ABSTRACT
Much disappointment prevails in substance abuse rehabilitation because differing goals are present (but not expressed) among the principals. The addict may have the goal of getting out of current problems with wife, job, and debt, hopefully without losing the pleasures of the addiction; the wife may desire a single course of events that will forever free her and her husband of the bondage of drug use; the therapist may want to please both parties with prompt improvement so that they will remain in his care. Setting goals and reaching them is important to the process of recovering. The process of selecting goals is highly educational and plays a major role in acceptance of that which treatment can and cannot accomplish. Figure 16 is included here to illustrate that nearly all addicts relapse, so part of the goal setting must be directed toward relapse prevention.
