Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement for Addiction, Stress, and Pain

I am pleased to announce the publication of my new book, Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement for Addiction, Stress, and Pain, by NASW Press. This book is a treatment manual that describes the step-by-step implementation of Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement (MORE), as well as the theoretical framework and growing evidence base underlying this new form of therapy.

From the press release:

“Human existence can be beset by a variety of negative mental states such that life seems devoid of meaning, but it can also be liberated—a meaningful life reclaimed and savored through cultivation of a higher kind of mind. This quality, mindfulness, refers to both a set of contemplative practices and certain distinct psychological states and traits, and it can be cultivated through intentional effort and training.

In Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement for Addiction, Stress, and Pain, Eric L. Garland presents an innovative program of intervention that can be put into practice by therapists working with people struggling with addiction and the conditions that underlie it. Unlike other substance abuse treatment modalities, which focus largely on relapse prevention, Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement (MORE) concentrates on helping people to recover a sense of meaning and fulfillment in everyday life, embracing its pleasures and pain without avoiding challenges by turning to substance use.

Along with chapters on the bipsychosocial model underlying MORE and the current state of research on mindfulness, this book includes a complete treatment manual laying out for clinicians, step by step, how to run MORE groups—including adaptations to address chronic pain and prescription opioid misuse—and enhance the holistic recovery process for people striving to overcome addiction.

With addiction a widespread and growing problem in our society, Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement could not be more timely or needed. It integrates the latest research on addiction, cognitive neuroscience, positive psychology, and mindfulness into a practice that has garnered empirical support and holds the promise of release and fulfillment for those who suffer from addiction.”

For more information or to purchase the book, go to http://www.naswpress.org/publications/clinical/mindfulness-oriented-recovery.html

Testimonials

“In this work, Dr. Garland lays out a novel and timely behavioral approach for the treatment of substance abuse disorders. This treatment Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement (MORE), is grounded in ancient philosophy and the most up-to-date, empirically driven models of drug addiction that stem from the social and neurobiological sciences. Dr. Garland successfully tackles the task of synthesizing the principles of these diverse fields, provides empirical support for MORE’s effectiveness, and delivers a concise and clear message that will surely appeal to clinicians, researchers, students, and the general public. Anyone who holds an interest in the dilemma of drug addiction and its treatment will benefit from reading Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement for Addiction, Stress and Pain.”

Brett Froeliger, PhD

Department of Neurosciences
Medical University of South Carolina

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“Eric L. Garland’s exciting book, Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement for Addiction, Stress, and Pain is a ground-breaking new contribution to addiction treatment literature. Dr. Garland, a licensed clinical social worker with more than a decade of experience in delivering evidence-based interventions based on contemporary cognitive—affective neuroscience, offers a clearly articulated 10-session model for intervening with substance dependent clients. The treatment approach presented in Garland’s book is inexpensive, research based, broadly applicable to substance-dependent people of all types, and readily adopted by student and experienced practitioners. Although mindfulness interventions are rooted in ancient Buddhist traditions, psychophysiological and clinical assessments suggest that they are among the most efficacious treatments currently available for a range of modern-day maladies. I strongly encourage clinicians and therapists working with substance-dependent clients to read Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement.”

Matthew Owen Howard, PhD

School of Social Work
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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“Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement for Addiction, Stress and Pain is a wonderful addition to the growing array of treatment manuals that are clinically informed, research—based, and focused on helping individuals who abuse substances to achieve long-term sobriety and improvements in overall life functioning. This book is written by an experienced psychotherapist who has developed and empirically evaluated the MORE model during the past decade. Dr. Eric L. Garland skillfully integrates mainstream cognitive–behavioral therapies with the much older spiritual traditions of meditative mindfulness to create a comprehensive treatment manual describing a semi-structured, 10–session approach to helping substance abusers. A later section of this book contains an eight-session protocol for using the MORE approach with patients experiencing chronic pain. Like the treatment model for substance abusers, the chronic pain protocol is thoroughly based in solid research findings, including clinical outcome studies. The book concludes with an array of client handouts for data collection and providing information. I highly recommend this treatment manual for therapists looking to learn more about the empirically-grounded research findings pertaining to mindfulness meditation and how they can be effectively used to help clients.”

Bruce A. Thyer, PhD, LCSW, BCBA-D

College of Social Work
Florida State University