Treating Alcohol Problems: Marital and Family Interventions

Both research and clinical findings indicate a significant reciprocal relationship between marital-family interactions and abusive drinking: Chronic problem drinking is often a component in marital and familial discord; and, conversely, positive marital and family adjustment is clearly associated with better alcohol treatment outcomes. An ideal resource, this volume is a practical guide to the most up-to-date marital and family therapy practices that have been shown to be effective in treating alcohol problems.
Chapters by leading clinician-researchers present practical "how to" information on research-tested methods for use at different stages of the alcoholism recovery process. Each chapter includes an overview of the specific method under consideration and detailed guidelines for implementation. Special clinical considerations are discussed, and a summary of current knowledge regarding efficacy as well as an extensive reference list are included. Illustrative case examples are provided throughout.
Part I describes strategies for initiating change and helping the family when the alcoholic is unwilling to seek help on his own. Chapters cover unilateral family therapy, community reinforcement training for families, the Johnson Institute intervention approach, and a group program designed to help the wives of treatment-resistant alcoholics decrease their own emotional distress and examine their options.
Chapters in Part II present methods drawn from a variety of theoretical approaches for stabilizing sobriety when the alcoholic has sought help in both inpatient and outpatient treatment centers. Approaches discussed include an eclectic approach to family treatment in short-term detoxification, the Hazelden residential family program, a behavioral marital therapy couples group program, an alcohol-focused spouse involvement with behavioral marital therapy, systemic couples therapy for alcohol-abusing women, and family therapy for adolescent alcohol abuse.
Strategies for maintaining long-term recovery and preventing relapse, including behavioral contracts between alcoholics and family members, couples relapse prevention sessions, and an outpatient couples therapy program based on Marlatt and Gordon's model of the relapse process, are described in Part III. Finally, ways to deal with alcohol problems encountered by practitioners outside the alcoholism treatment setting and directions for future research are explored in Part IV.
Timely and relevant, Treating Alcohol Problems is designed for clinical psychologists, marital and family therapists, counselors, and social workers working with alcohol problems. Perfect as a teaching text, this book provides carefully developed, well-conceived marital and family therapy methods that have been shown to be effective with this difficult clinical problem.

Timothy J. O'Farrell, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He also is Associate Chief of the Psychology Service at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Brockton and West Roxbury, Massachusetts, where he directs the Counseling for Alcoholics' Marriages (CALM) Project and the Alcohol and Family Studies Laboratory. He has published more than 100 articles, chapters, and papers, primarily on marital and family therapy in alcoholism treatment and various aspects of alcoholics' family relationships.