Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
August 17, 2026
Christopher P. Albertyn, Ron Shore, Linda E. Carlson et al.
As interest in psychedelic-assisted therapy grows, an important policy question remains largely unaddressed: who is responsible for ensuring safe, equitable, and accountable implementation within cancer care systems? This poster explores the emerging governance landscape for psychedelic-assisted therapy in Canada. Abstract Background: Psilocybin-assisted therapy (PAT) is emerging as a promising...
Seminars in radiation oncology
July 1, 2026
Hanna S W Conradi, Jamie N Petersson, Julie M Deleemans et al.
1 citation
Many people with cancer (PWC) continue to experience persistent biopsychosocial and existential challenges across the cancer care continuum. Symptoms such as anxiety, depression, cancer-related fatigue and pain, sleep disturbance, fear of cancer recurrence, cognitive impairment, and reduced quality of life remain highly prevalent during and after treatment, underscoring the need for...
Global advances in integrative medicine and health
2026
Haley D M Schuman, Raèf Mina, Sofia Barkova et al.
Healthcare providers' (HCPs) perspectives on psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) are critical to clinical integration but remain underexplored in Canadian palliative and oncology contexts. This study examines HCP attitudes toward ketamine, psilocybin, and MDMA, and the systemic and ethical factors influencing implementation. An exploratory qualitative study using semi-structured interviews was...
Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.)
December 22, 2025
Linda E. Carlson, Harriet Richardson, Ron Shore et al.
1 citation
The CAnadian Network for Psychedelic-Assisted Cancer Therapy (CAN-PACT) was launched in 2025 to address urgent gaps in supportive care for Canadians with cancer experiencing demoralization syndrome (loss of meaning, dysphoria, disheartenment, helplessness, a sense of failure) and related psychosocial distress. CAN-PACT has six major objectives: (1) to develop a national interdisciplinary...
Psycho-oncology
November 1, 2025
Marie-Estelle Gaignard, Dominica Martin, Jelena Stanic et al.
Mindfulness-Based Interventions (MBIs) are recognized as beneficial in oncology supportive care. While qualitative analyses of mindfulness program experiences exist, this is the first mixed methods study to examine patients' experiences after participating in the online Mindfulness-Based Cancer Recovery (e-MBCR) program. The SERENITY study was a pilot randomized controlled trial evaluating the...
Current Oncology
June 30, 2025
Haley D M Schuman, Chantal Savard, Raèf Mina et al.
9 citations
This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluates (1) the effectiveness of psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) using psilocybin and ketamine for psychosocial symptoms in adults with cancer, (2) contextualizes findings with non-randomized and exploratory studies of other psychedelics, and (3) examines the role of therapeutic frameworks in shaping outcomes. We searched PubMed, Cochrane Library,...
Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology
June 12, 2025
Linda E. Carlson, Jennifer M Jones, Devesh Oberoi et al.
4 citations
Many cancer survivors have high levels of distress and psychosocial symptoms. Two mind-body interventions for treating these problems are Mindfulness-Based Cancer Recovery (MBCR) and Tai Chi/Qigong (TCQ). However, while both interventions show efficacy compared with usual care, they have never been studied together. This trial was the first, to our knowledge, to incorporate innovative design...
The oncologist
January 17, 2025
Cristiane Decat Bergerot, Paulo Gustavo Bergerot, Errol J Philip et al.
4 citations
Patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) experience emotional distress and limited supportive care access. This study assesses a mindfulness app's feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy in improving emotional symptoms, trait mindfulness, and overall quality of life for patients with mRCC on immunotherapy. This multinational study recruited patients with mRCC undergoing...
Integrative Cancer Therapies
2025
Haley D M Schuman, Sofia Barkova, Raèf Mina et al.
2 citations
People living with cancer (PLWC) often face profound existential distress that is insufficiently addressed by conventional psychosocial supports. This qualitative study explored PLWC's attitudes, beliefs, and experiences regarding psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) as a novel approach to addressing psychosocial suffering, particularly existential distress. Fifteen participants with varying...
Frontiers in Pain Research
April 4, 2024
Mohamad Baydoun, Zen Gajtani, Michaela Patton et al.
BackgroundChronic cancer-related pain (CRP) can have a significant negative impact on quality of life. Mindfulness is hypothesized to mitigate chronic CRP by regulating both physical and emotional resistance to pain. In recent years, there has been interest in the use of virtual reality (VR) to deliver mindfulness meditation. VR provides an immersive and engaging environment, which may enhance...
Annual Review of Psychology
September 14, 2022
Linda E. Carlson
50 citations
This article provides an overview of the fields of psychosocial and integrative oncology, highlighting common psychological reactions to being diagnosed with and treated for cancer, including distress, anxiety, depression, fear of cancer recurrence and caregiver burden, as well as symptoms of fatigue, pain, and sleep disturbance. Patterns of symptomatology across the disease continuum are also...
Cancer Management and Research
June 1, 2015
Linda E. Carlson, Codie R. Rouleau, Sheila N. Garland
152 citations
Research on the use of mindfulness-based stress reduction and related mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) in cancer care has proliferated over the past decade. MBIs have aimed to facilitate physical and emotional adjustment to life with cancer through the cultivation and practice of mindfulness (ie, purposeful, nonjudgmental, moment-to-moment awareness). This descriptive review highlights...
Consciousness and Cognition
July 1, 2014
Michael J. Mackenzie, Linda E. Carlson, David M Paskevich et al.
