Harm reduction psychotherapy comes out of the closet

Abstract

Harm reduction psychotherapy gives a name to a practice many therapists have quietly been conducting for years. Some of us have been doing psychotherapy with clients who present with both psychological and addictive behavior problems, despite the ideological barriers that have promulgated total separation of these two sets of problems in terms of treatment philosophies, interventions, and providers. This article chronicles the author's evolution from viewing addictions as distinct from psychological problems to understanding and treating them as a subset of human behaviors causing suffering that can and should be integrated into a more comprehensive psychotherapeutic framework. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.