Cognitive and Behavioral Approaches for Treating Substance Use Disorders Among Behavioral Medicine Patients

Abstract

Treating a substance use disorder can be challenging. Potentially complicating the treatment of an substance use disorders (SUD) is the presence of a comorbid chronic medical condition. Not only can problematic alcohol or substance use cause the onset or acquisition of some medical conditions, active alcohol and other substance use can exacerbate medical problems, complicate the treatment of medical problems, and have adverse effects on disease course and prognosis. To illustrate these complications and how to effectively address them using cognitive-behavioral interventions (CBT), we have organized this chapter into six sections: (1) the prevalence, clinical presentations, and complications of having a comorbid alcohol or other substance use disorder across five significant medical conditions; (2) description of cognitive and behavioral approaches to addressing alcohol and other drug use disorders in medical settings; (3) a brief overview of the empirical support for CBT approaches for alcohol and other substance use disorders; (4) implementation of CBT in addressing these clinical challenges; (5) implementation of harm reduction approaches to reduce harm caused by substances when abstinence is clinically unfeasible; and (6) a case example that highlights CBT principles and techniques in practice. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)