Treating Addiction as a Human Process

Innovative and humane treatment of patients with substance use disorders distinguishes this highly esteemed practitioner and major psychodynamic thinker. From his initial contribution of identifying the self-medicating function of abused substances, to the continued elaboration and refinement of his work focusing on the addict's ego deficits of self-regulation and self-care, Edward Khantzian's ideas have become the standard in the field of addictions treatment. His insights into the dynamics of substance abuse have changed the ways that clinicians understand their addicted patients, significantly raising the likelihood of successful treatment. Shifting the focus from a pleasure-seeking to a pain-relieving approach to their patients' substance use enables clinicians to engage in a more positive, compassionate psychotherapeutic relationship, unhampered by countertransference feelings of contempt and condemnation. Passionate, professional, and unfailingly astute, Dr. Khantzian examines his patients' internal worlds, revealing vulnerabilities while uncovering resiliency and strength. This book, comprehensive in scope, abundant in clinical material, and written with clarity and intelligence, provides a depth of understanding of substance use disorders and an increased hope for recovery. A Jason Aronson Book

About the Author :
Edward J. Khantzian is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, and a founding member of the Department of Psychiatry at The Cambridge Hospital. He has spent more than twenty years studying psychological factors associated with drug and alcohol abuse. Dr. Khantzian is a practicing psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, participant in numerous clinical research studies on substance abuse, and lecturer and writer on psychiatry, psychoanalysis, and substance abuse problems. A former Chairman of Massachusetts' Governor's Drug Rehabilitation Advisory Board and consultant to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, he is currently Associate Chief of Psychiatry, Tewksbury Hospital, Tewksbury, MA. He is a past director of The Cambridge Hospital Drug Treatment Programs and now holds the position of Principal Psychiatrist for Substance Abuse Disorders in The Cambridge Hospital Department of Psychiatry. He is a founding member of the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry (AAAP) and is a Past-President of this national organization. Dr. Khantzian was a supervising physician for the National Football League Drug Control Program from its inception in 1986 until 1991, and currently serves as senior consultant to the NFL Players Association program for substance abuse.

Review :
Over the course of three decades, Dr. Khantzian has generated a deep understanding of why addicts self-medicate, why their self-care becomes compromised, and how they can be supported in their attempts to achieve recovery. The substance abuse field is now most fortunate to be given this compendium of Khantzian's work in such a well-organized and coherent form. This volume will be a most valuable resource for experienced practitioners and students alike. This is a landmark collection that more than fulfills the promise of its title. The reader gets an evolutionary review of Khantzian's thinking, and the huge bonus of his reflections about his own developmental process. This book is a treasure: clinically rich, theoretically creative, and comprehensive. It is particularly valuable as a model of therapist openness and self-disclosure. We see the author's adherence to psychoanalytic thought and his questions about the limits of this model. With his enlightened theories and his attitude of openness, Khantzian provides an expansive and integrated perspective of addictions treatment with great contemporary relevance. As a novelist who is also working in the field of addiction medicine, I am in the unique position to comment on the clarity of Dr. Khantzian's writing, as well as its usefulness to practitioners. This book brings together the theoretical and the practical in one highly intelligent volume that can be read with pleasure and awe from beginning to end. It is the cornerstone on which the next generation of knowledge in addiction medicine will be built. Addiction is the most devastating mental disorder of the twentieth century and the one most neglected by psychodynamically oriented mental health professionals. Against this background, Edward Khantzian's book the work of a lifetime is an extraordinary achievement. Here is a master psychodynamic clinician exploring the internal world of the addicted person and demonstrating convincingly his self-medication hypothesis. There is no magic cure for addiction, but Khantzian's marvelously written book will give even the most experienced clinician useful new ideas about how to understand and help patients.