CRAFT method - Community Reinforcement And Family Training / Addiction

Okay, I am super excited about today's video because I am going to get to tell you about the number one statistically proven, most effective strategy that families can use to help a loved one struggling with addiction. We've all heard of Al Anon. That is the family side of 12 step. And so families that attend Al Anon regularly and use a 12 step approach for dealing with their addicted loved one, well, that has about a 23% success rate. And when I say success rate, what I'm talking about is a significant decrease in the addiction symptoms, problems and behaviors, especially as related to the family. Now the other approach and something you might have thought about doing is like an old school intervention. You know, like on the TV show Intervention. Love it. Drama. It's a good show. But I don't necessarily recommend that you use that style of intervention. You see, that is called a Johnson model intervention because the guy who came up with it, his name is Vernon Johnson. And I have another video where I talk about intervention methods. So make sure you check that one out after you watch this one. But to give you an idea about the success rate of a Johnson model type intervention, it's about a 16% success rate. Now, when you look at Al Anon versus, like an old school intervention, the approaches are very, very different. You know, like Al Anon is detach with love. It's you didn't cause it, you can't cure it, you're powerless, there's nothing you can do, just back up and try to save yourself kind of model. And intervention is a draw a hard line, say what you're putting up with and not putting up with and hold your boundaries and confront the person with love. But confrontational approach to dealing with a loved one with a drug or alcohol problem. Now, I love the 12 steps, but I worry that the Al Anon approach to dealing with an addicted loved one relies a little too heavily on the fact that the addicted person is going to somehow sort of hit bottom, wake up, have a moment of clarity, and decide for themselves that they want to get recovery. Now, those of you that feel, follow some of my videos. You know how I feel about that. And the Johnson model, well, it causes problems because it's so confrontational and it does work, but only if you do it the right way and definitely don't do it without a trained interventionist. But it's so confrontational. I have dealt a lot with people coming out of treatment after an old school intervention like that who have a lot of hurt, shame, resentment, like totally broken relationships with their Family because they just feel so, like, set up. They really feel conspired against, and it is definitely difficult for them to come back from. Now, the third approach and the one I promised to tell you about is called the CRAFT method, with a C, C, R, a F, T, community reinforcement and family training. And if you look at where the CRAFT approach falls on the continuum between Al anon and intervention, it's somewhere in the middle. And here's the really good news about it. It has a 64% success rate for families dealing with a loved one with a drug or alcohol problem that is way, way, way higher than the other two methods. And it's really unfortunate that not many people know about this. It's just that those other two things, they've been around for a long time. And when you have a loved one with a drug or alcohol problem, frustrating. And your instincts are going to tell you either to just throw your hands up and give up or to just confront that person and put the boundaries down and slam down the wall. And sure, those two things can be effective, but the craft model is more effective because it's based in science. The science of what motivates people. The science of how do you get people to take actions, make choices? How can you structure the environment in such a way that it helps lead a person to make the decision to get help or get better or stop drinking or stop using drugs? You know that really old movie, E.T. well, those of you who are old enough to remember it, you know that there's this scene, you know, it's about, like, the alien that comes down and this little boy finds him. And there's a scene of the little boy is trying to catch the alien or get him, and he takes Reese's pieces and he, like, puts them, like, one by one by one by one, and he makes, like, a trail to kind of, like, lead the alien where he wants him to go. That is a great metaphor for the craft method. It's like, purposefully reinforcing certain things at certain times in order to lead someone to where you want them to go. Okay, it's time for a little counselor confession. You know, in the past few months, I have gotten some really negative remarks left and comments left on Facebook and YouTube from some of the videos that I've made talking about how families aren't completely powerless, how they can have some control. And I understand that thinking it is the sort of standard, typical thing that's taught to us. It's like the norm. And I can see why it's easy to fall into believing that 100% because most people have tried everything that they know and nothing has worked. And it does feel powerless. And I'm not trying to tell you that you can absolutely control the person and a hundred percent get them to where you want them to be. But hey, I think 64% chance is pretty good odds. Now that's not me saying it's the families fault that they're in this situation, that's just me saying hey, you have some power and control too and this is your life too and you deserve a better life. And that's what this whole series is all about. I'm going to be helping you understand what the CRAFT approach is and how it works. Because that's the model that we use in our office to help families reach a loved one who might be in denial, who might be minimizing the problem, or maybe they've been in a treatment lots of times but nothing seems to be working. So if you're not totally ready to just give up and throw your hands up in the air, because I know there are days like that, but if today is not one of those days and you'd like to feel a little more empowered and know that there is something you can do, watch this video next. It's all about understanding the stages of change and motivation, which is the first step to the CRAFT approach. I'd love to hear from you. Have you ever heard of this CRAFT approach? Do you have any experience with it? Let me know in the comments below if you have had some experience with it. Tell us what your thoughts are. Was it helpful? Was it not helpful? And hey, maybe something you say down there might even help someone else.