Improve Psychological Well-Being in Cancer Survivors with Online Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)

May 27, 2021 psyjdc Leave a comment

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

“both MBCT and eMBCT interventions reduced fear of cancer recurrence and rumination, and increased mental health–related quality of life, mindfulness skills, and positive mental health.” – Félix Compen

Receiving a diagnosis of cancer has a huge impact on most people. Feelings of depression, anxiety, and fear are very common and are normal responses to this life-changing and potentially life-ending experience. These feeling can result from changes in body image, changes to family and work roles, feelings of grief at these losses, and physical symptoms such as pain, nausea, or fatigue. People might also fear death, suffering, pain, or all the unknown things that lie ahead. So, coping with the emotions and stress of a cancer diagnosis is a challenge and there are no simple treatments for these psychological sequelae of cancer diagnosis.

Mindfulness training has been shown to help with cancer recovery and help to alleviate many of the residual physical and psychological symptoms, including fatigue, stress, sleep disturbance, fear, and anxiety and depression. Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) is a well-established therapy that involves mindfulness training and cognitive therapy to change maladaptive thought processes. MBCT has been found to be effective in reducing the residual psychological issues that are common in cancer survivors.

But the vast majority of the mindfulness training techniques require a trained therapist. This results in costs that many parents can’t afford. In addition, the participants must be available to attend multiple sessions at particular scheduled times that may or may not be compatible with parents’ busy schedules and at locations that may not be convenient. As an alternative, mindfulness trainings over the internet have been developed. These have tremendous advantages in making training schedules much more flexible, and eliminating the need to go repeatedly to specific locations. So, it makes sense to explore the effectiveness of internet-based Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (iMBCT) in treating the psychological symptoms of cancer survivors.

In today’s Research News article “Internet-delivered Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for anxiety and depression in cancer survivors: Predictors of treatment response.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7843453/ ) Nissen and colleagues recruited adult breast and prostrate cancer survivors and randomly assigned them to a wait-list control condition or to receive internet-based Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (iMBCT); consisting of 8 1-week modules. They were measured before and after training and 6 months later for mindfulness, self-compassion, anxiety, depression, and therapy related working reliance.

They found that at baseline the higher the levels of self-compassion and the mindfulness facets of describing, non-judging, and acting with awareness, the lower the levels of anxiety and depression. Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (iMBCT) resulted in significant decreases in anxiety and depression. The amount of decrease in anxiety was related to the baseline depression level with the most depressed participants having the greatest reductions, while the amount of decrease in depression was related to the baseline self-compassion level with the participants with the highest levels of self-compassion having the greatest reductions. Neither mindfulness, therapy related working reliance, nor were related to the improvements.

These are interesting results that replicate previous findings of mindfulness training producing improvements in depression and anxiety in cancer patients, and that mindfulness training over the internet is effective in improving cancer patients. The primary intent of the research, though, was to examine predictors of patient responsiveness to the therapy. The results here were disappointing as only baseline self-compassion was related to depression improvements and only baseline depression was related to improvements in anxiety. Regardless, it is clear that mindfulness training can be successfully implemented over the internet and it is effective in improving the levels of anxiety and depression in cancer survivors.

So, improve psychological well-being in cancer survivors with online Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (iMBCT).

“I love being more mindful. Instead of waiting for the flowers to come out, I go out in the garden and see what is happening now. I am happier. Things still get difficult at times and when they do, I do my practice.” – MBCT Patient

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts and on Twitter @MindfulResearch

Study Summary

Nissen, E. R., Zachariae, R., O’Connor, M., Kaldo, V., Jørgensen, C. R., Højris, I., Borre, M., & Mehlsen, M. (2021). Internet-delivered Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for anxiety and depression in cancer survivors: Predictors of treatment response. Internet interventions, 23, 100365. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.invent.2021.100365

Abstract

Background

The present study investigates possible predictors of treatment response in an Internet-delivered Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (iMBCT) intervention with therapist support. This iMBCT program, a fully online delivered intervention with asynchronous therapist support, has previously been shown to be efficacious in reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression in women treated for breast cancer and men treated for prostate cancer.

Methods

Eighty-two breast- and prostate cancer survivors experiencing psychological distress received 8 weeks of therapist-guided iMBCT. Primary outcomes were improvement in anxiety and depression scores from baseline to post-treatment and from baseline to six-months follow-up. Clinical predictors included levels of depression and anxiety at the time of screening and at baseline, as well as time since diagnosis. Demographic predictors included age and educational level. Therapy-related predictors included working alliance, self-compassion, and five facets of mindfulness. Mixed Linear Models were employed to test the prediction effects over time.

Results

Higher levels of baseline depression were associated with increased treatment response in anxiety at post-treatment, and lower levels of self-compassion were associated with increased treatment response in depression at post-treatment. None of the proposed predictors significantly predicted treatment response at six-months follow-up.

Conclusion

The findings suggest that iMBCT can be provided for cancer survivors regardless of their age, educational level, and time since diagnosis (up to five years) and that therapeutic alliance is not crucial for treatment response. We did not identify characteristics predicting treatment response, although many factors were tested. Still, other characteristics may be predictors, and given the relatively small sample size and a large number of statistical tests, the results should be interpreted with caution.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7843453/

Mindfulness is Associated with Lower Stress and Improved Parkinson’s Disease Symptoms

May 21, 2021 psyjdc Leave a comment

Mindfulness is Associated with Lower Stress and Improved Parkinson’s Disease Symptoms

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

“By training your mind to be present, you can feel the benefits in your everyday life. It can be particularly helpful when facing challenges that Parkinson’s brings.” – Parkinson’s UK

Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is an incurable progressive degenerative disease of the central nervous system. The condition is caused by the death of nerve cells in the brain that produce the neurotransmitter dopamine. There are around seven million people worldwide and one million people in the U.S. living with PD and about 60,000 people are diagnosed with PD every year. PD is associated with aging as the vast majority of patients are diagnosed after age 50. In fact, it has been speculated that everyone would eventually develop PD if they lived long enough.

Its physical symptoms include resting tremor, slow movements, muscle rigidity, problems with posture and balance, loss of automatic movements, and slurring of speech. PD itself is not fatal but is often associated with related complications which can reduce life expectancy, such as falls, choking, and cardiovascular problems. PD also has psychological effects, especially cognitive decline, anxiety, and depression. Balance is a particular problem as it effects mobility and increases the likelihood of falls, restricting activity and reducing quality of life.

