mortiz095

By now, we've all heard about the recent studies challenging the conventional wisdom on counseling in buprenorphine treatment. Now comes news about a new approach for methadone maintenance treatment, too - this one an even scarier prospect for fellow counselors. Authors of an in-press article in the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment  substituted 1/2 of the traditional counseling in an MMT clinic for a web-based behavioral intervention called the "Therapeutic Education System" (TES). The results showed significantly better outcomes (measured as % weeks of opioid abstinence) in the group randomized to reduced standard treatment plus TES, compared to the group who received only standard treatment. Figure 2 from the study: As demand for technology-based interventions grows, it's likely we'll continue to see treatment adjuncts like this one more and more often. What I'd like to know is how data like this will be viewed by the chorus of experts advocating for a...

As first responders, law enforcement officers are one of the most common groups of people to witness an opioid overdose. However, no one has ever asked the officers how they would view a training program to equip them to handle this type of situation - until now. A study out of Drug and Alcohol Dependence    indicates that many officers would welcome drug overdose prevention training and, in particular, naloxone/Narcan administration. It seems this study is welcome news to the growing chorus of overdose prevention advocates. As the body of evidence showing these efforts to be effective continues to grow, the importance of involving law enforcement in the discussion is obvious. The abstract via Science Direct: Abstract Background Law enforcement is often the first to respond to medical emergencies in the community, including overdose. Due to the nature of their job, officers have also witnessed first-hand the changing demographic of drug users and devastating effects on their ...

A recent commenter asked these questions: Anonymous has left a new comment on your post " Is Maintenance the Best Therapy for Opioid Addicti... ":  Dr. Willenbring, Would you agree that a person in recovery should have a solid relapse prevention plan in place regardless of the recovery path they choose. For example a person could choose abstinence-based recovery (AA/NA, CBT, counseling, etc.), Medication Management, or a combination of those, in whatever multitude of variations. Isn't it still imperative that they stay away from their former lifestyle as much as possible? -Stay away from the places you obtained your drug of choice? -Stay away from the places you used your drug of choice? -Stay away from the people that provided your drug of choice? -Stay away from the people you used with? What are your thoughts regarding these and other common relapse prevention measures with regard any treatment/recovery option available?  The simplest answer is that yes, a relapse prev...