Our work is aimed at health promotion, prevention, and evaluating the utility of interventions (often health behavior oriented) for anxiety-substance use disorders. Our approach attempts to view the person in the social-biological-environmental context in which he or she lives. We seek to help establish and successfully reach practical, meaningful, and realistic life and behavior change goals in an integrative fashion.

We focus on anxiety-substance use behavior change as well as health behavior change (e.g., increasing exercise or fitness), consultation, assessment, and treatment in individual and group formats. In such work, we tend to emphasize 'present-oriented' approaches to learning and behaving (e.g., mindfulness, exercise) in order to facilitate positive adaptation and change. We believe by working together in a non-judgmental, yet collaborative fashion, we can achieve meaningful and lasting change.

We ground our assessment and treatment approaches in the science of mind-body approaches with an emphasis on practical and personal success. Specifically, in our substance use and addictive behavior work we often utilize harm reduction strategies, which represents a pragmatic approach to reduce the harmful consequences of drug use and other high-risk activities by incorporating strategies that cut across the spectrum from safer use to managed use to abstinence. Overall, avoiding stigmatism and condemnation, we seek to work with the individual or community to minimize the consequences of harmful behavior.

While we do not currently offer clinical services, several of our studies use validated therapeutic approaches to help individuals make major changes in their lives (e.g. quit smoking, reduce alcohol or marijuana consumption, etc.). If you are seeking individual care or consultation or workshop training for your organization, please contact Dr. Zvolensky directly at mjzvolen@central.uh.edu. Alternatively, those seeking care are encouraged to visit https://rehabs.org/centers/texas/houston/.