Treating Addiction as a Human Process

• NCJ Number: 180994
• Author(s): Edward J. Khantzian M.D.
• Date Published: 1999
• Length: 711 pages
• Sale Source: Jason Aronson, Inc
• Publication Format: Book (Hardbound)
• Publication Type: Issue Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This volume of the collected works of the author, clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, focuses on the modes and methods of a psychodynamic perspective for understanding the nature of addictive disorders and their treatment.

Abstract

Seven chapters on the "Internal World of the Addicted Person" explore how the internal world of addicts causes them major difficulty in coping with a range of life challenges. The themes emphasized are the use of addictive substances as coping agents; addictions as disorders in self-regulation; the self-medication hypothesis of substance use disorders; implications for self-help, individual, and group psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy; and a psychodynamic appreciation of the causes and consequences of addictive suffering. Eight chapters on "The Self-Medication Hypothesis of Substance Use Disorders" highlight a core theme of the author's work, namely, that suffering or psychological pain is at the root of addictive vulnerability and that individuals discover the pain-relieving properties of addictive substances. Five chapters on "Understanding Addictive Vulnerability" are varied in scope and focus and cover a wide range of issues on the dynamics of addictive vulnerability. They encompass heroin addiction, the dependency and denial problems of alcoholics, self-preservation and the care of the self, cocaine addiction, Alcoholics Anonymous and contemporary psychodynamic theory, and trauma and addictive suffering. Thirteen chapters focus on the "Treatment of the Addictions." Based on a perspective that suggests addictive vulnerability is a result of individuals being unable to regulate or control their feelings, self-esteem, relationships, and self-care, these chapters are based in the belief that the most effective treatment interventions rest on an empathic appreciation of this vulnerability. This is the case whether or not the treatment methods entail self-help, individual or group psychotherapy, or pharmacotherapy. The epilogue discusses future prospects for understanding and treating the addicted person. Chapter references and a subject index