Opioid Treatment Center Archives - Page 6 of 7 - Colorado Medication Assisted Recovery

What Is Naloxone?

Posted on February 10, 2021 by cmarnew

Naloxone is a type of injection provided in an emergency situation to stop an opioid overdose from occurring. It is powerful enough to reverse many life-threatening conditions resulting from using opiates but is never guaranteed to be effective. This drug has other uses, but for those who struggle with opioid addictions, this opioid antagonist is often a life-saving measure applied when an overdose occurs. At Colorado Medication Assisted Recovery, our team of professionals provides support for those in recovery from opioid addiction with medication and counseling.

How Does Naloxone Work?

This medication works very rapidly to reverse the effects of opioids. As such, it is called an opioid antagonist. That means it binds to the opioid receptors in the brain. As it does, it stops the effect the other opioids in a person’s body is having.

For example, those consuming too much heroin or pain medication may have shallow, slowed breathing that limits the amount of oxygen reaching the body’s organs. When Naloxone is used, it can stop the effect that the drug is having, allow for normal respirations – or improvements – to occur. It may help in situations where a person has shallow or very little breathing or, in some cases, when a person stops breathing.

This drug is given in an injection. A Naloxone injection comes with a specific amount of the drug in a liquid solution. It needs to be injected into a vein or can be injected directly into the muscle. Emergency medical providers and police officers often use these pre-filled auto-injection devices that contain the drug.

A person who is engaging in drug use will be unable to use the injection themselves due to their health state. For those who are considering using it as a way to prevent overdose death while getting high, this is never recommended and rarely is successful.

What to Consider When an Overdose Occurs

If an overdose occurs, a person needs to receive emergency medical help immediately. While Naloxone works to reverse the effects of the opioid in the system, it cannot treat addiction, nor can it help to stop dependence on these drugs. In addition, it may not continue to work especially if the dose of opioids taken continues to increase.

For those with a loved one struggling with opioid addiction, treatment in a professional setting is critical. It may help to save a person’s life to administer this injection. However, because of how powerful these drugs are, that individual may not be able to stop using opioids on his or her own. Professional treatment, using other medications and psychotherapy, can provide the support a person needs.

How to Get Help for Opioid Addiction and Dependence

There are solutions for drug addiction, including for those who have overdosed previously. At Colorado Medication Assisted Recovery, we offer a range of therapies that provide outstanding one-on-one support in a safe environment. For those looking for medication-assisted treatment on an outpatient basis, our team can offer help.

Some of our programs and treatment options include:

For those who are using this drug as a way to prevent death due to increased opioid use, there is help available that can help a person reclaim their life. Our programs fit your schedule and can help you build the tools you need for lasting recovery.

Invest in Treatment at Colorado Medication Assisted Recovery

Naloxone may provide a temporary solution for those who are facing an opioid overdose. Yet, it is not a solution to the problem. As an opioid antagonist, it is a powerful tool to help in emergency situations. The best way to avoid an overdose is through preventative treatment. The Colorado Medication Assisted Recovery team can help. Call 833.448.0127 or connect with us online now.

Prosocial Behavior

Posted on September 25, 2020 by cmarnew

Prosocial behavior is a crucial element to successful opioid-addiction recovery, but why? Well, on July 1^st of this year, a study was published by the Department of Health & Human Services confirming that recovery from opioid addiction demands prosocial behavior. Here, we’ll explain why social interaction and general prosocial behavior so crucial to the recovery process.

Prosocial Behavior And Recovery

Primary to the recovery lifestyle is learning to live in diametric opposition to the addicted life. Since the opioid-addict is chronically insecure, judgmental, and socially isolated, recovery demands self-acceptance, changing antisocial behavior & thinking, & learning to sustain meaningful peer connections.

Group Therapy Benefits

Group therapy offers the perfect environment to learn and practice these prosocial skills by creating a place to both provide education around prosocial behavior and a place to practice and provide peer feedback to evolve prosocial skills. Similarly, peer support settings offer a space to both practice and to “put up a mirror,” learning from the mistakes of those you inherently relate with. This a huge reason why, for example, the pandemic has increased relapse and overdose rates considerably; people are more isolated, and there is a built-in justification to practice antisocial behavior.

