CRAFT: The Anti-Tough Love Approach to Substance Use, with Dr. Karen Osilla
February 2025
Anyone who has grappled with substance use, or loves a person with addictive behaviors, knows the wrenching relationship struggles and the often futile-feeling search for workable help.
Well, this episode of WHAT MAKES UP YOUR MIND brings you hopeful developments thanks to the research and clinical work of our guest, Dr. Karen Chan Osilla, a licensed clinical psychologist and Associate Professor of Psychiatry in the Stanford Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.
Listen to learn about an empathy-based program called CRAFT - Community Reinforcement Approach and Family Training. A key focus of CRAFT, and Dr. Osilla’s practice, is to support the family and friends of the person with an addiction, thereby empowering them in their own wellness and as effective advocates for their loved one to consider treatment. The positive reinforcement aspect of CRAFT teaches skills that reduce the tension and confrontation that’s so often a part of personal relationships where addiction is present. It’s the opposite of Tough Love. Science shows this approach works, and Dr. Osilla’s research in opioid abuse confirms that.
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