Community reinforcement approach and family training

The community reinforcement approach (CRA) was 'originally developed for individuals with alcohol use disorders, has been successfully employed to treat a variety of substance use disorders for more than 35 years. Based on operant conditioning , CRA helps people rearrange their lifestyles so that healthy, drug-free living becomes rewarding and thereby competes with alcohol and drug use.' 'CRA is a time-limited treatment.' 'In time-limited therapy, a set number of sessions (for example, 16 sessions) or time limit (for example, one year) is decided upon either at the very beginning of therapy or within the early stages of therapy.' Community reinforcement and family training (CRAFT) is CRA that 'works through family members.' It 'is designed to increase the odds of the substance user who is refusing treatment to enter treatment, as well as improve the lives of the concerned family members. CRAFT 'teaches the use of healthy rewards to encourage positive behaviors. Plus, it focuses on helping both the substance user and the family.' Adolescent Community Reinforcement Approach (A-CRA) is CRA that 'targets adolescents with substance use problems and their caregivers.' CRAFT is a motivational model of family therapy. It is reward-based—that is, based on positive reinforcement. CRAFT is aimed at the families and friends of treatment-refusing individuals who have a substance abuse problem. 'CRAFT works to affect the substance users’ behavior by changing the way the family interacts with them.'