Concise Guide to Treatment of Alcoholism & Addictions (Concise Guides)

The extensively revised edition of this easy-to-read, authoritative guide arms health care professionals in the trenches with the latest clinical and research wisdom in a convenient form--a pocket-sized yet comprehensive reference (part of the APPI's ongoing Concise Guides Series) packed with practical advice they can use every day.

Intended to complement lengthier works on the same subject, this Concise Guide is grounded in both the central importance of the doctor-patient relationship and in the empirically based DSM-IV-TR, systematically detailing all definitions and disorders within the entire addiction section.

It also presents the latest research findings, including epidemiology data, treatment recommendations that address the newest medications and psychosocial therapeutic modalities, and entirely new tables and references. Its relevance is further enhanced by the experience of all three authors, who treat addictions and their complications daily in both inpatient and outpatient clinical settings.

Following an introduction to the general tenets, therapeutic alliance, and potential treatment abuses of substance use disorders, topics presented include:

? Magnitude of the problem--General epidemiology, polysubstance problems and underlying issues, and all substances addressed in DSM-IV-TR (e.g., alcohol, opioids, cannabis, and phencyclidine/ketamine)

? Developmental issues in the field--Disease concept, neurobiology, prevention, and treatment; definition, presentation, and diagnosis-nosology, general and specific definitions, polysubstance dependence, diagnosis, and psychiatric comorbidity

? Detecting and approaching substance abuse in the general hospital and workplace; laboratory findings and diagnostic instruments; natural histories of substance abuse, detailing all substances addressed in DSM-IV-TR

? Treatment approaches for substance use disorders--Abstinence, relapse, characteristic predictors of success, differential therapeutics, matching treatment to the patient, treatment settings and clinical situations, polysubstance abuse, treatment and psychopharmacologic modalities, and psychosocial treatments

? Treatment approaches for special populations--Women; children and adolescents; the elderly; chronic, handicapped, and homeless patients; cognitively impaired chronic patients; blind and deaf patients; and minorities

With its practical focus and remarkable range, this exceptional reference is useful for both students and practitioners across a broad professional and multicultural audience. Although primarily written for clinicians and other mental health care professionals, this informative guide will also be welcomed by allied professionals such as addiction counselors, lawyers, police and corrections officers, clergy, educators, and public policy makers.

Avram H. Mack, M.D., is a physician at The Brigham and Women's Hospital and Clinical Fellow at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts.

John E. Franklin Jr., M.D., M.Sc., is Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Director of Addiction Psychiatry at Northwestern University School of Medicine in Chicago, Illinois.

Richard J. Frances, M.D., is President and Medical Director of Silver Hill Hospital in New Canaan, Connecticut; Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at New York University; and Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Newark, New Jersey.