by American National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism

Dear Psychologist:
An authoritative new guide on alcohol screening and brief intervention is now available, free to Psychologists, with a pocket guide included. Helping Patients Who Drink Too Much: A Clinician's Guide was produced by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), a part of the National Institutes of Health.
For your convenience, we have attached a brief announcement that can be placed on your Web site to link to the online Psychologist's Guide or the order form for free copies.
Why screen for heavy drinking? About 3 in 10 adults in the United States drink at levels that increase their risk for physical, mental health, and social problems. Of these heavy drinkers, about 1 in 4 currently has alcohol abuse or alcoholism. Through screening and, when needed, brief intervention, clinicians can promote significant, lasting reductions in drinking levels and alcohol-related problems. Psychologists are in a prime position to make a difference.
In updating the Guide, the NIAAA simplified the alcohol screening process to a single question about heavy drinking days. The Guide then offers step-by-step guidance to primary care and mental health practitioners for assessing for alcohol use disorders, conducting brief interventions, and managing patient care. The Guide's support materials include:
? A new section about prescribing medications for alcohol dependence
? An optional self-report screening tool, in both English and Spanish
? Patient education charts about drinking patterns and alcohol content in drinks.
For more information about the Guide, or other research-based publications available from NIAAA, visit us at www.niaaa.nih.gov.