Plain-language glossary

The vocabulary of treatment can feel like a wall. Here are the terms you're most likely to hear, defined in everyday language. 28 entries.

A

Acamprosate

A medication for alcohol use disorder that helps steady brain chemistry after drinking stops, easing early-recovery craving and restlessness.

Aftercare

The ongoing support that follows a treatment program — therapy, medication, mutual-help groups, or sober housing — designed to keep recovery going.

ASAM Criteria

The American Society of Addiction Medicine's framework for matching a person to the right level of care based on six dimensions of need.

B

Buprenorphine

A partial-opioid medication (often combined with naloxone, e.g. Suboxone) that reduces opioid cravings and withdrawal with a lower overdose risk.

C

CARF

The Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities — an independent body that accredits treatment programs that meet quality standards.

Co-occurring disorder

When a substance use disorder and a mental-health condition (such as depression or PTSD) occur together; best treated at the same time.

Contingency management (CM)

An evidence-based therapy that rewards verified healthy behaviors, such as negative drug tests; especially useful for stimulant use disorder.

D

Detox (detoxification)

Medically supervised withdrawal — a first step that safely clears the body of a substance. It is not, by itself, complete treatment.

Disulfiram

A medication that causes an unpleasant reaction if alcohol is consumed, used as a deterrent in specific, supervised situations.

Dual diagnosis

Another term for a co-occurring substance use disorder and mental-health condition.

E

Evidence-based

Describes a treatment that has been tested in good-quality research and shown to help — not a guarantee for every individual.

I

Inpatient / residential

Treatment where a person lives at the facility with 24/7 support, typically for weeks to months.

Intensive outpatient (IOP)

A program of roughly 9–19 treatment hours per week that lets people keep living at home and often working.

M

MAT

Medication-assisted treatment — combining FDA-approved medication with counseling. Increasingly called MOUD or MAUD to be specific.

MAUD

Medications for alcohol use disorder — naltrexone, acamprosate, and disulfiram.

Methadone

A long-acting medication for opioid use disorder, dispensed through licensed opioid treatment programs, with decades of evidence.

Motivational interviewing (MI)

A collaborative counseling style that helps a person resolve mixed feelings and find their own motivation to change.

MOUD

Medications for opioid use disorder — buprenorphine, methadone, and naltrexone.

N

Naloxone

An emergency medication (e.g. Narcan) that rapidly reverses an opioid overdose. Distinct from naltrexone.

Naltrexone

A medication that blocks opioid effects and reduces alcohol cravings; available as a daily pill or monthly injection (Vivitrol).

O

Opioid treatment program (OTP)

A licensed clinic authorized to dispense methadone (and other MOUD) along with counseling.

P

Partial hospitalization (PHP)

A structured day program (often ~5–6 hours, 5 days a week) while sleeping at home or in sober housing.

Patient brokering

An illegal, unethical practice of paying or receiving kickbacks to steer people into specific treatment programs. A serious red flag.

R

Relapse

A return to substance use after a period of abstinence; in chronic-disease terms, a signal to adjust care — not a moral failure.

S

Sober living / recovery housing

Substance-free housing that provides structure and peer support, often used alongside or after outpatient treatment.

Substance use disorder (SUD)

The clinical term for addiction — a treatable medical condition ranging from mild to severe.

T

Tolerance

Needing more of a substance over time to get the same effect — a sign of physical adaptation, not the same as addiction.

W

Withdrawal

The set of symptoms that appear when a dependent body goes without a substance; for alcohol and benzodiazepines it can be dangerous.