Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention (MBRP) is an 8-week course integrating empirically supported interventions from Dr. Alan Marlatt’s Relapse Prevention Therapy (RPT), Jon Kabat-Zinn’s Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), and Zindel Segal and colleagues’ Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT). This program was specifically created for clients in recovery from substance use disorders, and is designed to prevent relapse for those who have undergone inpatient or intensive outpatient treatment.
The MBRP curriculum integrates mindfulness meditation practices with cognitive-behavioral strategies to support clients’ recovery. The MBRP skills help participants learn to recognize and stay with discomfort (physical, cognitive and emotional) as opposed to reactively reaching for a “fix.” Combining mindfulness and relapse prevention cultivates heightened awareness of both internal and external triggers, while promoting vital lifestyle modifications for a healthy life of recovery. The MBRP program and its principles of treatment require an experiential understanding of mindfulness meditation practices. Therefore, it is essential for clinicians who facilitate MBRP groups to have their own daily mindfulness meditation practice, and endeavor to embody the principles they teach.