Ma. Belding et al., ASSESSING THE HELPING ALLIANCE AND ITS IMPACT IN THE TREATMENT OF OPIATE DEPENDENCE, Drug and alcohol dependence, 48(1), 1997, pp. 51-59
This study assesses the relationship between the patient-counselor hel
ping alliance (HA) and progress in methadone maintenance treatment. Qu
estionnaire measures of HA were administered to 57 patients 1 and 3 mo
nths after admission. Three-month HA measures (especially counselors'
ratings) predicted reductions in drug use as measured by weekly urinal
ysis results and 6-month self-report data. HA was unrelated to treatme
nt retention or improvement in psychiatric symptomatology. Moreover, c
ontrolling for urinalysis results in the previous month rendered insig
nificant the correlations between 3-month HA and subsequent drug use.
Thus, this evaluation of the HA's unique contribution to the predictio
n of outcome suggests that the development of a positive HA may be mor
e a marker of treatment progress than a necessary precursor of positiv
e outcomes in the methadone maintenance treatment setting. (C) 1997 El
sevier Science Ireland Ltd.