1. Frontiers of alcoholism.
Chafetz M.E., Blane H.T., Hill M.J. eds. New York: Science House, 1970.
Later to become founding director of the US National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, in the late 1950s Dr Morris Chafetz of the Massachusetts General Hospital conducted a remarkable series of studies which proved that an alcohol clinic's intake and performance can be transformed by the simple application of empathy and organisation.

2. The attitudes of helping agents toward the alcoholic client: the influence of experience, support, training and self-esteem.
Cartwright A.K.J. British Journal of Addiction: 1980, 75(4), p. 413–431.
Seminal English study which turned the spotlight on organisational factors in the development of a positive attitude to working with problem drinkers, in particular the availability of experience in working with these patients and the support of experienced colleagues. Without these the effects of training are less and less well sustained.

3. Interpersonal functioning of alcoholism counselors and treatment outcome.
Valle S.K., Journal of Studies on Alcohol: 1981, 42(9), p. 783–790.
Seminal US study which found that the therapy-related social skills of alcohol counsellors were strongly related to how many of their patients relapsed in the two years after leaving inpatient treatment.

4. Enhancing motivation for change in problem drinking: a controlled comparison of two therapist styles.
Miller W.R., Benefield R.G., Tonigan, J.S. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology: 1993, 61, p. 455–461.
Probably more than any other, this seminal study heightened the profile of the therapist's interpersonal style in substance use counselling, seeming to confirm that by not provoking resistance, the non-confrontational style mandated by motivational interviewing reduced drinking compared to the then more typical blunt and challenging approach.