Robert J. Meyers will receive the 2002 Dan Anderson Research Award from the Hazelden Foundation this May for his positive reinforcement-based method of motivating chemically dependent people to seek treatment.
As associate director of the Clinical Research Branch of the UNM Center on Alcoholism, Substance Abuse and Addiction, also known as CASAA, Meyers has dedicated his life to helping people battle addiction. In addition to the award, he will receive a $2,000 honorarium from the Hazelden Foundation of Center City, Minn.
One of the largest addiction treatment facilities in the world, Hazelden is the birthplace of the Minnesota Model, a multidisciplinary approach to substance abuse used worldwide, said Marty Duda, editor of the bimonthly newsletter the Hazelden Voice. Duda added that the Minnesota Model, which has been the industry standard for decades, incorporates tenets from various 12-step programs and the Johnson Institute intervention method.
Meyers' Community Reinforcement and Family Training method, also known as CRAFT, seeks to take chemical dependency treatment a step further.
"CRAFT is a motivational model which seeks to empower family members, through non-confrontational means, to help their loved ones get sober," Meyers said.
Al-Anon, Nar-Anon and other 12-step programs stress "detachment with love" and are effective in helping significant others to "take care of themselves," Meyers said. However, his study published in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, showed that only 29 percent of concerned significant others trained in 12-step programs were successful in getting their loved ones into treatment.
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"In four studies with the CRAFT model, we've had a success rate of 64 to 76 percent in engaging someone who was originally resistant into treatment," Meyers said.
The Johnson Institute method advocates a meeting, or "intervention," during which family members are encouraged to list the negative effects of their addicted loved ones' behavior.
"It creates an adversarial relationship," Meyers said. "You attract more flies with honey than with vinegar."
The CRAFT model teaches people different interaction skills, designed to elicit certain types of behavior, Meyers said.
Meyers does not suggest that people stop going to 12-step meetings, or that the Johnson Institute method is ineffective. Instead, he believes that everyone in the treatment community wants the same thing.
"The CRAFT model is a hybrid," he said. "It's about knowing when to push and when to pull."
