Mindfulness Oriented Recovery Enhancement for Chronic Pain and Opioid Relapse

MORE sessions involve mindfulness training to prevent opioid relapse and reduce pain, cognitive reappraisal to decrease negative affect and regulate opioid craving, and savoring to augment natural reward processing and evoke positive emotion. Each session begins with a mindful breathing meditation, followed by a debriefing session. The therapist then debriefs participants' homework practice of using mindfulness, reappraisal, and savoring skills to cope with pain and enhance well-being in everyday life. During this debrief of the homework. Next, new psychoeducational material is introduced. Sessions culminate with an experiential exercise, and close with a brief mindful breathing meditation. Participants are asked to practice 15 minutes of mindfulness/reappraisal/savoring skills each day.

In the methadone programs, clients typically come to the clinic regularly to get their methadone dose. Clients see their clinic substance abuse counselor for individual counseling, usually weekly at the beginning of treatment, with decreasing frequency if they remain abstinent and progress through treatment. Depending on clients' stage of MMT and success with remaining abstinent from drugs, they may be required to attend clinic treatment groups. Also, some clients may choose to go to voluntary counseling, educational, or support groups.