Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement

[2] Garland developed this approach by combining the key features of mindfulness training, "Third Wave" cognitive-behavioral therapy, and principles from positive psychology.

[5] MORE differs from other empirically supported treatments in that it also teaches savoring skills to amplify positive emotions and increase pleasure from naturally rewarding experiences.

[8] Mindfulness is used to shift from affective to sensory processing of craving, stress, and pain by via meditation techniques that deconstruct these aversive experiences into their subcomponent sensations (e.g., heat, tightness, tingling).

[13] Randomized controlled trials also showed that individuals who received MORE exhibited reduced opioid cue-reactivity and increased responses to natural reward stimuli.

[15] In a 2021 pilot randomized clinical trial of Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement was studied as an adjunct to methadone treatment for people with opioid use disorder and chronic pain.

MORE reduced opioid misuse by 45% at the 9-month follow-up, more than doubling the effect of standard supportive therapy, and 50% of patients reported clinically significant decreases in chronic pain severity.

[17] A 2022 meta-analysis of RCTs quantitatively synthesized the research works on MORE focused on examining the therapeutic effects on addictive behaviors, craving, opioid dose, pain, and psychiatric symptoms.

[19] Jay Memmott in the book review of Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement for Addiction, Stress, and Pain stated that Garland's claim that MORE is innovative because "it combines mindfulness techniques with principles drawn from cognitive therapy and the positive psychology literature" is untrue.