In 2003, “Amylin,” a young mother in rural Tennessee, was very addicted to methamphetamine. After she started manufacturing it at home to maintain her addiction, she lost custody of her children. The loss of her children drove her deeper into despair and more meth use which ended up resulting in a prison sentence and permanent damage to her heart. Because of meth, Amylin ended up losing everything, including her freedom, her children, her job, and her health. However, because of Amylin’s will to change and the work of her area community mental health center to provide evidence-based treatments, everything was not lost forever.

After a 2-year prison stay, Amylin was released and entered a local drug court where she was sentenced to a 90-day inpatient treatment program. Following her inpatient treatment she was mandated by the court to continue her treatment in an intensive outpatient program. Amylin was referred to the methamphetamine evidence-based treatment and healing (METH) program at a community mental health center in Tullahoma, TN.  Made possible by a federal SAMHSA grant, the METH program provided comprehensive, evidence-based and community-based treatment services for adults who abused meth and other emerging drugs as well as helped increase community awareness and education concerning prevalence, risks and effective treatments through outreach activities. The METH program, following the Matrix Model, gave services to each participant for 16 weeks, includes 3 group sessions a week & individual therapy. It taught participants effective strategies for treating meth addiction and techniques to help them remain drug free after the program was completed.  Read more...