Abstinence and Relapse in Outpatient Cocaine Patients

Abstract

A discussion is provided of clinical techniques for establishing abstinence and preventing relapse in cocaine addicts within the context of an intensive outpatient treatment program. A basic tenet of this article is that to produce higher success rates in these and other drug-dependent patients more attention must be paid to some very fundamental treatment issues, such as program structure, counselor attitude, and patient motivation.

Keywords:

• abstinence
• cocaine
• crack
• motivation
• outpatient treatment
• relapse