Addiction Treatment Program

The Addiction Treatment Program is located at 85 Mechanic Street, Suite 3-B1, Lebanon, NH.

The program is open Monday through Thursday. Evaluations are available through open access. Patients do not need a referral. Evaluations are available mornings and afternoons, Monday through Thursday. While no appointment is necessary for an evaluation, please call the Addiction Treatment Program to verify availability on any given day.

Groups are offered throughout the day, including during evening hours. Individual treatment sessions are available by scheduled appointment.

Our evaluation service is designed to assess an individual's needs and match the person to the appropriate type of treatment. Evaluation includes a clinical interview focused on substance use history, medical interview as needed, urine toxicology, and breath analysis. The person being evaluated and the referring physician (if any) receive timely feedback regarding treatment recommendations.

Our program believes everyone can get better. After an assessment, the treatment recommended is matched to the severity of the identified addictive disorder. The Intensive Outpatient Program covers a period of time that allows patients to make significant progress if they attend as scheduled and participate in the group and individual sessions. The treatment combines motivational, behavioral, relapse prevention, and 12-step facilitation. Our program also offers Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) with buprenorphine for patients with opioid use disorders.

The Motivational Model used in treatment theorizes that everyone who enters the program will be at some degree of readiness to change their substance use behavior. The "stage of change" will be somewhat different for each participant. The model allows each person to move through stages of change at a pace that works for that person while not compromising others in the group.

The program also involves Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy and Relapse Prevention. These parts of the program help patients restructure their thoughts, learn new coping skills, participate in replacement activities, and form new social support networks to motivate healthier lifestyles.

The Addiction Treatment Program's Intensive Outpatient Program is delivered in three phases:

• Intensive treatment (6 weeks)
• Transition to recovery (2 weeks)
• Continuing care (4 weeks)

Interventions will be based on the models described and can include psychiatric evaluation and pharmacotherapy. Formats combine individual, group, and multifamily sessions, one to three times per week, dependent on the phase of treatment. Participants will be expected to join and increase participation in a self-help program of their choice over the course of treatment and work with clinicians to create a continuing recovery plan after treatment.

The Addiction Treatment Program Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) is a 12-week program consisting of the following groups:

• Mindfulness/Interpersonal Effectiveness (MIE) skills training group: The Mindfulness skills training group utilizes Marsha Linehan's Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) material. The Interpersonal Effectiveness skills training utilizes a structured skills training guide specific to interpersonal issues for those who have a substance dependence. The goals of these structured sessions are to learn mindfulness skills (for example, Wise Mind and Clear Mind vs. Negative Emotion Mind and Addict Mind) and skills focused on effectively dealing with interpersonal conflict situations.
• Motivational Enhancement Therapy (MET) group: The MET group is designed to help patients enhance motivation for change by setting goals, examining decisions, and building self-efficacy. Members complete a log assignment during the week. The expectation is for participants to bring their completed logs to the group to check in around specific skills taught in the session (for example, deep breathing, mastery/replacement activities, and tracking cravings/urges). During the evening's check-in, the group members are asked to give feedback on the quality of the other group members' engagement, participation in their own recovery activities, and their efforts in their recovery in general. This is meant to be an opportunity for self-reflection and offering others vital support.
• Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT)/Relapse Prevention group: CBT helps teach participants to restructure their thinking patterns, learn new coping skills, participate in replacement activities, and form new social support networks to motivate healthier lifestyles. Groups check in on recovery efforts to date, including the use of avoidance, replacement, and coping skills. Group members fill out activity schedules of their weekly activities. The schedules contain a review of the past week and record the member's recovery "activities" (for example, deep breathing, yoga, running, self-help group, mastery of hobbies, etc.). Group members present their schedules to each other and receive constructive feedback.
• Relapse Prevention group: This group focuses on continuing avoidance, replacement activities, and coping skills. It includes weekly check-ins around slips, urges, self-help, the four pathways to recovery, living in balance, and high-risk situations. Participants strengthen their commitment to recovery by initiating continued care planning, involving themselves in self-help, and making a connection to counseling. Participants are also expected to actively engage in discussions and provide and receive feedback from others to help boost relapse prevention strategies.

The IOP is for adults ages 18 and older who need treatment for alcohol or drug addiction more than once per week but do not need a residential or hospital program. The program is for people who have developed dependence to alcohol or some other type of substance, whose medical complications from this dependence can be managed in an outpatient setting, and who are able and willing to attend the three times per week sessions.