Addiction Psychiatry & Medication Management

How our psychiatrists help with addiction and mental health

Our psychiatrists and nurse practitioners specialize in helping people who struggle with both substance use and mental health issues. We see addiction as a medical condition that needs personalized care, not as a personal failure or weakness.

Complete health assessment

Your healing journey starts with a thorough psychiatric evaluation. We take time to understand your mental health history, including assessing if any conditions like depression, anxiety, or PTSD that occur alongside addiction are present. We explore your substance use patterns and how they connect to your emotions, while reviewing any past treatment experiences to learn what worked or didn’t work for you. We also consider your family support system and relationships, always keeping your personal goals for recovery at the center of our approach.

Medications that support recovery

The medications that our psychiatrists prescribe help support the recovery process in a variety of ways, including:

• Reducing cravings: Medications that decrease the urge to use substances.
• Treating mental health issues: Medications for depression, anxiety, or trauma that may drive substance use.
• Restoring brain balance: Treatments that help heal brain function affected by substance use.
• Improving thinking: Medications that help clear thinking and better decision-making.
• Helping with sleep: Safe medications that improve sleep without addiction risk.

These medications are prescribed as part of a complete treatment plan, carefully chosen to match your specific needs.

Addiction psychiatry medications for recovery

At Neuro Wellness Spa, our substance use treatment includes specific medications that our addiction psychiatrists may recommend as part of your personalized plan, including:

• Naltrexone (Vivitrol): This medication helps reduce cravings for alcohol addiction and opioid addiction by blocking certain brain receptors. Vivitrol is given as a monthly injection, making treatment more manageable. Our addiction specialists view these medications as temporary supports. We create a tapering plan to gradually decrease your medication while you develop other recovery skills.
• Suboxone: For people recovering from substance use, particularly opioid addiction, this medication eases withdrawal symptoms and reduces cravings. Our addiction psychiatry approach uses Suboxone® only for short periods with a structured tapering schedule. We monitor your progress closely to prevent new dependencies. Our goal is to support your complete recovery without long-term medication dependence when appropriate for your needs.
• Nonaddictive psychiatric medications: We often prescribe medications that address co-occurring conditions like depression and addiction or anxiety without addictive potential. These medications help stabilize mood and thought patterns that might otherwise trigger substance use.
• Sleep support options: Our addiction psychiatrists can recommend safe, nonhabit-forming medications to restore healthy sleep patterns, which are essential for brain healing during substance use treatment.

We prescribe these medications responsibly, with clear discussions about benefits, risks, and expected duration. Our addiction specialists view medications as recovery tools — not lifetime solutions — and work closely with you to determine the right approach for your unique healing journey through addiction counseling and comprehensive care.

Psychoeducation

Understanding the nature of addiction empowers your recovery journey. Psychoeducation gives you clear information about how addiction affects your brain, behaviors, and relationships. You’ll learn why substances or behaviors become addictive, how your specific patterns developed, and what makes recovery strategies work.

This knowledge helps replace myths with facts and reduces self-blame while increasing your confidence in the recovery process. When you understand what’s happening in your mind and body, you feel more confident about making positive changes. Many people find that simply understanding the “why” behind their addiction is a powerful first step toward healing.

Mindfulness-based relapse prevention

This approach combines proven relapse prevention strategies with mindfulness practices. It helps you become more aware of triggering thoughts and sensations while creating space between urges and actions. These skills are especially helpful when transitioning from treatment back to everyday life.