Treating Alcohol Problems: Marital and Family Interventions - Hardcover

9780898621952: Treating Alcohol Problems: Marital and Family Interventions

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 089862195X ISBN 13: 9780898621952

Publisher: The Guilford Press, 1993

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.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

About the Author:

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.

Foreward, William R. Miller.
Preface, Timothy J. O'Farrell.
I. INITIATING CHANGE AND HELPING THE FAMILY WHEN THE ALCOHOLIC IS UNWILLING TO SEEK HELP.
1. Unilateral Family Therapy with Spouses of Uncooperative Alcohol Abusers, Edwin J. Thomas and Richard D. Ager.
2. Community Reinforcement Training for Families: A Method to Get Alcoholics into Treatment, Robert W. Sisson and Nathan H. Azrin.
3. Using Family Influence to Motivate Alcoholics to Enter Treatment: The Johnson Institute Intervention Approach, Michael R. Liepman.
4. A Group Program for Wives of Treatment-Resistant Alcoholics, Joan E. Dittrich.
II. STABILIZING SOBRIETY AND RELATIONSHIPS WHEN THE ALCOHOLIC SEEKS HELP.
5. Family Treatment in Short-Term Detoxification, Richard Bale.
6. The Hazelden Residential Family Program: A Combined Systems and Disease Model Approach, J. Clark Laundergan and Terence Williams.
7. A Behavioral Marital Therapy Couples Group Program for Alcoholics and Their Spouses, Timothy J. O'Farrell.
8. Alcohol-Focused Spouse Involvement with Behavioral Marital Therapy, Nora E. Noel and Barbara S. McCrady.
9. Systemic Couples Therapy for Alcohol-Abusing Women, Joseph L. Wetchler, Eric E. McCollum, Thorana S. Nelson, Terry S. Trepper, and Robert A. Lewis.
10. Family Therapy for Adolescent Alcohol Abuse, Terry S. Trepper, Fred P. Piercy, Robert A. Lewis, Robert J. Volk, and Douglas H. Sprenkle.
III. MAINTAINING LONG TERM RECOVERY AND PREVENTING RELAPSE.
11. Behavioral Contracts Between Alcoholics and Family Members to Improve Aftercare Participation and Maintain Sobriety after Inpatient Alcoholism Treatment, Deborah J. Ossip-Klein and Robert G. Rychtarik.
12. Couples Relapse Prevention Sessions After a Behavioral Marital Therapy Couples Group Program, Timothy J. O'Farrell.
13. Relapse Prevention: A Couples-Therapy Perspective, Barbara S. McCrady. IV. FUTURE DIRECTIONS AND CONCLUDING COMMENTS.
14. Brief Couples Treatment for Alcohol Problems, Allen Zweben and David Barrett.
15. Family Intervention with the Alcoholic After Major Injury in the Trauma Center Setting, Larry M. Gentilello and Patrick Duggan.
16. Conclusions and Future Directions in Practice and Research on Marital and Family Therapy in Alcoholism Treatment, Timothy J. O'Farrell.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.