Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention Research Paper

Mindfulness, can be defined differently depending on one’s observation and what outcome it can produce. According to the article “Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention for Alcohol and Substance Use Disorders”, the researchers define mindfulness as it relates to relapse prevention as “the attempt to change a person's attitude toward their thoughts, feelings, and sensations in the present moment”. (Katie Witkiewitz, G.Alan Marlatt, Denise Walker, 2005) In the environment of addictions, mindfulness might mean the individual pay attention to the triggers of craving. To a person where anxiety or depression overwhelm their thoughts or actions, “living in mindfulness- means intensifying our presence to the moment, stilling ourselves to absorb it,

instead of escaping it or trying to alter it, through thought or action”. (Andre, 2011) Witkiewitz, Marlatt, and Walker are suggesting that “greater mindfulness is related to improved treatment outcomes…increases in mindfulness skills literally changes attentional control and a person’s relationship to their thoughts.”
“Drug use prevalence continues to be stable around the world, according to the 2015 World Drug Report of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). It is estimated that a total of 246 million people used an illicit drug in 2013”. (United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention, 2015) That’s a 33 percent increase compared to the 185 million drug users around the world in 2002 when this article was published. The need to develop awareness, treatment, and preventive measures like relapse prevention are needed to slow down this trend. This article reviewed existing cognitive-behavioral approaches to substance use disorder and concluded that by adding “mindfulness based relapse prevention” (MBRP) as an aid to existing treatment Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) would give the individual, “the mindfulness technique that can decrease distracting, negative, and anxiety producing cognitions that prevent individuals from being fully engaged in the present moment.” (Mark A. Yarhouse & Erica S.N. Tan, 2014)
A relapse, as described in this article, is the abstinence violation effect, “whereby an individual views the lapse as an irreparable failure, an attitude that may lead to an increase in the undesired behavior.” (Katie Witkiewitz, G.Alan Marlatt, Denise Walker, 2005) MBRP brings together behavioral skills training with cognitive interventions with the intention to prevent or reduce the term of the relapse episode. This form of treatment begins with the basic CBT by gathering information as it narrates the potential risks in the individuals interpersonal, intrapersonal, and environmental situations that may initiate relapse. Next, relapse prevention observes the behavioral and cognitive mechanisms by looking at whether the experiences are maintained by reinforcement or punishment or result of cravings based on impulse. According to the article, “substance use may be associated with many negative consequences, including loss of employment, family conflict, and health issues.” (Katie Witkiewitz, G.Alan Marlatt, Denise Walker, 2005) Finally, relapse prevention places the individual in the position to self-monitor, which “leads to an increased awareness of the problem behavior and an increase in self-regulatory skills”. (Katie Witkiewitz, G.Alan Marlatt, Denise Walker, 2005) It is this self-monitoring where the idea on mindfulness creates the opportunity for the individual to focus on the present moment, with acceptance of who they are in the here and now, in a nonjudgmental understanding.
From a Christian worldview, “there are rights and wrongs, truth and lie, righteousness and unrighteousness”.

(Monroe, 2009) The Bible, which is the single guide for Christians to govern how to live for God, gives insight to the rooted concept of mindfulness-based relapse prevention. Paul writes “for those who are according to the flesh and are controlled by its unholy desires set their minds on and pursue those things which gratify the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit and are controlled by the desires of the Spirit set their minds on and seek those things which gratify the Holy Spirit” (Romans 8:5 NASB) Paul establishes first that all desires good and bad starts in the mind but are controlled by two different entities. The flesh entity, which seeks self-gratification, will desire selfishness, self-pleasing instruction to determine how it will satisfy or cope. The entity, the Holy Spirit, seeks to transform the mind, body, and soul to conform it actions to the thoughts that are holy. This same Spirit wants to take captive the thoughts and desires that will negatively impact actions. The Holy Spirit will also become the personal self-monitoring mindfulness that will provide individuals a new way of processing situational instances. In relapse prevention, “the individual is trained to develop a system for recognizing early warning signs of substance related cues”. (Katie Witkiewitz, G.Alan Marlatt, Denise Walker,

2005)
The Word of God gives specific coping strategies through mindfulness therapy that can help with high risk situations that would cause that individual resort to substance use.

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God”. (Philippians 4:6 NASB) When a high risk situation presents itself, Paul gives instruction to make a petition or request to God followed thru with a heart of thankfulness. This implies that, it’s not making an All-Knowing God aware of your situation, but it’s embracing that you are not alone and that the Holy Spirit wants to lead you. King David records his coping strategy found in Psalms 23:

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters.3 He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the Lord

forever.
David recognized that going through high risk situations was a part of life but he had found the assurance that God was going to be with him through it. MBRP expresses that a “heightened awareness and acceptance of thoughts and sensations in high-risk situations will result in more adaptive ways to responding to situational cues and a decreased probability of relapse”. (Katie Witkiewitz, G.Alan Marlatt, Denise Walker, 2005)
Finally, MBRP, can establish gratifying replacement behavior, where the individual can begin replacing negative addictive behavior with a behavior that seeks truth and a Christ-centered joy. “Studies show that we’re at our happiest when our mind is not wandering—that is, when we’re in a state of mindfulness”. (Michie, 2014) “My son, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Let them not escape from your sight; keep them within your heart. For they are life to those who find them, and healing to all their flesh. Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.” (Proverbs 4:20-23 ESV) When our focus matches our central core belief, and the words align with thoughts, then our actions are displayed by our actions.
It is my conclusion that MBRP, can be a vital co-method of treatment, in that it creates the opportunity for those struggling with addiction to take the time to become aware of our fallen condition, accept the responsibility of the present, and determine that choice is the key to locking and unlocking the state of happiness found only in Christ. As the words of the serenity prayer express: