MATCH 16/17

Addiction doesn’t discriminate – it doesn’t care if you’re male or female, young or old.

For Natchaug’s younger clients who are struggling with addiction, the Natchaug Hospital began offering Medication-Assisted Treatment, Close to Home (MATCH) for teens ages 16 and 17 at its Joshua Center Northeast and Thames Valley programs.

Medication-assisted treatment, which offers a combination of medicine to reduce cravings and withdrawal symptoms along with group therapy, has been proven to significantly decrease the risk of relapse and prevent overdoses.

MATCH for teens also incorporates the Seven Challenges® approach to substance abuse treatment, which provides a framework for youth to think through their decisions about their lives and their use of drugs and alcohol.

Natchaug has offered the evidence-based Seven Challenges® Program at all of its adolescent treatment locations for more than three years, and combining this with medication assisted treatment appears to be a combination that has promise for the hard-to-reach teenager population.