There are no cures for Parkinson’s Disease (PD) or even treatments to slow its progression. There are only treatments that can produce symptomatic relief. So, there is a need to discover new and different treatments. Mindfulness training has been found to improve the psychological symptoms and the quality of life with PD patients. If mindfulness is indeed a help to PD patients, then the relationship between mindfulness and PD symptoms should be present in everyday, real world, patients.

In today’s Research News article “Stress and mindfulness in Parkinson’s disease – a survey in 5000 patients.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7813889/ ) van der Heide and colleagues sent online surveys to Parkinson’s Disease (PD) patients and normal control participants. The surveys contained measures of mindfulness, self-compassion, perceived stress, rumination, Parkinson’s anxiety, and additional questions about PD symptoms, stress, and other factors associated with the disease.

They found that the Parkinson’s Disease (PD) patients in comparison to controls had significantly lower levels of mindfulness and significantly higher levels stress, and depression. They also found that the higher the levels of stress that the PD patients reported the lower the levels of mindfulness, self-compassion and quality of life and the higher the levels of rumination and disease severity. When the patients were asked what strategies, they used to reduce stress they reported that they used exercise and mindfulness most often. The patients reported that mindfulness improved all of their symptoms, including tremor, gait, slowness of movement, dyskinesia, anxiety, depression, and sleeping problems. In addition, the more the patients used mindfulness, the better their symptoms.

These are interesting but correlational findings, so causation cannot be determined. But previous studies have shown the mindfulness training reduces stress and improves the symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease (PD). So, the present associations are probably due to causal connections between mindfulness, stress, and PD symptoms. It appears that stress exacerbates PD symptoms and mindfulness reduces stress and PD symptoms. This further suggests that mindfulness practices should be taught to PD patients. This potentially would improve their well-being and reduce their suffering.

So, mindfulness is associated with lower stress and improved Parkinson’s Disease symptoms.

“well-structured mindfulness programs have been proven to be quite effective in areas that directly affect Parkinson’s, such as reducing stress levels, combating depression, and refining body image.” – Matt Zepelin

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts and on Twitter @MindfulResearch

Study Summary

van der Heide, A., Speckens, A., Meinders, M. J., Rosenthal, L. S., Bloem, B. R., & Helmich, R. C. (2021). Stress and mindfulness in Parkinson’s disease – a survey in 5000 patients. NPJ Parkinson’s disease, 7(1), 7. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41531-020-00152-9

Abstract

Many Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients notice that motor symptoms worsen during stress, and experience stress-related neuropsychiatric symptoms such as anxiety and depression. Here we investigated which personal and disease characteristics are associated with perceived stress in PD, which PD symptoms are sensitive to stress, and we assessed self-reported benefits of stress-reducing strategies such as mindfulness. We sent an online survey to the Fox Insight cohort (n = 28,385 PD patients, n = 11,413 healthy controls). The survey included specific questions about the influence of stress on PD symptoms, use of stress-reducing strategies, and several validated scales measuring perceived stress, anxiety, dispositional mindfulness, rumination, and self-compassion. We received completed surveys from 5000 PD patients and 1292 controls. Patients perceived more stress than controls. Among patients, stress was correlated with increased rumination (R = 0.65), lower quality of life (R = −0.56), lower self-compassion (R = −0.65), and lower dispositional mindfulness (R = −0.48). Furthermore, patients indicated that stress significantly worsened both motor symptoms – especially tremor – and non-motor symptoms. Physical exercise was most frequently used to reduce stress (83.1%). Mindfulness was practiced by 38.7% of PD respondents, who noticed improvement in both motor and non-motor symptoms. Among non-users, 43.4% were interested in gaining mindfulness skills. We conclude that PD patients experience greater levels of stress than controls, and that stress worsens both motor and non-motor symptoms. Mindfulness may improve PD symptom severity, with the strongest effects on anxiety and depressed mood. These findings justify further controlled studies to establish the merits of mindfulness and other stress-alleviating interventions.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7813889/

Further Improve Health Care Professionals’ Mental Health with Supplemental Mindfulness Training

May 6, 2021 psyjdc Leave a comment

Further Improve Health Care Professionals’ Mental Health with Supplemental Mindfulness Training

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

“The therapeutic applications of mindfulness are considerable and its impact on clinical practice itself appears to be profound. Indeed, several commentators characterize mindfulness as inciting nothing short of a revolution in the way we conduct our mental lives both within the clinic and without.” – Matias P. Raski

Stress is epidemic in the western workplace with almost two thirds of workers reporting high levels of stress at work. In high stress occupations, like healthcare, burnout is all too prevalent. Burnout is the fatigue, cynicism, emotional exhaustion, sleep disruption, and professional inefficacy that comes with work-related stress. It is estimated that over 45% of healthcare workers experience burnout. It not only affects the healthcare providers personally, but also the patients, as it produces a loss of empathy and compassion. Burnout, in fact, it is a threat to the entire healthcare system.

In today’s Research News article “The Interpersonal Mindfulness Program for Health Care Professionals: a Feasibility Study.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7447696/ ) Bartels-Velthui and colleagues recruited health care professionals who had already received mindfulness training with either Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) or Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT). The participants in the training group were further treated with an Interpersonal Mindfulness Course. This course was designed for participants who had already received mindfulness training to deepen mindful presence, empathy and compassion with other people. The course met for 9-weekly, 2.5-hour sessions combined with 45 to 60 minutes of daily home practice. All participants were measured before and after training for the feasibility and acceptability of the program, mindfulness, self-compassion, empathy, stress, and quality of life.

They found that the program was feasible as all participants completed the program and acceptable as 88% report the program to be highly relevant and would recommend it to others. They found that compared to baseline and the control group the participants who received the additional mindfulness training had significant improvements in self-compassion, empathy and compassion fatigue.

These are very interesting findings in that health care professionals who had already received mindfulness training had further increases in self-compassion, empathy and compassion fatigue when provided a program designed to improve mindfulness with other people. It is well known that mindfulness training improves self-compassion, empathy and compassion fatigue. These findings, though, suggests that these improvements can be strengthened with further training. In addition, the improvements were in characteristics that would tend to reduce health care professional burnout. The fact that the program emphasized being mindful of other people suggests that the health care workers would be have more empathy and understanding in treating their patients.

