Cognitive processing therapy (CPT) improved valued living—living consistently with personal values—in Veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder, while sudarshan kriya yoga (SKY) did not produce significant improvements. In a randomized trial with 59 Veterans, CPT led to moderate gains in progress toward valued living and reductions in obstruction to valued living from baseline to end of treatment. Differences between the two treatments were not statistically significant. Veterans who started with less valued living and more depression symptoms showed greater improvements in valued living after either treatment.
Mindfulness meditation has become widely used for stress, depression, substance abuse, and chronic pain, but reports have raised concerns about adverse events such as anxiety, pain, and even psychosis. This viewpoint argues that common emotional or physical reactions during meditation are not true adverse events but expected parts of the process. More severe outcomes like psychosis are confounded by factors such as practice intensity, psychological stressors, and psychiatric history. Programs like MBSR and MBCT are shorter and less intense, designed to avoid inducing pain or panic. The authors urge consistent use of a definition of adverse events limited to severe outcomes or hospitalization.
The Mindfulness-Based Interventions: Teaching Assessment Criteria (MBI:TAC) was originally created to assess the teaching competence of mindfulness-based program (MBP) teachers. Its use has since expanded from assessment to informally supporting teacher training. This article examines the rationale for implementing the MBI:TAC in MBP teacher training, offers practical guidance on integrating the tool into training pathways with awareness of its potential and pitfalls, and provides guidance on using it to give effective feedback. The authors argue that implementing the MBI:TAC may support the quality and integrity of MBP teacher training, helping ensure high quality graduating teachers and potentially avoiding an 'implementation cliff'—where intervention quality drops when delivered in real-world conditions versus research settings.
A modified Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program for under- and unemployed individuals was feasible and acceptable, with a 96% enrollment rate and 72% retention rate across two phases. Perceived stress and mindfulness showed significant moderate improvements, while depression, anxiety, and pain interference had small non-significant improvements. Effects on fatigue and sleep disturbance were negligible. The authors conclude that the program was acceptable to the organization and participants, and call for larger randomized studies.