Behavioral Couples Therapy for Alcoholism and Drug Abuse

Behavioral Couples Therapy (BCT) is designed for married or cohabiting individuals seeking help for alcoholism or drug abuse. BCT sees the substance-abusing patient together with the spouse or live-in partner. Its purposes are to build support for abstinence and to improve relationship functioning. BCT promotes abstinence with a "recovery contract" that involves both members of the couple in a daily ritual to reward abstinence. BCT improves the relationship with techniques for increasing positive activities and improving communication. BCT also fits well with 12-step or other self-help groups, individual or group substance-abuse counseling, and recovery medications. Research shows that BCT produces greater abstinence and better relationship functioning than typical individual-based treatment and reduces social costs, domestic violence, and emotional problems of the couple's children. Thus, research evidence supports wider use of BCT. It is hoped that this article and new print and Web-based resources on how to implement BCT will lead to increased use of BCT to the benefit of substance-abusing patients and their families.