So, further improve health care professionals’ mental health with supplemental mindfulness training.

“mindfulness can result in decreased burnout and improved well-being. Mindfulness is a useful way of cultivating self-kindness and compassion, including by bringing increased awareness to and acceptance of those things that are beyond our control.” – Kate Fitzpatrick

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts and on Twitter @MindfulResearch

Study Summary

Bartels-Velthuis, A. A., van den Brink, E., Koster, F., & Hoenders, H. (2020). The Interpersonal Mindfulness Program for Health Care Professionals: a Feasibility Study. Mindfulness, 1–10. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-020-01477-5

Abstract

Objectives

There are a number of mindfulness-based programs (MBPs) that have demonstrated effectiveness for patients and health care professionals. The Interpersonal Mindfulness Program (IMP) is a relatively new MBP, developed to teach those with prior mindfulness training to deepen their mindful presence, empathy and compassion in the interpersonal domain. The aim of the present study was to examine the feasibility of using the IMP with mental health care workers and assessing its effects on levels of mindfulness, self-compassion, empathy, stress and professional quality of life when compared with the control group participants.

Methods

The IMP training consisted of nine weekly 2.5-h sessions and daily home practice (45–60 min). Twenty-five participants (mean age, 51.4 years) with mindfulness experience participated in the training. Twenty-two individuals in the control group (mean age, 47.5 years) were recruited from those who had followed a mindfulness training before. Feasibility of the IMP was assessed in the training participants in six domains. All study participants completed self-report questionnaires before and after the training.

Results

The IMP training was considered highly acceptable and very useful. The training had a significant positive effect on self-compassion, empathy and compassion fatigue, but no effect on mindfulness, stress and compassion satisfaction. Five participants reported some mild adverse reactions.

Conclusions

The IMP training appears feasible for health care professionals and seems to induce some positive effects. A few mild adverse effects were reported. Further research on the effectiveness and possible mechanisms of change of the IMP training in larger samples is needed.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7447696/

Improve Major Depression in the Real World with Mindfulness

April 12, 2021 psyjdc Leave a comment

Improve Major Depression in the Real World with Mindfulness

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

“Depression is not only the most common mental illness, it’s also one of the most tenacious. Up to 80 percent of people who experience a major depressive episode may relapse. Drugs may lose their effectiveness over time, if they work at all. But a growing body of research is pointing to an intervention that appears to help prevent relapse by altering thought patterns without side effects: mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, or MBCT.” – Stacy Lu

Clinically diagnosed depression is the most common mental illness, affecting over 6% of the population. Major depression can be quite debilitating. Depression can be difficult to treat and is usually treated with anti-depressive medication. But, of patients treated initially with drugs, only about a third attained remission of the depression. After repeated and varied treatments including drugs, therapy, exercise etc. only about two thirds of patients attained remission. But drugs often have troubling side effects and can lose effectiveness over time. In addition, many patients who achieve remission have relapses and recurrences of the depression. Even after remission some symptoms of depression may still be present (residual symptoms).

Being depressed and not responding to treatment is a terribly difficult situation. The patients are suffering and nothing appears to work to relieve their intense depression. Suicide becomes a real possibility. So, it is imperative that other treatments be identified that can relieve the suffering. Mindfulness training is an alternative treatment for depression. It has been shown to be an effective treatment for depression and its recurrence and even in the cases where drugs fail. Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) was specifically developed to treat depression. MBCT involves mindfulness training, containing sitting, walking and body scan meditations, and cognitive therapy that attempts to teach patients to distinguish between thoughts, emotions, physical sensations, and behaviors, and to recognize irrational thinking styles and how they affect behavior. MBCT has been found to be effective in treating depression.

Most of the research studies that have examined the effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) for depression were conducted in controlled laboratory settings. But the real world of therapeutic interventions are less consistent and much more complex and messy. This raises the question as to how effective MBCT may be for the treatment of major depression in real world.

In today’s Research News article “The effectiveness of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for major depressive disorder: evidence from routine outcome monitoring data.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7745235/ ) Geurts and colleagues recruited patients with major depressive disorder who had received treatment with Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT). Their psychiatric diagnosis was recorded and before and after treatment they completed measures of mindfulness, depression, worry, and self-compassion.

They found that after treatment the patients had significant increases in mindfulness and self-compassion and significant decreases in depression and worry. The also found that the greater the increases in mindfulness and self-compassion and decreases in worry, the greater the decreases in depression. They found that having a job mattered as those patients who had employment had significantly greater reductions in depression than the unemployed.

These findings are in line with those in more controlled lab studies of significant improvements in major depressive disorder produced by Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT). The importance of the present studies is that they demonstrate that similar improvement occur in real world clinical settings. Finally, they suggest that MBCT may increase mindfulness and self-compassion and decrease worry and these improvements are associated with greater relief of depression.

So, improve major depression in the real world with mindfulness.

“Still, there are a handful of key areas — including depression, chronic pain, and anxiety — in which well-designed, well-run studies have shown benefits for patients engaging in a mindfulness meditation program, with effects similar to other existing treatments.” – Alvin Powell

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts and on Twitter @MindfulResearch

Study Summary

Geurts, D., Compen, F. R., Van Beek, M., & Speckens, A. (2020). The effectiveness of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for major depressive disorder: evidence from routine outcome monitoring data. BJPsych open, 6(6), e144. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjo.2020.118

Abstract

Background

Meta-analyses show efficacy of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) in terms of relapse prevention and depressive symptom reduction in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). However, most studies have been conducted in controlled research settings.

Aims

We aimed to investigate the effectiveness of MBCT in patients with MDD presenting in real-world clinical practice. Moreover, we assessed whether guideline recommendations for MBCT allocation in regard to recurrence and remission status of MDD hold in clinical practice.

Method

This study assessed a naturalistic cohort of patients with (recurrent) MDD, either current or in remission (n = 765), who received MBCT in a university hospital out-patient clinic in The Netherlands. Outcome measures were self-reported depressive symptoms, worry, mindfulness skills and self-compassion. Predictors were MDD recurrence and remission status, and clinical and sociodemographic variables. Outcome and predictor analyses were conducted with linear regression.

Results

MBCT adherence was high (94%). Patients with a lower level of education had a higher chance of non-adherence. Attending more sessions positively influenced improvement in depressive symptoms. Depressive symptoms significantly reduced from pre- to post-MBCT (Δ mean = 7.7, 95%CI = 7.0–8.5, Cohen’s d = 0.75). Improvement of depressive symptoms was independent from MDD recurrence and remission status. Unemployed patients showed less favourable outcomes. Worry, mindfulness skills and self-compassion all significantly improved. These improvements were related to changes in depressive symptoms.

Conclusions

Previous efficacy results in controlled research settings are maintained in clinical practice. Results illustrate that MBCT is effective in routine clinical practice for patients suffering from MDD, irrespective of MDD recurrence and remission status.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7745235/

Reduce College Students Self-Criticism with Mindful Lovingkindness Training

January 13, 2021 psyjdc Leave a comment

Reduce College Students Self-Criticism with Mindful Lovingkindness Training

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

“What’s so amazing about mindfulness practice is we can use mindfulness to be aware when we have those self-critical voices, and we can label that voice as “judging”. We can notice when we have those judging voices because we have a mindfulness practice that allows us to have quite a bit more self-awareness, more ability to regulate emotions, and all of the positive things that come with the mindfulness practice.“ – Diana Winston

In the modern world education is a key for success. Where a high school education was sufficient in previous generations, a college degree is now required to succeed in the new knowledge-based economies. There is a lot of pressure on students to excel so that they can get the best jobs after graduation. This stress might in fact be counterproductive as the increased pressure can actually lead to stress and anxiety which can impede the student’s physical and mental health, well-being, and school performance. This is particularly true in very competitive Asian countries like Korea. This can lead to extreme self-criticism where the individual is never happy with themselves producing great unhappiness and psychological distress.

Mindfulness training has been shown through extensive research to be effective in improving physical and psychological reactions to stress and resilience in the face of stress. It has also been found to promote the well-being of college students. Mindfulness has been found to improve self-esteem. One understudied meditation technique is Loving Kindness Meditation. It is designed to develop kindness and compassion to oneself and others. The individual systematically pictures different individuals from self, to close friends, to enemies and wishes them happiness, well-being, safety, peace, and ease of well-being. Although Loving Kindness Meditation has been practiced for centuries, it has received very little scientific research attention. But it may be effective in counteracting the effects of stress and self-criticism.

In today’s Research News article “Psychological and Physiological Effects of the Mindful Lovingkindness Compassion Program on Highly Self-Critical University Students in South Korea.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.585743/full?utm_source=F-AAE&utm_medium=EMLF&utm_campaign=MRK_1463957_69_Psycho_20201022_arts_A ) Noh and colleagues recruited healthy Korean college students who were high in self-criticism and randomly assigned them to either a wait-list control condition or to receive a Mindful Lovingkindness Compassion program. The training consisted of 8 2-hour sessions over 6 weeks of mindfulness meditation and Loving Kindness Meditation. They were measured before and after training and one and three months later for self-criticism, self-reassurance, mindfulness, compassion, shame, anxiety, depression, fears of compassion, satisfaction with life, and heart rate variability.

They found that in comparison to baseline and the wait-list control group, the Mindful Lovingkindness Compassion group had significantly higher self-reassurance, mindfulness, compassion, and satisfaction with life, and significantly lower self-criticism, shame, anxiety, depression, and fears of compassion. These improvements continued to be present 1 and 3 months after the completion of training. In addition, the Mindful Lovingkindness Compassion group had significantly higher heart rate variability.

The interpretation of these results has to be tempered with the knowledge that the comparison, control, condition was passive. This opens the study up to a number of potential confoundings. Nevertheless, the results are similar to those of prior research that found that mindfulness training produces higher self-reassurance, compassion, and satisfaction with life, and lower self-criticism, shame, anxiety, and depression. Hence, the current study suggests that Mindful Lovingkindness Compassion training produces improved psychological health in highly self-critical college students. In addition, the increased heart rate variability observed suggests that the trained students had greater physiological relaxation, probably indicating a great resistance to the effects of stress.

This is important for the well-being of college students. They are under great pressure to perform especially in Asian countries like Korea. Combining that with high levels of self-criticism is a formula for psychological and physical problems. The kind of mindfulness and loving kindness training employed here appears to be able to markedly counteract the deleterious effects of these forces and produce greater relaxation and overall well-being.

So, reduce college students’ self-criticism with Mindful Lovingkindness training.

“Self-criticism is an unhelpful habit that can sometimes be destructive and cause emotional ill-health. . . Through practicing mindfulness and self-compassion you can loosen up old self-critical habits that may have been present from childhood and develop a kinder, more appreciative way of being with yourself.” – Linda Hall

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts and on Twitter @MindfulResearch

Study Summary

Noh S and Cho H (2020) Psychological and Physiological Effects of the Mindful Lovingkindness Compassion Program on Highly Self-Critical University Students in South Korea. Front. Psychol. 11:585743. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.585743

Objectives: Self-critical behavior is especially relevant for university students who face academic and non-academic stressors, leading to negative outcomes such as mental distress and psychopathologies. To address this behavior, mindfulness and compassion are important factors to decrease self-criticism and ensure positive outcomes. This study examined the psychological and physiological effects of an intervention, the Mindful Lovingkindness Compassion Program (MLCP), on highly self-critical university students in South Korea.

Methods: Thirty-eight university students with a high level of self-criticism were assigned to an MLCP group (n = 18) or waitlist (WL) group (n = 20). Self-report measures of self-criticism, self-reassurance, psychological distress, and other mental health variables were completed, and the physiological measure of heart rate variability (HRV) was conducted before and after the intervention with both groups. In addition, 1- and 3-month follow-up assessments were conducted using self-report measurements.

Results: Compared to the WL group, participants in the MLCP group experienced significantly greater reductions in self-criticism and psychological distress, and a greater increase in self-reassurance, mental health, and HRV. The improvements in the self-report measures were maintained when assessed 1 and 3 months later.

