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Psychotherapy with Substance Abusers

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Comprehensive Handbook of Psychotherapy Integration

Abstract

Psychotherapy with substance abusers as we know it today is a phenomenon of essentially the decade of the 1980s. It has grown largely outside the direct contributions of psychiatry and psychology as disciplines. In fact, not too long ago those psychotherapists who specialized in the treatment of substance abuse were not accorded the same degree of respectability as those psychotherapists who treated the mainstream of psychological conditions. It was to elevate substance abuse specialization into mainstream psychotherapy that I chose to make psychotherapy with addicts the topic of my presidential address (Cummings,1979) to the American Psychological Association (APA). My goal was partially realized as widespread demand resulted in the address going into the seventh printing by the APA. The twelve-step philosophy received for the first time a psychological foundation.

Psychotherapy with non-abstinent substance abusers is difficult, if not impossible, as all understanding is soluble in alcohol or drugs. (Cummings, 1979)

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. American Biodyne and the Foundation for Behavioral Health, South San Francisco, California, 94080, USA

    Nicholas A. Cummings

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  1. Nicholas A. Cummings
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Derner Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies, Adelphi University, Garden City, New York, USA

    George Stricker

  2. Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, Long Island University, Brooklyn, New York, USA

    Jerold R. Gold

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Cummings, N.A. (1993). Psychotherapy with Substance Abusers. In: Stricker, G., Gold, J.R. (eds) Comprehensive Handbook of Psychotherapy Integration. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-9782-4_23

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-9782-4_23

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4757-9784-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4757-9782-4

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