If you’ve tried conversations, ultimatums, tough love, and patience — and nothing has worked — there is a clinically validated approach specifically designed for families in exactly your situation. It’s called CRAFT, and its results are remarkable.

What Is CRAFT?

CRAFT stands for Community Reinforcement and Family Training. It is a structured, evidence-based approach developed by Dr. Robert Meyers at the University of New Mexico that teaches family members specific skills to:

• Reduce their loved one’s substance use
• Motivate their loved one to enter treatment
• Improve their own quality of life — regardless of whether their loved one gets help

How Effective Is CRAFT?

This is where CRAFT becomes remarkable. Multiple clinical studies have compared CRAFT with the two most common alternatives families use:

• CRAFT successfully engaged 64-74% of treatment-resistant individuals into treatment
• Al-Anon / Nar-Anon engaged approximately 18%
• Traditional confrontational intervention engaged approximately 30%

CRAFT also significantly reduced the distress of family members — regardless of whether their loved one entered treatment.

How CRAFT Differs From Other Approaches

CRAFT vs. Tough Love

Tough love — cutting off, withdrawing support entirely — has poor evidence and can push people toward more isolation and increased risk. CRAFT maintains relationship and connection while strategically withdrawing support for the addiction specifically.

CRAFT vs. Traditional Intervention

The confrontational intervention model — immortalised by TV shows — has significant failure rates and can backfire, damaging trust and increasing resistance. CRAFT builds motivation through positive reinforcement rather than pressure.

CRAFT vs. Al-Anon

Al-Anon focuses primarily on the family member’s own healing — detachment and acceptance. CRAFT actively teaches skills for motivating change in the loved one. Both have value and can be used alongside each other.

The Core Skills CRAFT Teaches

• Functional analysis — understanding the triggers and rewards of your loved one’s use
• Positive communication — how to talk to your loved one in ways that keep doors open
• Natural consequences — how to allow consequences to occur without rescuing
• Rewarding non-using behaviour — reinforcing sober moments and positive behaviour
• Withdrawing rewards during use — removing positive experiences that coincide with using
• Improving your own life — CRAFT explicitly addresses the family member’s wellbeing
• Treatment entry — how and when to suggest treatment for maximum receptivity

How to Access CRAFT

• Find a CRAFT-trained therapist — search Psychology Today filtering for “CRAFT” or “Community Reinforcement”
• Online-Therapy.com — ask specifically for a therapist trained in addiction family approaches: Online-Therapy.com →
• Read the book — the best introduction to CRAFT for families is available on Amazon

Also highly recommended: Beyond Addiction by Jeffrey Foote PhD — a comprehensive CRAFT-based guide for families, written by addiction professionals at the Center for Motivation and Change.

For more on support groups: Support Groups for Families →