🎯Three Content Types · One Force Field
Every square belongs to one of three content types — not three levels you climb. They tell you what kind of square you’re reading: a concept to understand, a habit to live, or a way to share what you’ve learned. Where you actually track personal progress is your Prepared Patient Course (modules completed) and the Skills Lab (skills signed off).
📘 Learn It Content type
The Learn It squares are concepts to absorb — what SUD actually is, why MAT works, what overdose looks like, what stigma costs.
🛠 Live It Content type
The Live It squares are daily skills and habits — MAT adherence, craving response, naloxone-at-home, the people you call.
📣 Share It Content type
The Share It squares are how you carry it forward — mentoring, naloxone training your circle, fighting stigma where you find it.
🛡️Your Force Field — 16 Squares
Read each square. The deeper detail for each will live in the Prepared Patient · SUD course (next build).
What SUD Actually Is
A medical condition of brain reward circuits. Not weakness. Not a choice once it sets in.
Learn ItWhy MAT Works
Medication-Assisted Treatment (buprenorphine, methadone, naltrexone) is the modern, evidence-based playbook.
Learn ItSpot an Overdose
Unresponsive · slow or stopped breathing · blue/grey lips. Naloxone now. 911. Recovery position.
Learn ItTriggers & the Craving Loop
People · places · emotions · HALT (Hungry/Angry/Lonely/Tired). Knowing yours is half the battle.
Learn ItStigma & the Language of Recovery
“Person in recovery” not “addict.” “Return to use” not “relapse.” Words shape outcomes.
Learn ItMAT Adherence
Take it as prescribed. Don’t skip. Don’t double. Call your team before you stop.
Live ItCraving Response — the 5 minutes
Cravings are waves, not floors. Tools: call sponsor · cold water · walk · HALT check.
Live ItNaloxone at Home
Two doses, where everyone in your house can find them. One trusted person knows how to use it.
Live ItMake Every Visit Count
Use the Prepared Visit Tool. Talk MAT dose, cravings, slips, sleep, stressors.
Live ItYour Care Team
SUD specialist or PCP, behavioral health, peer recovery, social worker, sometimes pharmacist.
Live ItTelehealth & Apps
MAT via telemedicine is real and effective. Phone meetings count. Recovery apps work for some.
Live ItInsurance & Cost
MAT is covered by most insurance. Naloxone is often free. Don’t suffer in silence about cost.
Live ItYour Rights — ADA, FMLA, Housing, Workplace
SUD in recovery is a protected condition. Know your rights at work, in housing, and around your kids.
Live ItTeach & Mentor
Be the one who explains naloxone to a friend. Mentor someone newly in recovery.
Share ItFight the Stigma You Encounter
Correct “junkie” or “clean” in your circle. Tell your story when it’s safe. Share what works.
Share ItResearch, Trials & Policy Voice
Decriminalization, harm reduction, MAT access, supervised use sites — the science moves faster with patient voices.
Share ItNaloxone at home is non-negotiable — and it can be free.
Pharmacies dispense it without a prescription in most U.S. states. State Good Samaritan programs cover it. Community harm-reduction orgs hand it out. Your health plan likely covers it as a benefit. Two doses, kept where they can be found in the dark, by someone other than you. Naloxone is a Foundation skill in the FFH Skills Lab — get signed off and teach a trusted person.
Three things to learn before you actually need them: when to use which door, how to describe a craving or a slip, and what good questions look like.
This is the teaching. The fillable forms, editable question lists, printable summaries, and post-visit teach-back live in the Prepared Visit Tool. Trackers (cravings, MAT doses, sleep, mood) live in your Prepared Patient Course.
When something happens — which door do I use?
Recovery is not linear and not every wobble is an emergency. The four-step ladder helps you pick the right response.
Handle at home
- A craving you can ride out (most craving waves last 5–20 minutes)
- A hard day at a meeting or a hard memory surfacing
- Sleep was rough for a night — recover with hydration + early bedtime
- A single emotional trigger you have a tool for (sponsor · cold water · walk)
Log it. Use your tools. If it’s not breaking, move up the ladder.
Call the office / message the portal
- Persistent cravings that won’t quit — days, not hours
- Missed one or more MAT doses or ran out
- Sleep destroyed for several nights
- Mood dropping or anxiety spiking
- New medication from another doctor (some interact with MAT)
Same day. Most SUD teams have urgent slots. Don’t wait until your next monthly appointment.
Urgent / Acute care
- A slip / return to use without overdose — tell someone within 24 hours
- Withdrawal symptoms getting worse (shakes, vomiting, can’t keep fluids down)
- A pain problem you’re afraid to treat at home
- An infection at any injection site
Bring your MAT med list. Tell the urgent care team you’re in MAT — it changes their pain-control approach.
ER NOW / call 911
- Overdose — theirs or yours. Give naloxone, call 911, recovery position. Stay.
- Anyone unresponsive, not breathing normally, blue lips, gurgling
- Seizure
- Chest pain or stroke signs
- Suicidal thoughts with a plan or means
Good Samaritan laws in most states protect the person calling 911 from minor drug-possession charges. Call.
How to tell your team about a craving or slip in 30 seconds
The same six questions clinicians use for any new symptom work for cravings and slips. Give all six and your team can act faster.
What is it?
Craving · slip · withdrawal · emotional spike · sleep collapse.
How bad?
0–10. Compare to your worst week if 0–10 isn’t enough.
When did it start?
Day, time, what was happening. Often there’s a trigger right before.
What made it worse?
People · places · emotions · sleep loss · an event.
What helped?
Sponsor call · meeting · walk · meal · HALT check · MAT dose.
What else was new?
New medication · new stressor · missed MAT dose · new person · new place. The thing you almost forget is often what shifted the wave.
“The craving started Wednesday after I ran into someone from my old life, it’s been a 6 most of the day, sleep was bad last night which made it worse, calling my sponsor brought it down to a 3, and I’ve been skipping meals all week.” That sentence gives your clinician everything.
Questions worth asking — what good questions look like
Examples to learn from. When you’re actually preparing for a visit, the Prepared Visit Tool lets you check the ones you want, write your own, and print or send them to the portal.
Four that apply to every patient, every condition, every visit:
- “Could this be a side effect of one of my medications, a supplement, or something else I’m doing — and should we change that?”
- “Would any non-drug therapy help — physical therapy, meditation, rest, ice or heat?”
- “If I can’t afford this medication or this test, can we talk about samples, alternatives, or a social worker who can help?”
- “What should I be watching for between now and my next visit — and when do I handle it myself, when do I call your office, when do I go to urgent care, and when do I go to the ER?”
Questions specifically for SUD & recovery:
- “Is my MAT dose still right for where I am, or should we adjust?”
- “What’s the plan if I slip — who do I call first, and what happens next?”
- “Are there any medications I should know interact with my MAT — sleep aids, cold medicines, anything from another doctor?”
- “Naloxone — do I have enough, does my [family / partner / roommate] know where it is and how to use it, and how do I refill?”
- “Are there peer recovery groups, sober-curious communities, or recovery housing options I should know about in my area?”
Use these tools when you’re actually preparing for a visit
The fillable Pre-Appointment Checklist, the editable question lists, the printable summary, and the post-visit teach-back — those are workflow, and they live in the Prepared Visit Tool. This Fact Sheet teaches you the concepts; the Visit Tool walks you through doing it.