Qualities of the Best Methadone Clinics

Someone considering methadone clinic treatment has likely been struggling with opiate addiction for a long time. Attempts to stop using have been met with frustration as drug cravings and withdrawal effects make relapse inevitable.

Methadone clinics have a long history of helping recovering addicts live drug-free lives, one day at a time. While methadone clinics do have to follow standard treatment protocols, not all of them rank among the best.

The best clinics attend to the needs of each patient on an individual level.

Qualities of the best methadone clinics can be seen in how any one clinic works with each individual in terms of addressing their specific treatment needs. The best methadone clinics also employ a well-rounded approach to dealing with the multiple challenges recovering addicts face. Lastly, a quality methadone program assigns no set limits to how long a person should remain in treatment.

Individualized Treatment Approach

A cookie-cutter approach to addiction treatment seldom offers an effective treatment approach. Opiate addictions affect different people in any number of ways, with each person facing different challenges in recovery.

While addiction remains the prevailing issue, some people may also be dealing with –

• Family conflicts
• Financial problems
• Psychological problems
• Loss of employment

According to the U. S. National Library of Medicine, qualities of the best methadone clinics include –

• Methadone dosage amounts based on a person’s treatment needs
• Providing motivational incentives for maintaining abstinence
• Ongoing counseling and psychotherapy sessions
• Vocational assistance options
• Family involvement in the treatment process

Methadone clinics that take an individualized approach to treating opiate addiction base each person’s treatment plan on his or her specific treatment needs after conducting a comprehensive evaluation.

Program Offerings

Methadone programs may specifically treat one stage of the recovery process, such as detox, or offer a range of treatment services to address most every stage of recovery. This means a person may have to transfer from one program to another at different stages of recovery, which can be a jarring, unsettling process that can actually aggravate drug-using impulses.

Rather than require recovering addicts to transition from one program to another, the best methadone clinics offer an all-inclusive range of treatment services. Some of the services offered will likely include –

• Detoxification treatment
• Inpatient treatment
• Outpatient services
• Access to on-call doctors
• Alternative therapy options
• Aftercare services

Most people coming off chronic opiate addictions will require a full spectrum of treatment services, which are much easier to access when offered through a single program.

Program Durations

Methadone programs can vary in length, with some running only 30 days while other may run anywhere from 60 to 90 days or longer. In actuality, treatment durations of a year or longer best equip recovering opiate addicts for long-term abstinence, according to the National Institutes of Health.

The best methadone clinic programs base a person’s length in treatment on how he or she progresses along the way. Otherwise, a program runs the risk of discharging people who still struggle with withdrawal, cravings and addiction behaviors that eventually drive them back to drug use.