Counseling as an intervention for the cocaine-abusing methadone maintenance patient

Using archival data from Bay Area Addiction Research and Treatment (BAART), a methadone treatment provider, this study examined the efficacy of the clinical intervention of counseling on cocaine use by BAART patients. California State Assembly Bill 2071 mandated that patients at methadone clinics be required to undergo a minimum of 50 minutes of counseling per month. Records of 179 patients continuously active in treatment beginning 12 months prior to (i.e., the baseline) and two years after AB 2071's implementation were reviewed. These patients were also identified as cocaine abusers. A pretest-intervention-posttest design was employed, with the increased counseling mandated by AB 2071 as the intervention. Cocaine abusers' urinalysis results during the one-year baseline were compared to the time period following AB 2071's implementation. The independent variable was the amount of counseling received and the dependent variable was cocaine use. The prediction was that cocaine-abusing methadone maintenance patients would have fewer cocaine positive urine analyses following AB 2071's implementation than in the 12-month baseline period preceding AB 2071. Results supported the main hypothesis that cocaine-abusing patients would show better improvement following AB 2071. Additionally, the actual amount of time in counseling was shown to lead to greater improvement in treatment for cocaine abusers. An important secondary finding was that heroin use was also negatively correlated to time in counseling. There were no gender differences in the response to the counseling treatment.