Contact Colorado Medication Assisted Recovery

Opioid addiction is a difficult disease to recover come, but it’s necessary. As opioids continue to kill more & more American’s, CMAR is here to provide the tools and services, including prosocial behavioral development, to empower our patients to achieve and sustain their recovery from opioid-dependence, other addictions, and all co-occurring mental health. We are Colorado’s most comprehensive opioid-recovery program.

Learn More at www.Colorado-Recovery.com or call 833.448.0127.

Structured Therapy

Posted on September 18, 2020 by cmarnew

Research clearly shows that structure is a necessary aspect of any successful recovery process, particularly that of opioid addiction. Residential treatment provides structure by implementing fully regimented schedules for each patient. In a 12 step program, the steps and meetings are clearly outlined and structured. Yet in typical opioid treatment programs, accessed by around 90% of opioid addicts in Colorado, there is no regiment beyond medication schedules.

Addiction Treatment Therapies

In opioid treatment, individual therapy & group therapy are commonly optional; support groups are optional, the “integration” of services as a whole is completely optional. This winds up putting the needs to decrease barriers to treatment access ahead of the quality of treatment itself. Why? Because these providers are predominantly driven by one of two things: revenue or public health. The medical practices want the cash flow of self-pay suboxone patients, and clinics want to provide the public health benefits of getting people off of street drugs and IV use.

The Importance of Community

At CMAR, we know that the only way to help someone achieve lasting, sustainable recovery from addiction is to commit to structure, accept support, and participate in the community. That’s why CMAR is Colorado’s only OBH licensed opioid recovery program that’s licensed as an outpatient addiction treatment program. Our intensive outpatient and outpatient groups, individual and family therapy services are part of treatment here. The only optional elements are our medical and pharmacy services.

Contact Colorado Medication Assisted Recovery

If you or a loved one needs treatment for addiction, contact Colorado’s ONLY structured, supportive opioid recovery program. Our private addiction treatment center is right here in Metro Denver and available statewide via telehealth. Call today!

Learn More at www.Colorado-Recovery.com or call 833.448.0127.

Why It’s Necessary to Address “Co-Occurring Disorders” in Addiction Treatment

Posted on September 8, 2020 by cmarnew

According to SAMHSA, The definition of a co-occurring disorder is the “coexistence of both a mental health disorder and a substance use disorder.” Co-occurring disorders are widespread among the addicted population, with as many as 95% of addicts suffering from both addiction and mental health disorders. These statistics apply to opioid-addicted as well. At Colorado Medication Assisted Recovery, we provide treatment for co-occurring disorders in our addiction treatment center.

Co-Occurring Treatment For Opioid Addiction

Yet, almost all opioid-specific treatment providers offer no care for patients who have a co-occurring mental health condition. Even those opioid addiction treatment programs that do offer clinical services almost uniformly fail to assess for mental health conditions and only offer individual therapy or case management. This is problematic not only because they’re only treating half of an opioid addict’s problems, but because in doing so, they set patients up for relapse. Mental-health is inextricably linked to addiction, so if we don’t treat them simultaneously, it is as if we put a band-aid on a broken bone.

CMAR Treatment Approach

At CMAR, treatment begins with clinical assessments at our mental health treatment center, enabling us to identify the nature of the addiction and all co-occurring mental health disorders from the start. Patients then engaging in intensive, comprehensive counseling services to address and resolve all underlying issues. Simultaneously, our medical team provides addiction medicine and psych services to ensure well-rounded and sustainable patient recovery. Learn more at CMAR and call 833.448.0127.

Why Peer-Support Is Necessary In Sustaining Recovery From Opioid-Addiction

Posted on September 6, 2020 by cmarnew

Recovery is not something that can be done alone. In fact, every major treatment-outcome study shows a clear link between peer-support & long-term addiction recovery. Opioid dependence is no exception. Yet unfortunately, over 90% of those receiving treatment for opioid-dependence are granted no access to a supportive peer group. 90% of Clinics (Methadone & Suboxone), addiction psychiatry practices, and addiction medicine practices in Colorado fail to provide even a single peer-support group during an addict’s treatment. At Colorado Medication Assisted Recovery, we offer peer support to help you recover from opioid addiction.

