A breakthrough mind-body therapy effectively treats addiction, stress, and pain.

Amid rising rates of addiction, chronic pain, and emotional suffering, Mindfulness‑Oriented Recovery Enhancement (MORE) offers an evidence‑based path to healing. MORE is an innovative mind‑body therapy, rooted in ancient wisdom and modern neuroscience, designed to simultaneously address addictive habits, emotional distress, and physical pain. Hailed as one of the greatest breakthroughs in psychotherapy in the last 30 years, MORE has been tested in more than 16 clinical trials funded by over $90 million in federal research grants, consistently demonstrating powerful and lasting therapeutic effects.

Drawing from mindfulness meditation, cognitive‑behavioral therapy, and positive psychology, MORE uses a carefully sequenced progression of mindfulness, reappraisal, and savoring practices to create enduring change in the brain and behavior. I developed MORE by translating fundamental discoveries from affective neuroscience into practical therapeutic tools that reduce craving and suffering while increasing healthy pleasure, joy, and meaning in life. MORE has been shown to be three times as effective as standard therapy for treating addiction and chronic pain. When MORE is added to standard addiction care, treatment outcomes improve dramatically, yielding a 42% greater reduction in relapse than standard care alone. 

At its core, MORE is founded on a simple yet powerful idea: through mental training, we can strengthen the mind and change the way the brain functions. This is critically important because conditions like addiction, depression, and chronic pain involve dysregulation in stress and reward circuits such as the amygdala and striatum. As these “diseases of despair” progress, the brain becomes increasingly sensitive to stress, pain, and drug‑related cues—while becoming less responsive to the healthy pleasures found in everyday life. People feel empty, depleted, and disconnected. For those who have relied on substances to cope, this despair often drives escalating use, setting the stage for the downward spiral of addiction.

MORE interrupts this cycle by helping individuals shift from valuing drug‑related rewards back to valuing natural, healthy rewards. This therapeutic focus aligns with my restructuring reward hypothesis, which proposes that restoring sensitivity to natural rewards reduces craving and addictive behavior. Neuroscience data strongly support this model: MORE increases neurophysiological and emotional responses to natural healthy rewards, and these changes promote reductions in craving and addictive behavior.

By restoring the capacity for pleasure, joy, and meaning, MORE offers a potent antidote to the diseases of despair. Beyond reducing addictive behavior and physical pain, MORE has been shown to produce clinically significant improvements in depression and post‑traumatic stress—demonstrating its ability to heal both body and mind.

To date, I have trained more than 1,100 therapists across the U.S. and internationally to use MORE in their clinical practice. As the science continues to advance, MORE offers a hopeful, evidence‑based path for transforming the mind, healing the brain, and helping people reclaim a meaningful life. I’m committed to training clinicians around the world to bring these tools to the people who need them most.