We talk a lot about turning the tide in the opioid epidemic – Dr. Eric Garland is actually out there doing something about it.

On the latest episode of Let’s Talk, Dr. Garland and I discuss the psychotherapy he’s developing called MORE – Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement. MORE is a psychotherapy specifically designed (and being validated) for treating opioid use disorder (OUD). This is more rare than you might think: most gold-standard addiction psychotherapies (like CBT) show far less efficacy for treating OUD than for other substance use disorders.

Dr. Eric Garland is the inaugural Sanford Institute for Empathy and Compassion Endowed Professor in Health Sciences and Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California-San Diego. Previously, he served as Distinguished Endowed Chair in Research, Distinguished Professor and Associate Dean for Research at the University of Utah College of Social Work.

On the podcast we dive into…

The central tenets of how MORE works, and why thus far it’s proven more effective than other psychotherapies for treating OUD
The role of mindfulness and reward restructuring and changing addictive behaviors
How to overcome the challenges that come with attempting to increase adoption of a new therapeutic approach

And more! And MORE? …and we cover other topics, too!

If you’d like to look deeper into MORE and Dr. Garland’s work, please see below:

New Book / Treatment Manual for MORE

MORE Overview and Information

Professional Training and Certification in MORE

Open-Access Academic Journal Articles:

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2789279

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/article-abstract/2812818

https://psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/appi.ajp.20230272

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aax1569

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abo4455

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S235215462100067X