ABSTRACT
Within the last thirty years, there have been significant and dramatic changes in the understanding of addiction and its treatment. Foremost among these changes is the utilization of group psychotherapy as an important, if not the most crucial, component of an alcoholic's or substance abuser's treatment regimen. However, as important a development as this has been, the recognition and acceptance of addiction as a disease and a primary disorder that must first be addressed has had more of an impact on the way that addiction is treated. Addiction to chemicals, whether it be to alcohol or drugs, is no longer viewed as a symptom of a more serious core issue. Rather, it is seen as a primary condition that must first be arrested if any progress in treatment is to be achieved and abstinence from all chemicals must be the first goal of recovery. Put another way, substance abusers and alcoholics cannot benefit from psychotherapy as long as they continue to use chemicals. Not only has this stance legitimized the treatment of addiction and created a philosophy of treatment completely independent of the more classical and traditional approaches to psychological difficulties, but it also raises the question of whether addiction is purely a psychological phenomenon. The disease concept has also lent support to Alcoholics Anonymous's (AA) lifelong contention that addiction is a disease and total abstinence (AA's first step of its twelve-step program) is a necessity if addiction is to be treated successfully.
