Behavior Therapy Associates>What works
Brief Interventions |
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Brief interventions are usually given by healthcare providers. If you have a good working relationship with your personal physician, this is a good starting point. He or she can screen you for possible alcohol problems and assess whether your drinking or drug use is putting your health at risk or causing problems of which you might not be aware. Your physician may also suggest a more comprehensive assessment of your drinking and/or drug use and suggest other resources in your community. If you don't have a good working relationship with a physician, consider one of the Motivational enhancement options in the next section. |
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Motivational Enhancement |
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Motivational enhancement is similar to brief intervention but it is often done by a psychologist, counselor, or therapist with some expertise in alcohol and drug problems. It's also known as a brief motivational intervention. The intervention is usually brief (1-4 sessions) and includes
To find professionals who can provide you with a brief motivational intervention, check the Yellow pages of your phone directory for psychologists or counselors. You can also call your state psychological association (e.g., New Mexico Psychological Association) and ask for resources in your community. There also is a list of psychologists and counselors online who train other professionals in these strategies. They can be a good resource. Click here for that list. Another option is a new web site, the Drinker's Check-up is now available that provides a brief motivational intervention for problem drinkers. Outcome data from a NIAAA funded study indicates that it is as effective as a face-to-face brief motivational intervention. Click here to go to that site. |
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| Acamprosate is a medication that reduces urges and cravings to drink. It is available in Europe but not yet in the U.S. (as of 4/18/03). Clinical trials are underway in the U.S. though through a large multi-site study funded by NIAAA. Nine centers are still recruiting study participants. Click here for more information. | |
Community Reinforcement Approach |
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| The Community Reinforcement Approach (CRA) is a treatment program provided by psychologists and counselors. The CRA seeks to help the problem drinker or drug user's environments (family, social, work) so that the environment reinforces sobriety and withdraws those reinforcers if the person drinks or uses drugs. Click here for detailed information on CRA from NIAAA (requires Acrobat reader). While many treatment programs in the U.S. and around the world use the CRA approach, they still make up a minority of treatment programs. | |
| The Community Reinforcement and Family Therapy (CRAFT) protocol is for concerned friends and family members of substance abusers. The effectiveness of theCRAFT protocol in getting treatment resistant abusers into treatment has been supported in a number of randomized clinical trials. This self-help manual is for the family members. | |
Self-Change Manual--Bibliotherapy |
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| Self-help manuals are mostly oriented towards moderate drinking as a goal of change. Software programs that teach moderate drinking skills are also in this category. The most comprehensive moderation training self-help manual is, in our opinion, Responsible Drinking: A Moderation Management approach for problem drinkers. A good self-help manual for addictions in general and for abstinence from alcohol is Sex, Drugs, Gambling, and Chocolate. Click on their links to get them from Amazon.com. | |
Behavioral Self-Control Training |
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| Behavioral Self-Control Training (BSCT) is a behavioral program that's usually used with a goal of moderate drinking with less severely dependent drinkers. We developed a Windows software program that Moderation Management now distributes that provides this training. | |
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Back to the table of What works? Last revised April 21, 2003. |
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