Integrating solution-focused and art therapies for substance abuse treatment: guidelines for practice

The mental and physical health consequences of substance abuse are numerous, ultimately affecting all biological systems in the body and significantly impairing psychological functioning. Substance abusing individuals are at significant risk of incarceration for substance-related criminal offenses (Maruschak, 1997); and those who are able to avoid the criminal justice system may find themselves with mounting legal and financial problems. Adults who abuse substances are likely to have a co-occurring mental or emotional disorder (SAMHSA, 2001) and a violent trauma history, which have been shown to increase the severity of drug use (Clark, Masson, Delucchi, Hall, & Sees, 2001). In addition to these numerous individual consequences, substance abuse can undermine family and community stability, as the problem creates marked impairment in social and occupational domains. Innovative treatment strategies are critical to help individuals stop the destructive behavior patterns and learn to live without substances. Solution-focused techniques in combination with art therapy methods offer a strengths-based treatment framework for helping individuals move into more functional behaviors, without getting stuck in the shame of past dysfunction. Developed by deShazer, Berg, and colleagues (Berg, 1994; Berg & Miller, 1992; Cade & O’Hanlon, 1993; De Shazer et al., 1986; DeJong & Berg, 2001; O’Hanlon & Weiner-Davis, 1989), solution-focused therapy (SFT) is one of the most recent psychotherapy models to emerge. With its roots in constructivism and the field of strategic family therapy, solution-focused therapy is client-centered, with a focus on building existing resources and past successes