The Road to Addiction Recovery: Who Should Be On Your Health Care Team?

Are you having issues with substance use, such as drinking too much alcohol or abusing other illicit substances? If this is the case, don’t worry because there is help and hope available to you.  When you’re ready to get sober, you’ll find many people to help and support you. From your regular doctor to peer support groups, you’ll work with a variety of healthcare professionals and support teams to help you get and stay on track.

This helpful will discuss the different healthcare professionals someone recovering from substance abuse might work with during their treatment and recovery. We will cover primary care doctors, addiction specialists, inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation teams, substance abuse counselors, and addiction support groups. So, continue reading to learn how to put down the substances with some expert assistance. 

Primary Care Doctor

Your first point of contact for a substance use problem should be your primary care physician or general practitioner. This is for a few reasons. For one, they can arrange for a suite of tests to ensure that you haven’t done any lasting damage to your body, such as your organs. Blood tests and scans can determine this. However, more importantly, they can refer you to the rest of the specialist providers detailed in this article. So, while it may take some courage, it is worth summoning your inner strength to admit to your doctor that you have a problem, which is the first step in defeating any addiction. 

Addiction Specialists

Some doctors specialize in addiction. Known as addiction specialists, these treating professionals are experts in the field. They can develop treatment plans, prescribe drug replacement therapy such as methadone and suboxone, which can be used to manage opiate cravings, as well as prescribe drugs like Antabuse, which can help you stop drinking alcohol. They can also liaise with the other professionals in your support network and coordinate the treatment you’ll receive. 

Inpatient and Outpatient Rehabilitation Teams

You may require either inpatient or outpatient rehabilitation for your substance use problem. Inpatient rehab is where you’ll stay for some time, usually 28 days, but sometimes for several months, to receive treatment for your addiction. Here, treating teams are comprised of substance use counselors, social workers with an online MSW degree, peer support workers, psychologists, and other types of therapists.

Outpatient rehab involves going in each day to receive treatment but getting to go home each day, which is ideal for those with pets, kids, or other caring responsibilities. 

Regardless of the rehab type, you’ll develop coping mechanisms and tools to combat cravings, engage in group discussion therapy, and receive one-on-one support from the highly qualified and professional staff. 

You may have to commit to total abstinence from all substances when you enter inpatient or outpatient rehabilitation. 

Substance Abuse Counselors 

Some specialist counselors focus only on substance use addiction and are there to support you with your substance use problem. They will use a variety of talk-based therapies to treat your addiction, with the most common and effective therapy used being cognitive behavioral therapy or CBT. This therapy is used to treat mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, and other common problems. It can also be used to treat compulsive behaviors such as overspending, substance abuse (case in point), and overeating. 

This effective therapy method is based on several core foundations, including:

1. Psychological problems are based, in part, on unhelpful, faulty,  or distorted types of thinking.
2. Mental health issues and associated behaviors, such as substance abuse, are based partially on learned patterns.
3. People suffering from substance use can learn better ways of coping, thereby relieving various symptoms and becoming more effective, productive, and happier in their lives. They can also reduce or cease their substance use to remove some of the pain and suffering in their lives.

Addiction Support Groups

Within the community, a range of support groups exists for those experiencing substance use problems. The most common of these are Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous, which use a 12-step model for addiction recovery. There are also offshoots such as Cocaine Anonymous, Marijuana Anonymous, and Crystal Meth Anonymous. 

The 12 steps are a series of admissions, tasks, and a process to follow to achieve ongoing recovery. These programs all require total abstinence from substances to be effective. During a 12-step process, you admit your powerlessness over substances, turn your power over to something better, and begin the process of tidying up your life, including making a list of people you have harmed and making amends to them. The key difference here is that the people who are helping you are former alcoholics and addicts whose expertise lies in their lived experience, despite any professional qualifications they may have.

For those not keen on 12-step recovery, there is SMART Recovery, which is a recovery support group focused on harm reduction and harm minimization in a goal-based program. In SMART meetings, you share how your week has gone and set a goal for the week ahead. This may be not using or reducing your use of substances, with a view to cutting back. Unlike 12 steps, abstinence is not required for SMART Recovery. SMART facilitators are trained group facilitators who may have a range of qualifications.

This helpful and informative article has shared about the road to addiction recovery and who should be on your healthcare team when it comes time to seek assistance with your drinking or drug use.