The Beyond Addiction Workbook for Family and Friends: Evidence-Based Skills to Help a Loved One Make Positive Change

A practical and compassionate approach for helping your loved one change.

If you have a loved one who is struggling with alcohol or other drugs, you may have feelings of frustration, anger, fear, or sadness. You may also feel powerless and unsure of how to help them, and how best to support them over time. You don’t have to try a “tough love” approach or wait for your loved one to “hit rock bottom” before taking action. You can be a force for positive change in your loved one’s life. This compassionate guide will show you how.

From the authors of Beyond Addiction, this healing and supportive workbook offers practical, evidence-based skills to help you address substance use or other compulsive behaviors with your loved one in a productive way—without creating conflict. You’ll also gain a greater understanding for their struggle, and learn essential strategies for improving communication and coping with your own feelings. Whether your loved one seems reluctant to change, or is actively seeking support, this workbook will give you the tools needed to help them on their journey.

Using the authors’ Invitation to Change approach, you’ll discover:

• How to understand substance-using behaviors from a new perspective
• How to approach the problem without judgment
• How to open lines of communication How to set respectful limits
• How to live with pain and still stay connected
• How compassion is key to helping your loved one—and you!

Jeffrey Foote, PhD, is cofounder of the Center for Motivation and Change (CMC) outpatient programs in New York City, NY; Long Island, NY; and Washington, DC; and residential program CMC: Berkshires in Western Massachusetts. He is also cofounder and executive director of the CMC: Foundation for Change, a nonprofit organization with the mission of improving the dissemination of evidence-based ideas and strategies to the families of persons struggling with substance use. Additionally, he is coauthor of the award-winning book, Beyond Addiction—a practical guide for families dealing with addiction and substance problems in a loved one, based on principles of Community Reinforcement and Family Training (CRAFT). Foote is also a contributor to two workbooks combining strategies from CRAFT: The Parent’s 20 Minute Guide and The Partner’s 20 Minute Guide, which offer specific tools and practice in evidence-based strategies for helping a loved one change.

Kenneth Carpenter, PhD, is director of training for the CMC and CMC: Foundation for Change. He is a licensed clinical psychologist and research scientist, and has held academic and research scientist positions at New York-based universities and state agencies. Carpenter has received federal and private foundation grant money for investigating the psychological, behavioral, and neurobiological factors associated with substance use, and developing evidence-based motivational and cognitive behavioral strategies for helping individuals make important lifestyle changes.

Carrie Wilkens, PhD, is cofounder and clinical director of the CMC in New York City, NY; Long Island, NY; and Washington, DC. She is cofounder of CMC: Berkshires, a private inpatient/residential program employing the same treatment approaches in Western Massachusetts. She is also cofounder and president of the CMC: Foundation for Change, a nonprofit organization with the mission of improving the dissemination of evidence-based ideas and strategies to professionals and loved ones of persons struggling with substance use through the Invitation to Change approach. Wilkens coauthored the award-winning book, Beyond Addiction with Jeff Foote, and coauthored a user-friendly workbook for parents, The Parent’s 20 Minute Guide.