The University of New Mexico’s Center on Alcoholism, Substance Abuse, and Addictions (CASAA) recently awarded Dutch researcher Dr. Hendrik Roozen a letter of academic title as a research associate professor.

Roozen is a clinically certified mental health psychologist who also works as a trainer and consultant at Roozen & Meyers Consultancy, a professional association in the Netherlands and other parts of Europe targeting the promotion and diffusion of Community Reinforcement interventions. Roozen’s scientific research focuses on patient characteristics and processes associated with substance abuse treatment and evaluation of substance abuse treatment strategies, with a particular focus on better understanding positive contingencies that affect behavior change.

“Dr. Roozen’s affiliation with CASAA provides us with exciting opportunities for international research collaborations,” said Distinguished Professor of Psychology and CASAA Director Barbara McCrady.

Roozen is an expert in research and training related to the Community Reinforcement Approach or CRA, an empirically-supported treatment for alcohol and drug problems originally developed at UNM by CASAA Associate Research Professor Bob Meyers and Psychology Professor Jane Ellen Smith. He has worked with Meyers and Smith on CRA research throughout the years.

“For me it’s a great honor being affiliated with UNM and CASAA where multiple world-famous scientific treatment systems have been developed like Motivational Interviewing, CRA, ACRA and CRAFT (A/CRA/FT),” said Roozen. “It gives me a great learning opportunity to work more closely with the people who developed and conducted numerous research projects on treating addiction focused on both the consumer and their loved ones.”

The Community Reinforcement Approach is a comprehensive behavioral program for treating substance-abuse problems. CRA is based on the assumption that environmental contingencies can play a powerful role in encouraging or discouraging drinking or drug use. CRA uses social, recreational, familial and vocational reinforcers to assist consumers in the recovery process. Its goal is to make a sober lifestyle more rewarding than the use of substances. 

“Several countries in Europe including the UK, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands are using the A/CRA/FT model in routine practice," Roozen said. "Also Australia, Canada and more recently, Asian countries such as Korea and Japan have shown interest in this model as well.”

Previously, Roozen organized CRA training courses, and provided guidance and supervision for health professionals and also carries out consultations with numerous mental health, forensic, and addiction care institutions in the Netherlands and abroad. He is also a board member of the Addiction Psychology section of the Dutch Association of Psychologists (NIP).

Roozen was affiliated at Tilburg University Scientific Center for Care and Welfare (TRANZO) in the Netherlands as an endowed professor and connected to te academic workplace for addiction as a chair (2012-2016). The Dutch addiction treatment institutes Novadic-Kentron and IrisZorg sponsored this affiliation.

Roozen studied psychology at Leiden University in the Netherlands and obtained his Ph.D. in 2005 at VU University Amsterdam, based on a study of the Community Reinforcement Approach in combination with the pharmacological agent naltrexone.