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More Promising Research Findings
- By Marc F. Kern
- Published 04/19/2008
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Marc F. Kern
Marc F. Kern, Ph.D., has over 30 years of clinical psychotherapy experience helping people overcome their self-defeating habits and acquire the insights and skills to live happier lives.
He has a deep personal understanding of the addictive process and continues his lifelong research of contemporary treatments for addiction and other destructive behaviors.
Site: http://www.habitdoc.com
Site: http://www.AAalternative.com
Also see Video Interviews with Dr. Kern.
This research supports what I have known and practiced for many, many years with clients in my private addiction alternatives practice:
Brief interventions -- either in person or by telephone -- are a very powerful and effective way to help people reduce their intake of alcohol or drugs to a more responsible level, and even quit completely.
Recently the National Institute of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse (NIAAA) published a 32-page guide, "Helping Patients Who Drink Too Much," to help health care practitioners identify and take care of heavy drinkers and alcoholics. This is an excerpt from their guide:
"Randomized, controlled clinical trials in a variety of populations and settings have shown that brief interventions can decrease alcohol use significantly among people who drink above the recommended limits but are not dependent.
"Studies have found reductions of up to 30% in consumption and binge drinking over 12 months, as well as significant decreases in blood pressure readings. Follow-up periods typically range from six to 24 months, although one recent study reported sustained reductions in alcohol use over 48 months."
The guide stated further that repeated, brief interventions were also effective with alcohol-dependent drinkers.
In my own practice, clients often come to me confused and frustrated. They have been preached to by everyone they know and love. They have been told that A.A. or N.A. and a lifetime of abstinence is the only road to happiness.
Yet, in truth, many of them don’t want to quit their substance of choice; they just want to reduce their usage to a level where it doesn’t cause problems in their life. This is called “harm reduction.” And this is exactly what the National Institute of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse is talking about.
As a long-time proponent of the "brief interventions" style of therapy and "harm reduction" as a legitimate behavior goal for my clients, I am encouraged more every day by the growing clinical evidence that supports this alternative treatment option in this "12-step" world.
