Other Self-Help Groups

Motivation to Change Change without Formal Treatment Self-Help Groups Alcoholics Anonymous Other Self-Help Groups Models of Substance-Use Disorders Five Model Categories Biopsychosocial Model Professional Treatment Assessment and Goals... 

The American disease model is especially important because of its u idespread prevalence and prominence in the United States. It also is the foundation of Alcoholics Anonymous and other self-help groups. In the American disease model (it is called American because it is not nearly so popular in otlier countries), alcohol and drug dependence is viewed as the product of a progressiv e, irreversible disease. The disease is described as a merging of physical, psychological, and spiritual causes. The treatment that follows from the disease model is to identify people who have the disease, confront them with it, help them to accept that they have it, and persuade them to abstain from alcohol and other drugs. 

Other self-help groups, presented as alternatives to AA, also are becoming more popular. Two examples are SMART and Secular Organizations for Sobriety (SOS). 

Stage Three Continuing Care. After the rehabilitation phase, the patient enters a period of continuing care. At this point, treatment often transitions to community resources such as self-help groups. In many cases, continuing care patients move beyond the need for intensive psychiatric treatment but continue to require the support of others as they move through the long-term recovery process. 

Disnlfiram is initiated at SOmg/day for the first week. It can be continued indefinitely at 25 mg/day thereafter. Patients mnst be cautioned of the need to wait at least 1-2 weeks after their last dose before drinking. Otherwise, they risk the unpleasant effects of a disnlfiram reaction. Disnlfiram nse should not be seen as a substitute for other ongoing therapies, but rather as an adjunct to outpatient follow-up and self-help groups. 

Some clients may have had help in the past, either from the agency or a self-help group, or other health professionals, and have reduced but not been able to come off their tranquillisers. The indications here are of limited success that perhaps several stages in the process have been achieved but that new goals can now be explored. 

Consider joining a self-help group. Being around others in similar circumstances can provide support and motivation. 

The accessibility of self-help groups is one of their most attractive features. No dues or fees are required for AA and NA, so they re a good option for the uninsured and underinsured. Meetings are held in public places like local hospitals, healthcare centers, churches, and other community organizations, and frequent and regular attendance is encouraged. 

If you are working in a self-help group, then to mark other people s work you will have to know what you are looking for and how you are going to give the marks. A discussion afterwards of your work and that of others will be invaluable. Make sure the writer sticks to the question asked, NOT what they thought should have been asked, and watch out for deviations from the point of the question. 

We have spent so much space on AA and its relatives because they arc by far tlic most prevalent and influential self-help treatments for alcohol and drug use disorders. Perhaps stimulated by AA s success, other t pcs of self-help groups for alcohol and drug problems have been organized. One important example is Women for, Sobriety (WFS), which began in 1975 (Women for Sobriety, 1985). WPS groups arc now available throughout the United States and in other countries as well. 

What do you think are some of the reasons that self-help groups might aid some people in their efforts to change their alcohol or other drug use ... 

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