Alcohol Moderation Movement Gains Strength Nationally
Not all problem drinkers are alcoholics.
The idea that problem drinkers can simply cut back instead of cutting themselves off is the premise behind the alcohol moderation movement which is growing in popularity around the country. Rather than advocating total abstinence like Alcoholics Anonymous, self-help groups like Moderation Management are helping people moderate their drinking.
Dr. Linda and Dr. Mark Sobell are pioneers in the moderation movement. Mark is co- author of Problem Drinkers: Guided Self-Change Treatment (Guilford Press, 1996) and they created The Guided Self-Change Clinic at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale for drinkers and drug abusers. They had established a similar clinic in Toronto, Canada in 1984, too.
The success of brief intervention programs to reduce problem drinking is well- established, says Mark. In the moderation movement, drinkers are helped to understand why they drink excessively. By understanding why and when they engage in the excessive behavior, drinkers are then able to develop their own treatment plan.
"We help people to do an analysis of their own motivations, to figure out what the good things and bad thins are in changing and not changing," Mark says. As with any entrenched habit, change brings feelings of awkwardness when the excessive behavior isn't being practice. But over time, those feelings dissipate.
"The important thing to know is that the population (for which controlled drinking programs are appropriate) is an entirely different population from chronic alcoholics. These are people who rarely drink heavily two days in a row, who don't wake up with the shakes, who don't start drinking in the morning," he says. They generally are employed, have intact social relationships, do not have withdrawal symptoms and do not yet suffer from the debilitating physical effects of alcohol abuse.
Linda and Mark are both professors at Nova Southeastern University's Center for Psychological Studies. Their program is based on more than two decades of research and is the only one of its kind in South Florida. Their program includes full clinical assessment and feedback; four sessions with a therapist; goal setting and monitoring results; identifying high-risk situations for alcohol or drug use; developing treatment strategies; reading and homework exercises; and aftercare following the last session, by telephone.
The National Academy of Sciences estimates there are four times as many problem drinkers as chronic alcoholics, says Mark, but most of the services available are for those with the more serve problems.
"Unfortunately, the cases that attract the most media attention involve people who have ruined their lives. The majority of substance abusers have problems that are much less severe such as the business executive who drinks heavily on the weekend."
Advocates of abstinence operate on the underlying assumption that problem drinkers progressively get worse, he says. "In fact, many studies make it clear that, in most cases, that is not what happens."
He notes that a quarter of the heavy drinkers who ignore their problems will indeed become full-blown alcoholics, but the outcome for the remaining 75 percent is unpredictable.
The idea that the non-dependent drinker is capable of recognizing risky drinking and making healthy changes is slowly gaining ground, despite an existing bias favoring abstinence programs. The concept does have some controversy to it, too. Many critics note that the diagnostic tools do not exist to separate the chronic alcoholic from the problem drinker.
There are more than 60 Moderation Management chapters around the country.
Editors: Contact Linda at 954-262-5811 (office) or Mark at 954-262-5747 (office). Their home number is 954-346-6974. They are pioneers in the movement and can discuss it in great detail. Please contact Steve Infanti of Dick Jones Communications if we can be of any assistance. Dick Jones Communications helps Nova Southeastern UniDrug Design
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