Meaning in life has been the focus of research for over fifty years. Previous research has pointed to a significant relationship between meaning in life and psychopathology, physical health, psychological well-being, coping, motivation and substance abuse. The focus of the present research was on sub-constructs of meaning in life and their relation to patient outcomes in substance abuse treatment. Correlational analyses indicated all four sub constructs, (Search, Presence, Framework, and Fulfillment) of meaning in life were significantly related to patient psychological distress but not to patient engagement in treatment. The Fulfillment aspect of meaning in life emerged as having the strongest significant relationship with patient psychological well-being at both pre-treatment and post-treatment. Post-hoc analyses indicated that Fulfillment of meaning in life contributed significantly to the prediction of pre-treatment psychological distress. Implications of the research point to the importance of having a sense that one can fulfill their meaning in life, not simply just search for it, name sources of it, or present a set of beliefs for it.