Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Why Mindfulness May Enhance Exposure Therapy for Anxiety Disorders


I realize I’ve been neglecting Scientific Mindfulness of late. It’s not that I’ve stopped blogging. Instead, I’ve shifted my focus to two other blogs: The Art and Science of Living Well and Science-Based Psychotherapy. Recently, I came across an article that bridges SM and Science-Based Psychotherapy.

University of Massachusetts’ Michael Treanor, who is a grad student I think, published a review of the overlap between mindfulness and exposure therapy. Exposure therapy is a topic I have a particular interest in, and I think there’s great potential for ways in which mindfulness can enhance exposure-based interventions.

Treanor’s article is pretty technical, and there’s no way I could offer a basic summary. However, it’s a very important article, in that it examines how mindfulness may be used to improve exposure-based treatments for anxiety disorders. For example, mindfulness may help develop awareness of multiple cues, both internal (e.g., bodily sensation) and external (e.g., situations, places), which may help with generalizing exposure treatments. The effectiveness of exposure-based treatments has plateaued in recent years; although it’s not certain mindfulness may change that, it does offer one avenue for exploration.

As I mentioned, this article is not for the faint of heart. However, I encourage you check it out if you’re interested. It could help to jump start several labs.

Treanor, M. (2011). The Potential Impact of Mindfulness on Exposure and Extinction Learning in Anxiety Disorder. Clinical Psychology Review, 31, 617-625.

Monday, December 12, 2011

US Congressman Authors Mindfulness Book

A colleague passed on this tidbit from The Plain Dealer. Tim Ryan, an Ohio Congressman and Democrat, has authored a book an mindfulness that will hit the shelves in March. It's entitled, A Mindful Nation: How a Simple Practice Can Help Us Reduce Stress, Improve Performance, and Recapture the American Spirit.

That's all I know about it!

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

ACT for Zombies

The Acceptance and Commitment Therapy people try not to take each other too seriously. Each year at the main ACT conference--the Association for Behavioral Contextual Science--they hold a "Follies night" where people poke fun aat ACT and some of the key ACT people. Created by Joe Oliver and Eric Morris, this video was unveiled at the most recent conference.

WARNING: There's some graphic violence, so it's not for the faint-hearted!

Watch the wide-screen version on YouTube.




ACT Made Simple: An Easy-to-Read Primer on Acceptance and Commitment TherapyYour Life on Purpose: How to Find What Matters and Create the Life You Want

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Mindfulness Journal

A posting on a professional journal reminded me of this: there's a journal called Mindfulness that's been around since March 2010. The journal is dedicated to mindfulness-based research. The reason why I mention it is that you can download all the articles for free. That's right--free!

Most scientific journals require that you pay--either by the article or through a subscription. Colleges and universities usually have subscription packages, as do some public libraries, although the public libraries tend to be more limited.

I don't know how long Mindfulness will be offered for free. My guess is that when it becomes popular enough to charge for, the publisher will start charging. In the meantime, download what you want.

You can check out Mindfulness here.