Open Call for Study Participants
Help yourself, your loved one, your family…and science!
Current study openings
Studies are looking to enroll family members for participation in further research on CRAFT. Learn more about the phenomenal opportunities provided, below!
Families with Substance Use and Psychosis: Pilot Study Recruitment
Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder Program at McLean Hospital; Julie McCarthy, PhD, Certified CRAFT Therapist, Coder, and Trainer
Ongoing Recruitment until capacity reached
For Families within the United States with a loved one experiencing psychosis and substance use
FREE CRAFT services, Payment offered for participation • Online
Do you feel like you are walking on eggshells around your loved one? Do you want skills backed by research to help you and your loved one move forward in recovery from the comfort of your own home?
Our telehealth Community Reinforcement and Family Training for Early Psychosis (CRAFT-EP) and substance use program aims to improve how families can support a loved one’s recovery goals by improving communication, treatment engagement, and overall wellbeing, while creating healthy boundaries and problem solving. The project is funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and is studying whether CRAFT-EP is helpful beyond usual care and identifying the needs and strengths of families and their loved ones with substance use and psychosis.
The researchers are looking for relatives of clients with early course psychosis (schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, schizophreniform, psychosis NOS, delusional disorder, brief psychotic disorder, major depression with psychosis, and bipolar disorder with psychosis) with first onset in the past 6 years. The client must have used cannabis or alcohol in the past 30 days and/or have no apparent immediate interest in abstinence. Participation of a family member and their loved one with psychosis is encouraged but not required.
Compensation is up to $200 for completing three study visits, a brief follow-up visit, and focus group. Family members may also receive eight one-hour CRAFT coaching sessions at no cost to them.
Enrollment for this study is expected to close on Saturday, December 28, 2024.
For further details, please review this informational pdf.
If you or someone you know you may be eligible to participate, please complete the survey at this link.
If you have questions or would like to connect, please feel free to contact research assistant Patrick Kelly (pkelly15@mgb.org or 617-855-3089) or Dr. Julie McCarthy (jmccarthy@mclean.harvard.edu or 617-855-3521).
Why participate in research?
Aside from the personal benefits of receiving free (and excellent!!) CRAFT care, (and even financial reimbursement offered through McLean’s study), there is an even greater good that is served when family members enroll in research studies like the ones listed above.
Research is a way of systematically comparing approaches while eliminating or accounting for as many variables as possible.
The reason why we know CRAFT works for so many families is because researchers have measured the effects… again and again and again!! Multiple studies have compared CRAFT against several other popularly used models… and found CRAFT to be effective (and in some cases highly superior) for encouraging a loved one towards treatment, reducing their use over time, and/or increasing the families wellbeing. There’s even studies that found that loved ones whose family learn CRAFT stayed in treatment longer!
To do research on CRAFT or CRAFT-based approaches we need people who are willing to participate in that research.
The more research we have on the effects of CRAFT, and the more people who are willing to participate in that research, the better and more robust the information becomes about what is actually helpful to families and their loved ones.
And this is where you come in! If you, or someone else you know, might possibly be eligible to participate in either of these studies, please reach out to the researchers to learn more. It not only helps you, your loved one, and your family. It also helps the field as a whole!