The necessary conditions of a motivating withdrawal of alcohol-addicted inpatients based on the experiences with drug addicts are pointed out. If inpatient treatment is necessary either a more complex treatment of qualified withdrawal (QW) or a short-term intervention to manage with the crisis (CI) is offered to the addict according to his actual motivation. In the CI-programme (39 cases) 41% of the patients were able to switch over to the QW-programme. The other patients were dismissed quickly (median period of treatment 8 days). In the QW-programme (88 cases) 70% of the patients finished the treatment regularly and subsequent treatment was successfully gained (23% in-patient rehabilitation, 7% in-patient psychotherapy and 12% outpatient therapy).