“The 'Community Reinforcement Approach' (CRA)...is an idea whose time has clearly come....CRA operates from a disarmingly straight forward approach, which is probably more immediately accessible to clients than many forms of psychotherapy....The dialogues are pithy, illustrative, and pleasantly pointed....As I was reading, I could immediately think of a number of ideas that I could incorporate into everyday practice, whether or not I should ever adopt CRA....Its extensive appendices are lucid and cogent documentation of the instruments CRA employs. Even the price is right for the quality of the work. Run right out and buy it. You will be up tonight reading through it.”

—Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment


“I am impressed. This volume does an excellent job of describing the Community Reinforcement Approach in an effective manner. Offering a good balance between theoretical and hands-on clinical information, the work is an outstanding practical guide to treating problem drinking using the community reinforcement approach.”

—Stephen T. Higgins, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Psychiatry & Psychology, University of Vermont


“This volume addresses a need in the literature, and will be of great assistance in program planning and implementation. The authors have tailored the best available research and information on the community reinforcement approach into a state-of-the-art treatment program that will be invaluable to practicing clinicians and program managers who are looking for cost-effective, efficacious treatments.”

—David S. Timken, Ph.D.


“This book is the kind of work that builds bridges, and finally allows the findings of years of careful clinical research to be applied in everyday practice.”

—from the foreword by William R. Miller, Ph.D.


“I recommend this book to therapists and researchers who are interested in the community reinforcement approach to treating alcohol problems. In addition to detailed descriptions of a wide variety of specific treatment methods, the book provides numerous therapist-client dialogues or scripts illustrating the clinical implementation of this material.”

—G. Alan Marlatt, Ph.D., Director, Addictive Behaviors Research Center, University of Washington


“Clinical Guide to Alcohol Treatment presents a comprehensive and compelling review of the Community Reinforcement Approach (CRA) for the treatment of substance problems, including both alcohol and cocaine abuse/dependence. From reviewing the literature on the earliest CRA trials dating back over twenty years to presenting an update on current CRA trials, this book clearly makes the case that CRA works. But the book goes far beyond a review of the literature. Its primary focus is on both assessment and how to do CRA therapy. In these respects it is very user-friendly. Not only will interested readers learn how to do CRA, they will learn how not to do CRA therapy in a useful chapter that focuses on common problems in implementing CRA. In a very real sense, this book is long overdue since CRA is perhaps one of the earliest successful applications of social learning theory. Clinical Guide to Alcohol Treatment should be useful for counselors and therapists who strive to provide the most effective treatments to their clients and for all students of social learning theory interested in effective applications.”

—Peter M. Monti, Ph.D., Brown University Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies