KIRKLAND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Cadence Online has launched Parent CRAFT, the first evidence-based online solution for parents concerned about changing drug and alcohol behaviors in their children. This innovative online program takes the empirically-studied behavioral science of CRAFT and brings it to life in a highly engaging, interactive film-based course. It is universally accessible for parents whose adolescent or young adult child is in the early stages of using, in treatment for substance use problems, or in recovery. Parents CAN make a difference in the substance abuse behaviors of their children.
“Parent CRAFT is the first practical, effective and scientifically based online program available to address the overwhelming need for effective solutions for parents concerned about drug and alcohol abuse. This is a god-send to the over 30 million parents in the U.S. alone that are in the same awful place I found myself of not knowing what to do when my own child was abusing drugs and alcohol,” said A. Thomas McLellan, PhD, chair and co-founder of the Treatment Research Institute, and former deputy director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy
Community Reinforcement and Family Training (CRAFT), created by Dr. Robert Meyers, is an evidence-based program that teaches parents how to effectively interact with their children in order to change drug and alcohol behavior. The course has three main goals: to improve the relationship between the parent and adolescent or young adult; to reduce the child’s problem behaviors; to help the parent get their child to accept professional help, and to learn how to support them during treatment and recovery.
In multiple research studies, CRAFT has proven to be over five times more effective than traditional “tough love” approaches in getting adolescents to acknowledge they have a problem and to accept help.
“Sometimes the first use of a drug can lead to permanent damage, or even death. The notion of waiting for your child to hit bottom before doing something about it is ridiculous,” said Dr. Robert Meyers, Creator of CRAFT. “Parent CRAFT may be the first step in saving your child’s life.”
Highly engaging videos based on real-life parent-child interactions were filmed by a multiple Emmy Award winning film director. They bring to life interactive exercises that teach parents to understand their child’s substance use pattern, improve their communication skills, to develop methods of behavior management and to learn when and how to guide them to accept professional help.
“I wanted to leverage my prior experience as the CEO of Zipper Interactive, a video game company that made top selling entertainment titles, into creating highly engaging interactive courses that focus on teaching critical skills to parents,” said Jim Bosler, CEO of Cadence Online. Jim Bosler is also the CEO of Cadence Child and Adolescent Therapy, based in Kirkland, Wash., which has a leading outpatient evidence-based DBT program for self-harming and suicidal adolescents.
There is no doubt we are in the midst of an addiction epidemic. Opiate deaths now surpass car accidents as the leading cause of accidental death in the US. Heroin overdoses have increased five times in the last 15 years. 90 percent of substance use disorders begin before the age of 18. Now help is just a click away.
“Parent CRAFT brings evidence-based science into a format that works in a useful and meaningful way for parents to truly have an impact in changing their child’s behavior,” said Dr. Kimberly Kirby, Director of the Parents Translational Research Center at the Treatment Research Institute.
To learn more about Parent CRAFT, visit www.cadenceonline.com.