Telephone / Mail

Telephone:

Except for the phone call you make during the admissions process to let people at home know you have arrived safely, you will not be permitted to make phone calls the first week you are in treatment.

After the first week you will be able to call your temporary sponsor daily, and other persons as agreed upon by you and your counselor. Remember that there are good therapeutic reasons to limit outside contact to keep you focused on your recovery.

During the week calls are limited to 5 minutes or less and can be made weekdays between 4:00 and 6:30 pm local time, Saturdays after 1 pm and Sundays after 10 am. Phone cards used in the public phones are available for purchase in local stores.

We ONLY TAKE MESSAGES on incoming calls unless a specific arrangement has been made through your counselor. Serenity House has a public phone for patient use. It will NOT be answered by staff so if no one answers a call, there are probably no patients in the area. This number is (506) 2231-3288.

Calls regarding emergencies will be given to the patient as quickly as is practicable. Our business phones are available for use in such circumstances. Cell phones from the US generally do not work in Costa Rica. Patients in primary care are not allowed to keep cell phones.

Mail:

Mail in Costa Rica is EXTREMELY slow. You will probably be gone from the facility before any mail would arrive through traditional means. We recommend you use Federal Express or UPS for packages. You MAY be allowed to send emails or chat during non-treatment hours after the first week, although we reserve the right to limit or omit this privilege for therapeutic or disciplinary reasons.