Applying nutritional concepts in alcohol and drug counseling

Herbal therapy in the treatment of drug use

The use of herbs in the treatment of substance abuse is a relatively new phenomenon, although the practice of herbalism goes back to the dawn of humanity. Herbs are natural botanical substances which have noticeable effects on the human organism. Throughout history man has used herbs for nutritional and healing purposes as well as for getting high. Most current treatment programs for substance abusers take into account only a small portion of the healing spectrum (e.g., psychological counseling, methadone, self-help, therapeutic community). There is a growing awareness of and concern to develop programs for substance abusers which utilize a holistic approach to deal with the mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual problems accompanying substance abuse. The purpose of this article is to review the use of herbal therapy in the treatment of drug abusers. An annotated bibliography is provided.

Treating the drug user: considering the "demands" of therapeutic technologies and their implications for treatment planning, implementation, and outcome

Continued confusion regarding the actual and potential interface between technical issues (techniques/therapies) and ideological-theoretical considerations (treatment as a planned change process) results in built-in failure in the treatment of drug users. Only a limited number of currently available "therapies" are generally used for planned treatment intervention or for institutionalized reflexive reactions. Limited consideration has been given to the planning and implementation "demands" of a selected number of critical variables which affect the "therapies" currently in use and/or which can be chosen to be used. This note is designed as a catalytic cognitive resource to facilitate changing this situation by exploring some of the factors associated with this self-defeating, self-fulfilling prophecy.