The Invitation to Change Approach shares many principles and practices in common with CRAFT, such as using positive reinforcement to support change in your loved one. In many ways, ITC evolved out of CRAFT. However, ITC also draws from the research supporting Motivational Interviewing, a therapy technique that uses specific communication styles to support motivation for behavior change, and from that supporting Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), which emphasizes mindfulness in order to help people make peace with difficult emotions.

The Invitation to Change Approach not only blends important evidence-backed ideas and strategies from these three models, but also offers a distinct framework—based in “science and kindness”—that uses clear, accessible, and actionable language to describe the approach, offers unique and helpful learning exercises, and acknowledges the many parts of the helping process and their challenges. We have received feedback that, compared to CRAFT training, “several people that attended your 2-3 day workshop…took what they learned and [were] able to implement your [ITC] model, protocols right away.”

A huge number of professionals who take our training have also taken CRAFT training. We get very positive feedback from both families and professionals who take Invitation to Change workshops, and firmly believe it is useful to take one even if you are familiar with CRAFT. We believe that both the experience of it and the knowledge gained will differ, and be valuable.