The Permanente Journal
January 30, 2014
Charles Elder, Sanford Nidich, Francis Moriarty et al.
117 citations
Teachers and support staff at a therapeutic school for students with severe behavioral problems who learned the Transcendental Meditation program showed significantly greater reductions in perceived stress, depression, and overall burnout after four months compared with a wait-list control group. Effect sizes ranged from 0.40 to 0.94. The program was effective in reducing psychological distress in this employee population.
The Permanente Journal
January 1, 2012
Nancy H Vuckovic, Louise A Williams, Jennifer Schneider et al.
13 citations
For women with temporomandibular joint disorders (TMDs) who had not responded to standard medical care, shamanic healing led to improvements in usual pain, worst pain, and functional impairment that persisted unchanged for nine months after treatment ended. The study followed 23 women aged 25 to 55 in Portland, Oregon, who reported their pain and disability at one, three, six, and nine months after treatment. The lasting effects suggest that shamanic healing may benefit individuals with TMDs who are highly responsive to external stressors and have psychosocial difficulties, described from a shamanic perspective as 'dispirited.'
The Permanente Journal
March 14, 2025
Jack R Watson, Laura E. Halpin, Violeta Barroso et al.
2 citations
Psychedelic and empathogenic compounds hold therapeutic potential but are expensive and complex to study, with significant safety concerns. This review examines eight late-phase medicinal psychedelic studies in the FDA approval pipeline, including the FDA's denial of Lykos Therapeutics' New Drug Application for MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD. It also discusses California legislative proposals to legalize psychedelic compounds for adult use as a cheaper alternative, though these proposals lack thorough drug safety evaluation. The authors argue that the FDA should remain the appropriate agency to evaluate and approve these therapeutics.
The Permanente Journal
January 1, 2017
Sanford Nidich, Angela Seng, Blaze Compton et al.
Incarcerated women experience higher rates of trauma than the general population. In a pilot randomized controlled trial, 22 female inmates at a correctional facility were assigned to either a Transcendental Meditation (TM) program or a wait-list control group. After four months, the TM group showed significant reductions in total trauma symptoms, intrusive thoughts, and hyperarousal compared with controls. Effect sizes were large, ranging from 0.65 to 0.99. Compliance with the TM program was 81%. The findings suggest TM may be a feasible and effective intervention for reducing trauma symptoms in incarcerated women, though larger studies are needed.
The Permanente Journal
January 1, 2016
Sanford Nidich, Tom O'connor, Thomas Rutledge et al.
Incarcerated men with moderate- to high-risk criminal profiles who practiced Transcendental Meditation for four months showed significant reductions in trauma symptoms—including anxiety, depression, dissociation, and sleep disturbance—as well as perceived stress, compared with those receiving usual care. The benefits were especially pronounced among those with high trauma levels, with effect sizes ranging from 0.67 to 0.89. These findings align with earlier research on Transcendental Meditation's effects on trauma and stress.