The majority of people consider going into a rehab clinic or ask the help of an addiction specialist being the biggest personal defeat they have to endure. By taking this step, they feel it becomes obvious that they have developed an addiction.

However, after a self-doubt period where the acceptance of his/hers destiny is difficult and the possibility of a misdiagnosis is taken in consideration, the alcoholic starts to understand that his/hers disease is an alarm signal that requests several changes to be made in his/her life.

The recovery can happen if the alocholic approaches the problem with his/her own personal strength, with the help of support groups or addiction specialist.

Two American researchers, Prochaska and Di Clemente, have observed and theorised the alcoholics recovery process. There observations are presented below:

They have identified 4 evolution phases:

Action phase -after a research period, when the alcoholic tries to find solutions to his/her problem, he/she decides to do something, even if these actions are small and simple changes in the life style.

Perseverance phase - in this phase the alcoholic perseveres with the new found solutions. Usually, these solutions are helpful and fit his/her personal abilities and environmental conditions.

However, the alcoholic needs more serious attempts to recover from addiction.

The advantage of this model is that the failed attempts are presented as learning sources and not as bad habits that stop the recovery progression. Unfortunately, these repeted failures are kept secret, and each failed attempt decreases the chances of keep trying. The alcoholic becomes depressed and rejects useful information or future professional help.

For many alcoholics, the first attempt to quit drinking limits only to the symptomatic level, imposing themself just to stop drinking. Only later, they realise that other changes need to be done such as changes in their believes system, atitudinal changes, they need to solve social problems and possible conflicts, and to improve their relationship with family members or other people important in their life. They will understand that even these hidden aspects have influenced their failures, and the alcoholics conclude that an serious analyse of their feeling is also essential.

The abstinence is defined as the voluntary abstention from certain pleasures and physiological needs.

For alcoholics, the abstinence refers to a definitive abdication from alcoholic drinks or any other substance that contains alcohol, and is the indispensable premise to a complet recovery.

Abstinence is the basic condition in the treatment, and it's goal is to help the alcoholic to achive a healthy and prosper life style.

The alcohol addiction treatment involves 4 different phases and several different departments such as social workers, doctors, psychologists, priests and even sober alcoholics. The sequence of this phases complets the therapuetic approach.

Contact phase - in this phase several elements are important, such as establishing a correct diagnosis and assessing the medical complication caused by the alcohol, obtaining a correct picture of the social environment of the alcoholic, and reinforcing his/hers motivation to follow a recovery path. This stage can take place in ambulatory counseling centers, where good results can only be achived by very motivated alcoholics.

Dezintoxication phase is recommended when severe withdrawal symptoms can occur. In this phase the alcoholics follow treatment in psychiatric hospitals under medical observation.

Disaccustom phase - in this phase the goal is to completely reduce the physical dependence and to strength the abstinant behavior. In this phase, the alcoholic is usually in a rehab center, because an ambulatory treatment had not work or the social environment can sabotage the recovery.

Post-cure and re-adjustment phase's - this phase goal is to consolidate the sobriety. For a better outcome, the sober alcoholic should participate to support groups.

The most essential treatment element is the group therapy, where the alcohol related themes are discused in a group of people that share the same problem. Each clinic has its own approach, but the group therapy is an essential part of the recovery.

The importance of a group therapy is given by self-helping group where people that share same problem meet. Other important aspect is the active role that the acoholic is playing in his/hers recovery process. The group minimizes the therapist responsability and increases the self-healing process that occurs in each patient. Another advantage of the group therapy, is that reduces the tendancy for abnegation among the group members. The group also reduces the shame that causes the abnegation, and allows the recovery process to progress.

Many people that do not face the alcohol problem consider that positive treatment outcomes are low among alcoholic that undergo treatment. However, the statistics show differently. On a long run, among 50 percent of the alcoholics that had followed a recovery treatment into a clinic focused on a long-term therapy stay sober. Abou 15 percent relapse but manage to recover on their own.
If same severe standards would be applied to measure the changes undergo by a cardiac or diabetic, the number of relapses among them were higher. However, when an sober alcoholic drinks, his/her relapses are more obvious and dramatic, because changes at a personality level can occur.

The higher chance for a positive outcome is among alcoholics that decide to follow a long-term therapy, follow a complet recovery program, and continue their reabilitation by participanting to support groups. The sobriety rate is higher (70.5 percent) among alcoholics that have attended a support group to remain sober, then those that don't participate to these groups (45.5 percent).
A higher success rate is registered by sober alcoholics that have a couple life, children, a job, and are not older than 40.

These statistics confirm that a sober alcoholic perseveres his/hers new life style if he/she strongly believes in its advantages, has the family or other people support, and lives a stable and purposeful life.