NETWORK THERAPY FOR ADDICTION - ASSESSMENT OF THE CLINICAL OUTCOME OFTRAINING

Mental health practitioners in the office setting are often seen as de ficient in addiction treatment skills. Relevant training is often quit e limited, and trainees are generally not introduced in an effective o ffice-based modality. We studied the feasibility of teaching beginning therapists how to apply Network Therapy, a cognitive-behavioral appro ach to achieving abstinence and preventing relapse that augments indiv idual therapy with support from family and friends. The therapists wer e 19 psychiatric residents without experience in substance abuse treat ment or outpatient therapy, and the patients were 24 cocaine-dependent patients who received a 24-week course of Network treatment. The pati ents remained in treatment for an average of 15.4 weeks. Seventy-nine percent of their observed weekly urine toxicologies were negative for cocaine, and 42% of patients produced clean urines in the 3 weeks imme diately before termination. The overall outcome compares favorably wit h that reported in studies on cocaine treatment where experienced ther apists were employed. Our results suggest that naive mental health tra inees can be taught to apply Network Therapy for effective substance a buse management. This is particularly relevant to technology transfer for general mental health trainees, who are often thought to be percei ved to be refractory to learning about the outpatient management of ad diction.