Mental health professionals cited the success of this clinic to help justify and fund hundreds of new psychiatric services in North America and Europe.

The director of the National Institute of Mental Health convened an ad hoc panel to fast-track funding for Reiss's conference.

[10] In 1998 Reiss and Ohio State University professor Michael Aman convened a panel of 105 physicians and scientists from ten nations to write a consensus handbook of best practices aimed at reducing the abuse of psychiatric overmedication.

Although his efforts were concentrated on dual diagnosis, he also served on official classification and terminology committees, advocated nationally to lessen discrimination for organ transplant operations, and helped build the Human Development Institute in Chicago.

[citation needed] Previous scholars answered the question, "What makes people tick", by observing primitive tribes, studying the unconscious mind, or through philosophical inquiry.

Reiss and colleague James Wiltz published a seminal and widely publicized study on the popularity of reality television based on the 16 basic desires.

[19] Boltersdorf’s clients have won an Olympic Gold Medal (Mathias Steiner, weightlifting, Beijing) and a world championship (handball, 2007).

[22] In this work Reiss proposed a peer-reviewed, original theory of mysticism, asceticism, spiritual personality, and religious beliefs and practices.

Reiss' theory of the psychology of religious experiences provides a link between personality, motivation and the often contradictory teachings and practices of the world's religions.

Unlike previous theories that posit a single source and essence of religion such as fear of death, mysticism, sacredness, communal bonding, magic, or peak experiences, Reiss presented detailed support for his theory that religion is about the values motivated by the sixteen basic desires of human nature.