Our Research
The Brault Lab investigates the living stories of the loved ones of people with a substance addiction. One of the most understudied yet crucial aspects to addiction is the support and/or hindrance family/friend/care provider systems have on addiction when codependent behaviors are in place. At some point in time, most loved ones of people with an addiction are doing what they feel is right, helpful, admirable, common...for the better of - yet far too often addiction recovery is yielded by the very support that is being presented.
The Brault Lab continues to look at the drug epidemic as a biopsychosocial issue. As research and treatment efforts continue to admirably focus on why addicts become addicts and how addicts continue sobriety or relapse, major gaps in research efforts exist around individuals, groups, systems, and literature that are ultimately hindering recovery to the extent of long term sobriety.
Without the stories of the loved ones and providers that may be unknowingly or unwillingly hindering recovery, we as a scientific collective may not fully and ethically have the ability to support treatment efforts of addicts as key data is missing...and has been missing all along. The Brault Laboratory seeks to address this critical gap in knowledge and practice by generating empirical data that advances addiction and behavior science and informs more effective treatment models/efforts. Our work examines how external, systemic, and environmental variables contribute to addiction trajectories - often exerting greater influence than the pharmacological properties of the substance or the individual’s intrinsic characteristics.