ABOUT UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO ADDICTION & RECOVERY
The University of New Mexico (UNM) Health System operates eight hospitals and other inpatient facilities and dozens of outpatient centers. The organization’s addiction treatment services are provided from this facility near Albuquerque International Sunport airport, in the south of the city. Services consist of outpatient care, including ambulatory (outpatient) detox services, for adults and adolescents who are struggling with problematic substance use and dual diagnosis.
TREATMENT & ASSESSMENT
The facility at this address offers ambulatory detox: a system of medications designed to help ease withdrawal from alcohol and/or drugs, which is completed on an outpatient basis.
There’s also a longer-term medication-assisted treatment (MAT) program for individuals struggling with addiction to opiates. Under the MAT program, clients are prescribed either methadone or buprenorphine, while also receiving counseling and case management services to address the underlying causes of addiction. The center points out that methadone withdrawal symptoms are less intense than heroin withdrawal, but that they last longer, and that clients can consult with their doctor if and when they are ready to stop using methadone in order to formulate a plan. Several reviewers posting on Google indicated that they had been receiving MAT at this facility for several years.
Beyond MAT, the facility offers an addiction and substance abuse program (ASAP) that lasts 12 weeks and requires at least two hours of contact time per week. Treatment is based on cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and clients are encouraged to arrange individual sessions with their primary counselor. The ASAP also offers a gender-separate group for women.
The center is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.
STAFF CREDENTIALS
The team includes a medical doctor and counselors. There is currently no information provided by the facility regarding its treatment staff, however, the single individual polled by Best-rehabs.com to date on the staff’s level of training and experience gave it two out of five stars. The other reviewer thus far surveyed by Best-rehabs.com was asked to evaluate the level of staff support at the facility and the level of training and respect found in its counseling staff; they gave the center three, two, and five stars, respectively, in these categories.
WHAT ALUMNI SAY
The single alum polled by Best-rehabs.com to date would recommend treatment at the UNM Health System’s addiction facility. “I would urge anyone who is struggling with any psychiatric crisis to go to the University of New Mexico Mental Health Center,” the anonymous reviewer wrote, giving the facility three stars for the overall quality of its individual and group counseling and just one star for its holistic offerings, but nonetheless indicating that they left treatment with the tools required to lead a healthy, sober life.
Secondary sites yielded mostly positive coverage at the time of this writing: a four-star average rating based on 12 reviews left on Google.[1] The reviewers repeatedly noted that medication-assisted treatment received at this facility had helped them to get their lives back on track; however, some reviewers objected to what they perceived as the center’s strictness, as manifest in, for example, the requirements to see a counselor in addition to receiving medicine, and to collect medications at the determined hour. “Been coming here for 4 years maybe more. I have gotten my life completely together. I have a full time job I’m in school at CNM after I get off work at 5, and this place helped me do that. The reason why I gave it three stars is because they hold the medicine they give you over your head and use it as a weapon. Oh you don’t pick up when they call you well guess what your going to get a threat that they will discontinue…” E.L. wrote in a representative review.
WHAT FRIENDS & FAMILY SAY
The single loved one polled by Best-rehabs.com to date gave mostly negative feedback, indicating that they would not recommend the UNM Health System’s mental health and addiction treatment. “No follow through with staff,” Anita wrote, adding that treatment did not adequately address individual clients’ needs, since dually diagnosed individuals and those with primary mental health problem were treated on the same program. However, Anita added that the facility was: “Able to somewhat stabilize the patient in three to five days.” She gave the facility two stars for its family participation, holistic offerings, counseling options, and ability to treat co-occurring disorders, and one star for its treatment effectiveness.
FINANCING
UNM Health System accepts Medicaid, Medicare, TriCare, and numerous private insurance policies. Reduced rates and financial assistance are available for clients who qualify, based on their family size and income. The single alum polled by Best-rehabs.com to date on the center’s affordability gave it three out of five stars.
[1]