Treatment of Heroin Addicts: is the Client—Therapist Relationship Important?

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine one variable in the treatment of heroin addiction, the therapist–client relationship. Eighty-six individuals who were discharged from the Tulane NARA Drug Abuse Program were examined on 20 social and personality variables. The variable of the counselor–patient relationship was found important in the final outcome of treatment. Clients who had a single counselor throughout the entire course of treatment did significantly better (p <. 002) than their peers who were transferred from one counselor to another, suggesting that a stable client-therapist relationship greatly enhances the chances of the patient reaching drug abstinence and being rehabilitated.