Evidence-Based Alternatives

Clinics and “suboxone doctors” prescribe, dispense, and sometimes provide some case management or counseling, but little more. Why? Because these providers are only trying to help, patients achieve one single outcome: survival. At Colorado Medication Assisted Recovery, on the other hand, we designed a more evidence-based alternative, which seeks to empower each patient to not just survive, but thrive. We want our patients to live happy, productive, socially healthy lives. We want them to use the gift of recovery to live, love, laugh, feel, connect, and so on.

Recovery From Opioid Dependence

Though CMAR certainly integrates first-rate addiction medicine, integrated & comprehensive group therapy programs & individual therapy programs, family therapy programs, and case management, CMAR also provides peer-led support groups. This group creates a community for our patients, all of whom share the common bond of being in recovery from opioid dependence. This group helps create lasting connections, peer-support systems, and accountability. Yet another reason why CMAR is Colorado’s most comprehensive, evidence-based opioid program. Learn more at CMAR or call us at 833.448.0127.

Where to Find an Opioid Recovery Center in Boulder

Posted on September 5, 2020 by cmarnew

Tens of millions of people in the US abuse opioids every year, with a few million developing tolerance and dependence on the drugs. Few of those who develop an addiction go to rehab, but many people choose to self-medicate. Those who try to stop without expert help experience relapse because of the overwhelming withdrawal symptoms. At the Colorado Medication Assisted Recovery (CMAR), we agree that checking into an opioid recovery center will help you overcome opioid abuse and regain sobriety. Contact CMAR at 833.448.0127 to learn more about our opioid recovery center near Boulder, CO.

Why Do You Need an Opioid Recovery Center?

Hundreds of Americans die daily because of opioid abuse and addiction-related cases. Furthermore, the number of opioid overdose deaths in America increased considerably in 2018 from the previous year. The statistics point to the dire need for opioids abuse treatment.

If you are struggling with an opioid use disorder, your top priority should be finding an opioid treatment program that will facilitate permanent recovery. Ask yourself: What unique aspect must such a program contain to ensure the unpleasant withdrawal symptoms do not force you to relapse?

Some of the opioid withdrawal symptoms that require immediate rehab help at an outpatient treatment program include:

Hypertension
Body tremors and shaking
Trouble concentrating
Slurred speech
Breathing problems
Emotional numbness
Nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea

An ideal recovery program offers customized opioid treatment to meet your individual needs. Different people face varied challenges that require personalized treatment plans. Those who do not access personalized care face a wide array of problems after recovery.

Where can you find a recovery center that promises you reliable aftercare and support once you complete your addiction treatment?

Opioid Addiction Treatment in Boulder, Colorado

At CMAR, we offer personalized treatment and aftercare programs to ensure that you do not experience relapse once you regain your sobriety. To enroll for a reliable opioid addiction treatment program in Boulder, reach out to our professionals today.

Our facility has a qualified and experienced team of therapists, clinical officers, and other healthcare providers who will handle your opioid abuse recovery process. The professionals will accord you the essential support, supervision, and guidance you need.

CMAR uses medication-assisted treatment and aftercare programs that are useful in achieving full recovery. We will teach you more about your condition and help you set attainable recovery goals.

Most individuals are unable to overcome substance abuse due to intense withdrawal symptoms. Having dealt with many other people in a similar situation, the therapists at CMAR understand how to offer you the much-needed help.

Why Addiction Treatment Is Vital

While you’re at our addiction treatment center, you’ll find that you have the support of our clinical treatment staff. You will work closely with your therapist to achieve set goals. Because it is an outpatient treatment center, you can go home at the end of the day’s treatment.

Once you indicate positive change and ability to manage withdrawal after leaving the opioid recovery center, our case management and aftercare programs can ensure long-term sobriety.

It is worth noting that the highly addictive nature of opioids makes aftercare programs critical in ensuring you can overcome relapse episodes as you return to the outside world.

During your treatment program, you will participate in several types of evidence-based treatment programs, such as:

Overcome Opioid Abuse at CMAR

Do not struggle with opioid abuse any longer. Reach out to the Colorado Medication Assisted Recovery for information on how to overcome addiction at our opioid recovery center. Contact CMAR today at 833.448.0127 to schedule an appointment.

