Opioid addiction treatment

Detox is the process of clearing opioids from your body safely, with medical oversight. This commonly involves buprenorphine or methadone to ease withdrawal, and sometimes clonidine to manage physical symptoms such as sweating and raised blood pressure. Medications are typically reduced day by day based on ongoing clinical assessment. Stopping opioids suddenly, without a reduction plan, isn’t safe and rarely works. The physical symptoms of withdrawal ease within days. Anxiety, sleep disruption, low mood, and difficulty concentrating often persist for weeks.

Once you are physically stable, you will begin the psychological work of rehab therapy. We provide all stages in one comprehensive programme, so there are no gaps in your treatment.

According to the EUDA (2021), the period immediately after leaving treatment is associated with a higher risk of overdose. After detox, tolerance to opioids falls, so if you relapse and take a high dose again, your body can’t handle it. Structured aftercare reduces that risk directly.

Residential treatment means living within the treatment facility for the duration of your programme. The main difference from outpatient care is continuous clinical support, day and night. Our residential programme centres on CBT and DBT alongside 12 Step work. These help people understand what is driving their dependency under the surface.

Residential care, sometimes called opioid addiction rehab, tends to suit people whose home environment makes sustained recovery difficult, or whose dependency is complicated by mental health conditions or previous treatment attempts.

Outpatient treatment allows you to engage in structured therapy while continuing to live at home. It suits people who are medically stable, and have a supportive home environment. Therapy typically combines one-to-one counselling with group work, usually including structured relapse prevention.

For some people, outpatient treatment follows a period of residential care. For others, it is the right starting point.

Medication-assisted treatment uses opioid addiction medication alongside psychological therapy to manage dependency, reduce cravings, and lower the risk of overdose. According to the EUDA (2021), opioid agonist treatment is “the main approach to the treatment of opioid dependence in Europe.” Methadone and buprenorphine are most commonly used. Both reduce cravings and ease withdrawal by stabilising the brain’s opioid receptors. Naltrexone is also used in some cases, particularly for relapse prevention once detox is complete. Which medication is appropriate, and at what stage, is decided with your clinical team.

The EUDA’s 2026 report on dual disorders notes that between 42% and 90% of people with substance use disorders also have, or have had, a co-occurring mental health condition. Research published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence (Santo et al., 2022) found that more than a third of people with opioid use disorder had current depression, with anxiety and PTSD also common. The two conditions fuel each other, making symptoms of both worse. Many cases of dual diagnosis involve prescription drug addiction to opioids and other medications.

Treating dependency and mental health together produces better outcomes than treating them in sequence. Our clinical team assesses mental health as a standard part of treatment planning. Where dual diagnosis is present, therapy and psychiatric support are integrated into the programme from the start.

We treat the whole person, not only the dependency. The treatment plan covers mental health and physical health, and the circumstances you’ll return to. Each site’s team includes therapists, nurses, doctors, and a consultant psychiatrist who reviews all patients and contributes to care planning.

Our residential programme uses CBT, DBT, and 12 Step work – alongside family therapy and mindfulness – with the approaches tailored to your specific situation.

For opioids in particular, the risk of relapse remains highest in the early months after discharge. Research by McKay (2021, Alcohol Research) found that longer continuing care, with active efforts to keep people engaged, produces better outcomes, particularly for those at higher relapse risk. We provide two years of structured aftercare as standard, delivered online, with local clinic access available in some locations.

This is twice the aftercare period offered by most comparable providers. See our aftercare and continuing care page for detail on how the two years are structured.

Before committing to any programme, ask any provider:

• How will withdrawal and cravings be managed, and by whom?
• Is there psychiatric support available if mental health or trauma is a factor?
• Does the programme understand prescription opioid dependency as well as illicit drug use?
• What happens after discharge, and for how long?
• Is medication-assisted treatment available and treated as a clinically valid option?

We’re happy to answer any of them. You can get in touch at any time, even if you’re not yet sure whether treatment is right for you.

Getting in touch is a useful first step even if the person isn’t ready. We can talk through the situation, and help you think through how to approach the conversation when the time feels right.

Family therapy is also part of our treatment programme. Once a person is in treatment, family sessions can help both the individual and the people around them. We also provide support around interventions. These are structured conversations designed to help someone recognise they need help and take a first step towards it.

Yes. Dependency that begins with prescribed medication is extremely common, and it is not a sign that you have done anything wrong. Our clinical team understands this pathway well. You won’t be judged for how your dependency developed.

Detox is the process of clearing opioids from your body safely, with medical supervision and support. It’s the first stage of opioid addiction drug treatment, covering physical dependency. Opioid addiction treatment includes detox, then follows on to therapy and structured relapse prevention for a sustainable recovery. For more detail, see our opioid detox and withdrawal page.

Yes. MAT is part of our treatment offering. Whether medication is appropriate, and which one, is decided with your clinical team based on your history and goals.

The assessment is a confidential conversation with a member of our clinical team. We’ll ask about your history with opioids, your general health, and your current situation. From there, we’ll explain what treatment options we think would suit you and answer any questions you have.

Yes. Dual diagnosis, where opioid dependency occurs alongside conditions such as depression, anxiety, or post-traumatic stress, is central to how we approach treatment. Our clinical team assesses mental health as standard and integrates psychiatric support and therapy into the treatment plan.