Structured group and individual therapy several days a week, where medication-assisted treatment and counseling come together. You live at home throughout and keep up with work and family.
What we treat
Opioid addiction
treatment in Houston.
When opioids have taken hold, stopping is rarely as simple as deciding to. Opioid use disorder is a treatable medical condition, not a failure of willpower, and with the right medication and support, recovery is within reach. You do not have to do it alone.
Outpatient care in Montrose, Houston. Most major insurance accepted.
Understanding opioid use disorder
What opioid
use disorder is.
Opioid use disorder, often called opioid addiction, means a person keeps using opioids despite real harm, and finds it hard to control how much or how often. It can involve prescription painkillers or illegal opioids like heroin and fentanyl. It is a medical condition, and it responds to treatment.
Opioids act on the brain's reward and pain systems, and with repeated use the brain adapts, so it takes more to feel the same effect and stopping brings withdrawal. That is part of why willpower alone so often is not enough, and why medication can make such a difference. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that opioids were involved in nearly 80,000 overdose deaths in the United States in 2023, most of them involving synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, which is why getting into treatment early matters so much.
Opioid use disorder affects people of every age and background, and it rarely looks the same from one person to the next. Many people arrive at it through a legitimate prescription for pain. What it shares is a loss of control that builds quietly, until opioids are 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.
Opioid use disorder 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
Drowsiness or nodding off, small pinpoint pupils, slowed breathing, and nausea or constipation. Needing more of the drug to feel the same effect, a sign that tolerance is climbing, is one of the clearest early signals.
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Mood and mind
Strong, frequent cravings that crowd out everything else. Anxiety, low mood, and mood swings between doses, trouble concentrating, and a growing preoccupation with getting and using the next dose.
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Behavior and life
Secrecy and pulling away from people, missed work or responsibilities, money trouble, and seeking prescriptions from more than one doctor. Using despite knowing the harm, and finding it hard to stop even when you want to.
When to reach out
When it may be time
for more support.
Opioid 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 taper or quit and it has not held. With opioids, withdrawal and craving pull hard, and willpower alone is rarely enough. That is a sign this is worth treating, not a failing on your part. The right medication can make stopping far more manageable.
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Stopping brings withdrawal
When you cut down or stop, opioid withdrawal can be intense: muscle and bone aches, sweating, chills, agitation, nausea, and a deep restlessness. It is rarely life-threatening on its own, but it is hard to get through unaided, and it is exactly what medication-assisted treatment is built to ease.
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Use is harming your health, money, or relationships
Mixing opioids with alcohol or benzodiazepines, using alone, debt or legal trouble, or strained relationships 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
Slow or stopped breathing, blue or gray lips or fingertips, or someone you cannot wake are signs of an opioid overdose. Call 911 and give naloxone (Narcan) if you have it, which can reverse an opioid overdose while help arrives. 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
opioid use disorder.
At The Lovett Center, opioid use disorder is treated as a whole-person condition, not just a habit to break. Care begins with a thorough assessment, then we match the medication, the therapy, and the level of structure to what you actually need.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse notes that medications for opioid use disorder reduce opioid use and the risk of overdose, and are more effective than treatment that uses no medication. We provide that care on an outpatient basis: buprenorphine, often combined with naloxone, or naltrexone, managed by our physicians and paired with counseling, so you go home each night and keep up with your life.
Care is led by clinicians who work in addiction every day. Michael Sprintz, DO, our medical director in addiction medicine and an expert in the overlap of addiction and chronic pain, oversees medication-assisted treatment and the care of any co-occurring depression or anxiety, while our therapists carry the core work with CBT and group therapy. When opioid use sits alongside a mental health condition, we treat both together rather than one at a time.
- A thorough assessment of your opioid use and your mental health
- Medication-assisted treatment to ease withdrawal and cravings
- Therapy that addresses the triggers and pain underneath the use
- Outpatient levels that flex as you stabilize
Treatment options
Where opioid treatment
can start.
Opioid use disorder is treated successfully on an outpatient basis, with medication and the intensity of therapy 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 sessions, medication monitoring, and group support, a good fit once recovery is more settled or as a place to step down to.
When opioid 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 opioid use disorder.
No single approach does all the work. Medication eases the physical pull while therapy addresses what sits underneath. These are the ones we most often combine, matched to what fits you.
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Medication-assisted treatment (MAT)
The evidence-based foundation of opioid recovery. We use buprenorphine, often combined with naloxone, or naltrexone, to ease withdrawal and quiet cravings and lower the risk of overdose, without the highs and lows of misuse. Our physicians manage it on an outpatient basis, paired with therapy.
How MAT works -
Psychodynamic therapy
Depth-oriented work that looks beneath opioid use to the pain and patterns underneath it, alongside the medication and skills that steady recovery.
About psychodynamic therapy -
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)
CBT helps you spot the situations, people, and feelings that trigger use and build steadier ways to respond, so the work medication starts is something you can carry forward on your own.
CBT for opioid 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 opioid use tends to erode over time.
Explore group therapy -
Trauma-informed care
Opioid use is often tied to chronic pain, trauma, or 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
Opioid use disorder,
answered.
Opioid use disorder, often called opioid addiction, is a medical condition in which a person keeps using opioids even though they are causing harm, and has trouble controlling how much or how often. It can involve prescription painkillers like oxycodone or hydrocodone, or illegal opioids like heroin and fentanyl. Opioids change the brain over time, which is part of why stopping is so hard. It is not a matter of willpower, and it responds well to treatment.
Often not. A great deal of opioid recovery happens on an outpatient basis, where medication-assisted treatment eases withdrawal and cravings while you keep living your life. Some people do need a period of medically supervised withdrawal first, and if that is the case we help you arrange it, then take over the ongoing outpatient care. The Lovett Center does not provide detox or inpatient care on site. What we provide is the office-based medication and therapy that carry recovery for the long run.
The two medications we use are buprenorphine, often combined with naloxone, and naltrexone. They ease withdrawal and quiet cravings, and they lower the risk of overdose, without the highs and lows of misuse. The National Institute on Drug Abuse notes that these medications reduce opioid use and are more effective than approaches that use no medication at all. At Lovett, our physicians manage them on an outpatient basis, always paired with counseling.
How MAT worksThere is no single right length, and there is no rush to stop. For many people, staying on medication for an extended time is what keeps recovery steady and lowers the risk of relapse and overdose, and that is a good outcome, not a sign of dependence on treatment. We review how things are going with you over time and make changes together, at a pace that fits your life rather than a fixed timeline.
Yes, for many people. Outpatient treatment is built to fit around real life: you receive medication and 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. Opioid 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 opioid use and the mental health condition at the same time, in one coordinated plan.
About dual diagnosisIn 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.
Opioid use disorder 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.