Any delay clearly means a poorer prognosis. OLITA: a successful biopsychosocial approach to the treatment of alcoholism Outpatient Long-term Intensive Therapy for Alcoholics (OLITA) is a four-step biopsychosocial outpatient therapy program for severely affected alcohol-dependent patients, aiming at immediate social reintegration within the sheltered setting of psychotherapeutic treatment and medical care. Therefore,

basic elements of psychiatric patient care, client-centered and cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy, as well as classical addiction therapy, Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical are integrated into a comprehensive, intensive and long-term treatment approach (Tables I and II). In order to take into account both the impaired stress tolerance of the patients during early abstinence and the chronicity of the disease, the OLITA concept combines high intensity (ie, high frequency of therapy contacts) Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical and long duration of therapy26,108 Following inpatient detoxification, the treatment extends over 2 years. The OLITA pilot study started in 1993 and was terminated successfully in 2003 after 10 years and the completion of 180 patients assigned to recruitment cohorts 1-6.94,106 The main therapeutic elements Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical of OLITA are: (1) frequent contacts, selleck screening library Initially dally, with a slow reduction of contact frequency up to the

end of the second year; (ii) therapist rotation; (iii) support Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical of social reintegration and aggressive aftercare; (iv) induction of alcohol intolerance

through application of alcohol deterrents (inhibitors of acetaldehyde dehydrogenase); (v) explicit control: supervised intake of alco hoi deterrents and regular urine analysis for alcohol and other drugs of abuse. The therapeutic phases of OLITA consist of the inpatient period (detoxification; 2 to 3 weeks; daily individual sessions, Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical 15 minutes), the outpatient period i (intensive phase; 3 months; daily individual sessions, 15 minutes), the outpatient period II (stabilizing phase; 3 to 4 months according to individual need; three times a week individual sessions, 15 minutes), the outpatient period III (weaningoff phase; 6 months; twice a week individual Sitaxentan sessions, 30 minutes), and outpatient period iV (aftercare phase; 12 months; once weekly group session; initially once weekly individual session, 30 minutes, which is gradually tapered off). After completion of the 2 years of therapy, patients participate in weekly to quarterly follow-up contacts and are offered to make use of both the emergency service and the crisis interventions of the therapeutic team. Table I. The main therapeutic elements of OLITA, Outpatient Long-term Intensive Therapy for Alcoholics. Table II. Practical realization of the treatment program.