The use of brief psychotherapy with substance abusers in early recovery

This preliminary clinical report describes the usefulness of brief individual psychotherapy as a technique to engage relapse-prone substance abusers in addiction treatment. The authors propose that Mann's model of brief psychotherapy in the context of Brown's developmental model of recovery can be used during the early stages of recovery to improve retention in treatment. The use of Mann's model involves the identification of a central issue that is related to the substance abuse. Six commonly seen central issues are discussed: negative affective states, traumatic events, character pathology, unresolved grief, developmental arrest, and persistent denial. It is around one of these issues that a brief psychotherapeutic intervention is structured.