Why CMAR Integrates Structured Therapy

Posted on September 3, 2020 by cmarnew

Over the last few years, opioid treatment providers, and programs of all sorts have begun offering increased services. Some offer case management, some offer individual therapy programs, and some even offer peer-support groups. Yet no program in Colorado, until Colorado Medication Assisted Recovery, had ever integrated the services; they’ve always been “ancillary offerings.”

Our Addiction Treatment Program

At CMAR, we designed an addiction treatment program, which rejects the notion that medication can ever be the central component of someone’s recovery. Addiction cannot be treated with a pill alone because it is the combination of a physical and mental disorder. Thus, medication is often necessary, but never the central guiding force. The central feature of effective opioid addiction treatment is therapy and peer-support. Therapy provides necessary psychoeducation, affords patients an opportunity to process emotional dysfunction, resolves trauma, reduces the impact of mental health conditions, helps generate healthy coping mechanisms, and builds trust.

Opiate Addiction Treatment

So what’s the most effective way for opiate addiction treatment programs to approach treatment? Well, it’s to use medications within a broader intensive outpatient/outpatient therapy experience. For someone to start and remain a patient at CMAR, we don’t demand that they take medications to assist their recovery. We believe it’s a hugely effective and helpful component, but we do not mandate it. What is necessary at CMAR is participation in group therapy programs and individual therapy programs. These settings are opportunities for CMAR patients to achieve sustainable resolution for their addiction and co-occurring mental health conditions. Learn more at CMAR or call us at 833.448.0127.

Prescriptions Alone Don’t Work: The Need for Complete Medication Assisted Treatment to Effectively Treat Opioid Dependence

Posted on July 25, 2020 by cmarnew

According to the NIH, there are “…4 important components of MAT models of care” but in Colorado, over 90% of patients only receive 1 one of them. CMAR was developed to change that, by integrating all 4 components of effective Medication-Assisted Treatment into a single program. So how and why does our groundbreaking treatment approach matter so much? In 2018, research found that in Colorado, nearly every person in the state on “MAT”, only receives 1 of the 4 components of effective MAT. of the services. The causes are many, and the impact is clear: Coloradans on Medication-Assisted Treatment have been woefully and systematically underserved…until CMAR.

The 1^st of the 4 main components of MAT, is pharmacological therapy, which is a fancy term referring to the prescription and administration of medications. This includes Buprenorphine (i.e. Suboxone) and Naltrexone (i.e. Vivitrol) based medications. Crucial and central to MAT, it’s the only part that Coloradans routinely have access to. At CMAR, we don’t just assess, diagnose, prescribe, and administer these meds, we carry them too. This creates unprecedented access to the medications that patients need consistently in order to avoid relapse and overdose.

The 2^nd component of MAT is “provider & community educational interventions”. This involves engaging members of the community, particularly stakeholders in addiction treatment, on the value and importance of using & having access to MAT. This has the effect of increasing the number of opiate addicts that get onto MAT (therefore reducing overdoses), and it significantly reduces stigma. Although this component does exist in Colorado, it is almost entirely done not by the MAT providers, but rather by public health officials & organizations. As helpful as that is, this keeps the core elements of MAT fractured, and keeps the message of those who provide MAT faceless. People often need a smiling, trustable face to combine with service to fully let their guards down and destigmatize something completely. At CMAR, we integrate these services through our community engagement department.

The 3^rd element of MAT is the integration of substance use disorder (SUD) treatment. In the context of MAT, this can be in either a residential or outpatient addiction treatment setting. Yet only a few residential facilities in the state provide both, and none of these programs provide continuing support. SUD treatment, at both intensive and standard outpatient levels, is central at CMAR. In fact, we’re Colorado’s only licensed Medication-Assisted Treatment Facility (OMAT) that is even licensed as an outpatient and intensive outpatient addiction treatment provider.

