Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy: An International Quarterly. Volume 19, Number 3 .2005 Guided Self-Change Model of Treatment for Substance Use Disorders Mark B. Sobell, PhD Linda Carter Sobell, PhD Nova Southeastern University Fort Lauderdale, FL Guided self-change (GSC) treatment, a brief, cognitive-behavioral, motivational intervention first developed for use with problem drinkers, has now been evaluated with drug abusers, adolescents and Spanish-speaking alcohol abusers. This article reviews the foundations for the development of GSC; describes the results from several studies using this model of treatment, including an extension of the principles to a community-level study; speculates on the .effective cognitive elements of the approach; and presents suggestions for future research. Keywords: self-change; substance use; alcohol; drugs T his article reviews the development and evaluation of the guided self-change (GSC) model of treatment for substance use disorders. GSC is a brief, cognitive-behavioral motivational intervention developed in the early 1980s. It is one of several brief cognitive-behavioral treatments (CBTs; Bien, Miller, & Tonigan, 1993). While it shares a similar orientation with those approaches, it also differs in several major ways. This article discusses (a) influences on the development of the GSC approach, (b) its major components and how it differs from other brief treatments, (c) the results of several studies that have used GSC, (d) cognitive aspects of GSC, (e) a major extension of the approach in the community (promoting self-change), and (f) directions for future investigations of the GSC treatment. GUIDED SELF-CHANGE TREATMENT ROOTS The development of GSC was influenced by several lines of research. Because these influences have been described elsewhere (M. B. Sobell & Sobell, 1993a, 1998), they will only be briefly summarized to illustrate how the approach emerged. First and foremost, considerable research had started to appear in the 1970s indicating that the severity of drinking problems should be scaled along a continuum ranging from very mild to extremely severe problems, and that individuals with less serious problems are more prevalent than those with more severe problems (M. B. Sobell & Sobell, 1993a, 1993b). In addition, considerable evidence had accumulated showing that alcohol problems are not progressive. That is, they do not necessarily worsen if people do not stop drinking and do not get treated (Pattison, Sobell, & Sobell, 1977). In the ensuing years, it has become clear that this is especially true for individuals with mild problems (Schuckit, Smith, @ 2005 Springer Publishing Company 199