1st Edition

Counseling and Therapy With Clients Who Abuse Alcohol or Other Drugs An Integrative Approach

By Cynthia E. Glidden-Tracey Copyright 2005
    316 Pages
    by Routledge

    316 Pages
    by Routledge

    Every day, huge numbers of people use drugs or alcohol for recreation, medication, celebration, stress management, social lubrication, or escape. The abuse of psychoactive chemicals touches individual lives in countless ways, and clients frequently hint in therapy sessions at problems related to substance misuse. But historically, substance abuse treatment has been regarded as a separate specialty, for which students and trainees often prepare along tracks different from those leading to licensing or certification as psychotherapists. Few non-specialists feel completely competent and willing to grapple closely with the issues these clients present, in spite of the fact that such problems are quite frequent among client populations.

    In this book, Cynthia Glidden-Tracey lays out an integrated, holistic, and effective approach to clients' inevitably intertwined problems, which encourages all practitioners to develop skills for detecting, assessing, and addressing substance use whenever concerns about it emerge in the course of therapy. She describes the frequent co-occurrence of substance misuse and other mental health problems, reviews therapy models and current professional questions, and empowers practitioners with the latest scientific knowledge about the causes and effective treatment of addictions. Throughout, her points are grounded in rich clinical examples.

    Contents: Preface. Might as Well Face It, There's Addiction Among Your Clients. A Model for Therapy When Clients Indicate Substance Abuse. The Changing Relationship of the Mental Health and Addictions Treatment Fields. The Types, Actions, and Effects of Psychoactive Substances. Assessment for Substance Use Disorders. Planning Treatment Across the Course of Therapy for Substance Use Disorders. Psychoeducation in Substance Abuse Therapy. Relapse Prevention Strategies. Interventions to Address Problems Linked to the Client's Substance Abuse. Terminating Therapy With Substance Abuse Clients. Appendices.

    Biography

    Cynthia E. Glidden-Tracey

    "Glidden-Tracey has written for mental health professionals a comprehensive and clinically enlightened introduction to addiction treatment....[They] often ignore addictive behavior in their clients out of the mistaken belief that these problems are so different from other behavioral problems that only specialized treatment can help. In fact the principles of behavior change apply to addictive behavior as well (even if.clinicians need to be prodded to realize this fact). If addictive behavior is identified in a mental health client, the client may be referred to specialized addiction providers who are often far less qualified overall to assess and treat behavioral problems. Both graduate students and seasoned professionals (most of whom need the introduction she provides) can benefit from the humanistic, practical, compassionate and empirically grounded methods she presents. If widely adopted these methods would revolutionize behavioral healthcare, advancing it from the dark ages of separate (and unequal) treatment for behavior problems, to unified and coordinated treatment of the whole person."

    A. Thomas Horvath, Ph.D.
    Practical Recovery Services, La Jolla, California

    "I highly recommend this new book by Dr. Cynthia Glidden-Tracey to treatment professionals, clinical researchers, and advanced students who are involved in the counseling and treatment of clients with addictive behavior problems. The author provides an integrated treatment approach that applies across a broad field of application in both mental health and addiction treatment. I strongly support the author's focus on the importance of collaborating with the client to negotiate goals for therapy and how to apply strategies towards goal achievement."
    G. Alan Marlatt, Ph.D.
    University of Washington