This study assessed the effectiveness of a brief group treatment program aimed at ameliorating some of the psychological reactions commonly seen in wives of alcoholics. The goals of the 8 week treatment program were: (1) to help wives identify their counterproductive attempts to cope with the alcoholism; (2) to develop constructive coping strategies; and (3) to identify and articulate personal alternatives and goals. Compared to a waiting list control group (N=13), the experimental group (N=10) showed significantly more improvement on measures of anxiety, self-concept, and enabling behaviors; there was no difference on a measure of depression. After formal treatment, the experimental group was given access to a support group which met for the next 8 weeks. After the initial 8 week waiting-list period, the control group replicated the treatment sequence as it had been given to the experimental group. An analysis of the experimental and control groups combined over the various treatment phases indicated significant improvements on measures of depression, anxiety, self-concept, and enabling at the end of the formal treatment, and these improvements were maintained through the support and follow-up phases. A phone follow-up at 12 months after intake revealed that 50 percent of the subjects were continuing to meet in self-run support sessions, that 48 percent of the husbands had entered some form of treatment for their alcoholism, and 39 percent of the wives had either separated from or had divorced their husbands. It was concluded that wives of alcoholics can be effectively treated for their dysfunctional psychological reactions, quite independently of any treatment for the husband's alcoholism. (Author)