CRAFTing Change -
Family Support for Addiction
Are you a family member of someone suffering from addiction and you don't know how to best support them, or yourself?
This 12-week CRAFT Family Course will provide practical, evidence-based skills to improve communication, reduce conflict, and create a more supportive home environment. Participants will learn how to encourage their loved one toward treatment and recovery through positive reinforcement rather than confrontation or control, while also strengthening your own resilience and self-care. Each session builds tools for understanding substance use patterns, setting healthy boundaries, and restoring balance and connection within the family system—empowering participants to experience greater hope, confidence, and peace, regardless of their loved one’s readiness for change.
Mike Alberts
GROUP FACILITATOR, CRAFT Certified
Mike Alberts, is a Graduate Student at Capella University in Marriage and Family Therapy. He recently completed the CRAFT Certification Program through We The Village Training Prgram and is the only CRAFT provider in Hawai`i. His approach is rooted in deep listening—not just hearing, but truly understanding. He works from a foundation of Family Systems, Solution-Oriented, Emotionally Focused, and a Narrative Therapy lens. He integrates cognitive and behavioral interventions to help you reframe challenges and create lasting, meaningful shifts in your life. Whether you’re navigating addiction recovery, relationship struggles, or personal transformation, Mike provides a structured yet compassionate space for growth.
Dawn Martin
LICENSED SUPERVISOR, LMHC, CSAC, CCS
Dawn Martin brings over two decades of experience in behavioral health, specializing in addiction recovery, trauma-informed care, and integrative healing. She is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and Certified Substance Abuse Counselor who has dedicated her career to empowering individuals and families through evidence-based and holistic approaches to healing. As a passionate educator and advocate, she is deeply committed to public psychoeducation around harm reduction and groudbreaking therapies for recovery. Her work continues to bridge clinical excellence with compassionate, culturally grounded care in service of community healing.
GROUP OUTLINE & GOALS
CRAFT is a skills-based approach designed for family members and loved ones of someone who is struggling with substance use—especially when that person is not yet ready to seek help.
Key elements:
-
Rather than only confronting the loved one or detaching entirely, CRAFT teaches the family to change their own behaviours (communication, reinforcement, self-care) in ways that increase the likelihood the loved one will accept help.
-
The model emphasises positive communication, positive reinforcement of non‐using or healthier behaviours, and allowing natural consequences for substance-using behaviour (rather than rescuing or enabling).
-
It also supports the family’s own well-being: self‐care, coping with stress, improving quality of life—even if the loved one does not immediately engage in treatment.
-
Research shows CRAFT tends to engage about 65-75% of reluctant loved-ones into treatment, which is significantly higher than more traditional interventions.
-
CRAFT was developed by Robert J. Meyers and Jane Ellen Smith at the University of New Mexico, and has been studied for more than two decades.
Why this matters for addiction-programs & families:
-
Many treatment programmes focus on the person with substance use, while the family may be left feeling helpless, frustrated, or stuck in cycles of enabling or confrontation.
-
CRAFT offers a complementary pathway: families can become active agents of change in a non-coercive way, and at the same time improve their own functioning.
-
By incorporating a family-member training programme based on CRAFT, a treatment provider or addiction-program can broaden their impact: improving family readiness, supporting sustained recovery environment, and potentially increasing engagement of the person with substance use in treatment.
-
From a systems perspective, helping families improves the relational environment, supports long-term change, and addresses the ripple-effects of addiction (stress, boundary erosion, codependency, caregiver burden).
WEEK 3
Functional Analysis
-
Understand patterns of substance use, not blame
-
Examine one typical using episode in detail
-
Identify internal and external triggers
-
Clarify specific using behaviors (what, how much, how often)
-
Recognize both positive and negative consequences of use
-
Use insights to interrupt reinforcement and support change
WEEK 4
Problem Solving
-
Break big, emotional problems into manageable steps
-
Clearly define one specific problem at a time
-
Brainstorm multiple solutions without judgment
-
Select one realistic solution to try this week
-
Anticipate obstacles and plan how to address them
-
Turn the plan into a concrete homework action
WEEK 5
You Deserve to Thrive
-
Your well-being is a core goal of CRAFT
-
You deserve happiness independent of the IP’s choices
-
Improving your life strengthens your ability to help
-
Use the Happiness Scale to assess life balance
-
Choose one manageable area to improve
-
Set a simple, realistic, controllable weekly goal
WEEK 6
Positive Renforcement
-
Use rewards to increase non-using, healthy behaviors
-
Define reinforcement as what feels rewarding to the IP
-
Deliver rewards only when the IP is not using substances
-
Distinguish planned reinforcement from enabling
-
Learn to recognize signs of use (BAMS) to time rewards correctly
-
Choose simple, realistic rewards and deliver them consistently
WEEK 7
Withdrawing Rewards
-
Identify how current responses may unintentionally reinforce use
-
Withdraw specific rewards when substance use occurs
-
Understand withdrawal is planned, calm, and not punishment
-
Restore rewards when the IP is sober or non-using
-
Prepare for emotional reactions and safety concerns
-
Use consistency and problem-solving to manage obstacles
WEEK 8
Natural Consequences
-
Identify ways support may unintentionally protect substance use
-
Understand how natural consequences motivate change
-
Allow specific negative consequences to occur safely
-
Remember this is not punishment or abandonment
-
Plan for emotional reactions and safety concerns
-
Use consistency, communication, and problem-solving
WEEK 9
Treatment Entry
-
Use invitations, not confrontation or pressure
-
Identify motivational “hooks” meaningful to the IP
-
Watch for windows of opportunity to invite treatment
-
Practice invitations using positive communication
-
Plan for rapid intake when willingness appears
-
Prepare emotionally for refusal or dropout
WEEK 10
Relapse & Recovery
-
View relapse as information, not failure
-
Understand slips and the Abstinence Violation Effect (AVE)
-
Reinforce self-efficacy and recovery-oriented behavior
-
Use Functional Analysis to identify relapse patterns
-
Support a return to sobriety and prevent escalation
-
Communicate calmly and plan for relapse prevention
WEEK 11
Positive Progress
-
Focus on building healthy, non-using behaviors
-
Use Functional Analysis to understand what supports change
-
Choose activities that are enjoyable, feasible, and substance-free
-
Identify triggers and consequences that affect healthy behavior
-
Assess relationship satisfaction using the Happiness Scale
-
Set one realistic goal to increase positive progress