Category:

Motivating Substance Abusers to Enter Treatment

By: Jane Ellen Smith, PhD; and Robert J. Meyers, PhD

Course Description

Filling a crucial need, this course presents a time- and cost- effective therapy program oriented to concerned significant other (CSO) who wants to motivate a family member or partner to seek help. Community Reinforcement and Family Training (CRAFT) is a non- confrontational approach that teaches CSOs how to change their own behavior in order to reward sobriety, discourage substance use, and ultimately to help get the substance abuser into treatment. The CSO also gains valuable skills for problem- solving and self-care. Step-by-step instructions for implementing CRAFT are accompanied by helpful case examples and reproducibles

About Authors

Jane Ellen Smith, PhD, is a professor in the Psychology Department at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, where she is also the Director of Clinical Training. She received her doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the State University of New York at Binghamton. Specializing in both alcoholism and eating disorders, Dr. Smith has written numerous articles and chapters on these topics. She is the coauthor of Clinical Guide to Alcohol Treatment: The Community Reinforcement Approach, also with Robert J. Meyers. She has received federal grants from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism to test the Community Reinforcement Approach with homeless individuals. Dr. Smith is the newest recipient of the University of New Mexico’s highest teaching award: The Presidential Teaching Fellowship (2007-2009).

Robert J. Meyers, PhD, is the Director of Robert J. Meyers, PhD, and Associates, and an Adjunct Research Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of New Mexico, where his primary affiliation is with the Center on Alcoholism, Substance Abuse, and Addictions (CASAA). Dr. Meyers is the recipient of the 2002 Dan Anderson Research Award from the Hazelden Foundation, and the 2003 Young Investigator Award from the Research Society on Alcoholism. He has published dozens of scientific articles and several books, including Get Your Loved One Sober: Alternatives to Nagging, Pleading and Threatening. Dr. Meyers has been in the addictions field since 1976. He was recently featured prominently for his work in O, the Oprah Magazine and in the HBO documentary series, Addiction.

Learning Objectives

1. Briefly list the 8 components of CRAFT.
2. Describe external and internal triggers.
3. Describe the predictability of violent behavior.
4. List the 8 problem-solving guidelines.
5. Describe “unilateral family therapy.

Course Contents

  1. Description of Community Reinforcement and Family Training
  2. Building and Sustaining Motivation of Concerned Significant Others
  3. Functional Analysis of a Problem Behavior
  4. Domestic Violence
  5. Improving Communication Skills of Concerned Significant Others
  6. Positive Reinforcement of Clean and Sober Behavior
  7. The Use of Negative Consequences
  8. Helping Concerned Significant Others Enrich Their Own Lives
  9. Inviting the Identified Patient to Enter Treatment
  10. Empirical Support for CRAFT

Customer Comments

“What can you do for people with a substance-abusing loved one who refuses to get help? Quite a lot, as it turns out… Smith and Meyers describe the CRAFT method that they have shown to be highly effective not only in reducing family members’ distress, but also in getting their loved one into treatment. Their clearly written and well-organized narrative provides step-by-step guidelines for delivering this evidence-based approach.”

– William R. Miller, PhD, Department of Psychology, University of New Mexico

“I wish I had had this book years ago to give my staff in the alcoholism treatment clinic, and I also recommend it to counselors and therapists in more general settings. An invaluable contribution!”

– Carlos C. DiClemente, PhD, Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

“This book is ‘must’ reading for all current and future practitioners in the field of substance abuse, and should be a required text in master’s-level substance abuse courses in clinical psychology, social work, and other helping professions.”

– Allen Rubin, PhD, School of Social Work, University of Texas at Austin

“Years of research show that the approach described in this book works. CRAFT is more effective than our traditional methods for dealing with this difficult clinical challenge.”

– Timothy O’Farrell, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School