We are several years into a “sea change' in substance abuse treatment – namely, at more and more organizations, total abstinence is out and medication-assisted treatment (MAT) is on the way in.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) defines MAT as “the use of medications, in combination with counseling and behavioral therapies, to provide a whole-patient approach to the treatment of substance use disorders.” MAT typically refers to medications used to treat dependence, rather than medications used to treat withdrawal during detoxification. Though the problem of opioid addiction (see