The cost of treating substance use disorders: individual versus family therapy Triston B. Morgan, a D. Russell Crane, b Adam M. Moore c and Dennis L. Eggett d This study examined the cost of substance use disorders treatment in a large healthcare organization. A survival analysis demonstrated that family therapy utilised the least number of sessions (M = 2.41) when treating substance use disorders followed by individual therapy (M = 3.38) and mixed therapy (M = 6.40). Family therapy was the least costly of the three types, at $124.55 per episode of care for a client, with individual therapy costing $170.22 and mixed therapy $319.55. The ratio of family therapists utilising family therapy was more than three to one compared to other licensed professionals. The percentages of clients coming back for more than one episode of care are fewest for family therapy (8.9%) followed by mixed therapy (9.5%) and individual therapy (12.0%). Keywords: substance misuse; alcohol misuse; evidence-based practice; medical family therapy; outcome research. The prevalence of substance use disorders (SUD; for the purpose of this article defined as both substance abuse and dependence) in the USA is alarming. In 2004 22.5 million Americans (9.4% of the popu- lation) aged 12 and older were classified with a SUD (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2005). The financial impact of alcohol abuse on society in the USA includes increased use of health care, crime and accident costs, which rose from $148 billion in 1992 (Simon et al., 2005) to $185 billion in 2000 (Office of National Drug Control Policy, 2004). In addition, the costs of drug abuse to society have risen annually by 5.9 per cent since 1992, and in 2002 a Marriage and Family Therapy Program, School of Family Life, Brigham Young University. 274 TLRB, Provo, Utah 84602; E-mail: tristonmorgan@gmail.com b Marriage and Family Therapy Program, Brigham Young University. c Marriage and Family Therapy Program, Brigham Young University. d Associate Professor and Center Director in the Department of Statistics, Brigham Young University. Journal of Family Therapy (2013) 35: 2–23 doi: 10.1111/j.1467-6427.2012.00589.x © 2012 The Authors Journal of Family Therapy © 2012 The Association for Family Therapy and Systemic Practice. Published by Blackwell Publishing, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA.