For Families
Addiction is a family disease.
This book, Beyond Addiction, is an excellent resource for family members struggling with their loved one's substance use. The foreword, reproduced below, is particularly encouraging. Please send an email today if you have questions about your loved one's addiction or want to start CRAFT services. dan@acceptancerecoverycounseling.com
UPDATE SEPTEMBER 2022: CRAFT family groups begin January 2023! Send an email today to inquire.
"I can personally attest to the pain and suffering caused by having a family member who abuses alcohol or drugs. I came from one of those families and I understand the anguish firsthand. As my father's out-of-control drinking continued, I also witnessed my mother suffering incredible pain. As a result of her frustrations, my brother and I also suffered. My mother passed away at the young age of forty-five. It is because of this troubled history that I carved out my path of investigating humane and positive ways to help substance users and family members. My early years in the field brought me to the stark reality that there was no reliable or reasonable treatment for family members at the time. "Family Days" at treatment centers typically centered around viewing a film on the effects of alcohol.
'The addiction field as a whole has struggled to find effective ways to help distraught family members. During my long tenure in the substance abuse filed, I developed a program called Community Reinforcement and Family Training. CRAFT is designed specifically to empower family members. It teaches them how to take control of their lives, and as part of this process to change their interactions with the substance user in ways that promote positive behavioral change. Clinical trials on CRAFT have shown that when family members use these positive, supportive, nonconfrontational techniques, not only do they find ways to get their loved one into treatment, but the family members themselves feel better- specifically showing decreases in depression, anger, anxiety, and medical problems- when they participate in CRAFT. Clinical trials also have shown that the family members benefit emotionally even if their loved one does not enter treatment.
'We believe this book will have a huge positive impact on the addiction community, beginning with therapists and researchers. But we also hope it opens the eyes of directors, legislators, and families to a novel way of thinking about how to approach and address the family's substance use problem."
- Robert J. Meyers, PhD, and Jane Ellen Smith, PhD
To read more or access the book: https://motivationandchange.com/family-services/resources-for-families/
