Treating the Alcoholic: A Developmental Model of Recovery

About this book

The book that revolutionized the psychotherapists approach totreating alcoholism When it was first published in 1985 Treating the Alcoholicchallenged traditional psychotherapeutic approaches to alcoholismtreatment. Since then thousands of mental health professionals using Dr. Stephanie Browns treatment model have found renewedfaith in their ability to help alcoholic patients achieve lastingrecovery. The book begins by studying the experiences of people who havestopped drinking and provides firsthand descriptions of theinevitable emotional physical and psychological problems thatfollow. Dr. Brown then offers a model for treatment that replacesthe notion of abstinence as a static state with a dynamic process-oriented "continuum of recovery" principle. She translatesthe twelve steps of Alcoholics Anonymous into psychological terms taking particular care to explain the crucial notion of "loss ofcontrol." Perhaps the most surprising element of Dr. Browns modelis her emphasis on the triadic therapeutic relationship in whichtherapist patient and AA counselor work in partnership to ensureongoing recovery. Once considered a radical departure from the conventional wisdom Treating the Alcoholic offers a now-proven approach that enablespsychiatrists psychologists social workers alcoholismcounselors and other mental health professionals to understand thedynamics of alcoholism and make profound contributions to therecovery process.