It can be really exciting to come across research offering insight into new techniques . . . . . . particularly when the method allows us to reach more people than we usually can. A team of researchers out of the Center for Primary Health Care Research, Lund University, Sweden, led by Jan Sundquist, MD, […]
How Mindfulness Works to Help the Brain Manage Pain
Can meditation help you feel less pain? What if one week of short meditation classes could change the way your brain perceives pain? Fadel Zeidan, PhD, and his colleagues at Wake Forest University wanted to find out how mindfulness meditation affects pain reception. Specifically, they looked at the areas of the brain responsible for constructing […]
A Better Night’s Sleep with Mindfulness
One of the problems with antidepressants is that they sometimes don’t work. Though many people try, it can be difficult to treat depression with antidepressants alone. And the side effects, like fatigue, anxiety, loss of libido, and sleep disturbance, can be frustrating. Dr. Willoughby Britton and her research team at the University of Arizona wanted […]
Do Your Wandering Thoughts Make You Unhappy? You’re Not Alone
Everywhere I go, I see people glued to their phones – almost obsessed. And you might say, why not? Phones these days can do everything – take photos, store games and books, keep our calendars . . . even help us chart our happiness. Yes, I did say chart our happiness. This app is one […]
Guided Imagery and PTSD: A Different Approach to Treatment
When I visualize a traditional therapist’s office, and then a military boot camp . . . . . . I come up with two very different images. It might seem obvious to those of us within the helping professions that, in order for treatment to be effective, we need to match the intervention to the […]