HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOUR TREATMENT OF PROBLEM DRINKING IS SUCCESSFUL

The particular importance of examining the issue of the effectiveness of treatment for problem drinking is based on: (a) the history of a se paration of science and practice in the alcohol field; (b) an era of i ncreased accountability for the results of clinical practice. Consider ation of the complexities involved in deciding whether treatment makes a difference is followed by an examination of the relative merits of empirical and non-empirical evaluative approaches. Barriers to using k nowledge effectively (therapist and cultural) are identified along wit h the use of knowledge destruction tactics. It is concluded that the m ost realistic alternative is an empirical approach that uses a wide ra nge of methodologies to bridge the scientist-practitioner divide. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.