This book developed out of the authors' years of experience with addictions both professionally and personally. Through working with clients with a multitude of addictions, supervising interns in clinical practice, and teaching psychology classes, we became increasingly aware of the lack of a single source which summarized information regarding the different types of addictions and 12-step programs. In addition, none of the sources we found were written to assist the clinician in integrating 12-step program involvement into the psychotherapeutic process. There was no concise overview of the many 12-step programs' philosophies and individual characteristics. Our goal in writing this book is to provide the clinician with a comprehensive, practical handbook regarding 12-step programs.

This book rests on the fundamental bias that 12-step programs are helpful for most clients who are struggling with addictive behavior. We also recognize that 12-step programs are not for everyone and discuss examples of clients for whom 12-step programs may be problematic.

The scope of the book is to provide an overview of the most common 12-step programs and guidelines for the clinician.