This digest focuses on the clinical supervision of counselors involved in addictions counseling. An overview notes the growing field of addictions counseling and describes Powell's model of clinical supervision which blends aspects of several supervision theories. This model is developmental in nature, addresses nine descriptive dimensions of…

Alcoholic beverages have been used throughout American history but their use has always been controversial. Ethyl alcohol is one of the few alcohols man is able to drink, although it is never full strength. The fermentation process is used to manufacture alcoholic beverages. Wines are made from a variety of fruits. Beer is made from yeast and a…

This study evaluated whether alcoholics who receive relapse prevention (RP) sessions in the year after a short-term behavioral marital therapy (BMT) do better at long-term follow-up than do those not receiving the additional RP. Sixty couples with an alcoholic husband, after participating in 10 weekly BMT couples group sessions, were assigned…

The study of older adults is relatively new for the social sciences. There is a growing awareness of the alcohol-related problems in this population. Between 2 and 10 percent of older social drinkers present severe alcohol-related problems of different kinds. Three terms describe the major consequences of "too much" alcohol: intoxication,…

This document attempts to give some shape and definition to the term spirituality as it relates to the addiction and recovery of chemically dependent persons and co-dependents. Positive and negative spirituality are discussed and addiction and "hitting bottom" are described. A variety of spiritual issues that are a part of the recovery…

Although research has suggested that field dependency is a relatively stable characteristic of alcoholics, the results have been confounded by the use of different measures and different time intervals. To investigate the degree of organic brain impairment and its association with measured field dependency amongst alcoholics, 41 male alcoholics,…

The first part of this report on alcohol and drug abuse summarizes major recommendations from testimony and written statements from a hearing on alcohol and drug abuse. Testimony from these witnesses is included: (1) Reed Bell, Director, Office of Substance Abuse Prevention, United States Department of Health and Human Services; (2) Merita…

Psychic battering can be defined as a continual condition of conflict-inducing happenings. In some professions that are high in psychic battering, mechanisms for accommodating battering are reinforced over time and become ingrained into the personality's modus operandi. A police officer can develop a conditioned emotional response which has as a…

This manual contains the first 2-hour session of a six-session sexuality guide designed for clinicians and facilitators working with chemically dependent women. The content of the manual is appropriate for inpatient programs, outpatient programs, and after-care groups. The manual begins with an introduction to women's sexuality in the 1980s and an…

Economic analysis of alcohol and drug treatment services usually focuses on understanding the private, profit-oriented, hospital-based setting. Professional publications of the alcoholism treatment field, as well as popular press and electronic media exposure, also focus heavily on the private system. Low cost, quality treatment services, however,…

This document recognizes the growing awareness of alcohol problems faced by the elderly during the last 10 to 15 years and cites results of studies conducted to examine the extent of these problems. It then presents a community treatment continuum designed by a coalition of concerned individuals in the northwestern part of the United States. The…

The Gerontology Alcohol Project, a treatment/research program investigating the characteristics of the late-life onset elderly alcohol abuser, was used as a model for a new program which emphasized teaching the elderly abusers how to break down their personal drinking behavior chain and deal with the antecedents of drinking behavior, to use…

Alcohol abuse is often a precipitating factor in domestic violence, especially in the most serious forms of violence. The term coalcoholic has been used to describe persons in a dyadic relationship with an alcoholic including spouses, lovers, parents, or close friends. Two intervention programs for coalcoholic battered women were studied. In the…

The School Survey provides a needs assessment technique for county alcohol and drug abuse agencies. The survey was designed for students in grades seven through twelve. Recommendations were made to survey only seventh, tenth, and twelfth graders. These proved to be representative of the secondary school population. Localized surveys of South…