Addiction treatment Pennsylvania

What Addiction Treatment Is

Addiction is a chronic disease characterized by compulsive, or uncontrollable, drug seeking and use despite its many negative consequences. Because addiction affects so many aspects of the body and brain—such as memory, motivation and behavior—it typically cannot be cured in terms of elimination. However, it can be treated with medication, psychosocial therapies (i.e., counseling), and sometimes a combination of both.

While addiction is often perceived to be a failure of moral character on the part of an individual, its development has been scientifically proven to be associated with biological and genetic processes and environmental factors.

It's important to note that not everyone who uses drugs will become addicted. The likelihood of drug abuse becoming drug addiction does vary, however, according to age at first use, frequency of use, and length of use—some of the risk factors associated with progression to addiction among people who use drugs.

Addiction treatment in Pennsylvania includes behavioral therapy and sometimes medications to help you stop using drugs, stay drug-free, and overcome any compulsive drug craving or seeking that may be present. When you stop using drugs suddenly, you may have intense cravings and other symptoms of withdrawal. Doctors supervise your detox course, helping you manage drug cravings and withdrawing safely from the drug.

Usually, you meet with a counselor or therapist, who teaches you new ways of dealing with your life stressors and handling cravings.

Family therapy is important because drug abuse often creates problems in the family.

Principles of Effective Treatment

Effective addiction treatment matches care to the patient's particular needs, abilities, and preferences and is tailored to address each patient's specific problems and circumstances. Research shows that a multitude of settings and approaches facilitate recovery. There are multiple pathways to addiction recovery. Some individuals respond well to treatments that are based solely on medical care. Others benefit most from an approach that involves behavioral therapy and medication. The best programs provide a combination of therapies and other services to address the needs of the individual patient.

Treatment should be readily available in a variety of settings, including residential care facilities, outpatient clinics, or hospitals, and can involve a range of different health professionals, such as doctors, psychologists, nurses, and pharmacists.

Patients need not enter treatment voluntarily, although it is helpful when they do. Individuals who come to treatment through court-mandated or other non-voluntary avenues can also benefit from treatment if the appropriate services are provided. Treatment providers should assess patients for any co-occurring medical, mental, and substance use conditions and provide needed services.

No single treatment is appropriate for all individuals, and treatment needs to be continually evaluated and modified to meet the changing needs of patients. Treatment plans must address each patient's specific problems across all areas of his or her life.

Treatment needs to be individualized. In addition to assessing the patient's drug use problem, a comprehensive evaluation of the person's physical and mental health condition is necessary.

Effective treatment deals with more than just the drug abuse. It addresses a patient's medical, psychological, social, vocational and legal problems.

Getting an Assessment

A level of care assessment looks at the whole person. It considers their physical health, mental health, social supports and employment situations. It also considers the person's living situation and the impact of substance use on them and those around them. A trained clinician makes the decision on which level is right based on the information they gather during the assessment.

A screening may be conducted to determine if a level of care assessment should be scheduled and can take place over the phone or in-person, depending upon what the individual has requested. This is usually done by local SCA staff who are trained to ask questions about the person's substance use history, physical health and other factors relevant to treatment.

When an assessment is completed, a recommendation will be made about which level of treatment is appropriate.

A full and complete assessment by trained professionals is the first step toward finding the right level of care and services for a particular problem.

Different levels of care may be recommended depending on an individual's needs, including:

• Outpatient treatment
• Intensive outpatient treatment
• Partial hospitalization program (PHP)
• Inpatient/residential care (detox and rehabilitation)

Some people with mild to moderate problems may benefit from treatment as outpatients or in a partial-hospitalization setting. More severe addiction problems require more intensive care, such as residential treatment or detoxification followed by residential treatment.

Levels of Care in Pennsylvania

In Pennsylvania, Level 1 outpatient means less than nine hours per week of structured programming. For Level 2.1, the client will attend nine to nineteen hours per week of intensive outpatient programming.

In Pennsylvania, Level 3 residential means up to 24-hour care in a rehabilitation facility or halfway house. The person may receive intensive counseling and group therapy sessions, plus a full range of services including education, employment assistance, and medication management.

Behavioral Therapies

Behavioral therapies teach coping skills that enhance recovery. Cognitive-behavioral treatments teach patients how to recognize and deal with triggers to use drugs and how to prevent a return to drug abuse. Multidimensional family therapy, which is designed for adolescents with drug abuse problems, helps modify the family interactions to better support behavior change. Motivational enhancement therapy helps clients recognize their own ambivalence about quitting drug use and increase their commitment to do so.

This treatment teaches patients how to change their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors related to drug abuse. It is one of the most common types of addiction counseling. In CBT, you work with a therapist or other mental health professional to identify feelings and situations that lead to your drug use and learn new ways of coping and responding.

