New Release

SAMHSA Issues Group Therapy Guide for Substance Use Disorders Treatment

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) today unveiled a comprehensive guide on the use of group therapy in the treatment of substance use disorders.  The consensus panel that created “Substance Abuse Treatment: Group Therapy” emphasized that group therapy is effective treatment and is a cost effective way to deliver treatment.

The guide, Treatment Improvement Protocol #41 in SAMHSA’s Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP) series, is designed to aid substance abuse counselors who employ group therapy in the treatment of substance use disorders.  TIP 41contains detailed, state-of-the-art information about group therapy modalities, techniques, and practices that are valuable to substance abuse treatment counselors as well as supervisors and trainers of counselors.  Tips are consensus documents formulated by non federal clinical researchers, clinicians, program administrators and client advocates who evaluate all relevant clinical and health services research findings.

The consensus panel found that group therapy offers a number of advantages to patients, including positive peer support, a reduction in their sense of isolation, real-life examples of people in recovery, and help from peers in coping with substance abuse and other life problems. 

“Group therapy offers participants a critical pathway for the hope, support and encouragement necessary to break free from the destruction of substance abuse,” SAMHSA Administrator Charles Curie said.

“Because of its effectiveness and economy of scale, group therapy has gained popularity, and the group approach has come to be regarded as a source of powerful curative forces that are not always experienced by the client in individual therapy,” he added. 

Among the reasons cited in the TIP for the effectiveness of group therapy in the treatment of substance abuse is that group participation engages therapeutic forces such as affiliation, support, gratification, and peer confrontation – properties that enable participants to bond with a culture of recovery.  In addition, groups are effective in treating problems that can accompany addiction, such as depression, isolation, and shame. 

Group therapy is not equivalent to 12-Step program practices, the TIP emphasizes.  Rather, they are complementary components in the recovery process.  Group therapy, led by a professional substance abuse practitioner, should be conducted in a manner that increases the complimentary relationship between the professionally led group and 12-step programs, the TIP explains.  Group therapy addresses all the symptoms experienced by the patient, using specific behavioral and psychological approaches.  Twelve-Step groups address only one specific component of recovery – abstinence.

The new TIP describes five group models that are common in substance abuse treatment:

• Psychoeducational groups – educate clients about substance abuse;

• Skills development groups – cultivate the skills needed to attain and sustain abstinence;

• Cognitive-behavioral groups – alter thoughts and actions that lead to substance abuse;

• Support Groups – buoy members and provide a forum to share pragmatic information about maintaining abstinence and managing day-to-day, chemical free living;

• Interpersonal process groups – delve into major developmental issues that contribute to addiction and can interfere with recovery.

The TIP also offers information about specialized types of groups that do not fit neatly into the five-model classification, but are common in substance abuse treatment, and groups that focus on solving a single problem.

The TIP contains a depth of information about a broad range of topics related to the utilization of group therapy including:

• Information about why groups work so well in treating substance abuse and how to tailor group therapy to substance abuse treatment;

• Considerations that should be weighed before placing a client in a particular group, such as stage of recovery and client diversity;

• Comparison of fixed and revolving types of therapy groups and recommendations on preparing clients for participation; 

• Stages of treatment and issues related to these stages;

• A “how-to” segment that explains the characteristics, duties, and concepts important to promote effective group leadership in treating substance abuse;

• Training opportunities.

The TIP 41 panel was chaired by Philip J. Flores, Ph.D., Adjunct Clinical Supervisor, Department of Psychology, Georgia State University, and co-chaired by Jeffrey M. Georgi, M.Div., Clinical Director, Department of Behavioral Science, Duke School of Nursing and Duke University Medical Center.

TIP 41, DHHS Publication No. (SMA) 05-3991, can be ordered through SAMHSA’s National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information (NCADI), P.O. Box 2345, Rockville, M.D. 20847-2345, or by calling 1-800-729-6686.

SAMHSA, a public health agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the lead federal agency for improving the quality and availability of substance abuse prevention, addiction treatment and mental health services in the United States.

 

This page was last updated on 22 March, 2005
SAMHSA is An Agency of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Service