The goal of my research project is to support motivation for abstinence of young cannabis addicts. These people chose to get the therapy themselves and we aim at reinforcing their motivation for abstinence by increasing the therapy adherence. Ultimately, together with Ijsfontain, we will develop a game to be implemented in online therapy for cannabis addiction. We will choose elements from treatment and work on presenting them to these young people in a game-like structure, rather than in a purely informational form. Finally, we will measure the effects on therapy adherence and their motivation for abstinence – the intended transfer effect.

I think that by combining what we already know from science and from creative work on games, we can develop knowledge which could be really useful.

text by Malgorzata Pawlak