In this form of short-term treatment, trained therapists help motivate individuals in recovery so they are open to change. MET helps overcome denial by considering all factors related to alcohol abuse and how it affects their lives and the lives of others. You'll be encouraged to adopt healthy behaviors and make changes required for recovery.

This is a type of behavioral therapy that uses rewards to encourage a person to change their behavior. In contingency management, you earn rewards such as vouchers for achieving treatment goals or staying clean. The reward system encourages positive changes in behaviors.

Motivational interviewing is another form of short-term counseling that focuses on how someone can obtain the desire to change. It helps individuals understand their own reasons to quit and how to deal with resistance to change. In motivational interviewing, your therapist will ask you open-ended questions about your drug use and other behaviors to help identify your goals.

Medications for Opioid and Alcohol Use Disorders

Medications for opioid use disorder include the following:

• methadone
• buprenorphine
• naltrexone

Medications for alcohol use disorder include the following:

• acamprosate
• disulfiram
• naltrexone

Medications for opioid use disorder include methadone and buprenorphine, which help with cravings and withdrawal symptoms.

Methadone is an opioid agonist that reduces craving and relieves withdrawal symptoms by activating the same receptors in the brain that other opioids activate but without causing euphoria. It has been shown to increase retention in treatment.

Naltrexone (ReVia) is an opioid antagonist that blocks the euphoric effects of opioids, which may reduce cravings and relapse. It can be administered orally as a tablet. A long-acting injectable form is also used.

The FDA has also approved disulfiram for the treatment of chronic alcoholism. When taken as directed in a complete treatment program, including psychosocial support, disulfiram can help prevent relapse to drinking by producing an unpleasant experience after even small amounts of alcohol are consumed.

Vivitrol is given once monthly by injection. The most important step in selecting a medication is to have a thorough discussion with your doctor about the medications and their benefits, risks, and side effects. For example, methadone will only be prescribed by a specially licensed clinic known as an opioid treatment program.

Treatment for Co-Occurring Disorders

Because substance use and mental health disorders have similar biological, psychological, and social elements, they can be treated successfully at the same time in integrated programs. The following services should be available for people who need both types of treatment:

• Psychiatric assessment
• Mental health counseling
• Medication management
• Group therapy and education
• Intensive outpatient (IOP) and partial hospitalization programs (PHP)

Co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders occur when people have both a mental disorder (such as depression or bipolar disorder) and a problem with drugs or alcohol. Treatment can help you address both issues at the same time, which is important because having one condition often makes it more difficult to treat the other.

A treatment plan should be developed with goals for each disorder.

How Long Treatment Takes

Remaining in treatment long enough matters because more time in treatment and longer lengths of stay have been associated with better outcomes in research studies. It is important to note that addiction is a chronic disease and relapse does occur for many patients. However, it is also an illness that is often treated successfully. Research shows that combining behavioral counseling with medications, when appropriate, is the most effective way to treat drug addiction.

Most people need at least three months in treatment before they begin to recover fully. However, the time needed in treatment depends on the severity of the addiction and the individual's ability to stay abstinent from substances during recovery. The length of treatment can be shorter or longer than 3 months depending upon an individual's needs. Generally speaking, longer stays are often more effective.

There are many different types of outpatient programs. Outpatient therapy is often used as a way to supplement inpatient or residential care. For some, it may be the only kind of care they need. For others, it will serve as aftercare once they have finished their stay at an inpatient program.

Paying for Treatment in Pennsylvania

The Pennsylvania Medicaid Program offers coverage for addiction treatment and recovery services. Coverage includes assessment and diagnosis; counseling; medically assisted detoxification and rehabilitation in hospitals or non-hospital settings; intensive inpatient and residential treatment programs; medication management, including Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT); outpatient care; and partial hospitalization.

Paying for addiction treatment in Pennsylvania may require a combination of strategies. Medicaid may also cover addiction treatment in Pennsylvania. If you don't have health coverage, there are resources and programs that can help pay for the cost of care.

Starting Treatment Through Your County Drug and Alcohol Office

Your county drug and alcohol office can help you access treatment. SCAs work closely with mental health providers, treatment facilities, and other state and local government agencies to provide prevention, intervention, education, and treatment services for drug and alcohol problems.

The purpose of the assessment is to help you determine what level of care is needed, such as detoxification or residential treatment. It will also provide a diagnosis for your specific substance use disorder and help identify any other problems (like mental illness) that could be causing or complicating your current situation.

County drug and alcohol offices known as Single County Authorities (SCA) are responsible for providing local assessment and referral services.

If you have private insurance and would like to verify that your provider accepts your insurance, you can call the facility or call the telephone number provided on your insurance card. You can also check to see if the facility is listed as an in-network provider through your insurance company.

Addiction treatment by Pennsylvania city

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