Outpatient Psychotherapeutic Treatment for Alcohol Dependent Individuals With Comorbid Psychiatric Disorders

Research has shown that alcohol dependence often co-occurs with comorbid anxiety disorders and/or depression. Anxiety and depression influence the course and treatment of alcohol dependence and are a major risk factor for alcohol relapse within the first three months after detoxification. Therefore, there is need for combined treatment (integrated therapy) of alcohol dependence and comorbid psychiatric disorders, e.g. anxiety and/or depression. Until today, there are no systematic outpatient treatment offers for this special group of patients in Germany. In this study we want to investigate if integrated outpatient cognitive behavioral therapy can prevent and decrease alcohol relapse within the first three months after detoxification. Therefore we hypothesize that immediate start of integrated outpatient psychotherapy will reduce relapse variables compared to treatment as usual which is characterized by non-immediate start of therapy due to the required application for insurance coverage.

Inclusion Criteria:

• alcohol dependence
• comorbid anxiety or mood disorder

Exclusion Criteria:

• severe mental illness: psychosis, mania, personality disorders
• current suicidality
• non-compliance with appointments during first 5 sessions