by Becky Dafters  , Sarah Mackintosh  and Chris Irons

Received: 29 July 2022;  Published: 03 November 2022;  doi: 10.21926/obm.icm.2204048

The current paper explores the impact of Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT) when delivered in a group setting to people with a range of diagnoses presenting to a Community Mental Health Team. In total five groups of 14 to 18 sessions were run with an average of five participants completing each group. A range of self-report measures examining global psychological distress, self-criticism, depression, anxiety and stress, emotion regulation, social comparison, shame and compassionate attributes and skills were administ [...]

by Nasim Foroughi  , Laura Douglass  , Caroline A. Smith  and Phillipa Hay

Received: 11 July 2022;  Published: 09 October 2022;  doi: 10.21926/obm.icm.2204047

Depression and mental health-related issues are increasingly prevalent in young adolescents and adults and so is the use of Complementary Therapies (CTs) to treat depression. Systematic reviews have found that, of all CTs, acupuncture, exercise, and the herbal remedy St John’s Wort have the greatest amount of evidence for efficacy in treating depression. We aimed to assess Mental Health Literacy (MHL) levels in the treatment of depression and Complementary Therapy’s (CT) usage in adolescents and adults. Surveys wer [...]

by Paul Andrew Entwistle

Received: 09 March 2022;  Published: 26 September 2022;  doi: 10.21926/obm.icm.2203046

Much has been written about the aetiological role of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) in the development of chronic adult physical and emotional health problems but current screening methods utilising questionnaires and formal interviewing often fail to show consensus across populations and surveys. This paper proposes that hypnotic regression might provide an alternative approach to ACE screening through its facility in revealing unsuspected and seemingly minor ACEs, which nevertheless can go on to have long t [...]

by Elaine Beaumont  , Chris Irons  and Sue McAndrew

Received: 25 May 2022;  Published: 26 September 2022;  doi: 10.21926/obm.icm.2203045

Self-guided, smartphone apps may be helpful in reducing symptoms associated with psychological distress and may boost wellbeing, and levels of compassion. To our knowledge this is the first study to examine the impact a 28-day app based on Compassion Focused Therapy and Compassionate Mind Training has on participant’s levels of compassion, wellbeing, and self-criticism. The Self-Compassion App includes exercises, meditations, quotes, a daily wisdom, and audios, all of which aim to help individuals develop com [...]

by Divya Taneja  , Madhumita Sadhukhan  , Padmalaya Rath  , Manas R Sarangi  , Renu Mittal  , Akshaya Kumar Prusty  , Deepthi Gilla  , Ashish Shivadikar  , Birendra Rawat  , Ravi Kumar Sadarla  , Gurudev Choubey  , Nidhi Mahajan  , Renu Bala  , Neha Kalra  , Anupam Mukherjee  , Anil Khurana  and Raj K. Manchanda

Received: 12 August 2022;  Published: 21 September 2022;  doi: 10.21926/obm.icm.2203044

Patients with psoriasis commonly opt for homeopathic treatment. However, no study has assessed the response to homeopathic treatment by using standardized disease-specific scales, and the findings are based on clinical assessments only. The objective of this study was to evaluate the response to the individualized homeopathic treatment of psoriasis with respect to changes in disease severity and quality of life based on Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) and Psoriasis Disability Index (PDI) scales, respective [...]

by OBM Integrative and Complementary Medicine Editorial Office

Received: 18 September 2022;  Published: 20 September 2022;  doi: 10.21926/obm.icm.2203043

Interview with Dr. Sok Cheon Pak. Dr Pak as a physiologist currently leads and guides research into nutraceuticals to provide relevant and impactful clinical applications. The best example is the rice bran arabinoxylan compound (RBAC). RBAC is a functional food produced from hydrolysed rice bran denatured with shiitake mushroom enzymes. RBAC demonstrates strong immunomodulatory properties, particularly for enhancing the natural killer cell activity. Additionally, RBAC is a potent antiproliferative food supplement w [...]

by Gerhard Litscher

Received: 18 September 2022;  Published: 19 September 2022;  doi: 10.21926/obm.icm.2203042

This editorial briefly discusses the issue of potential toxicity in the case of long-term photobiomodulation (PBM). Scientific articles from PubMed, Google Scholar, and the China National Knowledge Infrastructure were included in a heterogeneous search. There have been very few studies on the long-term effects of PBM, as well as its potential toxicity. There is no evidence that PBM is toxic when used at therapeutic or imaging doses. There are no such concerns with intracranial PBM application (e.g., optical fiber) [...]

by John R. Holmberg

Received: 31 May 2022;  Published: 14 September 2022;  doi: 10.21926/obm.icm.2203041

The perinatal period represents a unique developmental window for families and an opportunity to reach and engage fathers in research and preventive interventions. The distinctiveness of this period stems from the changes and stressors that parents experience which affect their openness to enroll in interventions (e.g., adaptive parenting, physical and mental health, relationship skills, and economic self-sufficiency) and participate in research. While long understudied, paternal research in the perinatal period ha [...]

by Aminata Bicego  , Pauline Delmal  , Didier Ledoux  , Marie-Elisabeth Faymonville  , Benoît Maertens de Noordhout  , Alfredo Cerasoli  , Héléna Cassol  , Olivia Gosseries  and Audrey Vanhaudenhuyse

Received: 29 June 2022;  Published: 09 September 2022;  doi: 10.21926/obm.icm.2203040

Phantom limb pain occurs in more than half of the people who have undergone an amputation. Hypnosis can alleviate pain effectively in experimental, procedural, and chronic pain. Thus, in this multiple-case study, we determined whether hypnosis might be a successful complementary approach to help patients with phantom limb pain in alleviating their pain quality (i.e., sensitive and affective), intensity, fatigue, and emotional distress (i.e., anxiety and depression). Seven patients experiencing phantom limb pain wer [...]

by Simone Lindsey  , Syd Hiskey  , Chris Irons  and Leanne Andrews

Received: 06 July 2021;  Published: 07 September 2022;  doi: 10.21926/obm.icm.2203039

Research has shown that compassion – whether to others, from others or to oneself – can be associated with improved well-being and mental health. Most measures to date focus on one of these flows of compassion, with only one recently published scale tracking all three. The primary aim of the current study was to investigate the psychometric properties of The Compassionate Engagement and Action Scales (CEAS) in a UK sample. The secondary aims were to investigate the level of compassion, as measured by th [...]