Abstinence and controlled drinking Success under any name remains a triumph

Offering controlled drinking as opposed to abstinence‐only treatment continues to cause controversy in the alcohol field. Typically, the US diverges from Europe on the feasibility of controlled drinking as a treatment goal ‐ in the US alcohol dependence is typically depicted as a ‘recurring disease’ and the ‘successful abstainer’ as a ‘recovering’ though never ‘recovered’ alcoholic. Here Brenda Coldwell, an experienced clinician in the alcohol field, offers a critical review of the persistence of old arguments and, in doing so, proposes the provision of abstinence and controlled drinking in the name of ‘best clinical practice’. For if we don't, as Coldwell argues, people will do as they have always done and make their own choices ‐ but without the benefit of tried and tested therapeutic interventions.