 Alcohol dependence afflicts 14 million individuals in the U.S. The alcohol related costs to society are enormous and alcohol dependence is a significant public health problem. Although pharmacotherapy for the treatment of alcohol dependence and relapse prevention has expanded, the identification of evidence based treatment strategies is of critical importance. Anticonvulsants, including the divalproex sodium DVP formulation of valproate, have established effectiveness for mood disorders, and therapeutic response of mood and anxiety symptoms to DVP has been demonstrated in a number of psychiatric conditions. While DVP has been demonstrated as a treatment option for the acute alcohol withdrawal syndrome, a clear treatment effect has not been found in studies examining DVP for ongoing relapse prevention in alcohol dependence. These latter studies had limited power and excluded subjects with co-morbid mood and anxiety disorders, individuals who may, by extension of the former studies, show the greatest response to treatment with DVP. Despite the exclusion of subjects with mood and anxiety disorders, alcohol dependent individuals treated with DVP compared to placebo showed greater improvement in irritability and a trend toward greater decreases on measures of impulsivity and aggression. A strategy integrating the above findings would target treatment with DVP more specifically to alcohol dependent individuals with mood and anxiety disturbances. 