Conclusions: MLCP could be a promising intervention for alleviating self-criticism and increasing self-reassurance among self-critical individuals.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.585743/full?utm_source=F-AAE&utm_medium=EMLF&utm_campaign=MRK_1463957_69_Psycho_20201022_arts_A

Improve the Psychological Health of Health Care Professionals with Mindfulness

December 23, 2020 psyjdc Leave a comment

Improve the Psychological Health of Health Care Professionals with Mindfulness

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

“The front lines for health care providers may feel overwhelming. . . turning to mindfulness practice can help us settle, help us get out of all that thinking for a moment. We can try to settle down and maybe give ourselves a little rest or see a situation with a little different clarity. “ – Mindful

Preventing the negative psychological consequences of stress in healthcare professionals has to be a priority. Contemplative practices have been shown to reduce the psychological and physiological responses to stress and improve well-being. Indeed, mindfulness has been shown to be helpful in treating and preventing burnout, increasing resilience, and improving sleep. Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is a mindfulness training program that was developed to help deal with stress. MBSR consists of discussion, meditation, yoga and body scan practices. The evidence has been accumulating regarding MBSR’s effectiveness for the treatment of healthcare professionals, so it makes sense to summarize what has been learned.

In today’s Research News article “The Effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction on the Psychological Functioning of Healthcare Professionals: a Systematic Review.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7511255/ ) Kriakous and colleagues review and summarize the published research studies of the benefits of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) for the psychological health of healthcare workers. They identified 30 published research studies.

They report that the published research studies found that Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) significantly reduced healthcare workers’ levels of perceived stress, anxiety, and depression and increased mindfulness and self-compassion. Mindfulness practices have been previously reported to decrease perceived stress, anxiety, and depression and increase self-compassion in a wide variety of healthy and ill individuals. The present research summarizes these benefits for stressed healthcare professionals. These benefits of mindfulness training are important for reducing burnout, improving the psychological health of healthcare workers, and maintaining the workforce, and thereby improving the levels of care delivered to patients.

So, improve the psychological health of health care professionals with mindfulness.

“health care workforce. There is increasing evidence that learning to practice mindfulness can result in decreased burnout and improved well-being. Mindfulness is a useful way of cultivating self-kindness and compassion, including by bringing increased awareness to and acceptance of those things that are beyond our control.” – Kate Fitzpatrick

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts and on Twitter @MindfulResearch

Study Summary

Kriakous, S. A., Elliott, K. A., Lamers, C., & Owen, R. (2020). The Effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction on the Psychological Functioning of Healthcare Professionals: a Systematic Review. Mindfulness, 1–28. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-020-01500-9

Abstract

Objectives

Burnout and occupational stress are frequently experienced by healthcare professionals (HCPs). Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) has been found to improve the psychological health outcomes of HCPs. To date, systematic reviews and meta-analyses have primarily focused upon empirical investigations into the reduction of stress amongst HCPs using MBSR and are limited to empirical studies published before December 2019. This systematic review aimed to update the current evidence base and broaden our understanding of the effectiveness of MBSR on improving the psychological functioning of HCPs.

Methods

Three electronic databases (Medline, Psych Info and Web of Science) were searched without time frame restrictions. Quantitative studies included randomised controlled trials, clinical controlled trials, pre-post designs and studies with up to a 12-month follow-up period. All studies included in the review employed a MBSR programme, standardised measures of psychological functioning and qualified HCPs as participants.

Results

Using PRISMA guidelines thirty studies were included in the review. The reviewed literature suggested that MBSR was effective in reducing HCPs experiences of anxiety, depression and stress. MBSR was also found to be effective in increasing HCP levels of mindfulness and self-compassion. However, MBSR did not appear as effective in reducing burnout or improving resilience amongst HCPs. Abbreviated MBSR programmes were found to be as effective as the traditional 8-week MBSR programmes.

Conclusions

MBSR is an effective intervention which can help improve the psychological functioning of HCPs. Recommendations include improving the overall quality of the studies by employing more robust controlled designs with randomisation, increased sample sizes with heterogeneous samples, and making active comparisons between interventions used.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7511255/

Improve Mental Health with Mindfulness

December 5, 2020 psyjdc Leave a comment

Improve Mental Health with Mindfulness

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

“Mindfulness is recommended as a treatment for people with mental ill-health as well as those who want to improve their mental health and wellbeing.” – Mental Health Foundation

Over the last several decades, research and anecdotal experiences have accumulated an impressive evidential case that the development of mindfulness has positive benefits for the individual’s mental, physical, and spiritual life. Mindfulness appears to be beneficial both for healthy people and for people suffering from a myriad of mental and physical illnesses. It appears to be beneficial across ages, from children, to adolescents, to the elderly. And it appears to be beneficial across genders, personalities, race, and ethnicity. The breadth and depth of benefits is unprecedented. There is no other treatment or practice that has been shown to come anyway near the range of mindfulness’ positive benefits.

There is a vast array of techniques for the development of mindfulness. It is important to establish the most efficacious techniques and their dosages for the treatment of common mental illnesses. It is particularly important, for reasons of affordability, to employ techniques that qualify for insurance reimbursement.

In today’s Research News article “Insurance-Reimbursable Mindfulness for Safety-Net Primary Care Patients: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7009938/ ) Gawande and colleagues recruited adults with a non-severe mental health diagnosis and randomly assigned them to receive either a high or low dose mindfulness training. The high dose training consisted of 8 weeks of twice a week 1-hour mindfulness trainings along with daily 30-45 minutes of home practice. The mindfulness training was adapted from Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) including meditation, trauma-informed practices, and self-compassion training. The low dose mindfulness training consisted of a single 60-minute introduction to mindfulness and encouragement to practice mindfulness. They were measured before and after training for anxiety, depression, perceived stress, disease self-efficacy, mindfulness, self-compassion, and perceived control of disease.

The most common disorders were anxiety disorders in 37% and depression in 32% of the participants. They found that in comparison to baseline the high dose mindfulness group had significant reductions in anxiety, depression, and perceived stress and significant increases in disease self-efficacy, mindfulness, and self-compassion. The low dose mindfulness group had only a significant reduction in perceived stress. The high dose mindfulness group had significant greater increases in mindfulness and self-compassion and decreases in anxiety than the low dose group. Importantly, the high dose mindfulness intervention was accepted for reimbursement by insurance companies.

