Table 2 Summary of the treatment manual: purpose and homework assignments

Module 1Alcohol Education

T o learn about the effects of alcohol on body and mind and about tolerance and abstinence

Questions pertaining to the text

Module 2 Pros and cons of drinking

To help the participant reflect about pros and cons of drinking

Make a decisional balance

Module 3 Goals and values

To learn the difference between goals and values, and why these are important to establish at the beginning of treatment

Set an alcohol consumption goal during treatment (abstinence or moderate drinking)

Explore and formulate core values in life

Module 4 Analyzing risk situations

To learn what risk situations are, and how to analyze them

Complete a behavioral analysis of one’s own risk situations

Module 5 Dealing with craving

To learn about craving and ways of dealing with it

Make notes on how to deal with craving: who can you call when you feel craving?, what can you do to distract yourself,? where can you surf on your craving?

Module 6 Dealing with thoughts about alcohol

To learn about what thoughts commonly occur among people who have just begun changing their alcohol habits

Make notes on which thoughts about alcohol occur most frequently

Make a situational analysis and choose which specific coping strategies to use when the thoughts appear

Module 7 Dealing with social situations

T o learn about why it can be hard to say no to alcohol in social situations

Practice saying no with a friend or in front of a mirror

Write down answers to specific situations presented in the text

Module 8 Finding other activities

To learn about the ‘’reward trap” (using alcohol as a reward), and the importance of finding other meaningful activities

List activities to engage in that do not include alcohol

Draw up a time schedule for doing them

Module 9 Problem solving

To learn about stress, how it is sometimes associated with alcohol use, and about problem solving as a technique

Go through problem solving and apply it step by step in at least one situation

Module 10 Negative thoughts and interpretation traps

To learn about negative thoughts and about coping strategies to deal with them, cognitive restructuring

Complete a behavioral analysis of negative thoughts and challenge these thoughts

Module 11 Seemingly irrelevant decisions

To learn about the importance of identifying small, seemingly irrelevant decisions that could lead to drinking

Make notes on a situation where irrelevant decisions were involved in one’s drinking

Module 12 Relapse plan

To learn about the concept of relapse, and predict situations that could make it harder to resist drinking

Formulate a relapse plan

Module 13 Life without alcohol problems

To summarize the treatment and look towards the future

Review the initial alcohol consumption goal formulated in Module 1

Set goals for the future, after treatment