This article examines treatment outcomes of alcohol and drug abusing patients admitted to a university-based alcohol and drug outpatient clinic. Treatment effectiveness of two treatment models were evaluated. The psycho-educational approach utilized a teacher-student model with the goal of imparting information about drugs and consequences of use. The recovery-oriented approach utilized a patient-counselor collaborative model where patients were encouraged to be active in progressing through sequential stages of pre-recovery tasks. Patients in the psycho-education group stayed in treatment longer and were more likely to rate treatment as useful. Results showed minimal differences between the two groups in terms of Addiction Severity Index scores, Drug Attitude, and urine drug screen results.