techniques include helping patients recognize their high-risk situations, rehearse strategies for dealing with those situations, self-monitor substance use and deal with cravings--including externalizing them and "surfing" the wave of the urge. It focuses on "lifestyle balance" with the understanding that when the external demands and activities in a person's life (the "shoulds") outweigh pleasurable activities (the "wants"), there's a greater risk the person will indulge in the behavior

helps the person deal with a "lapse,"

keep the feelings of self-blame and uncontrollability from causing the "lapse" to inflate into a "relapse" to former levels of substance use

has actually had mixed results

intriguing for the effects it does show

when people do relapse, "they are able to have shorter relapses and recover sooner.

better than other therapies for maintaining a lower relapse rate at a later point, one year or more after treatment

they get better at it

a real success story