Not all addiction rehab centers offer the same kind of treatment to their clients. Whether the differences are based on program philosophy, service ideology, or staff licensing requirements, medication-assisted treatment, also known as MAT, is often a recommended course of action. While our stance on medication-assisted treatment may not be popular, our reasoning behind our position is well-founded.
With medication-assisted treatment, this same individual can be prescribed specific medication (depending on their addiction). The intent of the medication is to help mitigate the severity of withdrawal and behavioral symptoms due to the removal of their former drug of choice, and provide a less harmful drug instead.
Medication-assisted treatment is known as a harm-reduction model of treatment, providing a less invasive option of care for the patient. But there are flaws in the big picture of sobriety.
If you have ever toured an addiction treatment facility, or if your loved one has ever done rehab before, chances are likely that you have seen clients on those premises smoking cigarettes or vaping. Oftentimes, many of these people did not engage in this behavior until after they stopped using and began their recovery journey.
This is referred to as a drug transference, or addiction transference. With this in mind, not every client will require drug transference, such as medications, to get through the various stages of addiction treatment and throughout recovery. Our doctors, therapists, and counselors have seen MAT programs with clients. In fact, many of the clients we treat here came from other treatment facilities that initially put them on replacement drugs such as suboxone, methadone, vivitrol, and even marijuana.
While the intent may be for a client’s best interest, in the long run, MAT often merely delays a crucial part of addiction treatment, getting to the root cause of addictive behaviors.
There’s nothing more empowering to clients than when they understand and accept the reasons behind drug and alcohol use, and realize the chemical crutch doesn’t serve them anymore.
Self-perception plays a large role in how a person views the past and the present, but also in the possibilities for the future. There is an interesting and often unspoken psychology behind the use of medication during addiction recovery and it has everything to do with taking prescription drugs.
People who do not have addictive behaviors will take medication when they are feeling ill, have pain, or to treat a medical condition. The focus here is that something is wrong with them or they are sick. Imagine what this can do to one’s psyche, especially if there is an extended treatment protocol in place.
For example, many people who have been to rehab and utilized MAT for heroin addiction are now dependent on methadone to get by. We get those phone calls and emails from parents, spouses, significant others, and siblings, just like you, concerned for the long-term welfare of their loved one. Surviving on methadone is no way to live, but is an existence at best.
We know our clients deserve better than that.
Ongoing use of medication through MAT allows for the continuation in believing that a person is less than. Addiction recovery with true sobriety as the goal is not only empowering to the client but their entire family as well. We believe people already have what they need within them to survive and, moreover, thrive. How this is achieved is by doing the necessary and raw inner-work to heal mind, body and spirit.
People from all walks of life come through our doors to learn how to remove the destructive behaviors of the past and focus on living a healthier lifestyle going forward. The road to get there is different for everyone.
There are instances that, after careful consideration and detailed medical assessments, it is determined that a client may benefit from the use of MAT for opioid addiction or MAT for alcohol use disorder. In some cases, a person, after initial evaluation or subsequent evaluations, may be diagnosed as having a co-occurring disorder. This is when substance addiction is also present with a mental health condition, such as anxiety or depressive disorders. Medication-assisted treatment may prove beneficial in treating the symptoms of withdrawal and mental illness.
Just as the body and the brain will reinstate a healthier balance through drug and alcohol detox and ongoing recovery, a client’s state of health will constantly shift throughout the process. To ensure that clients are provided accurate, integrated care, our staff provides ongoing evaluation. As recovery continues, medication tapering is possible and therapy is modified serving individual needs as they change.
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