12-Step Models Yield Higher Alcohol Abstinence Rates Than Evidence-Based Psychotherapies

Twelve-step facilitation counseling (TSF) and Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) interventions that are “manualized” to deliver standardized content in a modular fashion may be more effective at supporting abstinence than other established treatments, such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), according to an evidence-base review. Non-manualized AA/TSF may perform as well as these other established treatments. Both manualized and non-manualized AA/TSF interventions may be at least as effective as other treatments for other alcohol-related outcomes, and likely produce substantial health care cost savings among people with alcohol use disorder.

The review focused on the following abstinence . . .