A Typical Day at CooperRiis Asheville
If you’re considering residential mental health treatment at CooperRiis, either for yourself or for a loved one, you may be curious about daily life here.
You can read about our programs and approach elsewhere, but unless you’re a clinician or have attended a similar program before, the day-to-day probably seems like a black box. What does a Tuesday look like? What will you be doing at 10am, at 3pm, at dinnertime? What’s asked of you and what can you decline? (Spoiler: everything is voluntary. More on that later.)
Let’s walk through a typical day.
What happens when you wake up in the morning?
The day starts with the basics. You’ll have time to shower, brush your teeth, get dressed, take any approved morning medications, and get ready for the day ahead. Staff are nearby if you have questions, but this part of the morning is mostly about taking care of yourself and preparing for the clinical sessions.
Breakfast: Nourishment & Community
Of course breakfast is fuel to start the day, but meals are also a big part of where community happens at CooperRiis. Community is one of the seven domains of recovery, and studies show that social meals stimulate the brain’s endorphin system. When people eat together, stress decreases and feelings of happiness and belonging increase.
But you don’t have to sit in a crowded dining room if that’s not your thing. You can sit off to the side or even eat in your room. And we’ll be so happy to help you ease into eating with others if that’s a goal of yours.
Weekdays: Clinical Programming
After breakfast on weekdays, the clinical schedule begins. Therapeutic sessions run throughout the day, Monday through Friday. Everything you work on in group therapy and individual sessions is at least partly informed by your dream statement.
Group Therapies
Small group therapy sessions provide a safe, accepting space to work on the tools that will help you live the life you want, like:
- Self-understanding.
- Motivation.
- Skill development.
- Lending and receiving peer support.
- Giving and integrating feedback.
- Building a sense of connection.
Art Therapy
Another clinical activity you’ll do with a group is Art Therapy. There is free time for art in the evenings and on weekends, but this structured therapy uses art to empower participants in regulating their nervous systems and processing difficult emotions.
Wellness Group
Health Education:
- Whole-self approach
- Whole foods and anti-inflammatory diets
- Importance of exercise
- Mindfulness
- Sleep hygiene
Movement:
- Neighborhood walks
- Group runs
- Basketball
- Yoga
- Meditation
- Gym workouts
Individual Therapy
You’ll also meet one-on-one with your therapist regularly, with frequency and modalities according to your treatment plan. This is where you dig deeper into your personal work, process things that feel too private for group, and refine the strategies you’re learning throughout the day.
Lunch: A Midday Reset
Around midday, the clinical schedule breaks for lunch, an opportunity to share time with others and decompress. For some, lunch is a social time that re-energizes them for afternoon groups. For others, it’s a quiet time to process the morning’s work. As with all meals, everyone is welcome to spend this time how they want: eat with the group, sit off to the side, or take your meal to your room—up to you!
What is it Like in Treatment if You’re Introverted?
If you’re introverted, by now you may be thinking that this sounds like a lot of “people-ing.” It’s true that community is a big part of our program.
But here’s something really important: being in community doesn’t require constant socializing. Research shows that social connection is especially important for introverts’ happiness and mental health. The following are some ways introverts participate in our residential community:
You don’t necessarily need to “people.” Just being in proximity to others can help regulate your nervous system.
- Sitting in the dining room alone while others eat nearby.
- Keeping to themselves in art therapy.
- Wearing headphones when they don’t want to talk with others.
- Reading in a public space.
- Playing video games.
- Going on a walk with others without talking.
- Socializing one-on-one or in small groups.
Your room at CooperRiis is private, and you can spend as much time there as you need to. Staff members will periodically come by to check in and invite you out for activities, but you can always say no. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. In fact, part of the work some people do at CooperRiis is developing tools and boundaries to meet their needs for alone time.
When You’re Just Not Feeling It
If you wake up and don’t want to go to group, you don’t have to. Staff will encourage you. They might remind you of your goals or mention that your group counts on your contributions. But you’re not obligated to go, and no one will ever make you.
