Addressing intimate partner violence in substance-abuse treatment

As the use of partner-involved therapies for alcoholism and drug abuse become more common in substance-abuse treatment programs, providers are more frequently encountering one of the most challenging and politically charged public health issues of our time: intimate partner violence (IPV). Recent investigations reveal 40-60% of married or cohabiting substance-abusing patients report episodes of partner aggression in the year preceding entry into treatment. In this article, the interrelationship between substance use and IPV is examined, with an emphasis on clinical implications and options for substance-abuse treatment providers who are often called upon to address IPV during the course of working with their patients. We also describe different intervention options for IPV, offer recommendations for substance-abuse treatment providers who work with partner-violent couples, and outline future research directions.