Experiences of conducting a substance use disorder treatment, A-CRA, in compulsory institutional care for youth – The challenge of promoting openness in a closed, temporary setting

Abstract

Effective help for youths in compulsory institutional care in Sweden is of utter importance, but available substance use disorder treatments have been designed for outpatient care and are not readily implemented in the specific lockable setting. The main objective of this study was to explore the experiences of seven therapists who were trained and supervised in conducting the evidence-based method Adolescent Community Reinforcement Approach (A-CRA), with youth 16–21 years old. The youths suffered from substance use disorder and socially disruptive or criminal behaviour and were placed in compulsory institutional care run by the Swedish National Board of Institutional Care. Using content analysis with an inductive approach, results show that therapists perceive A-CRA as a helpful treatment but also describe challenges with the flexible and goal-oriented approach and the temporary context. For future studies, it would be valuable to further explore the youths’ experiences of psychological treatment in institutional care and how therapists can help youth identify and work towards desired change.