CognitiveBehavioral Approaches to Alcoholism Treatment

U what motivates people to drink abusively involves knowing their drink­ ing behaviors and patterns and their perceptions, or cognitions, about themselves and about alcohol. Cognitive­ behavioral psychology incorporates all of these elements, expanding the basis of traditional behavior theory beyond an exclusive focus on observable behaviors to include thoughts and emotions. Al­ though it has broadened the scope of behavior theory, this perspective still employs many behavioral techniques to help clients who have psychological problems to change. As applied to alco­ holism,1 the cognitive­behavioral ap­ proach (see box; Kazdin 1982) views the etiology and persistence of pathological drinking as learned behavior (discussed below) and has led to the application of learning­based clinical methods to alco­ holism treatment. These clinical tech­ niques include coping skills training, relapse prevention, marital or family interventions, and development of broad­based social supports for clients.