ABSTRACT
The number of successfully rehabilitated cases following a ‘dose’ of treatment tell the treatment researcher little about the processes going on within treatment. Acknowledgement of client influences on treatment outcome is frequently made in the literature but rarely taken up explicitly as a major determinant of change after treatment. Using treatment in the way it is planned to work by treatment-providers is only one among a number of client-determined uses. Successful treatments not only shared certain treatment characteristics but were also characterised by a restrictive admission procedure. The people with drinking difficulties for whom treatment becomes a practical course of action on offer must justify to themselves or others why they do not require it, and may be encouraged to concentrate their efforts and succeed in the personal management of their drinking problem.
