Evidence-Based Reviews

Substance abuse: 12 principles to more effective outpatient treatment

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References

Ideally, outpatients in early recovery should be oriented in how to refuse offers of addictive substances, stress management, relapse prevention, information about the biology of addiction, 12-step fellowship integration, and appropriate use of medications.

Principle 12: Involve families in treatment

Treatment outcomes improve when addicts’ families are involved in the recovery process.28,29 Some family members enable addictive behavior by purchasing drugs for their relatives or providing money for this purpose, while other families are knowledgeable about treatment and can be a vital force supporting the recovery process

Treatment can help modify unhealthy behavior patterns that some families develop to compensate for a substance abuser’s actions. Because substance use disorders often run in families, try to assess not only the identified patient but also others in the patient’s life.

Related resources

  • Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (http://www.health.org/)
  • Miller WR. Enhancing motivation for change in substance abuse treatment. CSAT treatment improvement protocol #35. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1999.
  • Rawson R. Treatment for stimulant use disorders. CSAT treatment improvement protocol #33. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1999.
  • Mercer DE, Woody GE. An individual drug counseling approach to treat cocaine addiction: The Collaborative Cocaine Treatment Study model. NIDA manual #3. Therapy manuals for drug addiction. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1999.

Disclosure

The authors report no financial relationship with any company whose products are mentioned in this article.

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