You’re an adult. You choose what you participate in, and we meet you where you are. For some people, just showing up to meals is a big win. For others, missing a single activity signals that something is wrong. We’re paying attention to these things, and we set our expectations according to you as an individual.
What’s Truly Required
There are baseline requirements to stay in the program safely:
- Manage basic activities of daily living—showering, eating, hygiene.
- Connect with your therapist.
- Partner with the psychiatrist and nursing team.
Beyond that, expectations are calibrated to you as an individual.
We’re not looking for perfect attendance or constant enthusiasm. We’re looking for engagement that matches where you are and moves you toward where you want to be.
Some days, that may be full participation. Some days, it means showing up to one meal and being honest about why the rest feels impossible.
The End of the Clinical Day
In late afternoon, the therapeutic sessions wrap up. Some people head straight to their rooms to reset, take a shower, or process the day. Others go directly to the community spaces like the common room or gym.
Dinner & Free Time
We eat dinner as a group, but as always, everyone can choose where to eat. Our daily menu is based on the Mediterranean diet, and we accommodate special dietary needs or practices for all meals: for example, vegetarian or vegan, kosher or halal, no added sugar, and gluten-free. After dinner, the evening is yours to spend in community or alone as you choose.
Evenings & Weekends: Community on Your Terms
Various community spaces serve as activity hubs. There’s a media room with a large TV for movies. Some people play video games, karaoke, or musical instruments. There’s a pool table and a small lending library.
The art room is open for unstructured use on the weekends. Filled with natural light and stocked with supplies, it’s a peaceful place to pass time. You can paint, draw, make something with your hands.
The centering room and gym are available for meditation, yoga, or exercise. Staff host walks through the neighborhood in the mornings and evenings. The Montford campus is beautiful and is home to the Zelda Fitzgerald memorial, a reminder of the long history of mental health care in this place.
Evening Wind-Down
Community rooms close at a set time in the evenings, at which point, everyone heads to their rooms for quiet time. Sufficient and restful sleep is an important part of holistic mental health recovery, but that looks a little different for each person. Some go right to bed while others may choose to stay up for and read, journal, or meditate, for example.
Patient-Led Healing
People often expect residential treatment to feel rigid or controlled. In fact, some people come to us with trauma from involuntary mental health treatment, where it was something administered to them.
All of our programs are 100% voluntary, down to what you do each hour. You lead your own healing. Recovery is something you do for yourself while we provide every resource and support you need.
Studies on autonomy in mental health care show that self-directed care participants have significantly greater improvement in recovery, self-esteem, coping skills, and employment compared to those in standard services.
Receiving autonomy over my mental health care was the greatest contributor to my recovery.
Alexandra, WHO featured story
A Note for Families
If you’re reading this and wondering whether your loved one is ready for this level of autonomy and self-direction, here’s what you should know:
We ease people into autonomy that’s appropriate for them. There’s some encouraged risk, like going outside of one’s comfort zone to socialize or try a new activity. But it’s calibrated to each person, and each person receives the level of support they need.
Part of the work here for many is to become more independent and rely less on caregivers at home. For some residents, that means living on their own or getting a job. For others, it might mean making some of their own meals or working through feelings more effectively.
Wherever someone starts, more independence is usually a goal.
This recovery work is profound. People frequently go from living with family and struggling to find their footing to living independently, becoming successful in their careers, having families. It can genuinely turn a life around.
The clinicians in admissions help families establish realistic expectations. And staff here help caregivers learn to let go, allow appropriate autonomy, and begin to live their own lives a little more fully.
The Program Details
CooperRiis at Asheville is a short-term intensive residential program, typically 30-45 days.
We’re in-network with:
- Aetna
- Cigna
- Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina
We also work with out-of-network insurers.
We help adults 18 and older experiencing mental health conditions including:
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Bipolar disorder
- PTSD
- Personality disorders
- Schizophrenia
We can also serve individuals with ADHD or Level 1 autism who are living with any of the above conditions.
We help hundreds of people each year build a foundation for lasting mental health recovery. To help you integrate all your parts and move toward the life you defined in your dream statement. The tools and skills you learn here become yours to keep.