Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement (MORE): MORE Relief from Pain and Addiction with a Neuroscience-Informed Mind-Body Approach

Presented by Eric Garland, PhD, LCSW

Friday, March 14, 2025

9am-10:30am PT/ 11am-12:30pm CT/ 12pm-1:30pm ET

Event held online via Zoom, link to access provided upon registration.

Half of all people with a substance use disorder (SUD) have chronic pain, and more than a third have a co-occurring psychiatric disorder. Unfortunately, there are few evidence-based therapies that can simultaneously treat this complex comorbidity. To meet this need, Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement (MORE) was generated through a decade-long treatment development process funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Rooted in affective neuroscience and informed by Ericksonian indirect suggestion, MORE unites mindfulness training with cognitive-behavioral therapy and principles from positive psychology into an integrative, mind-body therapy designed to target addiction, emotional distress, and pain.

This session will detail the theory underlying MORE, research data demonstrating MORE’s effectiveness, and unique clinical skills integral to this novel treatment. MORE has been tested in +1300 patients in 12 clinical trials funded by more than $70 million in research grants from NIH and the Department of Defense. In the largest randomized trial of MORE (N=250), MORE decreased opioid misuse by 45% by 9-month follow-up, nearly tripling the effect of standard psychotherapy, while simultaneously reducing chronic pain, depression, and PTSD symptoms. Mechanistic studies have shown that MORE enhances neural markers of self-regulation, increases neurophysiological responses to natural healthy rewards, and decreases craving responses in the brain. Given MORE’s clear clinical efficacy, it is now time to disseminate this evidence-based treatment widely on the national and international scale.

Zoom link will be available on course page in “My Courses” upon event registration. 

This program, when attended in its entirety, offers 1.5 CEs for Psychologists, 1.5 IL CEUS for Counselors and Social Workers, or 1.5 BBS California CEUs for LPCCs, LPSWs, and LMFTs.