If you could predict how well your clients might be able to deal with stress, just based on a blood or saliva sample, would that change your treatment approach? There’s a specific gene that’s been getting a lot of attention lately because it affects how the brain processes serotonin – a chemical created inside the […]
Brain Science and Meditation: How to Improve the Brain
Stress is no joke. Aside from the sleepless nights and lots of tension, stress can also have a range of negative health effects. So how do you reduce stress? A team of researchers at the Jefferson-Myrna Brind Center of Integrative Medicine started looking for answers. They gathered 18 patients who had received a diagnosis of […]
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 […]
Depression and Traumatic Brain Injury: Can Mindfulness Help?
It can happen in the blink of an eye . . . . . . a healthy person on the way to work is suddenly blindsided by another car, and the aftermath can impact not only the driver, but her family and friends as well. Months, maybe even years of surgery, physical therapy, care giving, […]
Mindfulness and Distracted College Students
Anyone who’s ever spent time on a university campus would probably agree, there’s plenty there to distract a young college student. Since academic success relies heavily on a student’s ability to sustain focus over the course of a semester, those having any kind of attention deficit can find the college experience especially challenging. That’s why […]
Memorial Day Weekend: A Time to Celebrate and Honor
Poet Maya Angelou wrote, “How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes!” Here in the United States, Memorial Day weekend serves as the traditional kick off for summertime and everything good that comes to mind about the season . . . . . . families and friends gathering for […]
Entering the Unknown: 158 Practitioners Start Something New
Do you remember what you felt like on your first day of high school? When I look back, I can remember feeling uncertain and a little bit scared in that new place with those new people. But I can also remember feeling a spark of excitement at the beginning of a whole new adventure. And […]