MAT and Treatment: What Families Should Know
Medications like Suboxone and Sublocade are the standard of care for opioid addiction, but many treatment programs restrict or discontinue them. Here's what families should understand and what to ask.
Articles
Practical guidance for families navigating addiction treatment — written by someone who has worked inside the system.
The Drug Supply Changed. Most Detox Protocols Didn't. What Families Need to Know About Tranq Detox
Medetomidine is replacing xylazine in the illicit opioid supply, and standard detox protocols do not address it. Here's what families need to understand and what to ask a facility before admitting a loved one.
What Is 7-OH and Why Is the DEA Moving to Ban It? What Families Need to Know
The DEA has moved to make concentrated 7-OH products a Schedule I controlled substance. Here's what 7-OH is, where the process actually stands right now, and what families need to know if someone they love is using it.
How Insurance Companies Actually Decide Your Loved One's Treatment (And How to Fight Back)
Getting approved for treatment is only the beginning. The real decisions about how long your loved one stays and what gets covered happen through a process called concurrent review, and most families don't find out how it works until they're already in it.
What Is the Florida Shuffle? How Families Get Trapped in the Rehab Revolving Door
The Florida Shuffle is a pattern where treatment centers profit from relapse instead of recovery. Here's how it works, why it started in Florida, and how families can spot it before it happens to them.
Treatment Terminology: A Glossary for Families
Addiction treatment comes with its own language. This glossary breaks down the terms families encounter during admissions, treatment, and insurance conversations.
What to do When Someone is Resistant to Treatment
When the person you love is making a decision that could kill them and you cannot force them to stop, here is a framework for what actually works and what consistently backfires.
Does My Loved One Actually Need Treatment? What Families Get Wrong About This Decision
The instinct to act when someone you love is struggling with substances is not wrong. But the decision to pursue formal addiction treatment is more complicated than most families realize, and getting it wrong in either direction carries real consequences.
Is IOP Right for Your Loved One? What Treatment Centers Won't Tell You
IOP is the most commonly recommended level of care in the treatment system and one of the most frequently misapplied. Here is how to evaluate whether the recommendation you received actually fits.
Medical Detox by Substance: The Questions That Actually Matter
When a family member needs detox, decisions get made fast and usually under enormous stress. Most families are not asking the right questions because they do not know what the right questions are. This guide breaks down what you need to know about medical detox by substance: what the protocols look like, what can go wrong, and exactly what to ask before you commit to a facility.
What Families Need to Know Before Calling a Treatment Center
Most calls to treatment centers go straight to an admissions counselor whose job is to fill beds. Here is what to ask, and what to listen for, before you give them any information.
Understanding Your Insurance Benefits for Addiction Treatment
All licensed treatment programs meet a minimum standard. But minimum standards are not what your family deserves. Here is what separates programs that discharge patients from programs that change lives.
Levels of Care in Addiction Treatment: What They Mean and What's Really Driving the Recommendation
Most families assume level of care is a purely clinical decision made in their loved one's best interest. The reality is more complicated than that.