Alcoholism and the Family: A Guide to Treatment and Prevention . - 2nd ed - book reviews

Adolescence, Summer, 1999

LAWSON, Ann, & LAWSON, Gary. Gaithersburg, MD: Aspen Publishers, 1998. 392pp. $42.00 (p).

The second edition takes the view that the family - not just the alcoholic member - is the client, an approach that is now well accepted in psychological circles. Family therapists and students can use this book to learn about substance abuse from a systemic viewpoint, and chemical dependency counselors will learn about family systems thinking and theory. This thorough revision has additional models of evaluation, new models of treatment, and ten years of research results (an instructor's manual is also available). Chapters include: explanations of the cause of alcoholism; skills and knowledge alcoholism therapists need and treatment approaches to alcoholism; viewing the family as a client; physiological, sociological, and psychological influences on the family; relevance of etiology for treatment and prevention; diagnosing the alcoholic family; a prescription for family treatment; related problems - abuse, sexual dysfunction, and divorce; children of alcoholics and adult children of alcoholics; when words fail - art therapy; treatment with the alcoholic's spouse; evaluation of treatment; public health model and implications for family therapy; and primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention and implications for the family.