According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and many other independent researchers, there are four times as many problem drinkers as alcoholics in this country. Yet there are very few programs that specifically address the needs of beginning stage problem drinkers as a treatment of alcoholism, while there are literally thousands of programs for the smaller population who are seriously alcohol dependent.
By the time people reach serious stages of alcohol dependency, changing drinking behavior becomes more difficult, and treatment is costly. A support group called Moderation Management, or MM, believes that this situation needs to be remedied in the interest of public health and human kindness with early intervention and harm reduction programs. Alcoholism help in the form of moderation is seen as a less threatening first step, and one that problem drinkers are more likely to attempt before their problems become nearly intractable.
Not surprisingly, approximately 30% of MM members go on to abstinence-based programs. This is consistent with research findings from professional moderation training programs. Outcome studies indicate that professional programs which offer both moderation and abstinence have higher success rates than those that offer abstinence only. Clients tend to self-select the behavior change options which will work best for them. Moderation Management offers a nine-step professionally reviewed program, which provides information about alcohol, moderate drinking guidelines and limits, drink monitoring exercises, goal setting techniques, and self-management strategies.
Problem drinkers can make informed choices about alcohol moderation or abstinence goals based upon educational information and the experiences shared at self-help groups. Harm reduction is a worthwhile goal, especially when the total elimination of harm or risk is not a realistic option. Moderation is a natural part of the process from harmful drinking, whether moderation or abstinence becomes the final goal. Most individuals who are able to maintain total abstinence first attempted to reduce their drinking, unsuccessfully. Moderation programs shorten the process of “discovering” if moderation is a workable solution by providing concrete guidelines about the limits of moderate alcohol consumption.
The basic premise of moderation is that behaviors can be changed. MM agrees with many professionals and researchers in the field that alcohol abuse, versus dependence, is a learned behavior (habit) for problem drinkers, and not a disease. This approach recognizes that people who drink too much can suffer from varying degrees of alcohol-related problems, ranging from mild to moderate to severe. A reasonable early option for problem drinkers is alcohol moderation. Seriously dependent drinkers will probably find a return to moderate drinking a great challenge, but the choice to accept that challenge remains theirs.
Moderation is not a good approach for every person with a drinking problem or who wishes to control drinking. No one solution is best for all people with drinking problems. There are many possible solutions available to each individual, and MM is good place to begin to address a drinking problem. If moderation proves to be an ineffective solution, the individual is encouraged to progress to a more radical solution.
If you need help deciding whether alcohol moderation is best for you, I suggest that you contact Marc F. Kern, Ph.D., one of the original founders and a member of the MM Board of Directors of Moderation Management Network, Inc., through his website at http://www.habitdoc.com/, where one-to-one help is offered.
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