Structured group and individual therapy several days a week, built around the skills that keep cocaine use from taking hold again. You live at home throughout and keep up with work and family.
What we treat
Cocaine
treatment in Houston.
When cocaine has taken hold, stopping is rarely as simple as deciding to. Cocaine addiction is a treatable medical condition, not a failure of willpower. With the right care, you can get your footing back, and you do not have to do it alone.
Outpatient care in Montrose, Houston. Most major insurance accepted.
Understanding cocaine addiction
What cocaine
addiction is.
Cocaine addiction, clinically called cocaine use disorder, means a person keeps using cocaine despite real harm, and finds it hard to control how much or how often. It is a medical condition, and it responds to treatment.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse explains that cocaine floods the brain with dopamine, the chemical tied to reward, which strongly reinforces using again. With repeated use the brain adapts and grows less sensitive to it, so it takes more to feel the same effect. That is part of why willpower alone so often is not enough.
It affects people of every age and background, and it rarely looks the same from one person to the next. What it shares is a loss of control that builds quietly, until cocaine is steering more of life than anyone intended. Naming it for what it is, a condition with real treatment, is the first step toward getting out from under it.
What it looks like
Common signs
and symptoms.
Cocaine addiction shows up differently for everyone, but a few patterns tend to recur. Noticing them early, in yourself or someone you love, makes treatment more effective.
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Physical signs
Bursts of energy and alertness, less need for sleep, a smaller appetite and weight loss, dilated pupils, and sometimes a runny or irritated nose. The high is short, so use often comes in repeated rounds.
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Mood and mind
Euphoria that gives way to a hard crash. Irritability, restlessness, anxiety, and trouble concentrating between use, and at heavier doses, paranoia or a sense of being on edge.
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Behavior and life
Secrecy, risk-taking, money that goes missing or runs short, and responsibilities that slip. Using more, or more often, than you meant to, and finding it hard to stop even as the cost adds up.
When to reach out
When it may be time
for more support.
Cocaine use exists on a spectrum, and the right level of care shifts with it. These are signs it is worth reaching out, and signs that need emergency help first.
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Cutting back on your own has stopped working
You have tried to slow down or quit and it has not held. With cocaine, the pull to use again is strong, and willpower alone often is not enough. That is a sign this is worth treating, not a failing on your part.
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Stopping brings a hard crash
When you stop, the let-down can be steep: deep fatigue, low mood, and intense cravings as your brain rebalances. Cocaine withdrawal is rarely physically dangerous, but the crash is a common point where people relapse, and getting through it with support is what makes the difference.
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Use is harming your health, money, or relationships
Chest tightness or a racing heart, mounting debt or legal trouble, strained relationships, or mixing cocaine with alcohol or other drugs all raise the stakes. When use is touching more than one part of your life, structured care usually helps more than weekly sessions alone.
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It is an emergency
Chest pain, trouble breathing, a seizure, or signs of overdose are a medical emergency. Call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room. Any thought of harming yourself is an emergency too. Call or text 988 any time. Once you are safe, outpatient care can take over the ongoing work.
Our approach
How Lovett treats
cocaine addiction.
At The Lovett Center, cocaine addiction is treated as a whole-person condition, not just a habit to break. Care begins with a thorough assessment, then we match the therapy and the level of structure to what you actually need.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse notes that there are no FDA-approved medications to treat cocaine use disorder, and that the most effective care is behavioral, with cognitive behavioral therapy and contingency management carrying the strongest evidence. That is the kind of care we provide, on an outpatient basis: structured treatment during the day or week, with you going home each night.
Care is led by clinicians who work in addiction every day. Michael Sprintz, DO, our medical director in addiction medicine, and our physicians oversee care and treat any co-occurring depression or anxiety, while our therapists carry the core work with CBT and group therapy. When cocaine use sits alongside a mental health condition, we treat both together rather than one at a time.
- A thorough assessment of your cocaine use and your mental health
- Behavioral therapy that is the evidence base for cocaine recovery
- Support through the crash, when cravings and low mood peak
- Outpatient levels that flex as you stabilize
Treatment options
Where cocaine treatment
can start.
