Combined AA & Treatment for Addicted Physicians

Combined Alcoholics Anonymous and professional care for addicted physicians

We surveyed 100 impaired physicians who were successfully treated in a substance abuse program that combined professionally directed treatment and peer-led self-help.

An average of 33.4 months after admission, subjects reported being abstinent and rated Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) as more important to their recovery than professionally directed modalities.

Feelings of affiliativeness to AA, which were very high, were strong predictors of subjects perceived support for their recovery.

Three psychological variables were seen as influential to this process:

shared belief,
group cohesiveness, and
mutual identification.

Feelings of affiliativeness and an identification with the role of care giver in addiction treatment appeared to be central to subjects recovery process.

Research report; Galanter, Marc; Talbott, Douglas; Gallegos, Karl; Rubenstone, Elizabeth. Combined Alcoholics Anonymous and professional care for addicted physicians. American Journal of Psychiatry. Vol 147(1), Jan 1990, 64-68.