The University of New Mexico

NEWS RELEASE

 


Media Contact: Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821; e-mail: scarr@unm.edu

August 18, 2006

UNM Project Provides Free Help for People Concerned About a Loved One's Drug Use

Help may be on the way if you're concerned about a loved one's drug abuse. Family members and significant others frequently experience a variety of consequences such as violence, theft, verbal aggression and embarrassment. In turn, family members often call treatment agencies in an effort to get help for themselves, as well as their loved one.

CRAFT, or the community reinforcement approach and family training method, has proven to be an effective way for family members to help a loved one who has alcohol/drug problems but refuses to get treatment. Though well proven in research, CRAFT remains largely unavailable in most communities, in part because family members do not have a diagnosis themselves, so insurers will not pay for the service. Instead, family members are often referred to less successful alternatives.

Psychology Ph.D. candidate Jennifer Knapp Manuel is conducting a study on ways to make CRAFT more widely available to concerned family members. The self-study and group methods she is evaluating promise to make CRAFT more accessible to those who want and need help.

Knapp Manuel is being guided in this study by three senior faculty at UNM who originally developed and tested CRAFT: Robert J. Meyers, Jane Ellen Smith and William R. Miller. All are associated with the UNM Center on Alcoholism, Substance Abuse and Addictions (CASAA).

Family members who participate in the study will receive, free of charge, one of two methods for learning and using CRAFT -- group counseling or a home self-study approach. When family members are successful in encouraging their loved one to seek help, the study will also provide up to 12 sessions of related treatment - the community reinforcement approach (CRA) - free of charge. In prior CASAA research, CRA has also been found to be highly effective in helping people with alcohol/drug problems.

“Family members often feel very limited in what they can do,” said Knapp Manuel. “There is not a lot available to help them. CRAFT for an individual family can be expensive, and often insurance won't cover it. We hope that the methods we are studying will make CRAFT more widely available to help families and their loved ones."

For more information or to find out about eligibility for the study contact UNM CASAA at (505) 925-2382. Participants will receive a small stipend for their time in the study, a confidential evaluation, and a copy of the CRAFT book for concerned family members.

The University of New Mexico is the state's largest university, serving more than 32,000 students. UNM is home to the state's only schools of law, medicine, pharmacy and architecture and operates New Mexico's only academic health center. UNM is noted for comprehensive undergraduate programs and research that benefits the state and the nation.

www.unm.edu