Personal involvement and active participation in lifestyle change and in recovery from addiction will differentiate those who do well with methadone treatment - those who come to enjoy renewed stability in their health, work and family life - and those who persist in an addicted life of chaos and crisis.

The integration of methadone treatment with a personal program of recovery is not different than the temporary use of nicotine replacement medication with behavioral changes to stop smoking.

“My methadone doctor only encourages me to be active in my recovery program.

I don’t know why some of my recovery supports are so against methadone treatment. Its the only reason I am alive to hear what they have to offer.”

But the physical changes of opiate dependence - and the compulsion of opiate drug addiction - both persist over long periods of time. The duration of methadone treatment reflects the persistence of these effects - and the devastating consequences of relapsed use.

An extended period of time abstinent and on a stable, moderate dose of methadone allows for the practice of recovery learning and for gradual readjustment of opiate receptor activity within your brain.

“I don’t understand why there is a division between methadone and recovery. Its obvious to me that methadone is an outside medical issue of treatment.”

A bare minimum of one year in Phase II of treatment is a standard recommendation at our facility. Common experience finds that a gradual taper of dose is then more easily tolerated during Phase III of treatment.

It is during this last phase of methadone treatment that all attention is directed to living a life in sobriety and with a day to day mindfulness to your personal program of recovery.