A small study of 25 Canadian women with histories of body image disorder and disability reveals 12 pathways they took to achieve positive body image status. This is a very encouraging study and offers people struggling with body image disorder possibilities to escape from the trap and realize health and freedom. Thank you and go, Canada!
Because PTSD is so widespread in the general population and in the military, and that its treatment is very expensive—one estimate from 2018 put the average cost per patient at $19, 630—alternate and complimentary practices are growing in interest especially mindfulness meditation. It has been a hot topic of study over the past ten years—even the RAND Corporation, a military think tank, looked into it—and continues to show great promise for both its positive effects and relatively low cost.
The ancient meditators knew that mental concentration and conscious breathing were tools to spiritual enlightenment. Researchers today in the contemplative sciences continue to make headway sorting out just how controlled breathing--in this case, conscious mindful breathing, affects emotional processing. I think the ancients knew about this feature as well.
This report typifies the current state of affairs in research into various forms of complimentary, alternative, integrative medicine (CAIM). Much of the research is hobbled for various reasons, but what little there is yields positive findings and the urging for more work. Yet, if one reads the studies closely, the overall picture is quite encouraging.
Obesity is complex mix of body image disturbance, emotional restrictions, childhood experiences coupled with stigmatization by society and loathing of the self. A recent study analyzing 7,766 research articles using body-oriented therapy to treat obesity points at promising results.
A recent Chinese study explores the quality and quantity of research into acupressure conducted between 2004 and 2024. It found 1,929 studies published in 770 publications. The study showed that research into acupressure can be divided into eight key areas of application and that it has been fluctuating over the years, but always in a steady upward direction. The two countries in which most of the research has been conducted is China and the United States.
Perhaps the most ancient of all body-mind-spirit healing techniques is hypnosis. Hypnosis, a natural state of altered consciousness, has been u sed for thousands of years for healing, psychological integration, and intuitive insight. It was first applied as a psychotherapeutic method in the late 1800s and evolved in modern hands through the 1980s. It has now been rediscovered by science and research results continue to affirm its usefulness in cancer treatment, pain management, dermatological issues, and gastroenterology problems.
This blog-lecture reviews five recent studies of yoga and its effects on body image. Yoga is a powerful tool for improving body image, body appreciation, and embodiment (the feeling of body connectedness). And, as one study shows, even just a few sessions of yoga yield positive effects.
New research evidence supports the notion that slow breathing realizes psychological and physiological improvements. Interestingly, researchers compared changing the exhalation vs. inhalation times and found no difference in effect.
Dr. McBride, a somatic clinical psychotherapist, takes us on a remarkable trip using her own personal recovery from a life-threatening car accident to illustrate key principles and issues in clinical somatic psychotherapy. It is an impressive piece of work which offers both personal and professional insights into the healing process and the "re-membering" of the body.
In reviewing books in the Somatic Clinical Psychology literature I notice that quite a few titles use the term, "body wisdom," in their titles. This piqued my curiosity so a cursory search--which will remain in process until further notice--found about 40 titles. I offer a list of contemporary works ranging from 1934 to today for readers interested in this topic and note how the genre itself has evolved from the work of Wilhelm Reich, Elsworth Baker, Alexander Lowen, Paul Goodman, Fritz and Laura Perls, and others. Their predecessors were Jean-Martin Charcot, Pierre Janet, and Sigmund Freud a century earlier.
Virtual reality technology reality has been applied to treating acute pain in recent years. And, while there are few studies along these lines at present and several of them yield contradictory results, the positive evidence is building. Applying VRT increases a person’s sense of their own embodiment and this perception somehow diminishes acute and chronic pain. Given the results, this pathway will continue to be explored and one assumes that VRT will be varied somehow to accommodate for differences in pain conditions.