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Network Therapy for Alcohol and Drug Abuse, 2nd edn
MARC GALANTER
New York, Guilford Press, 1999
264 pp., L13.95 ISBN 1 57230 441 3
Network Therapy for Alcohol and Drug Abuse presents the treatment model that Galanter has developed during his years as an academic addictions psychiatrist. Network therapy is designed to engage a patient's social network in the process of addictions treatment and recovery. Network therapy uses the social network as a key component of the therapist's armamentarium of therapeutic techniques.
Galanter's model draws from a number of theoretical traditions. He views addictive disorders as a disease, but integrates a disease model perspective with a psychodynamic approach to conceptualizing psychological functioning, and a behavioral understanding of the functioning of the addict in his or her environment. Paralleling his theoretical eclecticism is the use of a wide range of therapeutic techniques, including individual therapy, self help groups, medications, imagery or contingency contracting, depending on the needs of the patient. Length of treatment varies also depending on the needs of the patient.
The core of network therapy is the integration of this broad armamentarium of...