Who Is Most Likely to Benefit from Moderation-focused Alcohol Treatment? Recovery Research Institute
Another, older study concludes that men who drink moderate amounts of alcohol have a higher life expectancy than individuals who drink alcohol occasionally or heavily. The key premise of any approach is that moderate drinking is a practical and reasonable goal for those people who face less severe drinking issues. There are a great many differences in peoples’ over drinking behaviours and it is important for the therapist to assess and help the client manage their individual triggers for overdrinking. In addition, it is advantageous to identify the client’s personal motivation for change. Ideally the client will develop a toolkit of strategies to facilitate the behaviour changes. If you are curious to get a better understanding of where you might fall on the continuum of alcohol use disorder then the guidelines set by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) may be helpful.
Treating alcohol withdrawal and abuse problems will depend on the severity of their addiction. A specialist might recommend either an inpatient or outpatient setting. Other modalities will include individual counseling and support groups to encourage recovery.
Alcohol Moderation Treatment Works
In this case, moderation serves as a harm reduction strategy that minimizes the negative consequences of drinking. It’s a healthy step in a positive direction, and is often achievable with medication. It is difficult for our Allies member to see her son struggling to make friends while at the same time using alcohol to overcome his social anxiety. By following the CRAFT principles of effective communication, she is able to step back and allow him to experience the negative consequences of his drinking, and to focus on rewarding his positive choices. This is easier said than done, but her loving support and commitment to CRAFT is guiding him in the right direction.
For example, if a loved one expresses concern and gives a request, the drinker will successfully quit and not look back. A normal drinker can enjoy alcohol in a social setting and very rarely (if ever) experiences consequences as a direct result controlled drinking vs abstinence of their drinking. Consequences mean experiencing mild withdrawal symptoms, such as the so-called hangover, for example. Alcohol consumption is so ingrained in society that most people experiment with alcohol before they reach legal age.
History of SMART Recovery
You have already made the crucial first step of evaluating alcohol in your life. Contacting a treatment provider
can help you determine the next steps in your journey. The negative effects of your drinking may have turned you off of alcohol entirely, and that’s completely okay. If your reason for choosing abstinence is simply that you want to, that’s a perfectly valid reason to quit alcohol altogether.
This is certainly a conservative definition of moderation for many drinkers, but an amount unlikely to cause ill health effects. The authors explain that individuals who are alcohol dependent will probably not be able to control the drinking to that extent, and therefore, may realize their alcohol dependence and seek help. What we know is that after one has developed a severe addiction, the simplest, easiest, safest and surest way to keep from repeating past behaviors is total abstinence.