Structured group and individual therapy several days a week, where medication management and counseling come together. You live at home throughout and keep up with work and family.
What we treat
Prescription drug addiction
treatment in Houston.
It often starts with a prescription that made sense at the time, for pain, for anxiety, for sleep. When a medication has slowly taken hold, that is not a moral failing, it is a treatable medical condition. With the right care, you can come off it safely and get your footing back. You do not have to do it alone.
Outpatient care in Montrose, Houston. Most major insurance accepted.
Understanding prescription drug addiction
What prescription
drug addiction is.
Prescription drug addiction means a person keeps using a prescribed medication in a way that is causing harm, and finds it hard to control how much or how often. It usually begins with a real reason for the prescription, and the line from use to dependence is thinner than it looks.
Three kinds of prescription medication are misused most often. The National Institute on Drug Abuse groups them as opioid painkillers such as oxycodone and hydrocodone, central nervous system depressants like benzodiazepines and sleep medications, and stimulants prescribed for attention disorders. Each one changes the brain and body in its own way, which is why each is treated a little differently, and why coming off some of them is not something to do alone.
Dependence rarely announces itself. It builds quietly, as tolerance climbs and the medication starts doing more than it was prescribed to do, easing stress or sleep or a hard day rather than the original symptom. Naming that for what it is, a medical condition with real treatment, is the first step toward getting out from under it, and toward feeling like yourself again without the bottle.
What it looks like
Common signs
and symptoms.
Prescription drug 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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Body and tolerance
Needing more of the medication to get the same relief, or running out before the refill is due. Drowsiness or restlessness, mood swings between doses, and withdrawal feelings when a dose is missed are signs the body has come to depend on it.
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Mood and mind
A growing preoccupation with the next dose, anxiety or low mood when supply runs short, and using to cope with stress or sleep rather than the original reason it was prescribed. Trouble cutting back even when you want to.
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Behavior and life
Seeing more than one doctor or pharmacy to keep a supply going, secrecy about how much is taken, borrowing or losing prescriptions, and pulling back from people. Using despite knowing it is causing harm at work, at home, or financially.
When to reach out
When it may be time
for more support.
Prescription use exists on a spectrum, and the right level of care shifts with it. These are signs it is worth reaching out, including one that needs medical guidance before you change anything, and one that needs emergency help first.
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Cutting back on your own has stopped working
You have tried to taper or stop and it has not held. Prescription medications change how the brain and body work over time, so willpower alone is rarely enough. That is a sign this is worth treating, not a personal failing, and the right care makes stopping far more manageable.
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Do not stop anxiety or sleep medications cold turkey
Benzodiazepines and other sedatives, the kind prescribed for anxiety or sleep, are different: stopping them suddenly can cause a dangerous withdrawal that may include seizures. They need to be tapered slowly under medical supervision, never quit on your own. If you are taking one and want to stop, talk to us or your prescriber before you change anything.
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Use is harming your health, money, or relationships
Mixing prescription medications with alcohol or with each other, using more than prescribed, debt, 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 someone you cannot wake can signal an overdose, especially with prescription opioids. Call 911, and give naloxone (Narcan) if it is on hand, 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
prescription drug addiction.
At The Lovett Center, prescription drug addiction 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 the specific medication and to what you actually need.
How we come alongside you depends on the medication. For prescription opioids, the National Institute on Drug Abuse notes that medications reduce use and the risk of overdose, so we offer buprenorphine, often combined with naloxone, or naltrexone, on an outpatient basis. For benzodiazepines and sedatives, the safe path is a gradual, medically supervised taper, never an abrupt stop. For stimulants, counseling leads. Across all three, therapy carries the long-term work.
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 and the care of any co-occurring anxiety or depression, while our therapists carry the core work with CBT and DBT. When prescription use sits alongside the pain or anxiety it began with, we treat both together rather than one at a time.
- A thorough assessment of your use and your mental health
- A safe plan to come off the medication, tapered or medication-assisted as the substance requires
- Therapy that treats the pain, anxiety, or stress underneath the use
- Outpatient levels that flex as you stabilize
Treatment options
Where prescription
treatment can start.
Prescription drug addiction 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.
Prescription use often begins with real pain, anxiety, or depression. When a mental health condition sits alongside the use, our dual diagnosis track treats both at once, by one coordinated team.
How we work
Therapies we use
for prescription drug use.
No single approach does all the work. Where medication helps it eases the physical pull, while therapy treats what the prescription was standing in for. These are the ones we most often combine, matched to what fits you.
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Medication for prescription opioid dependence (MAT)
When the medication misused is a prescription opioid such as oxycodone or hydrocodone, medication-assisted treatment is the evidence-based foundation. We use buprenorphine, often combined with naloxone, or naltrexone, to ease withdrawal and quiet cravings, managed on an outpatient basis by our physicians and paired with therapy.
How MAT works -
Psychodynamic therapy
Depth-oriented work that looks beneath the dependence to what it was medicating, the foundation the rest of your care builds on.
About psychodynamic therapy -
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)
CBT is the core of treatment across painkillers, sedatives, and stimulants. It helps you spot the situations, pain, and feelings that drive use and build steadier ways to respond, so relief no longer depends on the prescription bottle.
CBT for prescription drug use -
Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT)
Many people first reached for an anti-anxiety or sleep medication to manage stress that felt unbearable. DBT teaches concrete skills for riding out distress and steadying emotions, which is often what makes coming off a sedative possible.
About DBT -
Group therapy
A place to be understood by people working on the same thing, practice new skills, and rebuild the connection and accountability that prescription misuse tends to erode quietly over time.
Explore group therapy
Common questions
Prescription drug addiction,
answered.
Prescription drug addiction means a person keeps using a prescribed medication in a way that is causing harm, and has trouble controlling how much or how often. The three classes most often involved are opioid painkillers like oxycodone and hydrocodone, central nervous system depressants such as benzodiazepines and sleep medications, and stimulants prescribed for attention disorders. It often starts with a legitimate prescription, and the shift from use to dependence can be hard to see. It is a medical condition, not a lack of willpower, and it responds well to treatment.
Not without medical guidance. Benzodiazepines and other sedatives, the kind prescribed for anxiety or sleep, can cause a dangerous withdrawal if they are stopped suddenly, including the risk of seizures. The National Institute on Drug Abuse advises that people dependent on these medications taper the dose gradually under medical supervision rather than quitting abruptly. If you are taking one and want to stop, talk to us or your prescriber first so it can be done safely.
Talk to someoneOften not. A great deal of prescription drug recovery happens on an outpatient basis, where medication management and therapy fit around your life. Some people do need a period of medically supervised withdrawal first, particularly with benzodiazepines, 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 counseling that carry recovery for the long run.
It depends on the medication being misused. For prescription opioid dependence, medication-assisted treatment with buprenorphine, often combined with naloxone, or naltrexone eases withdrawal and quiets cravings. For benzodiazepines and sedatives, the medication side is a careful, gradual taper rather than an ongoing medication. There are no FDA-approved medications for stimulant dependence, so that care is led by counseling. The National Institute on Drug Abuse notes that behavioral therapies are the foundation across all three.
How MAT worksYes, for many people. Outpatient treatment is built to fit around real life: you receive medication management 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, and that is often the heart of it. Prescription use frequently begins with real anxiety, pain, or depression, and treating only the use while leaving that underneath usually lets it pull a person back. Our dual diagnosis care addresses the prescription 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.
Prescription drug 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.