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New program in NYC focuses on helping family help loved ones with SUDs
Author(s) -
Knopf Alison
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
the brown university child and adolescent behavior letter
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1556-7575
pISSN - 1058-1073
DOI - 10.1002/cbl.30350
Subject(s) - wife , praise , psychology , addiction , craft , harm , substance abuse , psychoanalysis , psychiatry , social psychology , law , art , political science , visual arts
A treatment program based on harm‐reduction techniques helping family members get their loved ones — especially their children — into treatment for substance use disorders (SUDs) is opening up in New York City. Led by Sarah H. Church, Ph.D., executive director of the Division of Substance Abuse at Montefiore Medical Center and an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, the program is based on the work of Robert Meyers, who developed Community Reinforcement and Family Training (CRAFT). Called Elevate360, the program “is designed to help loved ones get into treatment,” Church told CABL . “If someone with an addiction has a family member who is concerned, we can treat the family member,” she said. “We help them ignore or allow negative things to happen when their loved one is using, and then we can get that person into care.” This is not “tough love,” stressed Church. “It's the opposite of tough love, because it allows the family to continue to support the person.” Instead of kicking them out of the house, for example, the family member gives positive reinforcement for non‐substance‐using behavior. If the husband comes home drunk and passes out on the couch, for example, the wife doesn't bring him a blanket and a pillow but doesn't kick him out, either. And if he comes home not drunk, he gets a huge amount of praise for it. If a teenager or young adult comes home late at night, instead of being angry, the parent can say “I'm glad you're home. I was worried about you.” This kind of intervention is 70 percent effective at getting the person into care, said Church.