The “Front Door” difference: briefly examining what’s wrong with addiction treatment and why Front Door Health is a better alternative
FDH Team • Mar 07, 2021
No one, in good conscience, can argue that addiction treatment in this country actually works. Of course, it works “for some,” but does that excuse a failure rate approaching 90%? This is not a criticism of those providing care – front-line treatment professionals (like us) are some of the most hardworking, caring and committed people in healthcare. Instead, this is an indictment of the “tools” these professionals are forced to work with, tools designed, it seems, to have little or no effect on addictive problems.
When viewed in the context of what we know about addiction, the tools we use to treat it are revealed to be largely useless and in some cases to do more harm than good. Let’s consider some “truths” about addiction and compare the approaches taken by treatment-as-usual versus Front Door Health:
1. Addiction is a chronic and recurring disease
It is understood that addiction is a “chronic” condition, meaning it is persistent, long-lasting and frequently subject to periods of remission and reoccurrence or “relapse.” Conventional or treatment-as-usual (your typical “rehab”) responds to this chronic condition by providing brief and expensive episodes of care, typically 30 days or less. Front Door Health provides one-year of uninterrupted treatment in the patient’s home.
2. Addiction is a primary disease of the brain
Treatment-as-usual responds to this complicated brain disorder largely with 12-step (AA, NA) philosophy and “step work,” treating addiction not as a medical problem, but as a “spiritual malady.” Front Door Health delivers a physician-led team of medical and behavioral experts employing evidence-based solutions.
3. Addiction and mental illness overlap
Despite digital advertising claims to the contrary, treatment-as-usual largely ignores co-occurring mental illness or offers superficial (and fleeting) treatment options. Front Door Health provides integrated and long-term therapy and psychiatric services, including medication management.
4. Trauma is often a root cause of addiction
Standard rehab facilities typically ignore trauma, treat it superficially, or retraumatize patients by addressing trauma within group settings. Front Door Health delivers one-on-one therapy with trained, trauma-informed therapists.
5. Environment and relationships play key roles in addiction and recovery
By their very nature, rehabs remove patients from home and supportive relationships, place patients in peer groups of other addicts (in varying stages of change), and isolate them from the “real world.” Front Door Health assesses and improves the patient’s home environment and intrafamilial relationships, while teaching and practicing skills in the “real world.”
6. Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) is proven to save lives and improve outcomes
Most rehabs don’t offer MAT and those that do typically provide only quick tapers proven not to work. Front Door Health provides Suboxone, Sublocade, Vivitrol, and other medications in the patient’s home for as long as medically-appropriate for each individual.
Again, this is not meant as an indictment of the treatment industry, which is (for the most part) well-intentioned and caring. It very much is, though, an indictment of how this industry practices, using tools and lengths-of-stay that are literally designed not to work. Front Door Health was created to offer a different path, one that understands the nature of addiction and offers solutions based on that understanding. This is the “Front Door difference.”
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