Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica
April 28, 2011
Lone Overby Fjorback, Mikkel Arendt, Eva Ørnbøl et al.
810 citations
A systematic review of randomized controlled trials found that Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) improves mental health and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) reduces the risk of depressive relapse. The review included 21 studies with at least 33 participants each. MBSR showed medium effect sizes in 11 studies compared to wait-list or treatment as usual, and was as effective as active control groups in three studies. MBCT reduced depressive relapse in two studies and was equally effective as treatment as usual or active control in two others. Limitations include a lack of active control groups and long-term follow-up in many studies.
Frontiers in Psychology
January 1, 2014
Thilo Hinterberger, Stephanie Schmidt, Tsutomu Kamei et al.
130 citations
A conscious state of thoughtless emptiness reached by experienced meditators is characterized by reduced high-frequency brain processing alongside reduced low-frequency brain waves, distinguishing it from focused attention, open monitoring, resting, and sleep states. EEG recordings from 50 participants, focusing on 30 highly experienced meditators, showed significant decreases in gamma, alpha, beta, delta, and theta activity during thoughtless emptiness compared to other states. Less experienced participants did not show these differences. This suggests that meditative conscious awareness with decreased mental processing has distinct physiological properties from both higher cognitive states and drowsiness.
Frontiers in Psychology
January 1, 2020
Harald Walach
55 citations
Ontology and epistemology are interdependent. The current materialist ontology in science, paired with an empiricist epistemology focused only on outer sense experience, is insufficient to explain consciousness or anomalous cognitions. Historically, medieval science included both inner (first-person) and outer (third-person) experience. The author proposes a complementarist dual aspect model where consciousness and matter are coprimary, not derivative. This entails a broader epistemology: contemplative practice can explore consciousness to understand the deep structure of the world, complementing outward-directed science. Such a contemplative science may aid theoretical intuition and ethics.
Philos Ethics Humanit Med
May 17, 2011
Sebastian Sauer, Siobhan Lynch, Harald Walach et al.
51 citations
Mindfulness is widely used and effective, but easily misunderstood in ways that limit its benefits. The concept rests on five seemingly contradictory dialectical positions: activity versus passivity, wanting versus non-wanting, changing versus non-changing, non-judging versus non-reacting, and active acceptance versus passive acceptance. Understanding these paradoxes is necessary for proper application. The article discusses practical implications and potential caveats for medical professionals.
Counselling Psychology Quarterly
February 26, 2025
Vivien Iacob, Cláudia Carmo, Soraia Garcês et al.
1 citation
A Portuguese version of the Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory (FMI) short form was developed and tested in two studies. The first study with 337 participants assessed internal consistency, reliability, and factorial validity through exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. The second study with 150 participants in an Interculturality and Mindfulness program examined convergent and concurrent validity, temporal stability, and sensitivity to change. The Portuguese FMI showed high internal consistency (ω = 0.87) and a unidimensional factor structure. The findings support the instrument's satisfactory psychometric qualities for measuring mindfulness in the Portuguese population.
Sage Open
June 14, 2019
Siobhan Lynch, Marie-Louise Gander, Ananda Nahar et al.
An 8-week mindfulness program adapted for university students, Mindfulness-Based Coping With University Life (MBCUL), led to significant reductions in anxiety, depression, and perceived stress, along with increased mindfulness, compared with a wait-list control group. The study involved students from the University of Northampton (mean age 25 in the mindfulness group, 28 in controls). Attrition was high and the sample small, limiting generalizability, but the results suggest MBCUL is an acceptable and useful program that merits further study with larger samples.
Transpersonal Psychology Review
September 1, 2008
Harald Walach
Narcissism appears in two forms: ego-inflation, characterized by pathological grandiosity, and the Moses complex, marked by excessive self-devaluation and low self-esteem. In groups, both manifest through the symbiotic relationship between charismatic leaders and worshipping followers. These represent subtle spiritual defense mechanisms that obstruct the genuine spiritual task of discovering and transcending one's true self. Due to its focus on spiritual and transcendent experiences, transpersonal psychology is especially prone to attracting individuals with narcissistic issues, and awareness of this tendency is important. Practical implications for the field are discussed.
Transpersonal Psychology Review
January 1, 2007
Harald Walach
Transpersonal psychology often treats introspective reports as objective data, an approach criticized as Naïve Objectivism of Introspective Data (NOISED). This paper argues for a middle ground: taking inner experience seriously without naivety. Future transpersonal methodology must move from subjective to intersubjective experience, similar to how science treats outer-world data, but no equivalent method exists for inner experience. Simply accepting experience as data is insufficient. The solution is to develop a pragmatic catalogue of criteria for judging inner experiences, a future task for transpersonal epistemology. This requires a circular structure linking experience to tradition and testing it pragmatically. The paper develops how and why this should be done.
Psychotherapie, Psychosomatik, medizinische Psychologie
January 1, 2005
Harald Walach, Niko Kohls, Wilfried Belschner
Transpersonal psychology has grown in research and clinical practice. This overview traces its history and sources, discussing spirituality's role in psychotherapy and counseling, spirituality as a health resource, spiritual experiences as paths to consciousness, and the distinction between extraordinary states and spiritual crises. It addresses critiques, such as whether language-free experience is possible and how Eastern concepts can be translated into Western psychology. Positive aspects are presented, arguing that transpersonal psychology deserves serious scientific consideration.