The 4^th and final necessary component of MAT is called “psychosocial services”. These services focus on healthy social integration and the resolution of familial issues like marriage and other close relationships. Support within a community of recovering individuals is perhaps the most common form of case management, and one of, if not the most beneficial to many. Many MAT programs do offer these services in the form of case management, but they are unfortunately provided in lieu of, not in concert with, SUD treatment. Except, of course, at CMAR. Here we offer family support services as well as peer-based support groups and case management services.

Medication-Assisted Treatment is all about medication assisting actual, evidence-based treatment. It isn’t about merely prescribing medications and offering some case management, but about wrap-around opioid-dependence treatment. At CMAR, it is our mission to ensure that each of our patients receives the benefits of each element of MAT, and in so doing, change their lives for the better.

Learn More at www.Colorado-Recovery.com or call (720) 778-2627

The End of Cookie Cutters: Truly Individualized Opioid Recovery

Posted on July 12, 2020 by cmarnew

At CMAR, Colorado’s first recovery-oriented and clinically driven opioid recovery program, we work with our patients to identify the most appropriate course for them, while still ensuring that they receive all of the clinical care and social support necessary for recovery.

Medication-assisted treatment, pure harm-reduction, and abstinence-based care are the three primary “umbrellas” of treatment for opioid dependence. There are certainly other methods, but these are the most common and researched approaches offered in the US.

Any program that claims to be individualized, and then offers only one “path” to achieving abstinence, by definition is only partially individualized. At CMAR, we recognize those limitations, so despite a somewhat misleading name, we offer treatment for opioid dependence (and co-occurring disorders) using abstinence, medication-assisted, and harm reduction. Our goal is to meet our patients where they’re at and treat their needs. If those needs call for a patient to remain abstinent or achieve abstinence after a Suboxone taper, we support that. If a patient just wants Vivitrol and clinical care, we will proudly offer them that care. At CMAR, medication-assisted treatment is option, but therapy and community are not. We recognize that there is no alternative to the processing and learning of new “tools” derived from therapy and that there is no replacement for the support and love of one’s peers.

Recovery is a personal, ongoing process of personal development, yet one-size-fits-all programs cannot honor that truth. For that very reason, we built our program with the intention of guiding patients through the format of care that they seek, and that is clinically and medically indicated. We are proud to provide medication-assisted treatment, yet we fully recognize that this “MAT” is not the only way.

Learn More at www.Colorado-Recovery.com or call (720) 778 2627.

The Importance of On-Site and Remote Opioid Treatment

Posted on July 11, 2020 by cmarnew

Recovery from opioid dependence is a difficult, but life-saving endeavor. The process can involve many ups and downs and demands a lifelong commitment to change in order to avoid relapse.

But the good news is that it can be done, through integrated-care including medications, clinical treatment, accountability, and peer-support. The only problem is that with only one integrated care program in Colorado (Colorado Medication-Assisted Recovery) only people in Metro Denver can actually get to the in-person program just North of the city limits.

Thankfully, no matter where someone lives in the state, CMAR’s remote treatment option offers unparalleled treatment services for people addicted to opioids. Both have their benefits, but they are equally effective at empowering patients to achieve a lasting, lifelong recovery.

CMAR’s in-person program is a completely unique approach to treatment for Colorado. We fuse addiction medicine, group, individual, and family therapy, with peer support and accountability for an unmatched recovery experience. Just off of I-25 in Thornton, CMAR is easily accessible to anyone in the central, west, east, and north metro Denver areas. But outside that part of the state, it’s not accessible in person.

Enter CMAR-Remote: Our Telehealth-based, HIPAA compliant, full-service integrated Medication Assisted Recovery program provides all of the services as our in-person program. CMAR-Remote is Colorado’s first and only web-based treatment program to offer a combination of addiction medicine, intensive outpatient counseling (including individual, group, and family therapy), wraparound case-management and peer support, plus urinalysis! Every aspect of a patient’s opioid dependence treatment is now accessible from home, enabling those with mobility issues, those outside of North Metro Denver, and those who are otherwise unable to make it to our physical center regularly, to receive the most comprehensive treatment available.

Whether at our physical center or on the web, at Colorado Medication Assisted Recovery, we are 100% focused on treating individuals suffering from opioid dependence and any co-occurring addiction and mental health concerns.

Learn More at www.Colorado-Recovery.com or call (720) 778-2627