In recovery, one of the most powerful skills we can develop is not avoiding difficulty. It is learning how to be with it.
Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention, or MBRP, is a model within the recovery and aftercare landscape that combines mindfulness practices with evidence-based relapse prevention skills. Together, these tools help people notice triggers, cravings, and automatic reactions more clearly, and respond with discerning choice rather than impulsive action.
MBRP offers a simple but powerful shift in how we relate to cravings, urges, and difficult emotions. Instead of trying to suppress or escape discomfort, we learn to turn toward our experience with awareness and curiosity. It is, at its heart, a skillful means of learning to PAUSE.
What Is Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention?
Before walking through MBRP itself, here is a short clip worth sitting with. Dr. Rory Reid, a clinical psychologist and researcher at UCLA, is not describing MBRP specifically in this video. He is describing the principle MBRP rests on. His framing — that cravings are "neither good nor bad," that mindfulness teaches patients to coexist with discomfort rather than reflexively act on it — is the foundation everything that follows is built on.
MBRP is an eight-week aftercare program developed at the University of Washington's Addictive Behaviors Research Center by Drs. Sarah Bowen, Neharika Chawla, and the late G. Alan Marlatt, a pioneer in relapse prevention research. The program integrates two well-established approaches.
The first is the lineage of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), which use meditation and present-moment awareness to change one's relationship to thoughts and emotions. The second is Cognitive-Behavioral Relapse Prevention, which focuses on identifying high-risk situations, recognizing warning signs, and developing coping strategies.
What makes MBRP distinct is that it does not try to talk people out of their cravings or push them away. Instead, it teaches participants to bring kind, steady attention to whatever arises, and to discover, often for the first time, that a craving is not an emergency that must be obeyed. For practitioners, researchers, or anyone who wants to explore the curriculum and supporting evidence, mindfulrp.com serves as the central resource for the program.
The Power of the Pause
At the heart of MBRP is something deceptively simple: the pause.
When a trigger appears, a feeling, a place, a person, a thought, the conditioned mind moves quickly toward old patterns. The space between stimulus and response collapses, and we find ourselves reaching for something to manage the discomfort before we have even registered what is happening.
Mindfulness creates space inside that collapse. A pause, even a few breaths long, gives us room to notice what is happening in the body, what thoughts are arising, and what urges are present, without immediately acting on them. From that space, choice becomes possible.
This is one of the most quietly radical aspects of the practice. We are not trying to make the craving go away. We are learning that we do not have to be moved by it.
Surfing the Urge: Working with Cravings
One of the central teachings in MBRP is the practice of urge surfing, an idea originally developed by Marlatt. The metaphor is this: cravings, like waves, rise, peak, and fall. They feel as though they will overwhelm us forever. But if we stay with them and observe them with curiosity, we discover they pass.
In an urge surfing practice, participants learn to notice the craving in the body, where it lives, what it feels like, how it moves. They learn to bring breath and attention to that physical experience. They learn to ride the sensation rather than acting on it or fighting it. And they learn to watch as it shifts, intensifies, and eventually subsides.
At the heart of MBRP is the understanding that cravings are temporary, changing experiences, not commands that must be followed. Over time, this practice rewires our relationship to discomfort. Cravings stop being orders. They become weather. Intense at times, but always passing.
This is how the automatic cycle between trigger and use begins to break. Not through willpower or suppression, but through awareness.
The Eight-Week MBRP Program
The standard MBRP curriculum unfolds over eight weeks of group sessions, each typically lasting around two hours. The arc of the program looks something like this.
Week 1, Automatic Pilot and Relapse. Recognizing how often we move through life on autopilot, and how that autopilot drives habitual reactions.
Week 2, Awareness of Triggers and Cravings. Learning to notice the early signals of craving and stress before they take over.
Week 3, Mindfulness in Daily Life. Bringing short, portable practices like the SOBER breathing space into everyday moments.
