Summit Behavioral Health is proud to announce that we now offer medication-assisted treatment (MAT) at our Summit Florham Park facility. Addiction is a chronic and progressive disease that affects millions of people each year across the United States.
With the sheer devastation on such a vast scale, the medical community has made a conscious effort to develop various addiction treatment techniques to help individuals struggling with drug or alcohol addiction find relief from their disorder and achieve a fulfilling life.
Despite the advancements in modern medicine and the means to treat addiction, there is no current cure for substance use disorders (SUDs). However, there are approaches that can treat the condition and make it manageable. It requires rigorous work on the part of the individuals with the disorder and a commitment to their recovery. Without a firm decision to take addiction treatment seriously, it is unlikely to be effective.
If you or someone you love is struggling with addiction to drugs or alcohol, it may be time to seek professional treatment that can turn life around for the better. Some people find success with medication-assisted treatment and achieve their sobriety goals.
You may be reluctant to accept this type of therapy if you have heard it labeled as a “crutch” or “shortcut,” but this is not true. MAT is a viable means of addiction treatment, and when it is combined with therapies, it can be effective.
What Is Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT)?
Medication-assisted treatment is an approach to addiction treatment that uses specific government-approved prescription medications along with counseling and behavioral therapies to help people struggling with addictions to prescription opioids and heroin. It is designed to help recovering substance users overcome opioid use disorder (OUD) by curbing their cravings, so they can focus and actively participate in their recovery.
Many people have an adverse perspective on MAT because they think the medicines cause more harm than good. However, medication-assisted treatment has helped patients continue with their treatment program, avoid relapse and overdose, and find employment, among other positive outcomes, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
What this means is that MAT is not about taking a pill and moving on. You must be active in specialized addiction therapy sessions while simultaneously treating the psychological aspect of addiction. It is a disease affecting the individual physically and psychologically, and without treating both parts of the disease, the person likely will not improve.
It means that an individual who wants to recover and undergo therapy but cannot stay clean from drugs or alcohol won’t be successful. The same goes for those who can stay off alcohol or drugs temporarily but do not attend intensive addiction therapies that help them understand the root of their problem. In both scenarios, the user will likely relapse, meaning they will return to using drugs or alcohol.
Medication-assisted treatment can help the individual have a chance of staying off drugs and alcohol while being present in therapy sessions. It allows for treating both parts of the disease simultaneously, allowing the person to recover.
What Therapies Are Used in MAT?
Various therapies are utilized in MAT programs, and they are most likely evidence-based behavioral therapies. The most common therapies you might expect to go through at Summit Florham Park include:
- Evidence-Based Behavioral Therapies
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
- Relapse Prevention
- Addiction Education
How Effective Is MAT?
If conventional therapy has failed you in the past, the clinicians at Summit Florham Park may recommend medication-assisted treatment for you. Fortunately, those who have found no success in past addiction treatment programs could see positive results with MAT.
The program has been shown clinically significant and reduced the number of individuals who needed detox services. MAT increases retention in treatment and patient survival and decreases illicit opioid use among those with substance use disorders.
If you are ready to try a new step on your road to recovery, contact Summit Florham Park today to see if you can start medication-assisted treatment.
