Good Will Is Not Enough

Abstract

Most of the helping professionals in the field of substance abuse problems do their work with a lot of engagement and good will. But their work is very often mainly based on a mixture of selectively remembered personal experience and personal convictions while lacking profound scientific knowledge of what really works best for their clients. On the other hand, many clinicians complain that addiction research is not really helpful because their daily work with patients is much more complex than typical research designs. For this reason, it is with great pleasure that I start my new role as guest editor of the Journal of Groups in Addiction & Recovery by presenting two articles that, besides their diverse subjects, share their emphasis on the need for a better scientific understanding of prevention and treatment efforts in the field: