The history of MRT—Moral Reconation Therapy® begins with the early implementation of MRT—Moral Reconation Therapy® as a cognitive-behavioral intervention in correctional settings. In 1987, CCI staff began providing MRT—Moral Reconation Therapy® at the Shelby County Corrections Center in Tennessee. At that time, this work marked one of the earliest operational uses of cognitive-behavioral programming for justice-involved populations.
Early on, MRT—Moral Reconation Therapy® stood out as one of the first cognitive-behavioral approaches fully developed into structured treatment workbooks. Dr. Greg Little and Dr. Kenneth Robinson developed the program to address decision-making, moral reasoning, and behavioral accountability. Because of the immediate positive impact, MRT—Moral Reconation Therapy® expanded beyond pilot use and became available to the general inmate population. In addition, programs began using MRT within specialized treatment settings.
As MRT—Moral Reconation Therapy® continued to evolve, the program gained national recognition. During the late 1980s, the first MRT—Moral Reconation Therapy® programs received several national awards for innovation and effectiveness. Soon after, MRT—Moral Reconation Therapy® expanded beyond correctional environments and entered youth-focused social programs in Puerto Rico. At the same time, MRT—Moral Reconation Therapy® became part of the early drug court movement during the 1990s as courts adopted structured cognitive-behavioral interventions.
A major milestone in the history of MRT—Moral Reconation Therapy® occurred in 2008. At that point, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration recognized MRT—Moral Reconation Therapy® as an Evidence-Based Program. As a result, this designation reflected a growing body of research that demonstrated MRT—Moral Reconation Therapy®’s effectiveness across diverse populations and treatment settings.
[SAMHSA Evidence-Based Programs page]
Today, MRT—Moral Reconation Therapy® includes a wide range of structured workbooks designed to address many treatment needs. In fact, several hundred research studies document MRT—Moral Reconation Therapy® outcomes and support its continued use across justice, behavioral health, and treatment systems.
Currently, programs in all 50 states and nine countries use MRT—Moral Reconation Therapy® materials. These programs address a broad range of treatment issues and service environments. For example, specialized MRT—Moral Reconation Therapy® workbooks support substance use treatment, DUI and DWI programs, domestic violence intervention, trauma-informed care, anger management, codependency, job readiness, parenting, juvenile services, Veterans programs, and additional rehabilitative settings.
[MRT—Moral Reconation Therapy® Training and Certification page]
