HWN Suggests

Evidence Based Psychosocial Interventions in Substance Use

Evidence on effectiveness of psychosocial interventions in substance use disorders is available. For substance misusing clients, any form of psychological treatment leads to better treatment outcomes compared with no psychological treatment, but there is no general consensus that one form of psychological treatment is better than another. Some interventions, such as CBT, MI and RP, appear to be effective across many drugs of abuse. Psychological treatment is more effective when prescribed with substitute prescribing than when medication or psychological treatment is used alone, particularly for opiate users. Where no substitute prescribing treatments are available with substances such as cannabis…

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Articles of Interest

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Popular opinion holds that an addict cannot be helped until he or she wants to quit, and there is overwhelming agreement among experts that it is preferable for people to choose to enter care rather than be forced into it. But research has borne out the conclusion of a 1990 Institute of Medicine report that “criminal justice pressure does not seem to vitiate treatment effectiveness, and it probably improves retention.”

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The findings highlight the potential of psychosocial interventions, with MET being repeatedly associated with improved outcomes.

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Implementing evidence-based psychosocial or behavioral treatments for clients with substance use disorders (SUDs) presents significant challenges.

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An approach called contingency management rewards drug users with money and prizes for staying abstinent. But few programs offer it, in part because of moral objections to the concept.

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Here’s what the road to recovery really looks like.

Resources

PsychCentral

Psychosocial treatments are those that combine both psychological and social environment-focused modalities within a treatment plan. A 2014 review notes that psychosocial treatments are an effective way to treat alcohol use disorder. Another review found that medication combined with psychosocial treatments provided greater benefits in people with alcohol use disorder than psychosocial treatments alone.

UpToDate

Specific psychosocial interventions for substance use disorders, including motivational interviewing, contingency management, psychotherapies, mutual help groups, and screening and brief intervention...