Drinking women do better in couples therapy

Women being treated for alcohol problems with cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) might respond better to couples therapy than individual therapy. Barbara McCrady from the University of New Mexico and Elizabeth Epstein from the Center of Alcohol Studies at Rutgers University in New Jersey studied 102 women with a steady partner or husband. Some received couples therapy while others received individual therapy. For each woman the researchers calculated the percentages of days abstinent and the percentage of days of heavy (more than three drinks in a day) drinking. For the first month of treatment the abstinence rate rose sharply. During the year following treatment the women in couples therapy reported fewer heavy-drinking days than the women in individual treatment.

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