavioral-health programs that had already been sharing clinicians, a curriculum, and continuity of care.

Atlas owns and operates the infrastructure of continuity: the Atlas Method curriculum, the Arc engagement platform, and four service subsidiaries that extend care across the anchors.

Why a holding structure instead of a single brand?+

Because we believe a federation produces better clinical outcomes than consolidation. Each anchor — NIRC, Prairie/Lovett, Millennium — keeps its license, its leadership, its admissions desk, and its local identity. What Atlas adds is a shared curriculum and a shared measurement layer, not a re-branded waiting room.

Who owns Atlas?+

Atlas Wellness Holdings, LLC is privately held by the founders of the three anchor entities. We are not backed by private equity. Anchor leadership retains operational and clinical authority over their own programs.

Admissions & care

How patients enter, what happens next, and who to call.
How does someone admit into the Atlas Method?+

No one admits directly into Atlas. Patients admit into one of the three founding anchor programs. Each runs its own admissions team, insurance verification, and clinical intake.

Once a patient is in an anchor program — whether residential at NIRC or Prairie, or outpatient at Millennium or Lovett — the Atlas Method is part of their daily clinical care. See the anchors →

Which anchor is right for me or my loved one?+

Short answer: it depends on level of care needed and location.

NIRC (Crystal Lake, IL) — for detox, residential, PHP, and IOP for substance use disorders and co-occurring conditions.

Prairie / Lovett (Round Top, TX & Houston) — for residential treatment of complex co-occurring presentations, trauma, and identity work; Houston outpatient step-down.

Millennium (Chicago, IL) — for outpatient specialty work: process addictions, sex and intimacy concerns, gender and identity, and long-form continuing care.

Is the Atlas Method right for someone in early recovery?+

The Method is designed to start on day one of care. Phase I (Awareness, months 1–3) is built specifically for early recovery — stabilization, regulation, the work of beginning to look at things without the substance there to numb the looking.

Phases II, III, and IV (Healing, Alignment, Purpose) carry through residential discharge into outpatient and community life. The curriculum is the throughline.

What about family?+

Each anchor offers family programming on its own schedule. Atlas Therapy, the third subsidiary, also runs family work that can extend beyond a single anchor's offering. Specific cadence and format vary by anchor — ask during admissions.

Insurance & cost

How payment works across three independent programs.
Do you take insurance?+

Yes — each anchor handles its own insurance verification and billing.

NIRC is in-network with most major commercial carriers (BCBS, Aetna, Cigna, UHC, and others). Prairie / Lovett accepts select carriers for residential care plus self-pay. Millennium operates as an outpatient practice with insurance and self-pay options.

Specific coverage is verified during the admissions call.

How much does treatment cost?+

Cost depends entirely on level of care (detox / residential / PHP / IOP / outpatient), insurance coverage, length of stay, and which anchor. The honest answer is that no number we could put here would be useful without your specific insurance details. Each anchor's admissions team will quote your specific case.

Does the Atlas Method cost extra?+

No. The Method is included in the cost of care at any anchor. It is not a separately-billed program.

The Method

What the curriculum actually does, day to day.
What is The Atlas Method?+

A 12-month, 4-season clinical curriculum — 365 individual modules organized into four phases: Awareness, Healing, Alignment, Purpose. Authored by Dr. Robert Hilliker, refined over a decade inside Prairie and Lovett, now deployed across all three anchors. Read the full Method →

What does a day in the Method look like?+

Each day in the Arc contains six brief sections: a morning anchor, the clinical module of the day, a wellness practice (movement, breath, or nutrition), a community prompt, a brief mind/reflection exercise, and an evening closeout. Together they take 30–45 minutes — alongside the rest of an anchor's clinical day.

What happens if someone drops out mid-Method?+

The curriculum is paused, not erased. Re-entry into any anchor — even a different one from where the patient started — resumes the patient on the day they left, with the clinical team seeing the prior arc. This is one of the practical reasons we built the federation.

Privacy & data

How the Arc handles patient information.
Is the Arc HIPAA-compliant?+

Yes. The Arc engagement-and-outcomes platform operates under each anchor's Business Associate Agreement. Encryption is at rest and in transit; access is role-based and audited.

Who owns the data a patient puts into the Arc?+

The clinical entity that admitted the patient — the anchor — owns the protected health information, under HIPAA. Atlas Wellness Holdings as the holding company does not hold individual PHI. The data is never sold, rented, or commercialized. Read the HIPAA notice and privacy policy.

For clinicians

Referral, contribution, and using parts of the Method outside Atlas.
Can I refer a patient?+

Yes. Use the contact form with role "Referring clinician" or call the admissions line at the anchor most appropriate for your patient. Each anchor has a clinician-to-clinician handoff process and we will not require you to repeat yourself to multiple intake staff.

Can clinicians outside Atlas use the Method?+

The 365-module curriculum is proprietary, but the framework is shared through the open-source Arch initiative. Clinicians can review the framework, contribute modules, and adapt portions for their own practice. Email contribute@atlaswh.com to start.

Are you hiring?+

Each anchor hires independently — open clinical positions are posted on each anchor's own site. Holdings-level positions (analytics, platform, finance, operations) are listed on the contact page when open.

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