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The best way to treat AUD is with a combination of approaches. Counseling will need to play a role. Options are:

Brief Interventions

A person with AUD will have short meetings with a healthcare provider to talk about:

  • The harms of alcohol use
  • Ways to reduce risky drinking
  • How to change drinking patterns
  • Making plans to monitor progress

Counseling

Counseling can help to identify thoughts that lead to AUD and ways to better cope with problems. It may be:

  • Individual therapy to learn how to stop using alcohol and better ways to manage problems that lead to drinking
  • Group therapy from organizations like Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) to get support from others who are recovering from AUD
  • Couples and family therapy to discuss how the people in a person's life can play a role in recovery
REFERENCES:

Alcohol use disorder. EBSCO DynaMed website. Available at:https://www.dynamed.com/condition/alcohol-use-disorder. Accessed September 3, 2020.

Alcohol withdrawal syndrome. EBSCO DynaMed website. Available at:https://www.dynamed.com/condition/alcohol-withdrawal-syndrome. Accessed September 3, 2020.

Day E, Copello A, Hull M. Assessment and management of alcohol use disorders. BMJ. 2015 Feb 19;350:h715.

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). American Psychiatric Association; 2013.

Last reviewed March 2020 by EBSCO Medical Review Board Adrian Preda, MD  Last Updated: 2/19/2021