Week 4, Mindfulness in High-Risk Situations. Practicing the pause in the very places where old patterns are strongest.
Week 5, Acceptance and Skillful Action. Learning that acceptance is not passivity. It is the foundation for wise response.
Week 6, Seeing Thoughts as Thoughts. Recognizing that thoughts are not facts, and that we do not have to follow every one.
Week 7, Self-Care and Lifestyle Balance. Building the conditions in daily life that support sustained recovery.
Week 8, Social Support and Continuing Practice. Looking ahead. How to keep the practice alive after the program ends.
Each session combines guided meditation, group discussion, didactic teaching, and home practice. The home practice is where the real change happens. Like any meditation training, MBRP is a skill built through repetition.
Core Practices in MBRP
Several practices form the backbone of the program. While they are best learned in a guided group setting, here is a sense of what they offer.
The SOBER Breathing Space. A short, portable practice designed for moments of stress or craving. The acronym stands for Stop, Observe, Breathe, Expand awareness, Respond. It can be done in under a minute, anywhere, and it is one of the most-used tools participants take with them.
Body Scan. A longer practice in which attention moves slowly through the body, noticing sensation without trying to change anything. The body scan teaches participants to stay present with what is, including discomfort, a foundational capacity for working with cravings.
Urge Surfing. Described above. Often guided in session and then practiced at home as cravings arise.
Mindful Movement. Gentle stretching and walking practices that bring awareness into the body. For many people in recovery, the body has been a source of pain or numbness. Mindful movement is a way of coming home.
Sitting Meditation with Difficult Emotions. Learning to be with grief, anger, shame, and fear, the emotions that so often drive use, rather than running from them.
The Evidence Behind MBRP
MBRP is not a fringe approach. It has been studied in a series of randomized controlled trials, and the results have been encouraging.
In a notable study published in JAMA Psychiatry in 2014, Bowen and colleagues compared MBRP to standard relapse prevention and to a 12-step-based aftercare program. At 12-month follow-up, participants in the MBRP group showed lower rates of heavy drinking and drug use compared to the standard aftercare group. Subsequent meta-analyses have continued to support MBRP as a meaningful adjunct to traditional treatment, with particular strength in its effects on craving and emotional regulation.
It is worth saying clearly: MBRP is not a replacement for medical treatment, medication-assisted recovery, or other forms of therapy. It is, however, a strong companion to them, particularly for people who have completed initial treatment and are looking for skills to support long-term recovery.
Who Is MBRP For?
MBRP was originally developed for people who have completed initial substance use treatment and are stepping into the longer work of recovery. It tends to be especially helpful for people who notice that cravings, stress, and difficult emotions are recurring threats to their stability. It supports those who have done cognitive and behavioral work and are ready to add a contemplative dimension to their recovery. It serves people who want to develop a sustainable daily practice that supports their values. And it offers something to anyone who feels stuck in reactive patterns and wants tools to respond more skillfully.
It may not be the right fit, or the right first step, for someone in acute withdrawal, in active crisis, or in early stabilization where more intensive clinical support is needed. A qualified MBRP facilitator can help you think through whether the timing is right.
MBRP as Part of a Whole Recovery
I want to be careful here, because the world does not need another approach that claims to be the answer.
MBRP is not a cure. It does not replace therapy, peer support, medical care, or community. What it offers is a particular kind of skill, the capacity to meet your own experience with steadiness and care. That skill makes other parts of recovery work better. It strengthens what 12-step programs call surrender. It deepens the insight available in therapy. It supports the consistency that medication-assisted treatment requires. And on the difficult days, it offers something portable: a way to come back to yourself, one breath at a time.
Recovery, from this view, becomes less about fighting oneself and more about developing a steady, compassionate awareness, one moment at a time.
Finding a Qualified MBRP Teacher
If MBRP sounds like it might be a fit, the next step is to find a qualified facilitator. A few things to look for.
