Controlled drinking

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Controlled drinking (abbreviated kT ) describes a training program to reduce the consumption of alcohol . With this treatment concept, the focus is on self-control of behavior when dealing with alcohol and not, as with the conventional treatment concepts in addiction help, abstinence .

concept

The concept was developed by the German psychologist and addiction researcher Joachim Körkel , who turns away from the abstinence orientation in addiction help in his writings. However, he does not rule out a possible decision to abstain if it is based on the voluntary and independent motivation of the client or patient.

The training on controlled drinking can be carried out in individual or group settings. The 10-step program represents a concrete structure with different life-style issues in the context of an alcohol addiction issue. Clarification discussions held in advance (anamnesis and clinical diagnostics) or aftercare (or follow-up care) are also part of the treatment concept.

Characteristic

The principles of the training program are goal-oriented work and the promotion of self-responsibility of the client or patient with regard to his behavior. A generally formulated prerequisite for participating in the training is increased motivation to change the life situation. The behavioral therapeutic approach is also the basis of the training, which is intended to guide action. Personalized participant manuals and drinking diaries are used to support the ability to reflect and as a structural tool for self-control. A psychotherapeutic intervention is not planned during the training, but possible after the end of the training for further self-reflection.

criticism

The approach is criticized by the overwhelming number of addiction doctors and viewed as ineffective. On the one hand, it is not defined for which patient group the treatment concept is suitable. On the other hand, long-term studies would show that only around 1.6% of all patients who have already been treated for their alcoholic illness could return to stable, moderate consumption without excessive periods. In the concept itself, the contradiction is to a certain extent founded: The concept requires the alcoholic to carefully and even compulsively the time, the place and the circumstances of his drinking and to strictly limit the amount of drink. However, the essence of alcoholic illness is precisely the reduced control and obsession that underlies drinking behavior and which, as animal studies have shown, is either not reversible or, after manifest alcoholic illness, is no longer reversible.

literature

  • Joachim Körkel (Ed.): Relapse doesn't have to be a catastrophe. A guide for dependents and loved ones. Blaukreuz-Verlag et al., Wuppertal et al. 1991, ISBN 3-89175-074-9 .
  • Joachim Körkel: So that alcohol does not become an addiction - drink in a controlled manner. 10 steps to becoming more aware of alcohol. TRIAS, Stuttgart 2008, ISBN 978-3-8304-3353-8 .
  • Joachim Körkel, Gunther Kruse: Living with relapse. Abstinence as a panacea? Psychiatrie-Verlag, Bonn 1993, ISBN 3-88414-144-9 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Pros and cons: Controlled drinking as a sensible and necessary treatment option Bibliography: Psychiat Prax 2005; 32: 324-326, Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart, New York, doi : 10.1055 / s-2005-867047 , ISSN  0303-4259 , PDF