diff --git a/src/detoxai/methods/clarcs/rrclarc.py b/src/detoxai/methods/clarcs/rrclarc.py
index 272bbea..0a92d22 100644
--- a/src/detoxai/methods/clarcs/rrclarc.py
+++ b/src/detoxai/methods/clarcs/rrclarc.py
@@ -75,14 +75,55 @@ def apply_model_correction(
         assert len(cav_layers) == 1, "RR-CLARC only supports one CAV layer"
         self.cav_layer = cav_layers[0]
 
-        # Register rr_clarc_hook
+        # Register rr_clarc_hook and build list of module names in order
+        cav_layer_found = False
+        module_names_in_order = []
         for name, module in self.model.named_modules():
+            if name:  # Skip empty string (root module)
+                module_names_in_order.append(name)
             if name == self.cav_layer:
                 hook_fn = self.rr_clarc_hook()
-
                 handle = module.register_forward_hook(hook_fn)
                 self.hooks.append(handle)
                 _logger.debug(f"Added RR-CLARC hook to layer: {name}")
+                cav_layer_found = True
+                # Continue to collect all module names for proper layer ordering
+
+        if not cav_layer_found:
+            raise ValueError(f"CAV layer '{self.cav_layer}' not found in model")
+
+        # Get the index of cav_layer and the set of modules to freeze (all before cav_layer)
+        cav_layer_idx = module_names_in_order.index(self.cav_layer)
+        modules_to_freeze = set(module_names_in_order[:cav_layer_idx])
+
+        # Store original requires_grad state and freeze layers before cav_layer
+        self.original_requires_grad = {}
+        for name, param in self.model.named_parameters():
+            self.original_requires_grad[name] = param.requires_grad
+
+            # Check if this parameter belongs to a module that should be frozen
+            # For parameter 'layer1.0.conv.weight', we check if 'layer1', 'layer1.0',
+            # or 'layer1.0.conv' is in modules_to_freeze
+            if "." not in name:
+                # Top-level parameters (unlikely in practice) - skip freezing
+                continue
+
+            param_module = name.rsplit(".", 1)[
+                0
+            ]  # Extract module path from parameter name
+            should_freeze = False
+
+            # Check all possible parent module paths (break early on first match)
+            parts = param_module.split(".")
+            for i in range(1, len(parts) + 1):
+                module_path = ".".join(parts[:i])
+                if module_path in modules_to_freeze:
+                    should_freeze = True
+                    break  # Found a match, no need to check further
+
+            if should_freeze:
+                param.requires_grad = False
+                _logger.debug(f"Frozen parameter: {name}")
 
         # Override training_step in lightning model by modified_training_step
         clone_original_training_step = deepcopy(self.lightning_model.training_step)
@@ -92,7 +133,9 @@ def apply_model_correction(
 
         def configure_optimizers(self):
             """ """
-            optimizer = torch.optim.Adam(self.parameters(), lr=ft_lr)
+            # Only optimize parameters that require gradients (from cav_layer onwards)
+            params_to_optimize = [p for p in self.parameters() if p.requires_grad]
+            optimizer = torch.optim.Adam(params_to_optimize, lr=ft_lr)
             return optimizer
 
         self.lightning_model.configure_optimizers = types.MethodType(
@@ -117,6 +160,11 @@ def configure_optimizers(self):
         # Go back to eval mode
         self.lightning_model.eval()
 
+        # Restore original requires_grad state
+        for name, param in self.model.named_parameters():
+            if name in self.original_requires_grad:
+                param.requires_grad = self.original_requires_grad[name]
+
         # Remove hooks
         self.remove_hooks()