cooncurrent alcohol and tobacco dependency appears to be a common phenomenon yet medical literature often focuses on only one substance at a time when examining the question of withdrawal and illustrates that the evaluation of tobacco consumption appears to be overlooked in psychiatry. in this study, we analyse perceptions among first-year postgraduates in Psychiatry, before and after training in Motivational Interviewing, with regard to the idea of suggesting that patients might consider simultaneous dual alcohol-tobacco withdrawal. the trend is to disregard the systematic history of substance consumption and to not recommend concurrent alcohol-tobacco withdrawal. Motivational interview training tends to reverse this trend. the lessening of the therapist's feeling of powerlessness in the face of relapse is one of the explanatory factors behind this change of approach. A study design is proposed focusing on the patient's perceptions. guidelines concerning dual alcohol-tobacco withdrawal programs are to be developed.