What is Contingency Management?

One Sentence, Easy to Remember, Definition:

A behavioral therapy that uses POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT to encourage CHANGE.

What do we mean by positive reinforcement?

Positive reinforcement increases the likelihood that the behavior will happen again. In CM, positive reinforcement is typically provided in the form of tangible rewards like gift cards, prizes, and more.

What do we mean by change?

Change, in this context, refers to the behavior focused on in the CM. For example, attending counseling sessions, producing stimulant negative urine tests, or taking medications.

So Is It Really That Simple?

At first glance, yes. CM is fairly straightforward: a reward (e.g., gift card) is provided when a desired behavior (e.g., attending a counseling session) occurs. But its simplicity is deceptive. To really understand CM's impact, why and how it works, and its arrangement in the real world, we need to unpack it further. First, let's examine the definition once more to uncover what's really embedded in it. Because there's more going on beneath the surface than you think!

In CM, positive reinforcement comes in the form of tangible rewards. But positive reinforcement is larger than that! People enrolled in CM also receive positive reinforcement through acknowledgement, affirmation, and kind words of those delivering CM, as well as the connection, community, and celebration they feel as being a part of a CM program.

Positive Reinforcement

Behavior change refers to the behavior measured in CM like counseling attendance or negative stimulant drug tests. But it's so much more than that! Behavior change can lead to improving people's lives: reconnecting with loved ones and communities, feeling better, recapturing a sense of what’s important, and more.