Eric L. Garland
@drericgarland.bsky.social
140 followers 36 following 24 posts
Endowed Professor | UCSD Psychiatry | Sanford Institute for Empathy and Compassion | Addiction Science | Chronic Pain Treatment | Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement
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Reposted by Eric L. Garland
ucsdcompassion.bsky.social
Tune in this Sun. 9/7, at 9pm ET: @ucsdcompassion.bsky.social Endowed Professor @drericgarland.bsky.social will be on @cnn.com 'Dr. Sanjay Gupta Reports: It Doesn’t Have to Hurt.’ In the segment, Gupta explores #meditation practices that reduce pain—incl. those in Dr. Garland’s novel MORE therapy.
drericgarland.bsky.social
Meditation is a drug-free way to reduce pain! Watch me guide ⁦‪@drsanjaygupta‬⁩ use mindfulness meditation to reduce pain from a 119 degree metal probe on his arm! Sanjay was a star (of course) and dropped his pain from about a 7 (out of 10) to a 3.

www.cnn.com/2025/09/04/h...
How meditation could be a drug-free method for easing pain | CNN
CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta explores how meditation, a practice involving calmness and focus, can reduce pain intensity and unpleasantness. Watch “Dr. Sanjay Gupta Reports: It Doesn’t Have to Hurt.” at 9 p...
www.cnn.com
drericgarland.bsky.social
I'm excited to tell you about a new book called "It doesn't have to Hurt." Neurosurgeon and CNN reporter, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, spent three years doing the deep dive into pain. I think this book will change the way you think about pain, its relationship to the brain, and surprising ways to treat it.
Reposted by Eric L. Garland
ucsdcompassion.bsky.social
New Podcast 🎧: Should You 'Lean Into' Your #ChronicPain to Relieve It? Tune into @cnn.com Dr. Sanjay Gupta's new episode of #ChasingLife to hear @ucsdcompassion.bsky.social Endowed Professor @drericgarland.bsky.social explain how #meditation can be as effective as #opioids in treating #chronicpain.
Should You ‘Lean Into’ Your Chronic Pain to Relieve It?
Chasing Life · Episode
open.spotify.com
drericgarland.bsky.social
Strengthening recovery from chronic pain and opioid use: I was recently interviewed by Dr Sanjay Gupta on CNN about my work on Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement (MORE). Check it out! open.spotify.com/episode/5IWA...
Should You ‘Lean Into’ Your Chronic Pain to Relieve It?
Chasing Life · Episode
open.spotify.com
drericgarland.bsky.social
Postdoc will work on trials of mindfulness, psychedelics, and neurofeedback/neuromodulation for opioid addiction and chronic pain
drericgarland.bsky.social
I’m looking for a postdoc to join me at UCSD, ideally a clinical psychologist PhD who can deliver mindfulness interventions as well as write papers and do analyses. I have one of the world’s largest psychophysiology datasets of opioid misuse, OUD, & chronic pain. Competitive salary. DM or email.
drericgarland.bsky.social
I’m looking for a postdoc to help me study mindfulness and psychedelics at @UCSDHealth! Preferred: Psychology PhDs with experience delivering mindfulness to patients, as well as writing and statistical skills. But I’m open to other disciplines. Competitive salary. DM or email me!
Reposted by Eric L. Garland
ucsdcompassion.bsky.social
Tagging #Neuroskyence for reach!
drericgarland.bsky.social
I'm looking for a postdoc to join me at UCSD ONEMIND (Optimized Neuroscience-Enhanced Mindfulness Intervention Design) in the Dept of Psychiatry. I'm looking for a clinical psych PhD with experience treating addiction and pain who is interested in delivering mindfulness for NIH-funded trials.
drericgarland.bsky.social
Preferred candidates would have experience working with patients with addiction and/or chronic pain, and strong statistical and writing skills. Neuroscience skills would also be valued (but not needed).
drericgarland.bsky.social
I'm looking for a postdoc to join me at UCSD ONEMIND (Optimized Neuroscience-Enhanced Mindfulness Intervention Design) in the Dept of Psychiatry. I'm looking for a clinical psych PhD with experience treating addiction and pain who is interested in delivering mindfulness for NIH-funded trials.
drericgarland.bsky.social
Thanks Kush - looking forward to our collaborations!
drericgarland.bsky.social
One thing that amazes me about these data is that the magnitude of MORE’s effect on increasing savoring in the brain is the same as the magnitude of the brain deficit in savoring in people with opioid use disorder.
drericgarland.bsky.social
The greater the deficit in savoring, the more intense the participants craved opioids. But then we showed we could restore their ability to savor with Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement, as shown by EEG activity. And this increase in savoring capacity led to a decrease in opioid craving.
drericgarland.bsky.social
They showed blunted brain responses to savoring images like this one.
drericgarland.bsky.social
Thanks, happy to be here and share my work in this venue
drericgarland.bsky.social
We found using EEG that patients with OUD and chronic pain had difficulty savoring natural healthy pleasure, which was correlated with higher opioid craving. Then we showed that MORE normalized this savoring deficit, which in turn reduced opioid craving.
drericgarland.bsky.social
I’m excited to announce that our new paper was published in @jama.com Psychiatry ! Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement (MORE) normalizes brain markers of positive emotion dysregulation in opioid use disorder.