Specific rehabilitative and psychotherapeutic groups for cocaine addicted patients: A new model of treatment

The need for a specific therapeutic-rehabilitative group for cocaine addicted patients rises up both from the progressive increase of cocaine use in the general population and from peculiar personality traits and associated psychopathology of these clients. Moreover, it is difficult to mantain a compliance to therapy, because there are no specific anticraving or antidothic drugs for cocaine addiction.Therefore our equipe developed a short integrated treatment (ten weeks), of “group concelling” and “psychodinamic group therapy” in association. The group is open and composed by a maximum of eight participants.The novelties of this model are: (1) hospital setting, (2) a short duration and (3) synergy between two different approaches: Minnesota 12 steps model (one sessions weekly, held by a councellor on addiction), and a psychodinamic group therapy (one session weekly).Main success is the retention of patinets in therapy for a long time. In twenty months (March 2005- October 2006), fourty cocaine-addicted patients started this program: only 30% of them dropped out, while 70% of patients completed the treatment. 64% of the latter where completely abstinent, while 36% relapsed during the therapy. All of them are still continuing some therapy at the moment: 46% individual psychotherapy, 25% individual psychotherapy and pharmacological therapy, 14% narcotics anonymous attendance, 11% N.A. groups and pharmacological therapy, 4% is in a T. C.