Mobile Addiction Clinic in Indiana Helps Addicted Individuals Get Sober

Positive Recovery Solutions is an addiction recovery clinic in Indiana, Pennsylvania that is helping those who are affected by the opioid epidemic. Its latest project is a mobile clinic designed to help individuals who are struggling with addiction. This recovery clinic combines behavioral counseling with monthly shots of Vivitrol, a form of extended-release naltrexone, which reduces cravings for opioids and alcohol.

Stuart Masula, the logistics coordinator for Positive Recovery Solutions, sets up the unassuming travel trailer that’s responsible for saving lives and providing resources to areas and people who need it the most. “I literally probably have the best job you could ever have," said Masula. "I get to go to work and see people who are trying to change their lives every single day for the better.”

The US Drug Enforcement Administration reported that between 2015 and 2017, Pennsylvania saw a 65 percent increase in drug-related overdose deaths.

The mobile clinic initiative is the brainchild of Positive Recovery Solutions Chief Operating Officer Amanda Cope, who is no stranger to addiction. Cope was six years old when her mother died of cancer and her father was left to raise their four children. “We had very little parental supervision. I took my first drink at age 9; I stole my daddy's vodka. I became a daily drinker by the time I was 16,” Cope said. “I ended up being 27 years old, drinking two-fifths of vodka a day to not be sick.”

Cope said it was around this time that she hit rock bottom. After blacking out in a bar bathroom, she had a seizure, fell and shattered a porcelain toilet tank. “My entry into rehab was a: 'I've gotta do something, because I've really messed up here.'”

At 28 years old, she entered an addiction treatment program. “Once I got there, I realized how sick I was; my denial was thick.” Click the link to see San Francisco's top rehab placement programs.

While she was going through detox in the emergency room, the kindness of a nurse changed her life.

“I absolutely hated who I had become. This nurse…she dimmed the lights and cracked the door. I heard her tell the nurses, 'guys, be quiet; that girl's really sick in there.' That was the first time that somebody saw me for what I was and showed me compassion and empathy. It was, to this day, the most profound moment of my life. At that moment, I said, 'I'm going to be that for someone one day.'”

Cope is now sober for nearly 13 years and is a registered nurse. She has worked with patients for several years. Later on, she teamed up with her cousins, who were in recovery for opioid dependency, to form the Positive Recovery Solutions. Their goal is to help those who are battling addiction.

Cope and her team learned that some of her patients were driving for hours just to get treatment. That’s why she decided to hit the road and help close the distance. This is the beginning of her mobile addiction recovery clinic.

Cope recognizes that the role of Positive Recovery Solutions is to medically manage patients on Vivitrol. The clinic works on a referral basis. It receives between 200 and 400 referrals a week. However, many of those patients do not show up for treatment.

The process is the same for every patient: it begins with a drug screening. The trailer is usually set up as a doctor’s waiting area, and Masula serves as the receptionist. Patients sit on couches, waiting for their results. Once cleared, they head into a small private room that has been converted into Cope’s office.

“How's everything going since we last saw you" is a question Cope asks her patients before discussing how the drug is working and how counseling is going.

Before delivering the injection, Cope reminds the patients of the risk of overdose and death if the patient tries to use opioids or alcohol while on it. She then gives the shot and sends the patient on the way.

“We firmly believe that the work of recovery comes from the behavioral health piece; the medication is meant, by our philosophy, to be a safety net,” she explained. “It's going to remove your cravings, and it's also going to put a block in place that prevents you from successfully being able to use an opiate or alcohol. This safety net will keep this patient craving-free and blocked while they do the work of recovery, which is developing healthy coping mechanisms, changing behavior patterns and changing people, places, and things.”

While Cope recovered from her addiction with the help of a 12-step program, Masula describes his experience with Vivitrol and counseling as life-changing. “For me, it was like night and day difference. It's like when people are on their phones all the time and they are like 'OK, I got to check my phone. OK, I got to check my phone. OK, I got to check my phone'—getting high was 10 times more than that. It was more important than eating. It was more important than breathing. It was my entire being,” he said.

Now sober, Masula helps others by driving the mobile clinic to rural areas hit hard by the epidemic. “I'm in recovery not to only better my life but to better others' lives. That's what I'm supposed to do is help make the world a better place.”

If someone in the family is struggling with opioid addiction, it is important to seek help. A combination of medical detox and behavioral therapy can go a long way in the fight against drug abuse. But because every individual is affected by addiction differently, a comprehensive program tailored to their specific needs is necessary. Look for a nearby addiction treatment facility today and find out how drug treatment programs work.