Heroin and opioid use disorder is among the most lethal addictions of our time. Fentanyl contamination of the U.S. opioid supply has made any single dose potentially fatal — and the path back is genuinely possible with the right clinical infrastructure. RECO Intensive treats heroin and opioid use disorder with full-continuum care designed for the realities of modern opioid recovery.
The clinical picture of opioid use disorder
Opioid use disorder reshapes the brain's reward and pain systems profoundly. Tolerance escalates rapidly; withdrawal is severe; relapse risk is one of the highest among substance use disorders. The clinical features:
- Compulsive use — driven by both reward-seeking and withdrawal-avoidance
- Tolerance that escalates dosing into dangerous territory
- Withdrawal syndrome — GI distress, muscle aches, anxiety, insomnia, cravings — that drives many clients back to use
- Overdose risk — particularly with fentanyl contamination of the illicit supply
- Chronic pain underlying use — common, often unaddressed in prior treatment
- Trauma intertwined — opioids medicate trauma effectively in the short term and disastrously in the long term
How RECO treats opioid use disorder
Medical detox with MAT-bridge protocols
Our medical detox manages opioid withdrawal with comfort medications, sometimes paired with buprenorphine induction depending on clinical fit. The goal is making withdrawal survivable; the comfort medications and clinical support are designed for that.
Medication-Assisted Treatment — evidence-based, no shame
MAT is the standard of care for opioid use disorder. RECO offers buprenorphine (Suboxone), naltrexone (oral or Vivitrol monthly injection), with the addiction-medicine evidence base behind each choice. MAT is part of recovery, not a substitute for it; we use it alongside therapy and clinical work, not in place of it.
Trauma processing for the layer underneath
For many opioid clients, opioid use began as pain management and progressed because pain — physical, emotional, or both — was driving the use. EMDR and trauma-informed therapy address the layer underneath the use. The combination of MAT plus trauma processing is what separates a 90-day recovery from a 5-year recovery.
Family and relational repair
Opioid use disorder typically devastates relationships. Family-systems work and family therapy are core to treatment planning, and our aftercare planning includes structured family involvement.
Who this track serves
Clients with heroin or fentanyl use. Clients with prescription opioid (oxycodone, hydrocodone, morphine) progression. Clients with multiple overdose history. Clients in MAT (buprenorphine, methadone) who need higher level of care. Clients whose chronic pain has masked or driven the addiction. Clients whose previous opioid treatment didn't include MAT or trauma work.
What opioid recovery looks like at RECO
Detox → residential → PHP → IOP → sober living → aftercare, with MAT continuity throughout if clinically indicated. Long-term, MAT may continue for months or years; many opioid-recovery clinicians treat MAT as appropriate ongoing therapy, not a temporary measure. Discharge plans coordinate continued psychiatric care.
Why RECO's approach is different
Many programs are still ideologically opposed to MAT or treat it as inferior. We treat it as the evidence-based standard it is — and the integration of MAT, intensive therapy, trauma work, and family-system repair is what produces sustained recovery in opioid use disorder. Call us for a confidential consultation.