Medication-assisted treatment (MAT) increases long-term recovery success. Currently approved for alcohol and opioid addictions, MAT therapies decrease the risk of relapse. In fact, nearly 90% of people who undergo MAT are still sober after two years. What is MAT? It is a therapeutic approach that combines medication and therapy. It involves a partnership with both an MD (typically a primary care physician or psychiatrist) who manages the medication and a licensed therapist who provides evidence-based therapies proven effective with substance use disorders.
At any time, you can call 303-268-2144 or submit Mile High Recovery Center’s online form to be connected to a specialist who can answer your questions and walk you through your MAT options.
What Is Medication-Assisted Treatment?
Medication-assisted treatment (MAT) means that medication assists behavioral treatments for addiction. Treatment with medication and no therapeutic component is not MAT. Psychosocial intervention is the heart and soul of recovery. By reducing cravings and preventing relapse, medications clear the way for those interventions to succeed.
The medications used at Mile High Recovery Center in our MAT treatments are Suboxone and Vivitrol and are used to treat alcohol use disorder and opioid use disorders. These work in concert with evidence-based therapies that have been proven effective in treating addiction.
Examples of Medication-Assisted Treatment
Because of the collaborative nature of MAT, whereby medication management and therapy go hand in hand, MAT options at Mile High Recovery Center involve a range of combinations of either Suboxone or Vivitrol with one or more of the proven therapies we offer.
Five examples of MAT therapy modalities are:
- Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) – This therapy realigns harmful thoughts and beliefs. It is a goal-oriented and typically time-limited therapy that can bring about profound shifts in self-image, self-belief, and behaviors, allowing recovery to take place.
- Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) – DBT is a therapy that arose out of CBT. Firmly based on principles of mindfulness, DBT teaches clients to hold onto the seemingly opposing concepts of acceptance and change. Acceptance means that change occurs without urgency or anxiety but as a natural transformation that helps clients achieve their recovery goals.
- Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) – This model is also based on behavioral principles. The goal of ACT is to help clients become psychologically flexible and able to cope with the unexpected challenges and stressors of life without drugs or alcohol. By focusing on acceptance of their inner life – emotions, drug cravings, and harmful beliefs – clients learn to tolerate them rather than being ruled by them.
- Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) – EMDR is ideal for helping people who have experienced trauma. In seven distinct phases, the therapist guides clients to focus on a traumatic event and all associated memories in order to reduce the ability to retraumatize. Using bilateral eye movement, clients experience a major shift in where traumatic memories are stored in the brain, thus diminishing their power to cause further harm and thus reducing the perceived need for substances to mute symptoms.
- Motivational enhancement therapy (MET) – This approach to addiction counseling partners well with medication therapy. It helps clients overcome their ambivalence about engaging in treatment and helps them push past the discomfort of stopping drug or alcohol use. The goal of MET is to spark internal motivation to make rapid changes in values, beliefs, and lifestyles. The therapist uses motivational interviewing to inspire transformation and helps clients create plans and develop strategies to deal with triggering situations.
When experienced in concert with effective medications that reduce cravings and mute the experience of a drug or alcohol high, these therapies are at the core of medication-assisted treatment.
MAT Options at Mile High Recovery Center
Reach out to Mile High Recovery Center to discuss the examples of medication-assisted treatment listed above. We can answer your questions about the process of MAT and give you the talking points to discuss “what is MAT” with your family and support network as you decide if this approach to recovery is right for you.
Call us today at 303-268-2144 or fill out our easy online form to be connected to a recovery professional.
