Essay On Brief Intervention

Treatment Options

Brief intervention has shown to be an effective treatment for individuals that are socially stable problem drinkers; focusing on changing individual behavior with drinking and helping aid in increasing compliance with treatment (Fleming 1999). It has been shown to be valuable in helping with harm reduction and abstinence (Fleming et al. 1997). It has shown efficacy with aiding individuals with alcohol use disorder to choose to enter in to long term treatment, and for treating individuals for whom the goal is abstinence (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism 1999). Brief intervention is usually conducted in four or fewer sessions, each lasting from a few minutes to an hour depending on the severity of the client’s alcohol use issues (Flemming et al. 1997).

All substance use disorders tend to be fluid. There may be long periods of both remission, whether it be a reduction of alcohol use or abstinence, and relapse. There are three major obstacles that individuals in treatment substance use disorders must overcome are (a) physical dependence (b) psychological dependence, and (c) habit

Alcohol dependence is treated in two stages: withdrawal and detoxification, followed by further interventions to maintain abstinence.

Early symptoms can include tremors, anxiety, restlessness, insomnia, and nausea. In individuals that are only mildly dependent on alcohol these symptoms can be minor enough to go without any medical treatment and resolve on their own after a few days have passed. More serious withdrawal symptoms, however, occur in nearly 10 percent of individuals who are dependent on alcohol (Trevisan et al. 1998). Symptoms included in more serious alcohol withdrawal are rapid breathing, tremors, low-grade fever, and heavy sweating (Trevisan et al.