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Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is an integrative psychotherapy approach that has been extensively researched and proven effective for the treatment of trauma. EMDR is a set of standardized protocols that incorporates elements from many different treatment approaches. To date, EMDR therapy has helped millions of people of all ages relieve many types of psychological stress.  The amount of time the complete treatment will take depends upon the history of the client. Complete treatment of the targets involves a three pronged protocol (past, present, and future), and are needed to alleviate the symptoms and address the complete clinical picture. The goal of EMDR therapy is to process completely the experiences that are causing problems, and to include new ones that are needed for full health. “Processing” does not mean talking about it. “Processing” means setting up a learning state that will allow experiences that are causing problems to be “digested” and stored appropriately in your brain. That means that what is useful to you from an experience will be learned, and stored with appropriate emotions in your brain, and be able to guide you in positive ways in the future. The inappropriate emotions, beliefs, and body sensations will be discarded.

The Office Based Opiate Treatment (OBOT) program that combines the use of the medication, Suboxone®, an FDA approved medication for treatment of people with opiate dependence, with outpatient Behavioral Health treatment. This program helps people struggling with opiate addiction transition from a life of drug dependence to a life of recovery. Suboxone® contains two types of medication, buprenorphine and Naloxone®, which complement each other in detoxification and maintenance therapy. Maintenance therapy can continue as long as deemed medically necessary by the physician. Behavioral Health treatment consists of an assessment followed by group and individual counseling as agreed upon by the treatment team. The OBOT program at SCHC requires a commitment to abstinence from all substances, including nicotine, once a person is in the program. Support will be given to people who need assistance in stopping the use of substances other than opiates. In Phase I of the program, all group sessions are held at the Talkeetna clinic.

Are you or someone you know struggling with opiate addiction?  Medication Assisted Treatment using Suboxone is one option to consider.  If you are interested in learning more about this type of treatment, you can contact our Behavioral Health Assistant at 733-9202.

If you’d like more information, this article describes the research on the effectiveness of MAT.