Addiction Treatment

The Department of Psychiatry at BMC provides robust support for patients with co-occurring substance use disorder and mental health needs across the care continuum. Of note, the hospital is situated within one of the neighborhoods most known for experiencing high rates of substance use and overdose. BMC is a safety-net hospital serving the most vulnerable residents of the Boston area, which often includes individuals experiencing substance use disorders and various forms of psychiatric illness.

One of the largest contributors to poorer outcomes in substance use disorder treatment and/or relapse on substances is inequitable access for those who come from more vulnerable and marginalized backgrounds. BMC treats these patients and offers them gold-standard evidence-based care with regards to treating both their substance use and mental health conditions. Addiction Psychiatry also partners with Addiction Medicine through various clinical and research opportunities to holistically treat patients who are experiencing multiple, chronic health conditions, as well as behavioral health needs.

The Addiction Psychiatry team has expertise in treating patients with co-occurring disorders and includes specially trained medication management and psychotherapy providers. Below are some of the programs involved in serving these patients:

• Outpatient Services: BMC Outpatient Psychiatry Clinic provides medication-management and therapy specialized to meet individual patient’s needs to support addiction and co-occurring mental health issues. Individuals may also seek services in the specialized and interdisciplinary subspecialty Addiction Psychiatry Treatment Program.
• Psychiatric Emergency Services within the Emergency Department: BMC’s Psychiatric Emergency Services (PES) providers have expertise in rapid assessment and acute crisis management for patients with high acuity psychiatric needs. They often triage walk-in cases and connect to longer-term care facilities, when needed.
• Consultation/Liaison: The Consult and Liaison team provides consultation to support medical teams in addressing the needs of patients with co-occurring psychiatric, addiction, and medical issues.
• Community Behavioral Health Center (CBHC): BMC Psychiatry provides support to the community in the form of: a walk-in clinic where individuals from the community and particularly those with Medicaid/MassHealth can receive evaluation and short-term services for psychiatric needs including substance use; a mobile crisis intervention (MCI) team provides a 24-hour response to youth and adults in need of crisis intervention for mental health and substance use concerns in community settings; and a Community Crisis Stabilization (CCS) unit that provides short-term crisis intervention for adults (18+) with mental health needs and co-occurring disorder.
• Inpatient Psychiatric Care: The BMC Brockton Behavioral Health Center provides specialized, culturally competent care to patients in two acute inpatient psychiatric units and one clinical stabilization service.
• Education: BMC Psychiatry maintains an Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship and trains residents, social work/mental health counseling interns, and pre-/post-doctoral psychologists in substance use treatment. Additionally, our Psychiatry Residency has several rotations in which residents are able to work with patients with substance use disorders, receive specialty consultation and supervision from experts with substance use training, and attend didactics with substance use disorder assessment and treatment content.
• Research: The Department of Psychiatry has conducted nationally recognized research on substance use disorders and treatment as well as structural and social issues impacting these conditions that help inform treatment development addictions.  Read more here.
• Collaboration: Addiction Psychiatry Program collaborates with other addiction programs across BMC, including CATALYST, Faster Paths, OBAT, and several other programs.

OUTPATIENT ADDICTION PSYCHIATRY TREATMENT PROGRAM 

Under the Addiction Psychiatry Treatment Program (APTP), providers offer medication management and psychotherapy for substance use disorders and co-occurring disorders. Staff include psychiatrists, nurse practitioners, therapists, and nurses.

APTP services include:

• Assessment of Needs and Development of Treatment Plan: All patients referred to the APTP program meet with a member of the clinic to assess the patient’s individual needs and to develop a recovery and treatment plan most appropriate for the patient.
• Management for patients with co–occurring disorders: APTP provides treatment for patients co-occurring psychiatric disorders. Our prescribers tailor treatment plans to ensure appropriate medication prescribing to meet both the substance use and mental health needs. We provide office-based medication treatment for opioid, alcohol, stimulant use disorder (including long-acting injectable medications such as naltrexone extended release and buprenorphine extended release).
• Therapy: APTP offers individual and group evidence-based psychotherapy and skills-based therapies including motivational interviewing, mindfulness-based relapse prevention, clinical harm reduction, cognitive behavioral therapy, and third-wave cognitive behavioral therapy including acceptance and commitment therapy and dialectical behavior therapy.

For more information, visit our website.