Not all people require inpatient or residential treatment for an opioid use disorder. Instead, outpatient treatment may be appropriate for certain individuals, but must consider the person’s health, motivation, support system, and financial status. partial hospitalization and intensive outpatient programs are two outpatient treatment plans that involve regular programming and individual treatment over several weeks, whereas group and individual therapy might occur less frequently. Mutual support groups, for example 12-step groups such as Narcotics Anonymous, can be very helpful for those looking for peer support. Most recently, treatment methods such as biofeedback, acupuncture, telemedicine, and virtual reality have garnered attention as potential methods to enhance recovery from opioid use disorder.

Relapse is a common phenomenon, and therefore relapse prevention plays a signficant part in addiction treatment. To effectively prevent relapse, it is important to understand how relapse happens and who is most susceptible to it. We now recognize relapse as a multi-stage process occuring over time, rather than a singular event. Multile intrapersonal and interpersonal factors have been identified that influence the risk of relapse. When creating a relapse prevention plan, these factors must be taken into consideration in order for the individual to be successful.