Seeking Safety and the 12-Step Social Model of Recovery: An Integrated Treatment Approach

ABSTRACT

A comparison study examined the effects on coping styles that occur when an evidence-based treatment, Seeking Safety (SS), is added to an established 12-step social model of recovery. While involved in a 12-step program, 52 participants volunteered to engage in 8 sessions of SS group therapy to determine how participation impacted self-reported use of adaptive and maladaptive coping styles. Overall, findings support the hypothesized enhancements with significant improvement noted in 15 of the 17 coping styles assessed. The current study provides foundational data on the benefits of incorporating evidence-based treatment with the 12-step model.

KEYWORDS:

• Addiction
• coping skills
• seeking safety
• substance abuse
• trauma
• 12 steps