The study is important in that it demonstrated that insurance would cover the high dose treatment. This is important for making the treatment affordable for insured clients. The study demonstrated as have a variety of other research studies that mindfulness training produces significant reductions in anxiety, depression, and perceived stress and significant increases in disease self-efficacy, mindfulness, and self-compassion. But the study had a unique control condition of a low dose mindfulness training. The high dose intervention produced significant improvements in mental illness disease symptoms that were for the most part better than those of the low dose. This establishes that participant expectancies and positive biases toward mindfulness training cannot account for the improvements. It also demonstrates that greater doses of mindfulness training produce greater benefits for patients with non-severe mental health issues.

So, improve mental health with mindfulness.

“The research is strong for mindfulness’ positive impact in certain areas of mental health, including stress reduction, emotion and attention regulation, reduced rumination, for reducing mild to moderate depression and anxiety, and preventing depressive relapse.” – Kelle Walsh

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are a also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts and on Twitter @MindfulResearch

Study Summary

Gawande, R., Pine, E., Griswold, T., Creedon, T., Vallejo, Z., Rosenbaum, E., Lozada, A., & Schuman-Olivier, Z. (2019). Insurance-Reimbursable Mindfulness for Safety-Net Primary Care Patients: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial. Mindfulness, 10(9), 1744–1759. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-019-01116-8

Abstract

Objectives:

Mindfulness is effective for reducing anxiety and depression and increasing chronic disease self-management. An accessible, insurance-reimbursable model for implementation in patient-centered medical homes within US healthcare systems has promise for patients with multi-morbid conditions. Clarifying both the dose needed to impact anxiety, depression and self-management, and the design requirements for accessible primary care implementation, is essential.

Methods:

We tested feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of Mindfulness Training for Primary Care (MTPC), an 8-week, referral-based, insurance-reimbursable mindfulness program integrated within primary care, compared with a Low-Dose Comparator (LDC), consisting of a 60-minute mindfulness introduction plus referral to community and digital resources. Outcome measures were assessed at baseline and 8 weeks. MTPC is trauma-informed, incorporates mindfulness-oriented behavior change skills, and is designed to target anxiety, depression, stress, and chronic illness selfmanagement. Participants schedule a PCP visit to co-create a self-management action plan during week 6.

Results:

Primary care providers (PCP) referred 344 patients over 14 months. Eighty-one participants with DSM-V anxiety disorders, depressive disorders, trauma- and stress-related disorders participated in this pilot randomized-controlled comparative effectiveness trial [MTPC (n=54); LDC (n=27)]. These data suggest that MTPC was more effective than LDC for reducing anxiety (p=0.01), enhancing mindfulness (p=0.02) and self-compassion (p=0.001), and for catalyzing selfmanagement behavior change through action plan initiation (OR=4.34, p=0.03).

Conclusions:

MTPC was successfully integrated into a health system, was billed to insurance, and was acceptable to a diverse primary care population. Replication with a larger study and further accessibility adaptations are needed to confirm and expand these pilot results.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7009938/

Novelty Seeking Lowers the Ability of Mindfulness Training to Increase Self-Compassion.

November 25, 2020 psyjdc Leave a comment

Novelty Seeking Lowers the Ability of Mindfulness Training to Increase Self-Compassion.

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

“Mindfulness is the foundation of self-compassion insofar as we can only respond self-compassionately when we know we are struggling.” – Pittman McGehee

One of the more remarkable aspects of Western culture is that in general people do not like themselves. We are constantly comparing ourselves to others and since there can only one best, virtually everyone falls short. So, we constantly criticize ourselves for not being the smartest, the swiftest, the strongest, the most liked, the most handsome or beautiful. If there wasn’t something wrong with us, then we would be the best. As a result, we become focused and obsessed with our flaws. This can lead to anxiety and worry and poorer mental health.

Mindfulness promotes experiencing and accepting ourselves as we are, which is a direct antidote to seeing ourselves in comparison to others and as we wish to be. In other words, mindfulness promotes self-compassion. Self-compassion involves being warm and understanding about ourselves rather than self-criticism. If we have that attitude, we will like ourselves more and suffer less. So, it is important to study what factors affect the ability of mindfulness training to increase self-compassion.

In today’s Research News article “More Purpose in Life and Less Novelty Seeking Predict Improvements in Self-Compassion During a Mindfulness-Based Intervention: The EXMIND Study.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7146234/ ) Akase and colleagues recruited adult participants and randomly assigned them to receive either 8 weekly mindfulness training sessions or 4 weeks of mindfulness training followed by 4 weeks of existential approach. Both groups required daily home practice. The mindfulness training included raisin exercise, mindful breathing, body scan, walking meditation, and sitting meditation. The participants were measured before, at 4 weeks and after training for mindfulness, self-compassion, temperament, reading ability, depression, parental bonding, and purpose in life.

They found that mindfulness training produced significantly increased self-compassion at 4 weeks and significantly greater increased self-compassion at the end of training. They also found that the higher the levels at baseline of purpose in life and the lower the levels of novelty seeking the greater the change in self-compassion produced by mindfulness training. In addition, they found that the higher the levels of purpose in life, but not novelty seeking, the higher the levels of self-compassion.

The findings found as has been seen in previous research that mindfulness training improves self-compassion. This is important as higher levels of self-compassion are associated with better mental health, greater resistance to stress, and less burnout. The current study found also that the effectiveness of mindfulness training in increasing self-compassion was best in participants who were low in novelty seeking and high in purpose in life.

That self-compassion and purpose in life are related may be due to conceptual overlap between the two. Indeed, many of the questions in the scales measuring purpose in life and self-compassion are very similar. Novelty seeking, on the other hand, is not directly related to self-compassion, rather it appears to modulate the effectiveness of mindfulness training to improve self-compassion. It was speculated that novelty seeking makes it more difficult to disengage from spontaneous thoughts (mind wandering) during mindfulness exercises and thereby decreases the effectiveness of mindfulness training.

Hence, novelty seeking lowers the ability of mindfulness training to increase self-compassion.

