Spiritual direction in addiction treatment: two clinical trials.
Spirituality has long been regarded as an important component of recovery from addiction. This article reports the findings of two controlled trials of spiritual direction as an adjunct in addiction treatment. In Study 1, 60 participants were randomly assigned to receive or not receive a 12-session manual-guided spiritual guidance (SG) intervention during and after inpatient treatment, in addition to treatment as usual (TAU). In Study 2, two cohorts of 40 each received TAU without or with SG during their inpatient stay. In both trials, contrary to prediction, SG had no effect on spiritual practices or substance use outcomes at any follow-up point. At the first follow-up in Study 1 only, those randomly assigned to spiritual direction unexpectedly showed significantly less improvement on depression and anxiety, relative to TAU controls. Limitations and implications for treatment are discussed.
Miller
William R
WR
University of New Mexico Center on Alcoholism, Substance Abuse and Addictions, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. wrmiller@unm.edu
Forcehimes
Alyssa
A
O'Leary
Mary J
MJ
LaNoue
Marnie D
MD
D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000150:complications; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000150:complications; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D008370:Manuals as Topic; D008875:Middle Aged; D029181:Spirituality; D016320:Substance Abuse Treatment Centers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D016896:Treatment Outcome