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Learning sobriety together: behavioural couples therapy for alcoholism and drug abuse
Author(s) -
FalsStewart William,
Lam Wendy K.K.,
Kelley Michelle L.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
journal of family therapy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.52
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1467-6427
pISSN - 0163-4445
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-6427.2009.00458.x
Subject(s) - sobriety , substance abuse , psychological intervention , psychology , intervention (counseling) , family therapy , clinical psychology , psychotherapist , psychiatry
Among the various types of partner‐ and family‐involved interventions used to treat adults with substance use disorders, Behavioural Couples Therapy (BCT) has garnered the strongest empirical support for its efficacy. During the past thirty years, multiple studies have consistently found married or cohabiting substance‐abusing patients who engage in BCT, compared to traditional individual‐based counselling or partner‐involved attention control treatments, report significantly greater (1) reductions in substance use, (2) levels of relationship satisfaction, and (3) greater improvements in other areas of relationship and family adjustment (e.g. reductions in partner violence, improvements in custodial children's adjustment). In addition to discussing the theoretical rationale for BCT as a treatment of substance abuse, this article describes specific therapeutic techniques used as part of this intervention and summarizes the relevant evaluative empirical literature.