“The growing movements of self-compassion and mindfulness are linked by the growing awareness and evidence from a huge body of research that indicate that treating ourselves (and others) with kindness not only feels better but also allows us to make healthy changes and face new challenges with more success.” – Samantha Price

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts and on Twitter @MindfulResearch

Study Summary

Akase, M., Terao, T., Kawano, N., Sakai, A., Hatano, K., Shirahama, M., Hirakawa, H., Kohno, K., & Ishii, N. (2020). More Purpose in Life and Less Novelty Seeking Predict Improvements in Self-Compassion During a Mindfulness-Based Intervention: The EXMIND Study. Frontiers in psychiatry, 11, 252. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00252

Abstract

Objectives

Recently, a 4-week mindfulness-based intervention followed by a 4-week existential approach was found to be as effective for increasing self-compassion as an 8-week mindfulness-based intervention. The purpose of the present study was to identify the factors that predicted change in self-compassion during the 8-week mindfulness-based intervention.

Methods

Fifty-seven of the 61 completers of the 8-week mindfulness-based intervention provided baseline, 4-week, and 8-week self-compassion scale scores. The mean age of the 47 females and 10 males was 49.6 years. Pearson’s correlation coefficients were generated on the associations between the change of total self-compassion scale scores from baseline to 8 weeks with age; gender; and the baseline scores on the Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa and San Diego Auto-questionnaire, Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI), Mini-Mental State Examination, Japanese Adult Reading Test, Young Mania Rating Scale, Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression, Parental Bonding Instrument, and purpose in life (PIL). Multiple regression analysis was performed to identify the predictors of the change in total self-compassion scale scores.

Results

Novelty seeking (TCI) was significantly and negatively associated with the change in total self-compassion scale scores, whereas the PIL scores were significantly and positively associated with the change in total self-compassion scale scores. Novelty seeking was not significantly associated with baseline, 4-week, or 8-week total self-compassion scale scores, whereas the PIL scores were significantly and positively associated with baseline, 4-week, and 8-week total self-compassion scale scores. The limitation of the present study was a relatively small number of subjects which deterred a more sophisticated analysis of the pathways involved.

Conclusions

The present findings suggest that more PIL and less novelty seeking predict improvements in self-compassion during mindfulness-based interventions, although novelty seeking might substantially predict the improvement but self-compassion scale and PIL might somewhat conceptually overlap.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7146234/

Improve Compassion and Self-Compassion in Health Care Professionals with Mindfulness

October 24, 2020 psyjdc Leave a comment

Improve Compassion and Self-Compassion in Health Care Professionals with Mindfulness

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

“Burgeoning research is showing that self-compassion skills can be of particular benefit to health care professionals, allowing them to experience greater satisfaction in their caregiving roles, less stress, and more emotional resilience.” – CMSC

Preventing burnout has to be a priority. Unfortunately, it is beyond the ability of the individual to change the environment to reduce stress and prevent burnout. So, it is important that methods be found to reduce the individual’s responses to stress; to make the individual more resilient when high levels of stress occur. Contemplative practices have been shown to reduce the psychological and physiological responses to stress and improve well-being. Indeed, mindfulness has been shown to be helpful in treating and preventing burnout, increasing resilience, and improving sleep.

One way that mindfulness may help reduce burnout is by improving self-compassion. Self-compassion is “treating oneself with kindness and understanding when facing suffering, seeing one’s failures as part of the human condition, and having a balanced awareness of painful thoughts and emotions” (Kristin Neff). This may reduce the perfectionism and self-judgement that is common among physicians and thereby reduce burnout.

In today’s Research News article “Mindfulness, Compassion, and Self-Compassion Among Health Care Professionals: What’s New? A Systematic Review.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01683/full?utm_source=F-AAE&utm_medium=EMLF&utm_campaign=MRK_1401267_69_Psycho_20200811_arts_A) Conversano and colleagues review and summarize the published research studies of the effects of mindfulness on compassion and self-compassion and the symptoms of burnout in health care professionals. They identified 57 published studies consisting of: “randomized controlled trials (4), studies with pre-post measurements (23), cross-sectional studies (12), cohort studies (11), and qualitative studies (7)”.

They report that the published research found that the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program was effective in increasing mindfulness and self-compassion and reducing burnout, stress, anxiety and depression. Other mindfulness trainings were effective in increasing mindfulness and self-compassion and reducing negative emotions and compassion fatigue. Compassion training programs were effective in increasing mindfulness, positive emotions, and self-compassion and reducing interpersonal conflicts, negative emotions and compassion fatigue.

This research summary suggests that mindfulness training and compassion training are both useful in combatting the stress of healthcare work and reducing potential burnout of these professionals. The large number of studies employing different mindfulness and compassion training programs makes a strong case for the use of mindfulness and compassion training to reduce the likelihood of burnout of health care professionals and thereby improve the quality of the delivery of health care to the patients. This all suggests that mindfulness and compassion training should be routinely incorporated in the training and continuing education of healthcare workers,

Improve compassion and self-compassion in health care professionals with mindfulness.

“health care professionals who completed the MBSR program reported an increase in feelings of self-compassion and reduced stress.” – Elaine Mead

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts and on Twitter @MindfulResearch

Study Summary

Conversano C, Ciacchini R, Orrù G, Di Giuseppe M, Gemignani A and Poli A (2020) Mindfulness, Compassion, and Self-Compassion Among Health Care Professionals: What’s New? A Systematic Review. Front. Psychol. 11:1683. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01683

Health care professionals (HCPs) are a population at risk for high levels of burnout and compassion fatigue. The aim of the present systematic review was to give an overview on recent literature about mindfulness and compassion characteristics of HCPs, while exploring the effectiveness of techniques, involving the two aspects, such as MBSR or mindfulness intervention and compassion fatigue-related programs. A search of databases, including PubMed and PsycINFO, was conducted following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines and the methodological quality for this systematic review was appraised using AMSTAR-2 (A MeaSurement Tool to Assess systematic Reviews-2). The number of articles that met the inclusion criteria was 58 (4 RCTs, 24 studies with pre-post measurements, 12 cross-sectional studies, 11 cohort studies and 7 qualitative studies). MBSR intervention was effective at improving, and maintaining, mindfulness and self-compassion levels and to improve burnout, depression, anxiety, stress. The most frequently employed interventional strategies were mindfulness-related trainings that were effective at improving mindfulness and self-compassion, but not compassion fatigue, levels. Compassion-related interventions have been shown to improve self-compassion, mindfulness and interpersonal conflict levels. Mindfulness was effective at improving negative affect and compassion fatigue, while compassion satisfaction may be related to cultivation of positive affect. This systematic review summarized the evidence regarding mindfulness- and compassion-related qualities of HCPs as well as potential effects of MBSR, mindfulness-related and compassion-related interventions on professionals’ psychological variables like mindfulness, self-compassion and quality of life. Combining structured mindfulness and compassion cultivation trainings may enhance the effects of interventions, limit the variability of intervention protocols and improve data comparability of future research.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01683/full?utm_source=F-AAE&utm_medium=EMLF&utm_campaign=MRK_1401267_69_Psycho_20200811_arts_A

Improve Recovery from Substance Abuse with Rolling Mindfulness Training

October 3, 2020 psyjdc Leave a comment

Improve Recovery from Substance Abuse with Rolling Mindfulness Training

By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.

