by Michael A. Franklin

Received: 27 March 2023;  Published: 25 October 2023;  doi: 10.21926/obm.icm.2304045

Art therapy, imaginal mindfulness, yoga, and meditation were personal and collegial necessities for surviving the emotional fallout of isolation during the Covid-19 pandemic. Combining these practices offered us credible resources for enhancing our social, cultural, and spiritual wellness when faced with the loneliness of lockdown living. This article applies an autoethnographic lens highlighting the value of these contemplative tools for managing pandemic related distress within myself and my professional peer gro [...]

by Katie Lahue  , Eliana Rivera  and Sara Schmidt

Received: 03 June 2023;  Published: 24 October 2023;  doi: 10.21926/obm.icm.2304044

The COVID-19 pandemic presented a host of issues for hospitalized patients including increased anxiety, fear, isolation, and depression [1]. Expressive Therapies have been used in the pediatric medical setting for decades to support patients and families with coping, expression, processing, and rehabilitation [2,3,4,5]. Additionally, some studies suggest that Expressive Therapies were effective in helping ease the increase in mental health symptoms that occurred during the pandemic. During the pandemic the expressi [...]

by Natali Lioubashevski  , Netzer Daie  , Yoram Finkelstein  and Eliezer Witztum

Received: 25 May 2023;  Published: 20 October 2023;  doi: 10.21926/obm.icm.2304043

A therapeutic intervention combines guided imagery and hypnotic techniques (including self-hypnosis), direct and indirect suggestions, medical treatments, and highly improving patient condition. A variety of hypnotic intervention techniques were introduced to treat a highly hypnotizable patient suffering from an advanced organic brain disorder due to an autoimmune disease and resistant to traditional medicine, showing no improvement despite being highly motivated and cooperating with conventional measures. Progress [...]

by Ami Rokach  and Karishma Patel

Received: 27 July 2023;  Published: 13 October 2023;  doi: 10.21926/obm.icm.2304042

The healthcare industry is the largest and fastest growing industry in the world; however, being a part of the healthcare system involves being at an increased risk of experiencing mental health problems, loneliness, stress, and increased susceptibility to experiencing compassion fatigue related to the emotional wear associated with providing patient-centered care. Healthcare workers include, but are not limited, to physicians, nurses, allied health professionals, and psychologists. Often, healthcare workers place [...]

by Jasmine French  , Richard J. Brown  and Tobyn Bell

Received: 25 August 2023;  Published: 11 October 2023;  doi: 10.21926/obm.icm.2304041

Soothing-rhythm breathing (SRB) is a core component of compassion focused therapy (CFT). While integral to CFT, research has yet to explore personal experiences of SRB. This study aimed to explore the experiences of individuals with depression who had practiced SRB in NHS primary care services. Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was used to analyse data from individual semi-structured interviews. Three experiential themes were identified: ‘mind-body connection and bodily needs’, ‘a new relationship with [...]

by Rebecca L. Utz  , Michael Caserta  , Eli Iacob  , Catharine Sparks  , Louisa Stark  , Alexandra Terrill  , Amber Thompson  and Bob Wong

Received: 15 June 2023;  Published: 08 October 2023;  doi: 10.21926/obm.icm.2304040

Dementia caregivers are susceptible to adverse physical and mental health outcomes, given the often prolonged and challenging care and support they provide to family members with Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD). This report describes a community-engaged implementation of a novel behavioral intervention - an “app” (interactive website) called TLC (Time for Living and Caring) that coaches caregivers on how to maximize the benefits associated with respite time. The rationale and features of the TLC in [...]

by Domenic John DiPietro  and Maria Gabriela Bidart

Received: 02 March 2023;  Published: 28 September 2023;  doi: 10.21926/obm.icm.2303039

Worldwide, human population growth has led to a higher demand for urbanization. While this development is in accordance with our gregarious lifestyles, our availability and contact with nature has consequentially been minimized. The goal of this study was to evaluate whether sounds from nature versus urban environments affect vital signs (i.e., heart rate and respiration rate) and mood states of female college students. Emotional states were assessed using the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) questionn [...]

by Jordan Ensz  and Changiz Mohiyeddini

Received: 06 March 2023;  Published: 19 September 2023;  doi: 10.21926/obm.icm.2303038

Burnout is a chronic state of exhaustion caused by prolonged stress. Medical training has been shown to leave many medical students vulnerable to burnout, which can negatively impact their health and patient care. While resilience has been associated with lower burnout, the mechanisms through which resilience reduces burnout are not well established. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate whether difficulties with emotion regulation mediate the relationship between resilience and burnout among medical students. [...]

by Tobyn Bell  , Jane Montague  , James Elander  , Matthew Pugh  and Paul Gilbert

Received: 01 July 2023;  Published: 19 September 2023;  doi: 10.21926/obm.icm.2303037

Chairwork is a central component in Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT). Despite its importance, there has been no prior research on the relational factors underpinning the application of chairwork in CFT. There is also a general paucity of research on the role of the therapeutic relationship in chairwork across modalities. This paper analyses data from interviews with 21 clients following a CFT chairwork intervention to ascertain how relational factors influenced their experience of this method. An Interpretative Phe [...]

by Jennifer A. King  , Megan R. Holmes  , Kylie Evans  , Anna E. Bender  and Dakota King-White

Received: 28 February 2023;  Published: 07 September 2023;  doi: 10.21926/obm.icm.2303036

The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the long-standing issues of stress and burnout in the education sector, with teachers and education staff facing unprecedented challenges including significant adjustments to teaching methods and balancing the mental health and academic needs of their students. The resulting challenges have contributed to heightened levels of stress and burnout among teachers and education staff. The impact of the pandemic on teachers and education staff has highlighted the need for greater support [...]