Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Contingency management is a treatment option for substance use disorder (SUD) that provides financial rewards for recovery-oriented behaviors, such as reducing substance use, engaging in care, and abstaining from using substances.
In this video, University of Michigan psychologist and addiction care researcher Lara Coughlin, Ph.D. discusses her work on contingency management and its impact on SUD care. She highlights other efforts to expand access to this life-saving treatment in Michigan and across the U.S.
For more about this work, with links to projects and publications, visit this page: michmed.org/Kdd9N
Coughlin is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the U-M Medical School, and co-directs the Michigan Innovations in Addiction Care through Research & Education (MI-ACRE) program in the U-M Addiction center. She is also the Mental Health Equity Faculty Lead at the Eisenberg Family Depression Center.
Her work earned her a 2026 Policy Impact Award from the U-M Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation. The award especially recognized a study she led that that found people with SUD related to stimulant drugs who were treated with contingency management were 41% less likely to die in the following year. There is no FDA-approved pharmacological treatment for stimulant-related SUD, yet the study found CM had an effect comparable to the leading medications for treating opioid use disorder.
Contingency management is a treatment option for substance use disorder (SUD) that provides financial rewards for recovery-oriented behaviors, such as reducing substance use, engaging in care, and abstaining from using substances.
In this video, University of Michigan psychologist and addiction care researcher Lara Coughlin, Ph.D. discusses her work on contingency management and its impact on SUD care. She highlights other efforts to expand access to this life-saving treatment in Michigan and across the U.S.
For more about this work, with links to projects and publications, visit this page: michmed.org/Kdd9N
Coughlin is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the U-M Medical School, and co-directs the Michigan Innovations in Addiction Care through Research & Education (MI-ACRE) program in the U-M Addiction center. She is also the Mental Health Equity Faculty Lead at the Eisenberg Family Depression Center.
Her work earned her a 2026 Policy Impact Award from the U-M Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation. The award especially recognized a study she led that that found people with SUD related to stimulant drugs who were treated with contingency management were 41% less likely to die in the following year. There is no FDA-approved pharmacological treatment for stimulant-related SUD, yet the study found CM had an effect comparable to the leading medications for treating opioid use disorder.
