Stimulant Use Disorder — Methamphetamine & Cocaine
Stimulants ride a different curve from alcohol or opioids. The high is sharp, the crash is heavy, and the time between the two is where most of the shame lives. We work with that whole shape.
Stimulant Use Disorder includes methamphetamine, cocaine (powder and crack), and the misuse of prescription stimulants. There is no FDA-approved medication for stimulant use disorder, which makes therapy — particularly behavioral therapy and group support — the central treatment. We see clients at every stage, from first-time concern to long stretches in recovery.
What this can feel like
- You're awake again. You've been awake. The clock says 4:14am and you're not sure whether you've slept since Monday.
- Your work performance feels louder than it should — more emails, more confidence — and then crashes for two days.
- You've lost weight you didn't mean to lose.
- You've made decisions in the high that you'd never make sober — financial, relational, sexual — and you carry the receipts in silence.
- Your jaw aches. Your skin breaks out. Your dentist has stopped pretending not to notice.
- The crashes are loud. The shame between them is louder.
How therapy can help
Behavioral therapies work for stimulant use disorder. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy targets the thought patterns and triggers that lead to use; Contingency Management (where structurally available) reinforces sobriety with concrete, near-term rewards; and Motivational Interviewing helps with the part of you that isn't sure you want to stop yet. Group therapy reduces the isolation that often drives a return to use, and gives weekly contact points across the early-recovery period when motivation is most fragile.
Co-occurring conditions are very common with stimulant use — particularly anxiety, depression, sleep disturbance, and trauma history. We treat the whole picture in one place, rather than asking you to coordinate between separate providers.
For clients with severe sleep deprivation, weight loss, or cardiovascular concern, we coordinate with a primary care or addiction-medicine provider before treatment begins.
You don't have to figure this out alone
The first session is a conversation. There's no test, no minimum severity, no required label.