The Community Reinforcement Approach to the Treatment of Substance Use Disorders

Empirical support is presented for the Community Reinforcement Approach (CRA), a broad‐spectrum cognitive‐behavioral treatment for substance use disorders. At the core of CRA is the belief that an individual's environment can play a powerful role in encouraging or discouraging drinking and drug...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The American journal on addictions 2001-01, Vol.10 (s1), p.s51-s59
Main Authors: Smith, Jane Ellen, Meyers, Robert J., Miller, William R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ambulatory Care
Cognitive Therapy - methods
Community Mental Health Services - organization & administration
Family Therapy
Humans
Reinforcement (Psychology)
Street Drugs
Substance-Related Disorders - rehabilitation
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Empirical support is presented for the Community Reinforcement Approach (CRA), a broad‐spectrum cognitive‐behavioral treatment for substance use disorders. At the core of CRA is the belief that an individual's environment can play a powerful role in encouraging or discouraging drinking and drug use. Consequently, it attempts to rearrange contingencies so that sober behavior is more rewarding than substance‐abusing behavior. Originally tested in the early 1970s with a small sample of alcohol‐dependent inpatients, it has repeatedly proven to be successful over the years with larger, diverse populations. Empirical backing is also presented for a new variant of CRA that works through family members to engage treatment‐resistant individuals into substance abuse treatment.
ISSN:1055-0496
1521-0391
DOI:10.1080/10550490150504137