The first section of this article defines community-based drug dependency treatment from a grounded theory perspective. Drug dependency treatment is defined as a specific set of procedures, approaches, therapies, or services designed to achieve certain client, and sometimes, family-related goals. The core treatment components are intake processing/client assessment, treatment plan, abstinence-oriented counseling, supportive group and individual counseling, substance use/urine monitoring, clinical and case management, pharmacotherapy, discharge plan, aftercare/continuity care, and self-help/mutual help meetings. Comprehensive services encompass medical services, mental health services, housing, transportation, child care, family services, financial services, legal services, AIDS/HIV risk services, education services, and vocational services. The next section of the article defines treatment structure and process, including the next step in treatment process research. Another major section of the article reviews research on treatment structure and process, with attention to the contribution of psychotherapy research, and recent research on process in drug dependency treatment. The concluding section of the article profiles the treatment process multilevel framework. 1 figure and 158 references