38 citations
Yoga practice is reported to lead to improvements in quality of life, psychological functioning, and symptom indices in cancer survivors. Importantly, meditative states experienced within yoga practice are correlated to neurophysiological systems that moderate both focus of attention and affective valence. The current study used a mixed methods approach based in neurophenomenology to...
The Journal of Positive Psychology
June 30, 2014
Laura E. Labelle, Linette Lawlor‐Savage, Tavis S. Campbell et al.
78 citations
This longitudinal waitlist-controlled study evaluated the effects of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) on spirituality, posttraumatic growth (PTG), and mindfulness in cancer patients. The study also assessed whether increased mindfulness mediated the effects of MBSR on spirituality and PTG. Patients were either registered for immediate participation in MBSR (n = 135), or were naturally...
ISRN Psychiatry
November 14, 2012
Linda E. Carlson
183 citations
Research on mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) for treating symptoms of a wide range of medical conditions has proliferated in recent decades. Mindfulness is the cultivation of nonjudgmental awareness in the present moment. It is both a practice and a way of being in the world. Mindfulness is purposefully cultivated in a range of structured interventions, the most popular of which is...
Journal of behavioral medicine
June 2012
Tavis S Campbell, Laura E Labelle, Simon L Bacon et al.
The present study is a waitlist-controlled investigation of the impact of a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program on mindful attentiveness, rumination and blood pressure (BP) in women with cancer. Female post-treatment cancer patients were recruited from the MBSR program waitlist. Participants completed self-report measures of mindfulness and rumination and measured casual BP at...
Integrative Cancer Therapies
April 13, 2012
Sheila N. Garland, Rie Tamagawa, Sarah C. Todd et al.
91 citations
BACKGROUND: Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) has demonstrated efficacy for alleviating cancer-related distress. Although theorized to be the means by which people improve, it is yet to be determined whether outcomes are related to the development or enhancement of mindfulness among participants. This study examined the effect of participation in an MBSR program on levels of mindfulness...
Stress and Health
March 15, 2010
Kathryn A. Birnie, Michael Speca, Linda E. Carlson
599 citations
Abstract Mindfulness‐based stress reduction (MBSR) programmes have demonstrated beneficial outcomes in a variety of populations. Self‐compassion and empathy have theoretical connections to mindfulness, the key element of the MBSR programme; however, previous studies examining the programme's impact on self‐compassion or empathy have demonstrated mixed results. This study examined the impact of...
Psycho-oncology
November 16, 2009
Kathryn A. Birnie, Sheila N. Garland, Linda E. Carlson
152 citations
OBJECTIVE: Cancer patients experience many negative psychological symptoms including stress, anxiety, and depression. This distress is not limited to the patient, as their partners also experience many psychological challenges. Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) programs have demonstrated clinical benefit for a variety of chronic illnesses, including cancer. This is the first study to...
Psychology of Religion and Spirituality
May 1, 2009
Kenneth Bond, Maria B. Ospina, Nicola Hooton et al.
67 citations
The authors used a 5-round Delphi study with a panel of 7 experts in meditation research to achieve agreement on a set of criteria for a working definition of “meditation” for use in a comprehensive systematic review of the therapeutic use of meditation. Participants agreed that essential to a meditation practice is its use of (a) a defined technique, (b) logic relaxation, and (c) a...
The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine
December 1, 2008
Maria B. Ospina, Kenneth Bond, Mohammad Karkhaneh et al.
140 citations
OBJECTIVE: To provide a descriptive overview of the clinical trials assessing meditation practices for health care. DESIGN: Systematic review of the literature. Comprehensive searches were conducted in 17 electronic bibliographic databases through September 2005. Other sources of potentially relevant studies included hand searches, reference tracking, contacting experts, and gray literature...
Brain, behavior, and immunity
November 2007
Linda E Carlson, Michael Speca, Peter Faris et al.
This study investigated the ongoing effects of participation in a mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program on quality of life (QL), symptoms of stress, mood and endocrine, immune and autonomic parameters in early stage breast and prostate cancer patients. Forty-nine patients with breast cancer and 10 with prostate cancer enrolled in an eight-week MBSR program that incorporated...
Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer
August 2007
Sheila N Garland, Linda E Carlson, Sarah Cook et al.
The aim of this study was to compare a mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program and a healing through the creative arts (HA) program on measures of post-traumatic growth (PTGI-R), spirituality (FACIT-Sp), stress (SOSI), and mood disturbance (POMS) in cancer patients. A sample of cancer outpatients (MBSR, n = 60; HA, n = 44) with a variety of diagnoses chose to attend either an 8-week...
Stress and Health
November 28, 2006
Michael J. Mackenzie, Linda E. Carlson, Marleny Munoz et al.
178 citations
Abstract Quantitative research has shown Mindfulness‐based Stress Reduction (MBSR) programmes can reduce mood disturbance, improve quality of life, and decrease stress symptoms of cancer patients. However, the range of subjective effects experienced by programme participants has not been clearly described. Nine cancer patients who had participated in an 8‐week MBSR programme through the Tom...
Social Work in Health Care
May 24, 2006
Holly G. Minor, Linda E. Carlson, Michael J. Mackenzie et al.
166 citations
OBJECTIVES: Given the demands of caring for chronically ill children, it is not surprising that caregivers often experience high levels of chronic stress. A Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program may offer relief to these caregivers by providing tools for self-care and heath promotion that otherwise may be lacking. METHODS: MBSR classes were offered without restriction to parents of...