Clinical addiction treatment refers to types of addiction treatment that are administered directly to patients instead of conducted in labs or developed in theoretical studies. Laboratory and experimental addiction treatment usually precedes clinical addiction treatment, which is utilized once it has been established and tested by mental health industry experts.

Most addiction treatments begin at the theoretical level and are developed through focus groups. Psychologists and mental health experts present situations, questions and conflicts to test subjects to measure their responses. Test subjects are often chosen because of their particular psychological make up and are either volunteering or receive a stipend. These test subjects or focus groups are imperative to learning how to approach and guide people of a particular mental state.

Addiction treatments are largely psychological and less chemical, therefore the term clinical refers to something quite different in the addiction sphere as it does in the medical sphere. An addiction and mental disorder treatment program is developed through focus groups and psychological experiments that give mental health experts a strong understanding of what different types of psychologies respond to. Clinical psychological addiction treatment relies on this theoretical information to develop and practice established addiction treatments that are administered on addicts. mental disorder treatment program

There is a chemical element to addiction treatment, however, and the theoretical and laboratory stages of developing these treatments is very similar to that of the medical world. Doctors prescribe medications particularly for the purpose of helping someone withdraw from substance abuse, and of course, in the case of co-occurring disorders where someone is addicted and has a mental disorder, psychiatric drugs are often prescribed. These medications are developed in laboratories and must be approved by the Food and Drug Administration before they can be circulated.