NCJ Number
180754
Date Published
1999
Length
249 pages
Annotation
This report provides drug-treatment providers with information on the effects of stimulant abuse and dependence, discusses the relevance of these effects to treating users, describes treatment approaches that are appropriate and effective for treating these clients, and offers recommendations for the application of these treatment strategies.
Abstract
Because of recent health care reforms, most persons who seek help for stimulant dependence now receive treatment at structured outpatient treatment programs. Accordingly, this report provides recommendations for treatment strategies and techniques that are most relevant to the treatment of stimulant-dependent patients in structured outpatient treatment programs; however, many if not most of these strategies and techniques can be integrated into other types of programs, regardless of the setting or therapeutic orientation. The Consensus Panel recommends a contingency management approach for treating stimulant users. A particularly successful version is the community-reinforcement-plus-vouchers strategy, in which couples counseling, vocational training, and skills training are combined with rewards for negative drug tests. Recommendations also target relapse prevention, other interventions with supportive research, other models of psychosocial treatment, the maximization of treatment engagement, planning treatment, initiating treatment, initiating abstinence, maintaining abstinence, medical personnel's recognition and treatment of stimulant abuse, and special groups and settings. 322 references