Changing the Focus of Substance Abuse Treatment

This is part 2 of two responses to the New York Times article about Dr. Carl Hart’s research at Columbia University.  You can read Part 1 here and the the original NY Times article here. Some of the work of Carl Hart, an experimental psychologist at Columbia University, was described in the NY Times recently, and […]

Practicing Collaboration – A Critical Parenting Skill

One of the most important skills for parents to learn in trying to help a substance using child is how to work together! Over and above the issue of “what is our game plan?” (which takes collaboration also!), getting on the same page involves a lot of practice for parents. Typically, one parent is viewed […]

A Breath of Fresh, Evidence-Based Air

We happily point our readers to a recent Jane Brody article in the NY Times concerning evidence-based treatments for substance use problems. Brody’s article, “Effective Addiction Treatment,” captured a number of essential points about what to look for when you are considering treatment for you or a loved one, always a bewildering maze when dealing […]

Training Parents to Help Children – Part I

The NY Times article “Train a Parent, Spare a Child” (1/11/2013) illustrates some excellent points we want to applaud and help apply these concepts to helping your family change their substance use. First, let’s detail the main points of the article and use that as a framework for how to think about behavior change.  The […]

“Catch ‘Em Being Good”: The Magic of Positive Reinforcement

We are all very aware of how emotionally draining it can be dealing with a child involved in abusing substances. We’re all also aware of how much conflict this leads to in families. Today’s focus? Positive reinforcement as an antidote. As our colleague (and father of CRAFT, or Community Reinforcement and Family Training) Bob Meyers […]

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