Outpatient services for alcohol rehabilitation are designed to treat people who do not have a severe addiction to alcohol. They are also encouraged for alcoholics who have gone through an initial stage of inpatient treatment. Although this treatment is quite popular and there are many outpatient facilities throughout the country, there is little research on its effectiveness.

Outpatient treatments do not require overnight stays and usually include alcohol education, individual and group counselling, support for family members of the alcoholic and case management. The outpatient treatments programs can be intense, requiring an alcoholic to attend four to five hours a day - every day of the week. They can also be held in the evening to allow a person to continue working. In some cases, outpatient treatment consists of weekly therapy sessions.

Basically, there are three behavioral treatments used to treat alcoholism. They are motivation enhancement therapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy and 12-step facilitation.

There are places that you can go to find outpatient alcohol treatment programs in your area. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) has a toll-free, 24-hour treatment referral service to help you. You can call 1-800-487-4889 for more information.

Other agencies include The American Council on Alcoholism. They have access to an online database to help search for outpatient rehab centers all over the US. They can be reached at 800-527-5344. There is also The National Drug and Alcohol Treatment Referral Routing Service that offers lots of resource information. You can reach them at 800-662-HELP.

Aside from traditional Alcoholics Anonymous programs that are available in all communities, alternative programs include The Secular Organizations for Sobriety (SOS). This group encourages self-empowerment approaches to recovery from alcohol but attracts those who are uncomfortable with the spiritual content of AA. SMART Recovery is a self-management and recovery training program that is based on the principles of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). Its four point program enhances motivations to Abstain, discusses ways to cope with urges, offers problem solving solutions, and helps an alcohol deal with lifestyle balances.