Contemporary psychotherapy suffers from paradigm fragmentation: affective neuroscience, depth psychology, and evidence-based interventions (EFT, IFS, mindfulness) operate in disciplinary silos without a unifying theory explaining why diverse methods converge on similar therapeutic outcomes. We propose the Integrative Emotional Alchemy Framework (IEAF), a three-stratum theory positing that...
Two North American psychoanalysts made a number of journeys into the Amazon Rainforest to interact with dream interpreters practicing in an indigenous culture that places dream interpretation at the center of daily life for individuals and communities. The psychoanalysts found that the work of sophisticated dream interpreters in the Achuar communities of southeastern Ecuador and northwestern...
This scoping review aims to map the existing literature on the prevalence of nightmares in pediatric oncology patients. Nightmares are common in children and may be exacerbated by the trauma of cancer diagnosis and treatment. However, their prevalence and impact in pediatric oncology remain poorly understood. A comprehensive search was conducted in the following databases: CINAHL, PsycINFO,...
Background: Brief mindfulness meditation can alter emotional processing during music listening, yet evidence on musical aesthetic emotions has been concentrated in younger samples. Extending this work to later life is theoretically relevant because older adults bring decades of accumulated musical experience to listening, which may shape their aesthetic emotional responses. The present study...
Exceptional experiences commonly described as parapsychological or as extra-sensory—including precognition, telepathic impressions, meaningful coincidences, and other forms of anomalous cognition—remain among the most controversial topics in consciousness research. Population studies consistently demonstrate that such experiences are widespread across cultures and appear to transcend ordinary...
Kundalini experiences—characterised by sensations of internal energy movement, sequential anatomical progression, boundary dissolution, and reports of expanded or cosmic consciousness—have been documented across contemplative traditions for millennia, yet remain theoretically underspecified within contemporary neuroscience. This paper proposes that these experiences can be understood, without...
Background: Wushu taolu, a structured movement practice requiring postural control, coordination, rhythm, body awareness, and continuous self-monitoring, provides a suitable context for examining these associations. This cross-sectional study examined associations between pose-derived wushu kinematic features and embodied psychological variables, and tested statistical indirect associations...
Qualia have long occupied a central place in the science and philosophy of consciousness, often invoked as the subjective residue that eludes physical explanation. In this paper, we argue that the classical concept faces serious explanatory and ontological difficulties. We present 10 reasons for setting it aside: (1) its unstable causal status; (2) the regress of the inner observer; (3) the...
BackgroundAcross contemplative traditions, the most experienced practitioners describe an endpoint in which devotion is no longer confined to particular times and places but becomes a continuous, featureless condition scarcely distinguishable from ordinary living. Positive psychology, approaching the same terrain from a measurement perspective, distinguishes fleeting hedonic states from durable...
Qualia have played a key role in the development of a science of consciousness. They brought into focus the question of whether explaining the availability of information for reasoning, verbal report, and the control of action would suffice to explain conscious experience. A science confined to access consciousness would have to justify that restriction and explain what became of the...
Frontiers in PsychologyOctober 28, 2026Kriti Vashishtha, Charu Dhankar, Shraddha Tripathi et al.
In modern scholarly perspectives on grieving, being saddened has been associated with bodily experience. Numbness, shaking, a heavy heart, and other physical symptoms are caused by the intense pain of loss. Most Western philosophies have increasingly focused on psychological models based on the idea of how the self adjusts to the devastating experience of losing a loved one, and this has...
Introduction The Tibetan Buddhist tradition distinguishes between two broad categories of meditation: Sutra and Tantra, which differ in the methods and mental faculties they employ. The main neurophysiological studies of Tibetan Buddhist meditation have been conducted mostly on Sutra practices; while Tantric meditation remains less studied. Methods This publication presents a dual comparative...
Frontiers in PsychologyOctober 27, 2026Nasiru Mohammed Abdullahi, Rashid Menhas, Patience Osose Nasir et al.
