Substance abuse ranks as one of the major public health issues in today's society. Whether directly or indirectly, abuse is responsible for increased risk of violence in the home, suicide, mental illness, work-related accidents, and approximately half of all fatal automobile crashes. The use and abuse of substances span gender, socioeconomic levels, ethnicity, age, religion, profession, geography, and most dimensions of human existence and background. All people during their lifetimes will be touched by substance abuse or addiction; therefore, clinicians should be adequately trained to recognize the enormity of this problem, how to assess it, and ultimately how to treat individuals and families who come for assistance. Comprehensive programs at undergraduate and graduate levels are now in place in many settings, systematically studying substance abuse and subsequent treatment modalities. This book was developed to be helpful for the general clinician as well as for students in beginning substance abuse classes and as an adjunct to, but not a replacement for, counseling theory and techniques books and coursework. Contributors to this edition have extensive backgrounds in substance abuse work as well as special knowledge in a particular segment of the field. Space and time limitations prevent us from examining many of the issues in the field: public policy, working in a school setting, substance abuse in the workplace, HIV/AIDS and drug use, and a more in-depth study of the dualdiagnosis issues of mental illness and substance abuse.

The book takes the reader through the process of working with substanceabusing clients. Chapters build on each other, yet can be used independently as resources for information. Because it is impossible to portray a "real" client, case histories were developed and are used to offer a sense of practical application in each chapter. These case discussions provide a sample of the types of issues presented when working with this population. The authors believe that knowing about all aspects of the treatment process are essential to assisting clients toward recovery. We have endeavored to structure the book in a manner that reflects treatment from first contact to recovery. We hope that you find this book to be an enjoyable and practical read as well as helpful in your practice.