MAT Providers

Let's face the facts, people are dying around us every day from this disease. I think that we would all agree that the end goal is to overcome addiction and not have to rely on some other legal drug as a way to cope with life. Unfortunately, many die from addiction without ever achieving that goal. Without medically assisted treatment (MAT), addicts are three times as likely to relapse. Many of these relapses end in death! Like many of you I would prefer to see the addict off of any mind altering substances, but honestly, I would rather see them alive and on a MAT program than to find out they are dead. MAT when done right is a harm reduction model.

When done right, MAT can be an effective harm reduction approach to help someone overcome addiction. Unfortunately not all MAT programs do things right and are basically legal drug dealers working out of a fancy and legal traphouse. These are the ones that pass out Suboxone or Methadone in one week, two week, or one month quantities and provide little if any additional treatment. Unfortunately when passing out these quantities of legal drugs there is a high opportunity of hustling, trading, and sellings these medications on the street and ultimately the person returns to the illegal drugs they were trying to get away from.

MAT, when done right, should be a "high touch" treatment option which combines counseling and frequent dosing of the medications. The treatment plan should leverage MAT, as a harm reduction model, which enables the recovering addict to get off of the harmful drugs, obtain counseling to help develop healthy coping skills, encourage the client to actively participate in 12-step recovery programs.

My personal philosophy is

• If you are able, get the person into detox and a 28 day program.
• For opioid and alcohol abuser, have them get the Vivitrol (opioid & alcohol blocker) shot before they leave the program.
• After the 28 day program, transition to either a PHP or IOP program
• During this time, the person should be actively attending meetings, get a sponsor, and working the steps
• Continue to get the Vivitrol shot monthly for the next 12 months
• By the last shot, the person should have completed the steps, continues to attend multiple meetings per week, have a sponsor and a strong sober support system, and should be able to safely go off of Vivitrol and continue to maintain their sobriety with the support of the rooms and the relationships they have developed

For chronic opioid relapsers would be:

1. Suboxone high dose to low dose taper over a two month period
2. Transition to a low dose Sublocade depot shot, administered monthly for 4 months
3. During this time, the person should be actively attending meetings, get a sponsor, and working the steps

7 days after the last Sublocade shot, transition to Naltrexone (opioid & alcohol blocker) for 5 days

1. After the 5 days, get the Vivitrol shot (opioid & alcool blocker) monthly for the next 12 months
2. By the last shot, the person should have completed the steps, continues to attend multiple meetings per week, have a sponsor and a strong sober support system, and should be able to safely go off of Vivitrol and continue to maintain their sobriety with the support of the rooms and the relationships they have developed

Below are the Columbus MAT Providers that I have personally worked with which do MAT the right way. There may be others, but these are the ones that I personally worked with.

• Clean Slate Outpatient Addiction Medicine
• Positive Recovery Solutions (PRS)
• Access Ohio Mental Health