Compose a 2000 words assignment on counseling theories as applied to substance abuse patients. Needs to be plagiarism free! In a study by Liddle, et.al. (2008), the authors sought to evaluate the efficacy of two adolescent drug abuse interventions: individual cognitive behavioral therapy and multidimensional family therapy. Their study covered a community-based drug abuse clinic in the northeastern US. They managed to include about 220 respondents, mostly male, African-American, and coming from low-income homes. All the respondents were drug abusers and they were assessed over a period of five years for their substance abuse severity, 30-day frequency of cannabis use, 30-day frequency of other drug use, and 30-day abstinence. The study revealed that both types of treatment were able to significantly decrease cannabis consumption. they were also able to slightly decrease alcohol use. However, there were no significant differences seen in the reduction in the frequency of cannabis and alcohol use. Better and more significant treatment effects were seen in the use of family therapy as it decreased the severity of the problem, as well as the use of all substances for up to 12 months after the end of treatment. The authors concluded that both treatments are comparable with each other in terms of impact on substance abuse. however, family therapy is more sustainable in its treatment effects (Liddle, et.al., 2008).

Waldron and Kaminer (2004) sought to integrate the findings of controlled trials of CBT among adolescent substance abusers. The review indicated that despite differences in methodology, the studies provided favorable results in the impact of CBT on the reduction of adolescent substance use. The reduction in the incidence of abuse, including the rates and frequency of drug use was seen among drug users in the adolescent population. In a study by Barrowclough, et.al., (2001), the study sought to investigate the relative benefits of including cognitive therapy and family caregiver therapy as well as motivational interviewing in the care of substance abusers.