Look for training specifically in MBRP, often through the program developers or affiliated trainers. Look for a foundation in mindfulness teaching, typically MBSR or MBCT certification, plus an established personal meditation practice. Look for clinical training or close collaboration with clinical providers, particularly in addiction or mental health. And look for a teaching style that feels safe, non-judgmental, and steady.
You can ask any potential facilitator about their training, their own practice, and how they handle clinical issues that may arise in group. A good teacher will welcome these questions.
If you or a loved one would like to learn more about how mindfulness practices are integrated into recovery at Prescott House, you can contact our admissions team or learn more about our long-term residential program for men.
A Closing Word
If you are reading this and wondering whether mindfulness could really make a difference in your recovery, or your loved one's recovery, I would offer this.
The practice does not ask you to feel a certain way. It does not ask you to be calm, or grateful, or peaceful, or fixed. It asks only that you show up, again and again, to your own life as it actually is. From that simple, often difficult act of showing up, something begins to change.
Cravings still come. Hard days still come. But you are no longer alone with them, and you are no longer at their mercy.
That is the heart of Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention. Not a destination, but a way of walking the path.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where can I find resources as someone considering or currently in MBRP?The official program site has a dedicated section for clients at mindfulrp.com/for-clients, including information about what to expect, guided practices, and tools to support your home practice between sessions.
Is it called "mindful based relapse prevention" or "mindfulness based relapse prevention"?
The correct term is mindfulness-based relapse prevention, or MBRP. "Mindful based relapse prevention" is a common misspelling but refers to the same program.
How long does MBRP take?
The standard program is eight weekly group sessions of about two hours each, plus daily home practice of roughly thirty minutes.
Do I need meditation experience to join an MBRP group?
No. The program is designed to teach mindfulness from the beginning. Curiosity and willingness are more important than prior experience.
Can MBRP replace 12-step or other recovery programs?
No, and it is not designed to. MBRP is most effective as a complement to other forms of treatment and support, including therapy, medical care, peer recovery communities, and medication when indicated.
Is MBRP only for people recovering from substance use?
While the program was developed for substance use recovery, the core skills, working with cravings, triggers, and reactivity, apply to many compulsive behaviors. A qualified facilitator can help you think about whether it is a good fit for your situation.
About the Author
Marsha J. Gehl, CMT-P is the Meditation and Mindfulness Teacher at Prescott House. A Doctor of Chiropractic with more than thirty years in healthcare, Marsha made a deliberate transition into mindfulness and meditation education, bringing with her a deep understanding of the nervous system, the body's response to stress, and how unresolved pain, whether physical or emotional, shows up in people's lives.
Marsha holds the Certified Mindfulness Teacher – Professional (CMT-P) credential from the International Mindfulness Teachers Association (IMTA), independently verifiable through the IMTA Certified Teacher Directory. Her training also includes the Mindfulness Meditation Teachers Certification Program (MMTCP) through UC Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center, Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness with David Treleaven, PhD, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), Mindfulness-based Mind Fitness Training (MMFT) with Elizabeth Stanley, PhD, and Nonviolent Communication training with Oren Jay Sofer.
She has worked extensively with people in addiction recovery and has been part of the Prescott House team since 2022. Read Marsha's full bio →
Keep Reading
Not All Mindfulness Teachers Are Created Equal. Meet Marsha J. Gehl, CMT-P. The story behind the credential and what it actually takes to earn one of the most rigorous designations in the field.
Mindfulness Meditation Can Help You Break Free From Addiction. How training your attention changes the relationship you have with cravings, triggers, and the moments that used to send everything sideways.
Mindfulness for Addiction Recovery. A grounded look at why mindfulness has become one of the most evidence-supported tools in addiction recovery, and what it actually looks like when it is done well.
This article is for educational purposes and is not a substitute for professional medical or mental health care. If you are struggling with substance use, please reach out to a qualified clinician or call SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
