Community Reinforcement and Family Training (CRAFT) for Substance Use Disorder

What is CRAFT?

Community Reinforcement and Family Training (CRAFT) is a program originally developed by Dr. Robert Meyers in the early 1980s. This program was created to support families as they learned to cope with having a family member or loved one with substance use disorder (SUD). 

We know how hard it can be. Having a loved one with substance use disorder in your life can feel like a pressure packed responsibility. You may be worried you'll say the wrong thing, concerned with pushing them too far, or scared they will never seek treatment. 

All of your concerns are valid. And we are here to support YOU with these concerns. 

Can CRAFT help you and your loved one?

The CRAFT program is successful when the loved one you're worried about goes into treatment for substance use disorder. CRAFT has an average success rate of 64% - 74% (Meyers & Wolfe, 2004). The entire range of success rates are 55% - 86% (Archer et al., 2020; Dutcher et al., 2009; Meyers et al., 1998). These numbers are so encouraging that we cannot express how important it is to have family members and support systems who know how to navigate substance use disorder.

What will you learn in CRAFT?

The CRAFT program consists of two primary components:

Community Reinforcement

• Reinforcing the system around the person with a substance use disorder (SUD)

Family Training

• Training family members to interact with the person with an SUD in a way that supports and promotes engagement in treatment (e.g., positive reinforcement)
• Training family members on self-care tactics and supporting them to engage in those behaviors

By teaching families how to use positive communication and positive reinforcement, CRAFT enables them to interact with their loved one in healthier ways. This also encourages the loved one to make positive choices for themselves. Such choices may ultimately include entering substance use treatment, the end goal of this training program.

CRAFT also teaches family members to engage in self-care. This helps family members to have healthy boundaries with their loved one and to take time for things the family member enjoys, thereby increasing happiness and quality of life for family members affected by SUD.

To learn more about the various tactics prescribed in the CRAFT program, please contact the Community Fairbanks Family Connections program, and follow this blog for future information.

Email us at FamilyConnections@eCommunity.com. 

References:

Archer, M., Harwood, H., Stevelink, S., Rafferty, L., & Greenberg, N. (2020). Community reinforcement and family training and rates of treatment entry: a systematic review. Addiction, 115(6), 1024-1037. https://doi.org/10.1111/add.14901

Dutcher, L. W., Anderson, R., Moore, M., Luna-Anderson, C., Meyers, R. J., Delaney, H. D., & Smith, J. E. (2009). Community Reinforcement and  Family Training (CRAFT): An effectiveness study. Journal of Behavior Analysis in Health, Sports, Fitness and Medicine, 2(1), 80.

Meyers, R. J., Miller, W. R., Hill, D. E., & Tonigan, J. S. (1998). Community reinforcement and family training (CRAFT): Engaging unmotivated drug users in treatment. Journal of Substance Abuse, 10(3), 291–308.

Meyers, R.J. & Wolfe, B.L. (2004). Get your loved one sober: Alternatives to nagging, pleading, and threatening. Hazelden.