Drinking moderation training as a contemporary therapeutic approach

Research on moderate drinking treatments, while remaining controversial in the United States, has extended our knowledge regarding alcohol use disorders and raised important theoretical and practical issues to be addressed in future research. The present assessment of the current status of drinking moderation treatments focuses on two topics. The first concerns the viability of moderate drinking treatment approaches as a contemporary therapeutic strategy. The second topic is whether research on moderate drinking has helped or hindered progress in the treatment of alcohol problems. It is argued that moderate drinking techniques indeed are a viable treatment approach for some alcohol abusers and that research in this area has fostered progress in the treatment of alcohol problems. Some directions for future research are identified.