Psychotherapy and Alcoholics Anonymous

An Integrated Approach

Knack, William A.

¹State University of New York, College at Old Westbury

I recognize the contributions of Jack Craig, and of Lori Bohm and Catherine Stuart for their counsel, encouragement, and support.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to William A. Knack, Department of Psychology, State University of New York, College at Old Westbury, P. O. Box 210, Old Westbury, NY 11568-0210. E-mail: [email protected]

Journal of Psychotherapy Integration 19(1):p 86-109, March 2009. | DOI: 10.1037/a0015447

This article provides a rationale for, and a method of, combining a nonprofessional self-help addiction recovery program, Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), and a professional treatment approach, psychotherapy. The two approaches share a common goal, target similar issues, and work toward similar outcomes. A psychotherapy approach that integrates the two approaches can be quite powerful. Treating a patient in psychotherapy who is also working in the AA program without a good understanding of AA can result in the two approaches working at cross-purposes, diminishing the effectiveness of both interventions. After a brief discussion of psychotherapy integration, the AA program is examined in detail, focusing on the philosophy and change strategies that are compatible with psychodynamic and cognitive-behavioral models of psychotherapy. A method for integrating these techniques into a psychotherapy directed at treating addiction is presented. Guidelines are provided to manage the implementation of this integrated approach throughout the process of recovery.