Objectives: The present study focuses on the techniques of controlling thoughts and depression/anxiety-inducing mental images such as attention diversion and thought stopping to control thoughts and mental images related to craving of opiates. It also attempted to clear and control the subjects' environments to prevent possible temptation.

Method: This study followed an experimental design. The subjects were selected from an available sample and randomly assigned to an experimental group and a control group, each comprised of 30 subjects. For a period of three weeks, the subjects in the experimental group were provided with twice a week training sessions of an educational program on environment control, attention diversion, and thought stopping, with each session lasting 35 minutes. The control group received the normal treatment used in the clinic. A 30-item questionnaire to obtain demographic information along with a daily scale to determine the frequency of temptations as well as its duration were utilized.

Findings: The results showed that after 6 months, 19 out of 30 subjects in the experimental group were “clean”, from opium whereas in the control group the number of “clean” subjects in the same period was 4 out of 30. During the 6th month, the daily average frequency of using thoughts was 0.89 in the experimental group in the control group it was 1.1, the difference of which was not statistically significant. The duration of such thoughts in the 6th month was 5.8 minutes per day for the experimental group, and 38.7 minutes for the control group this difference was significant.

Results: Training on cleaning the environment, attention diversion, and thought stopping keeps more subjects clean in the experimental group up to six months. It also reduces the duration of temptations, but does not lead to any significant difference in the daily frequency of temptations. In general, application of this technique reduces temptation and craving.