Cocaine addiction is treated successfully on an outpatient basis, with the intensity matched to the moment. More structure during a hard stretch, a steadier pace once things settle. If you are not sure where to begin, we will help you figure it out.
A steadier weekly pace of individual and group therapy, a good fit once use is more stable or for a milder pattern, and a place to step down to as recovery settles.
When cocaine use sits alongside depression, anxiety, or trauma, our dual diagnosis track treats both at once, by one coordinated team, so neither keeps pulling you back.
How we work
Therapies we use
for cocaine addiction.
No single approach does all the work. These are the ones we most often combine for cocaine use, matched to what fits you.
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Psychodynamic therapy
Depth-oriented work that looks beneath cocaine use to the drives and pain underneath it, the foundation the rest of your care builds on.
About psychodynamic therapy -
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)
The best-studied talk therapy for cocaine use. CBT helps you spot the situations, people, and feelings that trigger use and build steadier ways to respond. We pair it with contingency-management principles, rewarding the real, measurable progress of staying off cocaine.
CBT for cocaine use -
Group therapy
A place to be understood by people working on the same thing, practice new skills, and rebuild the connection and accountability that use tends to erode over time.
Explore group therapy -
Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT)
Concrete skills for riding out cravings, restlessness, and the low of the crash without using, which matters when intense feelings and cocaine use have become tangled together.
Explore DBT -
Trauma-informed care
Stimulant use is often tied to trauma or chronic stress sitting underneath it. Care that recognizes that, and treats it directly, gives recovery something firmer to stand on.
About trauma-informed care
Common questions
Cocaine addiction,
answered.
Cocaine addiction, clinically called cocaine use disorder, is a medical condition in which a person keeps using cocaine even though it is causing harm, and has trouble controlling how much or how often. Cocaine floods the brain with dopamine, and with repeated use the brain adapts, which is part of why stopping is so hard. It is not a matter of willpower, and it responds to treatment.
Usually not. Cocaine withdrawal is rarely physically dangerous the way alcohol or benzodiazepine withdrawal can be, so a medical detox is often not required. The hard part is the psychological crash, the low mood, exhaustion, and strong cravings, and that is exactly what outpatient care is built to support. Many people are treated successfully without stepping away from their lives. The Lovett Center does not provide detox or inpatient care on site, and if a higher level of care is ever needed we help you arrange it, then take over the ongoing outpatient treatment.
There are no medications approved by the FDA to treat cocaine use disorder, which is different from alcohol or opioid use, where specific medications exist. The most effective treatments for cocaine are behavioral: cognitive behavioral therapy and contingency management have the strongest evidence. At Lovett, our physicians may use medication to treat co-occurring depression or anxiety where it fits, but the core of cocaine treatment is therapy.
How CBT helpsYes, for many people. Outpatient treatment is built to fit around real life: you receive structured therapy on a schedule that lets you keep working and stay with your family. Our intensive outpatient program runs several days a week, and our outpatient program is a steadier weekly pace.
See our IOPYes. Cocaine use very commonly occurs together with a mental health condition, and treating only one side usually lets the other pull a person back. Our dual diagnosis care addresses the cocaine use and the mental health condition at the same time, in one coordinated plan.
About dual diagnosisWe most often combine cognitive behavioral therapy, group therapy, and dialectical behavior therapy skills, with contingency-management principles that reward staying off cocaine. The mix is matched to you rather than applied from a template, and it changes as your needs change.
See how we workIn many cases, yes. The Lovett Center is in network with major insurers including Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna, UnitedHealthcare, Optum, Magellan, and TriWest, and we also work with out-of-network benefits and self-pay. Coverage varies by plan, so the surest way to know is to verify your benefits with us.
Verify your insuranceYou are not alone
Getting your footing
back is possible.
Cocaine addiction is treatable, and reaching out is the hardest part.
When you are ready, a real person at The Lovett Center will listen and help you find the next step. No pressure, no commitment, just a conversation.
Every conversation is confidential. In a crisis, call or text 988 any time to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.