Oklahoma City Approves Dual Diagnosis Crisis Center

Oklahoma City is investing in dual diagnosis treatment with the approval of a major new behavioral health crisis facility to serve residents with mental health conditions and substance use disorders. 

Oklahoma officials want their residents to be OK. The Sooner State features an impressive array of inpatient and outpatient programs for all folks, with specialized care for Native Americans. Out in the capital of Oklahoma City, council members approved construction plans for the MAPS 4 Robert Ravitz Crisis Center. The center will cost $12.27 million and is set to open in 2027.

The Mental Health & Addiction Link

For too long, people experiencing a mental health or substance use crisis have had nowhere to turn. The Robert Ravitz Crisis Center is designed to change that with a dedicated space where individuals in crisis can stabilize and access integrated care. They can begin recovery outside of the criminal justice system.

The new crisis center will operate under the state’s Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. Officials intend to build the facility around the reality that mental health crises and substance use disorders rarely travel alone. This is the foundation of dual diagnosis treatment: co-occurring disorders must be addressed together, not in isolation.

Co-occurring disorders occur when a person experiences a mental health condition such as depression, anxiety, PTSD, or bipolar disorder that grows alongside a substance use disorder. Indeed, folks often try to self-medicate — which often ends in failure. One typically feeds the other, creating a cycle of dependence. Treating only one condition while ignoring any others leads to higher relapse rates and poorer outcomes.

The Ravitz Crisis Center’s Future

The center will include spaces for emergency assessments, stabilization and ongoing resources for people experiencing a mental health crisis.

Blueprints include an urgent recovery center with 25 observation stations and a social living area, along with two crisis stabilization wings with 16 beds each. The center will also feature a group therapy room, a calming room for holistic approaches, outdoor courtyard, kitchen and cafeteria.

These go beyond simple amenities; they’re clinically intentional design choices during a pivotal point in the shortage of mental health providers across the nation. Group therapy rooms support evidence-based modalities like counseling. Calming spaces and outdoor areas assist individuals whose substance use stems from unresolved trauma.

When it opens, residents can go to the crisis center at 1200 NE 13th St., on the east side of the OU Health Sciences Center campus.

Crisis Stabilization Leading to Comprehensive Treatment

Crisis stabilization is often the critical first step in a longer recovery journey. When someone arrives in acute distress, stabilization gives clinicians the window to connect these folks to the right level of care. That might mean a referral to detox, an intensive outpatient program or medication management services.

Statewide Crisis Services Director Lauren Stover noted that folks with mental health or substance use crises too often go directly to emergency rooms or end up in jail. The Robert Ravitz Crisis Center will provide a genuine alternative.

For families and individuals in Oklahoma, this facility expands behavioral health treatment. But crisis centers are short-term intervention points. After stabilization, connecting to longer-term residential treatment centers and outpatient dual diagnosis programs is essential for sustained recovery.

Dual Diagnosis Treatment in Oklahoma

If you or someone you love faces a mental health crisis combined with substance use, don’t wait for a new facility to open. Rather, dual diagnosis treatment programs and residential treatment centers in Oklahoma and across the country are available right now.

Call 800-908-4823 (Sponsored) of glance through our directory to find comprehensive mental health and addiction treatment near you. Treatment centers directory specialists can help match you or your loved one with multiple conditions with a single, coordinated plan.

Author

Eric Owens

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Eric Owens has been a writer and editor for various businesses as well as his own successful websites. He has extensive experience creating content in the health and wellness space and the sustainability space. He holds a bachelor degree in Philosophy which helped him with presenting complex information in a simple way that all audiences can understand.

Editor

Peter Lee, PhD

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Peter W.Y. Lee is a writer and historian of American history during the Cold War. His primary focus is the relationship between youth and popular culture and its impact on U.S. society during the twentieth century. He has published widely on how the public has used popular culture as a mechanism to address political and social shifts throughout time