Alcohol Addiction Treatment
Alcohol use disorder is one of the most common, and most undertreated, medical conditions in the United States. MATClinics provides outpatient alcohol addiction treatment at eight Maryland locations, combining FDA-approved medications with counseling, mental health support, and flexible scheduling that fits real life.
What Is Alcohol Use Disorder?
Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) is a medical condition where drinking causes repeated harm and stopping feels unmanageable, physically or psychologically. It exists on a spectrum, from heavy drinking that disrupts daily life to full physical dependence where withdrawal can be medically dangerous.
Signs of alcoholism include drinking more than intended, unsuccessful attempts to cut back, neglecting responsibilities, continuing to drink despite health or relationship consequences, and experiencing physical withdrawal symptoms, shaking, sweating, anxiety, when not drinking.
Signs of alcoholism are often minimized because alcohol is so normalized in daily life. If drinking is affecting your health, relationships, or sense of control, that is enough reason to seek help.
What Are Alcohol Withdrawal Symptoms?
Alcohol withdrawal symptoms are one of the most important reasons not to stop drinking abruptly without medical support. Unlike opioid withdrawal, which is deeply uncomfortable but rarely fatal, alcohol withdrawal can kill.
Alcohol withdrawal symptoms include:
- Tremors (shaking hands, body).
- Sweating and rapid heart rate.
- Anxiety, restlessness, and irritability.
- Nausea and vomiting.
- Insomnia and nightmares.
- In severe cases: seizures and delirium tremens (DTs).
Delirium tremens, the most severe form of alcohol withdrawal, involves confusion, hallucinations, and dangerous cardiovascular instability. It occurs in approximately 5% of people experiencing alcohol withdrawal and requires immediate medical attention. If you drink heavily and regularly, do not attempt to stop without medical guidance. MATClinics can help you do this safely.
Why Care Matters
Alcohol withdrawal symptoms alone make unsupported quitting dangerous. Beyond safety, untreated AUD causes progressive liver disease, cardiovascular damage, neurological deterioration, and a high co-occurrence of anxiety, depression, and trauma. Outpatient alcohol treatment gives people access to life-changing medical care without requiring them to step away from work, family, or daily responsibilities.
How Treatment Works
MATClinics uses three FDA-approved medications for alcohol use disorder, each with strong clinical evidence:
- Vivitrol® (naltrexone): a monthly injection that reduces cravings and blunts alcohol's pleasurable effects, making relapse less reinforcing and easier to resist.
- Disulfiram: creates an unpleasant physical reaction when alcohol is consumed, acting as a strong behavioral deterrent.
- Acamprosate: stabilizes brain chemistry disrupted by long-term alcohol use, reducing the anxiety, restlessness, and dysphoria that drive early-recovery relapse.
These medications are combined with substance use counseling, mental health therapy, psychiatry where needed, and 24/7 patient support.
A Comprehensive Approach to Alcohol Use Disorder
While MATClinics does not require all patients to engage in counseling, therapy, or psychiatry, those services are available to all enrolled in MATClinics, and may be mandated based on your treatment goals. There is strong evidence that the combination of medication and behavioral therapy is what treats addiction most effectively.
What to Expect
Your first visit is a medical evaluation, a full assessment of your drinking history, physical health, and goals. If heavy dependence is present, your clinician will assess withdrawal risk and determine whether additional medical support is needed before beginning outpatient treatment. Same-day appointments are available. Most patients are seen within 24 hours.
Safety
Alcohol withdrawal symptoms can be life-threatening. Your MATClinics care team monitors withdrawal risk carefully from your very first visit. If medically supervised detox is needed before outpatient treatment can begin, we will help coordinate that safely. Between appointments, your case manager is available 24/7, because withdrawal risk doesn't keep office hours.
Outcomes
With consistent outpatient alcohol treatment, patients experience reduced cravings, improved physical health, greater emotional stability, and meaningful recovery of relationships and daily function. Vivitrol® and acamprosate have decades of clinical evidence behind them. Patients who combine medication with behavioral counseling achieve the highest rates of sustained sobriety, and that combination is exactly what MATClinics provides.
We Accept Insurance
MATClinics currently accepts all Maryland Medicaid programs as well as Medicare Part B and all CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield. If you don't see your insurance program listed, reach out to us for a full list of programs we accept.
Learn more about what to expect as a new patient below.
FAQs
1: What is outpatient alcohol treatment?
Structured addiction care, medication, counseling, and clinical monitoring, without residential stay. You attend appointments and return home, keeping daily life intact.
2: What are signs of alcoholism?
Drinking more than intended, failed attempts to quit, withdrawal symptoms when stopping, neglected responsibilities, and continued drinking despite clear harm.
3: What are alcohol withdrawal symptoms?
Tremors, sweating, anxiety, nausea, insomnia, and in severe cases, seizures or delirium tremens. Never stop drinking heavily without medical guidance.
4: What medications treat alcohol use disorder?
Vivitrol® (naltrexone), disulfiram, and acamprosate. Each works differently, your clinician selects the right option based on your history and goals.
5: Is it safe to stop drinking on my own?
Not if you're a heavy or daily drinker. Alcohol withdrawal can cause fatal seizures. Please contact MATClinics before attempting to stop.