“By facilitating conscious awareness with a nonjudgmental perspective, mindfulness can decrease the vicious circles of anxiety, fear, anger, sadness, depression, guilt, regret, and shame that make so many recovering people vulnerable to relapse.” – Dan Mager

Substance abuse is a major health and social problem. There are estimated 22.2 million people in the U.S. with substance dependence. It is estimated that worldwide there are nearly ¼ million deaths yearly as a result of illicit drug use which includes unintentional overdoses, suicides, HIV and AIDS, and trauma. Obviously, there is a need to find effective methods to prevent and treat substance abuse. There are a number of programs that are successful at stopping the drug abuse, including the classic 12-step program emblematic of Alcoholics Anonymous. Unfortunately, the majority of drug and/or alcohol abusers’ relapse and return to substance abuse. Hence, it is important to find an effective method to treat substance abuse and prevent relapse.

Mindfulness practices have been shown to improve recovery from various addictions. Mindfulness-based Relapse Prevention (MBRP) has been developed to specifically assist in relapse prevention and has been shown to be effective. “MBRP integrates mindfulness practices with cognitive-behavioral Relapse Prevention therapy and aims to help participants increase awareness and acceptance of difficult thoughts, feelings, and sensations to create changes in patterns of reactive behavior that commonly lead to relapse. Mindfulness training in MBRP provides clients with a new way of processing situational cues and monitoring internal reactions to contingencies, and this awareness supports proactive behavioral choices in the face of high-risk relapse situation.” – Grow et al. 2015

Typically, Mindfulness-based Relapse Prevention (MBRP) is administered with a group together from start to end. In practice in residential treatment programs, however, individuals enter treatment at different times. It would be important to examine whether MBRP with rolling admissions, where participants enter the therapy program at different times, is effective in treating substance abuse patients.

In today’s Research News article “An open trial of rolling admission mindfulness-based relapse prevention (Rolling MBRP): feasibility, acceptability, dose-response relations, and mechanisms.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6660179/) Roos and colleagues recruited residents in a short-term residential substance abuse disorders treatment program. They were provided 50 minute, twice per week, for 8 weeks group Mindfulness-based Relapse Prevention (MBRP) program. Participants could enter the program at any time during a 10-month period. They were measured before and after treatment for abstinent days, dependence severity, self-compassion, mindfulness, mental health, craving, and self-efficacy.

They found that the participants completed, on average, 3.69 sessions and the participants rated the sessions as very helpful. They found that in comparison to baseline and patients who did not participate, the rolling Mindfulness-based Relapse Prevention (MBRP) group had significantly decreased cravings, and increased mental health, mindfulness, and self-compassion. In addition, for attendees, the greater the amounts of formal and informal mindfulness practice, the greater the improvements in cravings, mental health, mindfulness, and self-compassion.

Prior studies demonstrated that mindfulness training improves mental health and self-compassion and is effective in improving the mental health of patients with a variety of addictions and in preventing substance abuse relapse. The present study is important in demonstrating that Mindfulness-based Relapse Prevention (MBRP) offered on a rolling basis is also effective. Such a rolling entry treatment program is better suited to the intake of patients in residential substance abuse treatment programs and makes MBRP more useable in these programs.

So, improve recovery from substance abuse with rolling mindfulness training.

“Learning about your personal triggers, developing the ability to breathe through discomfort, and creating a mindfulness based lifestyle in recovery can be lifesavers in both early sobriety and throughout the rest of your life.” -Clear Mind Treatment

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

This and other Contemplative Studies posts are also available on Google+ https://plus.google.com/106784388191201299496/posts and on Twitter @MindfulResearch

Study Summary

Roos, C., Kirouac, M., Stein, E., Wilson, A., Bowen, S., & Witkiewitz, K. (2019). An open trial of rolling admission mindfulness-based relapse prevention (Rolling MBRP): feasibility, acceptability, dose-response relations, and mechanisms. Mindfulness, 10(6), 1062–1073. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-018-1054-5

Abstract

Mindfulness-based relapse prevention (MBRP) is an effective treatment for substance use disorders (SUD). However, evidence is primarily based on studies of closed groups, and few studies support flexible formats of MBRP, such as rolling groups. This nonrandomized, open trial evaluated feasibility, acceptability, dose-response relations, and mechanisms of rolling admission MBRP (“Rolling MBRP”) offered as part of short-term residential treatment for SUD. Rolling MBRP was developed prior to the trial through an iterative process over several years. Participants included 109 adults (46% female, 74.3% racial/ethnic minorities, mean age=36.40). Rolling MBRP was offered to all patients in the program 2x/week and attendance was tracked. Outcomes were craving, self-efficacy, mental health, mindfulness, and self-compassion at discharge. Self-reported out-of-session mindfulness practice was examined as a mediator of attendance-outcome relations. Analyses involved multiple regression and mediation models. Feasibility was demonstrated by good attendance rates. Acceptability was demonstrated by high engagement in mindfulness practice and high satisfaction ratings. Total sessions attended did not predict outcomes at discharge. However, attending 2+ sessions (versus 1 or none) significantly predicted better mental health and higher mindfulness at discharge, and these effects were mediated by informal and formal mindfulness practice. Total sessions attended had significant indirect effects on craving, self-compassion, mindfulness, and mental health, via mindfulness practice. Results support the feasibility and acceptability of Rolling MBRP and suggest mindfulness practice may be a key mechanism driving effects of MBRP on other key mechanisms during the recovery process, such as decreased craving and improved mental health.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6660179/