Treatment
Addiction and recovery
Confidential, physician-led outpatient treatment for alcohol, opioid, cannabis, stimulant, and nicotine use, for adolescents and adults in New York and Washington, DC. Two things come first: your privacy, and getting you stable.
Privacy comes first
Nothing about your care leaves this office without your written permission. The practice does not bill insurance, so no claim, diagnosis code, or medication record is sent to an insurer or appears in a claims history. No one is contacted (not an employer, a licensing board, a school, or a family member) unless you ask. Visits are in a private room with no shared waiting area, and appointments are spaced so you do not meet other patients. Records of substance use treatment carry extra federal protection (42 CFR Part 2) beyond ordinary medical privacy, and the practice follows it. If you later want a letter for an employer, a court, or a monitoring program, you decide what it says.
Stabilization before everything else
The first job is to make sure you are safe, and the second is to make the next week easier than the last one. Before anything else is addressed, the first visit covers:
- Withdrawal risk. Alcohol and benzodiazepine withdrawal can be medically dangerous; if there is any risk, it is managed with medication and medical coordination, or with a referral to supervised care, before the rest of the plan.
- Overdose protection. Anyone using opioids leaves with naloxone and a plan, whatever else is decided.
- Sleep. Early recovery without sleep rarely holds. Sleep is assessed at the first visit, with mobile actigraphy for appropriate sleep concerns, and treated from the start.
- The condition underneath. Depression, anxiety, PTSD, ADHD, and insomnia drive most relapse. They are identified at the first visit and treated alongside recovery, not after it.
- Medication that reduces craving, started when indicated, often at the first or second visit.
Medications offered
- Alcohol
- Naltrexone (daily or monthly injection), acamprosate, and other evidence-based options; withdrawal managed with medical care when needed.
- Opioids
- Buprenorphine, including long-acting monthly injections, and naltrexone; overdose prevention and naloxone for every patient.
- Nicotine and vaping
- Varenicline, bupropion, and nicotine replacement, for adolescents and adults.
- Cannabis and stimulants
- No approved medication yet; treatment of the co-occurring conditions that sustain use, with referral for behavioral treatment.
Medication choices follow the same deliberate approach used across the practice, informed by Dr. Giddens’s NIH research on the brain in opioid and alcohol use disorder.
Who is seen here
Adults and adolescents 15 and older whose use has outgrown their control, whether it is daily, binge, or tied to a particular stress; people already in recovery who need the psychiatric side treated; and parents of a teenager who is vaping, drinking, or using cannabis. Substance use disorders occur at every income and in every profession, and most people seen here are working, studying, or raising families while they get well.
What this practice is not
This is outpatient care. It does not provide medically supervised detoxification, residential treatment, or emergency services; when those are needed, Dr. Giddens helps you get there and resumes care after. In immediate danger, call 911. The SAMHSA National Helpline (1-800-662-4357) and FindTreatment.gov are free, confidential, and available any hour.
Questions people ask
Will anyone find out I came?
Not from this office. No insurer is billed, no one is contacted without your written permission, and substance use records carry extra federal protection. You control any letter that is ever written.
Do I have to stop completely before the first visit?
No. Come as you are. The first visit is about safety and a plan, and stopping some substances suddenly is dangerous; that is decided together.
How soon can I be seen?
Usually within the week. Say in the request form or on the phone that it is about substance use, and it is prioritized.
Can I keep my therapist, program, or meetings?
Yes. Care here coordinates with them, with your permission, and does not replace them.
Is buprenorphine available on the first visit?
When it is indicated and safe, often yes; the first prescription and some refills require an in-person visit.