Alcohol and Alcoholism Vol. 35, No. 6, pp. 629, 2000
© 2000 Medical Council on Alcoholism
Book Reviews
The Treatment of Drinking Problems. A Guide for the Helping Professions.
By Griffith Edwards and E. Jane Marshall. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 1997, 380pp., £24.95. ISBN: 0521497930.
The reputation of this book as the definitive text on the subject of treatment for individuals with drinking problems has been further enhanced by this excellent third edition. There have been a series of changes. Firstly, the writing team has been extended to three. On occasions when the authorship of a well-established text increases, it can lead to dilution of clarity and a variability in the quality. However, this is most definitely not the case with this current edition. The two new authors bring their obvious expertise, interest, and knowledge to the writing, whilst maintaining the clarity and quality of the original.
The book has been updated and revised and four completely new chapters have been added. The new chapters cover topics such as causes of drinking in which there is a succinct discussion on the individual and environmental factors associated with the aetiology of alcohol problems. The second chapter, Alcohol as a Drug, discusses the recent advances into the understanding of the pharmacology and biological effects of alcohol and their relevance to the clinical situation. Drinking Problems and the Life Course reviews the natural history of drinking problems and the importance of viewing treatment within this context. The final new chapter describes the settings and services in which treatments take place and the important lessons learned regarding organization and planning of these services.
These new changes are welcome additions to the traditional strengths of this book. The text maintains its clear layout in two sections. The first is concerned with the background information essential to the understanding of drinking problems; the second with the clinical aspect of screening, assessment, and treatment.
This book is extremely well written and accessible throughout, and there is extensive use of relevant clinical vignettes to illustrate the text, which is well referenced.
The authors state in their introduction a desire that this book should be found ‘dog eared’ and well used ‘in areas where treatment takes place’. I can assure them that this is the case. In our Unit the book is continually in use: the junior doctors are given the book to introduce them to the subject, the nursing staff use it to prepare groups and individual sessions, and I use it extensively. Everywhere individuals with drinking problems attend for treatment should have a copy of this book.
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