Clinicians and therapists understand that emotions such as fear, uncertainty and ambivalence play a significant role in a client’s decision to enroll in Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT). They also understand that apprehension over the effects of the medication is a concern as well as the fear of the stigma associated with the use of maintenance medication as part of an addiction treatment program.

For the best possible outcome, MAT should be used along with behavioral counseling that includes group therapy sessions, life skills training, vocational training, housing help and a plan for continuing care after treatment. Criteria for continuation in a medication-assisted opioid treatment program focuses on things like medication monitoring, physical examination and routine urinalysis screenings.

Addressing the Perception That MAT Trades One Addiction for Another

One of the stigma’s associated with MAT, and the use of medication such as Suboxone, comes from the perception that it’s an opiate, that it’s like substituting one drug for another. Yet Suboxone was specifically designed for getting someone off of opiates. Taking medication, such as Suboxone, is not the equivalent of substituting one drug for another. When managed properly, MAT does not create a new addiction. Instead, it helps manage and support recovery.

A client’s individual situation can call for the use of mind altering and mood-altering medications. Certain medications are effective in managing withdrawal symptoms during a short detoxification. The nature of Suboxone is that it’s not as strong as the typical opioids that people are addicted to, like heroin, Oxycodone or Percocet. These drugs are full-acting opioids that have increasing effects at increasing doses. Since Suboxone works partially at the opioid receptor, its use is designed to curb the cravings and post-acute withdrawal symptoms.

When Properly Managed Suboxone Helps Clients Participate in Clinical Services

The case for MAT can be compared with the medication maintenance required to manage a chronic disease such as diabetes or heart disease. Diabetics need to take insulin to regulate their blood sugar. In the case of opioid use disorder, a client is no longer using heroin or another opioid. Instead, they are taking a small dose of a maintenance medication to regulate their cravings and eliminate withdrawal symptoms.

The chronic use of opioids affects the brain chemistry so, the idea of prescribing a medication is to treat the acute withdrawal symptoms and the cravings. We give our clients a small dosage of the medication that is just enough to slowly bring them off the opioids. Ideally, the client will appear as if they are functioning normally, like they aren’t taking anything. A person following a MAT program isn’t going to look any different from someone following an abstinence program.

Suboxone is intended to support our clients, and make them feel normal, as they slowly withdraw from the drugs they’ve been taking. Suboxone won’t make them feel, look or act high. In fact, it may actually make them more present and more attentive to meetings and groups sessions.

Need More Information?

Call now to be connected with one of our friendly, helpful admissions specialists.

 (800) 270-4315Confidential Call

 

Medication-Assisted Treatment is Ideal for Supporting Long-term Recovery

Once a client discharges from our care, the Suboxone continues to help them until they can build up their support system. When they walk out the door of treatment, their relationships are still damaged. They have to work on building a relationship with their new therapist, with the people they meet in their supportive living home and with their new psychiatrist who prescribes their Suboxone once they leave our treatment facility. The goal is that once these support systems are in place, the client can start to stepdown their dosage and eventually stop taking the Suboxone.

So, by alienating the people who are on Suboxone, by pointing them out in NA and AA meetings and saying this person is on MAT or that person is on MAT, we’re re-creating the trauma that the drugs themselves have created by not including them in the process. We have to stop pointing the finger at them like we did 20 years ago, when somebody came to a meeting and we said they weren’t clean because they were taking a psychotropic. We are re-creating the same situation that we are trying to change.

It’s time to end the stigma surrounding drug and alcohol addiction. Treatment shouldn’t be biased; the goal is the same whether you’re talking about abstinence-based treatment or medication-assisted treatment. It’s all just treatment – the result is the same – the goal is to help someone recover so they can go back to living their live without abusing drugs or alcohol.

Falsely Believing That MAT is for Weak People and Gets in the Way of Real Recovery

Another thing adding to the stigma surrounding Suboxone, and other maintenance drugs, is that in some instances they are being used the wrong way. There are people prescribing Suboxone without following up with any kind of accountability, without recommending addiction treatment or any kind of behavioral health counseling.

So, some of the misconceptions surrounding MAT comes from doctors prescribing Suboxone who don’t necessarily understand recovery or substance use. If certain doctors aren’t prescribing MAT medications appropriately, then this is adding another layer to the existing stigma and misperception problem.

We either see people who are being given too high a dosage, who act like they are high, or they are dosed too long so that the withdrawal from the MAT drug, because they aren’t tapered properly, is worse than withdrawal from heroin. But when treatment with medication is done properly, that’s not the case.

A requirement of doctors licensed to prescribe MAT medications is that they have to refer their patients to therapy so they can get the kind of services that focus on their social and psychological issues. However, how does a doctor, who isn’t an addiction treatment specialist, know their patient is actually going to group counseling sessions?

At Transformations, our MAT program includes psychiatric support, group therapy sessions and regular medication management appointments. Once they complete our medication-assisted intensive outpatient treatment program, our clients leave our facility with a plan to coordinate continuing care with other prescribers in the community.

Medication on its Own is Not a Miracle Cure

A good analogy is to compare MAT to any other disease. For instance, if a diabetic went on insulin, but they continued to eat really poorly and didn’t change their lifestyle, they wouldn’t get better. It’s not enough to just take the medication. There are people who want medication-assisted treatment to be the same thing, but MAT used by itself, without added support in the form of therapy and counseling services, won’t work. Just like any other disease, the medication will only go so far, but it’s not going to cure their disease on its own.

Saying we aren’t going to use a MAT program, because some people may abuse it, would be the same thing as saying that we aren’t going to offer treatment because some people abuse it. No facility or treatment center has a monopoly on getting people better. MAT is just one of the many individualized treatment methods we use at Transformations to help people recover from drug and alcohol addiction.