What is Mindfulness Based Relapse Prevention and how does it work?
Mindfulness has become a buzzword in recent years, popping up everywhere from corporate wellness programs to meditation apps. Mindfulness is not always a well understood concept and is often misconstrued as a state of blissful tranquillity.
When it comes to recovery from alcohol and other drug use issues, mindfulness can be a powerful tool for lasting change. Mindfulness Based Relapse Prevention (MBRP) is a structured approach that combines traditional relapse prevention techniques with mindfulness meditation practices, offering individuals a new way to navigate cravings, triggers, and emotional struggles.
People with alcohol and other drug use issues can experience intense self judgment and self criticism, often stemming from societal stigma, family expectations, or personal guilt over past behaviours.
MBRP works to address these challenges by cultivating kindness and warmth toward oneself and building skills in approaching thoughts and emotions with curiosity and acceptance. This shift in perspective fosters long term resilience and a healthier relationship with oneself, which are essential to lasting recovery.
Traditional relapse prevention is a cognitive behavioural approach that helps individuals identify high risk situations and develop coping skills to prevent relapse. The goal is to create strategies that allow for better decision making in moments of temptation or distress.
MBRP takes this one step further by introducing mindfulness — a practice of paying purposeful attention to the present moment with openness and acceptance. It helps individuals step out of automatic, habitual reactions and instead pause, observe, and choose their response.
MBRP teaches people to sit with discomfort instead of immediately reacting to it. This practice develops emotional resilience and creates space for intentional decision making rather than automatic behaviours.
Key principles of MBRP include:
- Awareness: Noticing thoughts, emotions, and behaviours without judgment
- Interrupting automatic behaviour: Breaking free from impulsive reactions and making conscious choices
- Acceptance of discomfort: Learning to experience difficult emotions with openness rather than resistance
- Self compassion: Treating oneself with kindness, even in moments of struggle
MBRP isn’t about achieving a perfect state of calm or erasing cravings altogether. It’s about understanding oneself on a deeper level and making choices that align with personal wellbeing. Rather than focusing solely on abstinence, it provides tools to explore how behaviours serve (or don’t serve) a person’s life.
Ultimately, MBRP is about freedom — freedom from automatic habits, self judgment, and the belief that lapse or relapse equals failure. By increasing awareness, fostering self compassion, and embracing the full range of human experience, people can create a sustainable and meaningful path.
How we can help
With our interactive online workshop, Mindfulness Based Relapse Prevention, you’ll gain the practical skills and knowledge you need to seamlessly introduce mindfulness based relapse prevention into your practice. Boost your understanding and practice so you can easily adapt mindfulness based relapse prevention to suit individual clients' needs.
Walk away with practical skills that you can implement immediately:
- Understand how mindfulness practice can prevent relapse and how to communicate this easily and effectively to clients
- Learn key elements of mindfulness based relapse prevention including responding rather than reacting and practising acceptance and action
- Learn strategies to assist clients to integrate mindfulness into everyday life and challenging situations
Learn more about Mindfulness Based Relapse Prevention here
