Heavy drinking puts college students at risk for academic failure, alcohol use disorders, and even death. Although several interventions have proven moderately successful, overall rates of collegiate heavy drinking and consequences have significantly increased since 1998, as interventions may not adequately address underlying reasons for drinking. Research has consistently shown that college students who drink primarily to regulate emotions (i.e., internal drinking motives) are heavier drinkers, experience more consequences, and are likely to continue drinking heavily after college. Further, internal drinking motives are indicative of emotion dysregulation and associated personality traits. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is empirically supported and includes a group-based component designed to teach concrete behavioral emotion regulation, mindfulness, and distress tolerance skills. DBT skills training alone has been shown to reduce substance abuse and binge eating and is a promising, but untested, strategy for reducing collegiate alcohol abuse. The aims of the current study were threefold: (a) examine the efficacy of a DBT-based emotion regulation skills training (ERST) as an intervention for college student drinking, (b) examine theoretically-informed mechanisms of change (i.e., changes in mindfulness, emotion regulation, and distress tolerance), and (c) examine intervention moderators (i.e., gender, readiness to change, and internal drinking motives). After completing pre-test measures, college students reporting two or more heavy drinking episodes during the past month were randomly assigned to an ERST or assessment-only control (AO) condition. ERST participants completed a single 3-hour group session of ERST within 7 days of completing pre-intervention measures and all participants completed two additional assessments. The current study found that ERST participants showed significantly greater reductions in heavy drinking and alcohol-related consequences relative to AO control participants. Contrary to hypotheses, intervention participation did not increase hypothesized mechanisms of change (i.e., mindfulness, emotion regulation, or distress tolerance) although emotion regulation and distress tolerance moderated intervention efficacy. Finally, ERST participation appeared to serve as a protective factor against heavy drinking and consequences for internally motivated drinkers. Overall findings provide preliminary support for the feasibility of ERST as a new intervention for reducing problematic drinking by college students and suggest future directions for mechanisms of change and moderation hypotheses.

Emotion Regulation is currently one of the most popular topics in clinical psychology. Numerous studies demonstrate that deficits in emotion regulation skills are likely to help maintain various forms of psychological disorders. Thus, enhancing emotion regulation has become a major target in psychotherapeutic treatments. For this purpose, a number of therapeutic strategies have been developed and shown to be effective. However, for practitioners it is often difficult to decide which of these strategies they should use or how they can effectively combine empirically-validated strategies. Thus, the authors developed the Affect Regulation Training as a transdiagnostic intervention which systematically integrates strategies from cognitive behavior therapy, mindfulness-based interventions, emotion-focused therapy, and dialectical behavioral therapy. The effectiveness of ART has been demonstrated in several high-quality studies.

Managing Negative Emotions Without Drinking is the ideal companion to Emotion Regulation Treatment of Alcohol Use Disorders. Each of the 12 individual weekly treatment sessions presents scientifically tested strategies for managing emotions without alcohol, including mindfulness practices, direct experiencing of emotion, and cognitive and behavioral skills to manage high-risk drinking situations and prevent relapse to alcohol use. The step-by-step exercises, user-friendly worksheets, and in-session and between-session skill practice help clients gain a basic understanding of the role that emotions play in harmful alcohol use and assist them in developing the skills needed to manage these emotions and cravings without alcohol.

Emotion Regulation Treatment of Alcohol Use Disorders provides step-by-step, detailed procedures for assessing and treating emotion regulation difficulties in individuals diagnosed with an alcohol use disorder (AUD). The Emotion Regulation Treatment (ERT) program, consisting of 12 weekly sessions, combines an empirically supported cognitive-behavioral treatment with emotion regulation strategies to help clients manage negative emotions and cravings for alcohol. This therapist guide contains all the materials needed for the clinician to implement the program, including session outlines, detailed session content with suggestions for therapist dialogue, and client assignment for between-session skill practice. It is also designed to be used with the accompanying client workbook Managing Negative Emotions Without Drinking, which includes educational materials, handouts, worksheets, and between-session skill practice.

Anger Management Based Alcohol Treatment: Integrated Therapy for Anger and Alcohol Use Disorder is an innovative, hands-on guide that introduces clinicians to research-based anger management skills for treating clients with alcohol use disorder. Research has demonstrated an important infl uence of anger-related emotions on drinking behavior and risk for relapse among individuals with drinking problems. This book will empower clinicians to address clients’ alcohol use and anger emotions through an effective blend of cognitive, relaxation, and sober coping skills. This combination of skills offers clinicians a concrete method for helping clients manage anger-related emotions and disconnect the anger–alcohol linkage, thereby improving clinical outcomes. The book also features useful ideas for client self-monitoring and accessible tools for evaluating progress in treatment. Three case studies are presented and followed to illustrate the full course of treatment. Practical therapeutic techniques are explained and demonstrated through clinical dialogue examples. This book is ideal for developing clinicians, for experienced clinicians looking to enhance skills, and as an instructional text in training programs. Empirically-based sobriety and anger management coping skills that are easily integrated Step-by-step guidance and useful tips for treatment implementation Reproducible handouts, forms, and assessment tools Brief reviews of empirical literature, research fi ndings, and suggested readings Three intensive case studies with detailed examples of clinical dialogue

This definitive handbook is now in an extensively revised third edition with all-new chapters and many new topics. Leading authorities present cutting-edge knowledge about how and why people try to regulate their emotions, the consequences of different regulatory strategies, and interventions to enhance this key area of functioning. The biological, cognitive, developmental, and social bases of emotion regulation are explored. The volume identifies critical implications of emotion regulation for mental and physical health, psychopathology, educational achievement, prosocial behavior, and other domains. Clinical and nonclinical interventions are critically reviewed and state-of-the-art measurement approaches described. New to This Edition *Most of the book is entirely new. *Broader coverage to bring readers up to speed on the ever-growing literature--features 71 concise chapters, compared to 36 in the prior edition. *Reflects a decade of continuing, rapid advances in theory and research methods. *New sections on emotion regulation in groups and collectives, specific emotion regulation processes, nonclinical interventions, and emotion regulation across disciplines. *Increased attention to the role of emotion regulation in culture, and broader societal issues.

This book harnesses research to illustrate dynamic processes of recovery from alcohol use disorder. Abstinence is not the only way.