Sergey Litvinov, MD.
Clinical leadership, deeply hands-on.
Dr. Sergey Litvinov is the Medical Director at Pines Recovery Life — a board-certified psychiatrist with dual focus on addiction medicine and psychiatric care for people with co-occurring disorders. He sets the clinical standard for every detox admission, every psychiatric evaluation, every medication regimen, and every treatment plan at our Pembroke Pines campus.
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A physician who believes the chart follows the person.
Dr. Litvinov came to addiction medicine through psychiatry. Early in his clinical career, he observed what most psychiatrists eventually conclude: that substance use disorder and psychiatric illness are so thoroughly interwoven in most patients that treating one without the other is rarely sustainable. He sought additional training specifically in addiction medicine so he could hold both threads at once.
At Pines Recovery Life, he oversees all medical care during detox — the medications, the withdrawal-scale protocols, the transition from acute stabilization to the psychiatric evaluation phase — and provides direct psychiatric care during residential. His approach is consistent: listen longer than you think you need to, start with the lowest effective dose, and never prescribe around a conversation that should be had.
He is particularly experienced with complex co-occurring presentations: alcohol use disorder with severe anxiety; opioid use disorder with unrecognized PTSD; stimulant use disorder with bipolar spectrum illness; benzodiazepine dependence layered onto depression or panic disorder. These patients need a medical director who can hold both sides of the diagnosis and sequence treatment accordingly.
Three clinical commitments Dr. Litvinov holds his team to.
Stated in his own words during clinical rounds — the operating instructions for the medical and nursing teams.
Never therapize an unstable nervous system.
Before anyone is asked to do trauma work, cognitive restructuring, or group vulnerability, their physiology must be stable. That means controlled withdrawal, restored sleep, adequate nutrition, and psychiatric symptoms that aren’t drowning out every other signal. Therapy doesn’t work on a dysregulated brain — so we fix that first.
Medicate the indication, not the anxiety.
We use medications that have evidence — MOUDs for opioid use disorder, naltrexone/acamprosate/disulfiram for alcohol use disorder, SSRIs for documented mood and anxiety disorders. We do not use benzodiazepines long-term in residential. Every prescription is a conversation; every conversation is documented.
The diagnosis is the start, not the end.
Two patients with the same DSM-5 label are rarely the same person. We chart sleep, appetite, trauma history, family structure, work context, spiritual orientation, prior treatment response. The medication list exists to support a human being — not the other way around.
Where Dr. Litvinov’s clinical experience runs deepest.
- Alcohol use disorder
- Opioid use disorder
- Benzodiazepine dependence
- Stimulant use disorder
- Polysubstance use
- Major depressive disorder
- Anxiety & panic disorders
- PTSD & complex trauma
- Bipolar spectrum illness
- Medication-assisted treatment
Speak with our medical team. Today if needed.
If you or a loved one is in active withdrawal, or if you have a complex psychiatric history, our admissions team will coordinate a medical consultation before admission. We never admit anyone without a clinical plan.
Call (855) 981-8935Questions we hear about our medical director.
Will I see Dr. Litvinov during my stay?+
Is Pines equipped to handle complex psychiatric cases?+
Does Pines use medication-assisted treatment (MAT)?+
How are medications managed during detox?+
Can my home psychiatrist coordinate with your team?+
Reviewed by Sergey Litvinov, MD — Medical Director and board-certified psychiatrist at Pines Recovery Life. Updated April 2026.
Professional affiliations & references: American Psychiatric Association · American Society of Addiction Medicine · ABPN · Florida DOH License Search
