Course description
The most common treatment for chronic pain involves opioid pain management. Though most patients take these medicines as prescribed, nonetheless, opioids rarely completely alleviate chronic pain, and may lead to serious side effects, including death by overdose, as well as risk for developing opioid dependence and addiction.
In this webinar, Dr. Eric Garland will discuss his research on the clinical benefits and neurobiological mechanisms of Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement, a novel therapy designed to target chronic pain and prevent opioid-related problems.
After watching this webinar, you will learn:
- The cognitive, emotional, and physiological factors that link chronic pain to opioid misuse.
- How training in mindfulness, reappraisal, and savoring can help one to regulate unhealthy pain coping habits, decrease negative emotions, and enhance the sense of meaning in life.
- The evidence supporting the efficacy of the MORE intervention.
Dr. Garland is Presidential Scholar, Associate Dean for Research, and Associate Professor in the University of Utah College of Social Work, Associate Director of Integrative Medicine in Supportive Oncology and Survivorship at the Huntsman Cancer Institute, and the developer of an innovative, multimodal mindfulness-based intervention founded on insights derived from cognitive, affective, and neurobiological science, called Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement (MORE). He has received funding from the National Institutes of Health to conduct randomized controlled trials of MORE as a treatment for prescription opioid misuse and chronic pain. In recognition of his expertise in mindfulness research, in 2012 Dr. Garland was named Fellow of the Mind and Life Institute, the world's premier, multidisciplinary organization for the scientific study of contemplative practices. Dr. Garland has had over 100 scientific articles and book chapters published in respected, peer-reviewed outlets, and he currently serves as Associate Editor for the journal Mindfulness. To complement his expertise in clinical research, Dr. Garland is a licensed psychotherapist (LCSW) with more than a decade of clinical experience working with persons suffering from addictive behaviors, mood disorders, traumatic stress, chronic pain, and psychosomatic conditions. In recognition of his expertise as a psychotherapist, in 2015 Dr. Garland was elected Distinguished Fellow of the National Academies of Practice.