It's not 1960 anymore
Gerald Shulman
February 17, 2014 by Gerald Shulman
I began my career as an alcoholism counselor in 1962 in a 28-day, inpatient, 12-Step, disease model alcoholism treatment program. There was no patient assessment of any kind, there was no treatment planning, and treatment consisted of 28-day immersion in the Steps and Principles of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA).
Group therapy consisted of reading and discussing a chapter in the Big Book or listening to a tape recording of someone telling his/her story at an AA meeting. The psychoeducational component consisted of Step lectures or topics such as the disease of alcoholism. What I have just described would not be considered “treatment” by today's standards.
Funny thing, though: It worked, and many patients went on to become the early alcoholism counselors after their own treatment. The fact that this approach was the precipitant for so many people to begin their recovery screams for explanation. If this was not treatment by today's standards, as valuable as it might have been, this phenomenon leads us to take a closer look at the patients back then.
Read the full article at Addiction Pro
(http://www.addictionpro.com/article/its-not-1960-anymore)
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