Thinking about offering CRAFT in a group setting? I find that 8 to 10 sessions, spaced either weekly or every-other-week works well. In my experience, the best experience for group members is when they are in groups with other people in a similar relationship to the IP. For example, groups for parents of teenagers, groups for parents of adults, groups for people whose IP is opioid dependent, groups for people with partners who have a SUD. However, I also have worked with mixed groups and it works perfectly well to do so, so don’t hesitate to do a mixed group if you don’t have enough people to break them into specific cohorts.

Here are my handouts for an 8 session group. If I were to add two more weeks to this handout pack, I would break the functional analysis into two sessions and add a week to spend more time on self care and relationship goals (I have people complete the self care wheel during session one). You will see that I included a self-care wheel to use to assess current satisfaction in various life areas, as well as a handout with ideas for being loving and kind that can be used for people who can’t think of ways to be rewarding without giving money or “over-functioning.”

If you were making the group longer, you could also add a week for safety and overdose prevention, or a week to discuss boundaries. Group members usually really value the problem solving procedure, so that is another session that you could repeat more than once. What else would you add? I look forward to hearing what you do in your groups - email me to tell me!