APA's Practice Directorate's Just the Facts Sheet on Alcohol <fwd>

[Guest guest]

HI All

Thought y'all might be intererested in this letter to the

APsychologicalA's addictions division list concerning the APA's

description of psychologists' role in treating alcohol problems. You

will see that while not particularly challenging the Disease

Model/12-step approach with regard to full-blown " alcoholism " , it does

urge that that other approaches should be declared in the

psychologists' armory, that supports groups of any kind are not

essential, and that there are others apart from AA. I sincerely hope

these suggestions are adopted -watch this space.

Pete

--- Begin Forwarded Message ---

First let me say that basically that the APA's Practice Directorate's:

Just the Facts Sheet on Alcohol Related Disorders [January 1999]

produced with the help of , Wallace and Joan Zweben

does give " just the facts " regarding " alcoholism " /alcohol dependence

and that will likely help people seeking help with the most extreme

forms of the problem.

But I am concerned that we, as psychologists have something more to offer

as described by and Brown in the American

Psychologist article Dec. 1997 " Why psychologists should treat alcohol and

drug problems " . And with the national screening coming up and this being

our premier brochure for psychologists, I would like it updated before I'd

feel good about distributing it.

What I'd like to see added to this sheet before I'd distribute it might be

considered tweeking, but I feel strongly that we can offer more to people

before dependency is established.

In the section entitled: How can a psychologist help?

I would add that psychologists trained and experienced in the treatment of

alcohol related disorders can offer a menu of options for helping depending

on the severity and history of the problem.

After all, people come to us who are not [yet] alcoholics, but who do drink

too much [either in binges or generally excessively] but who still don't

meet the criteria for a diagnosis [having not yet experienced two or more

clinically significant problems within a six month interval]. Such people

could be helped to reduce their drinking and referred to support groups

like Moderation Management=81.

And where it says " They can also provide referrals to self-help groups such

as Alcoholics Anonymous, a crucial part of any recovery program " I would

add SMART Recovery=AE, SOS and Women for Sobriety, as most people have

already heard of AA and learning that psychologists are aware of more

options might give a person hope and a reason to seek professional help

[after all they can go to AA without a referral from a professional]. Even

the NIDA mentions SMART Recovery=AE in their latest booklet [December 1999].

I'd also take out the term " crucial " since many people improve without any

such group and we ought not discourage people who don't take to groups or

particular types of groups. Psychologists must encourage and not discourage

people from seeking help and feeling confident that they can change.

=46inally, I would suggest that in the portion: When should someone seek

help? that we not tell people to wait until they score on the CAGE [which

is embedded in that section] but rather encourage people to seek help when

their friends, family or doctor expresses concern or they experience some

consequence like a DWI or damaged relationship or any other harm related to

drinking -- because at that point they are far more likely to be able to

cut down [which is clearly what people prefer to do] and it would be best

for them to learn that cutting back may not be an option if it is not taken

early on in one's drinking career.

We as psychologists have some special knowledge to offer, some knowledge

that can help prevent problems from turning more serious, besides for

helping the smaller group of clients who have developed over time a

critical chronic problem. Can that better come across in the next version

of this Just The Facts please?

Henry Steinberger, PhD

Henry Steinberger, PhD - at:

mailto:hsteinberger@...

http://home.earthlink.net/~hsteinberger

--============_-1260197579==_ma============

Content-Type: text/enriched; charset= " iso-8859-1 "

Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

=46irst let me say that basically that the APA's Practice Directorate's:

Just the Facts Sheet on Alcohol Related Disorders [January 1999]

produced with the help of , Wallace and Joan Zweben

does give " just the facts " regarding " alcoholism " /alcohol dependence

and that will likely help people seeking help with the most extreme

forms of the problem.

But I am concerned that we, as psychologists have something more to

offer as described by and Brown in the American

Psychologist article Dec. 1997 " Why psychologists should treat alcohol

and drug problems " . And with the national screening coming up and this

being our premier brochure for psychologists, I would like it updated

before I'd feel good about distributing it.=20

What I'd like to see added to this sheet before I'd distribute it might

be considered tweeking, but I feel strongly that we can offer more to

people before dependency is established.=20

In the section entitled: How can a psychologist help?

I would add that psychologists <bigger>trained</bigger> and

experienced in the treatment of alcohol related disorders can offer a

menu of options for helping depending on the severity and history of

the problem.=20

After all, people come to us who are not [yet] alcoholics, but who do

drink too much [either in binges or generally excessively] but who

still don't meet the criteria for a diagnosis [having not yet

experienced two or more clinically significant problems within a six

month interval]. Such people could be helped to reduce their drinking

and referred to support groups like Moderation Management=81.=20

And where it says " They can also provide referrals to self-help groups

such as Alcoholics Anonymous, a crucial part of any recovery program " I

would add SMART Recovery=AE, SOS and Women for Sobriety, as most people

have already heard of AA and learning that psychologists are aware of

more options might give a person hope and a reason to seek professional

help [after all they can go to AA without a referral from a

professional]. Even the NIDA mentions SMART Recovery=AE in their latest

booklet [December 1999].=20

I'd also take out the term " crucial " since many people improve without

any such group and we ought not discourage people who don't take to

groups or particular types of groups. Psychologists must encourage and

not discourage people from seeking help and feeling confident that they

can change.

=46inally, I would suggest that in the portion: When should someone seek

help? that we not tell people to wait until they score on the CAGE

[which is embedded in that section] but rather encourage people to seek

help when their friends, family or doctor expresses concern or they

experience some consequence like a DWI or damaged relationship or any

other harm related to drinking -- because at that point they are far

more likely to be able to cut down [which is clearly what people

prefer to do] and it would be best for them to learn that cutting back

may not be an option if it is not taken early on in one's drinking

career. =20

We as psychologists have some special knowledge to offer, some

knowledge that can help prevent problems from turning more serious,

besides for helping the smaller group of clients who have developed

over time a critical chronic problem. Can that better come across in

the next version of this Just The Facts please?

--- End Forwarded Message ---

Pete Watts

" ...but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end

for they do so with the approval of their own conscience...To be 'cured'

against one's will and cured of states which we may not regard as disease is

to be put on a level with those who have not yet reached the age of reason

or those who never will. "

C.S. " The Humanitarian Theory of Punishment (1949)