Background: Clinical research on psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) has expanded substantially in recent years, particularly for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depressive disorders. Contemporary studies have generally evaluated psychedelic administration within controlled therapeutic settings that include psychological support, preparation, and integration. However, variability in...
Introduction Originating in Indian contemplative and musical traditions, yoga has transformed into a globalized set of psychophysiological and psychospiritual practices. Its worldwide spread has generated diverse formats and frameworks within which it is understood, including classical texts, modern practice manuals, medical research developing yoga-based interventions, and the academic field...
Introduction: During critical developmental periods, young family caregivers frequently take on unpaid caregiving for family members who are physically ill, have disabilities, or have mental health conditions. Ongoing caregiving pressure may be associated with a greater risk of anxiety and poorer mental health. Psychological flexibility and self-compassion reflect distinct but interrelated...
To handle the problem of resource scarcity and lack of personalization and adaptability in the traditional approach to mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) in dealing with college students with anxiety disorders, this study proposes the use of the natural language interface and adaptability properties of large language models (LLMs) to come up with an intelligent college-level MBCT...
Introduction There is a growing interest in incorporating nature into mindfulness-based programs. This study is unique as it targets parents and family caregivers experiencing caregiving stress. Methods A mixed-methods study was conducted to evaluate the outcome of a nature-based mindfulness intervention program. A comprehensive outcome measures targeting benefits of parents and caregivers,...
Frontiers in PsychologyOctober 15, 2026France Lerner, Paulo Cezar Rocha Dos Santos, Guillaume Tahar
Near-Death Experiences (NDEs) challenge conventional research methods, as they are often described as exceeding the limits of verbal expression. While most studies rely on narrative accounts, little attention has been given to graphic representations as a complementary mode of investigation. This study employs a hybrid approach combining a semi-structured digital questionnaire with a graphic...
Introduction: Interventions that dyadically equip families with self-compassion skills represent a promising approach for addressing mental health challenges, particularly during the key transitional period of middle childhood. This study examines changes and candidate processes associated with participation in the Mindfulness and Self-Compassion for Children and Caregivers (MSC-CC) course....
Frontiers in PsychologyOctober 14, 2026Marc A. Broberg, Mick Thacker, Karl John Friston et al.
We present an active inference account of persistent dizziness predicated on models of enactivism and ecological psychology; including first-hand accounts of the patient’s lived experience. Mechanistically, we consider persistent dizziness to reflect an initial failure of sensory attenuation of vestibular and other sensory prediction errors. This failure becomes self-maintaining if the patient...
Both quantum mechanics and cognitive neuroscience challenge the classical view of a passively perceived reality. Instead, they suggest that reality arises through a process of selection and stabilization from a field of possibilities. This article proposes that this “reality stabilization” framework can unify our understanding of psychosis and post-psychotic depression—two conditions that are...
Frontiers in PsychologyOctober 12, 2026David Preiss, Valeska Grau, David Torres Irribarra et al.
This study investigated how daydreaming frequency, the emotional valence of mind wandering, mindfulness, and multiple facets of playfulness predict creativity across verbal, figural, and mathematical domains in a sample of Chilean high school students ( N = 405). Participants completed self-report measures of attentional dispositions and playfulness, along with five creativity assessments...
Schizophrenia patients often experience frailty due to persistent hallucinations, delusions, negative symptoms, and social stigmatization, severely impacting their quality of life and psychosocial functioning. Recently, mindfulness intervention therapy has emerged as a supplementary treatment for residual symptoms and functional decline in schizophrenia. Numerous controlled studies, systematic...
Aggression and impulsivity are prevalent behavioral tendencies in adolescents that may negatively affect academic performance, social interactions, and engagement during physical education (PE). Although mindfulness-based interventions have shown promise for improving emotional and behavioral regulation, evidence of their effectiveness when delivered within school PE settings remains limited....
This article seeks to answer questions that are currently at the forefront of neuroscientific research. An attempt will be made to assign a numerical value to the minimum set of neurons necessary to generate a mental process at a given time. Along the same line of enquiry, the number of neurons involved and the time required for the emergence of a mental experience, engaging several areas of...