What is contingency management?
Contingency management comes up often as the most effective treatment for stimulant use. What is it, and how do you find it?
Contingency management (CM) rewards recovery in real time. People earn small incentives, such as gift cards, vouchers, or prize draws, for verified progress, usually drug-free urine tests, often a few times a week over several months. Rewards often grow with consecutive negative tests.
Why it works: stimulants hijack the brain's reward system. CM gives the brain a steady, immediate reward for not using during the period when natural rewards feel flat.
What the research shows: CM has some of the strongest evidence of any treatment for stimulant use disorder, and it works well alongside counseling and other support.
Finding it: CM isn't offered everywhere yet, and availability is growing. Ask treatment programs directly: "Do you offer contingency management?" Some state Medicaid programs and the VA offer it.
Read more: Stimulant addiction: meth and cocaine