by Em V. Adams  , Brandi M. Crowe  , Jasmine Vanadore  , Marieke Van Puymbroeck  and Arlene A. Schmid

Received: 06 February 2022;  Published: 22 April 2022;  doi: 10.21926/obm.icm.2202020

The purpose of this descriptive survey was to explore how, and for what purpose, health care practitioners use yoga in clinical practice. A survey was administered to professionals who identified as healthcare practitioners who used yoga in their practice. There were 205 completed responses from a combination of healthcare practitioners including occupational therapists, physical therapists, yoga therapists, recreational therapists, speech-language pathologists, and mental health counselors. Practitioners worked in [...]

by Michael Hales  and Robert Marx

Received: 10 January 2022;  Published: 19 April 2022;  doi: 10.21926/obm.icm.2202019

Service-user volunteers in a National Health Service (NHS) Mental Health Trust in the UK have made an unusual contribution to mindfulness teaching, training, research and governance as ‘advocates’ of mindfulness-based therapy interventions. We explore the nature of what has been named internally as the ‘wisdom’ of the ‘advocate’ group in this NHS Trust, and its impact on mental health provision. A clinician (clinical psychologist) and an advocate (anthropologist) conduct an investigative conversational journey usin [...]

by OBM Integrative and Complementary Medicine Editorial Office

Received: 02 April 2022;  Published: 18 April 2022;  doi: 10.21926/obm.icm.2202018

Interview with Dr. James David Adams. The skin is where pain is sensed and where chronic pain is created. The safest and most effective treatment for pain is topical plant medicines. Chronic pain can be cured with topical plant medicines. Transient receptor potential cation channels in the skin sense pain. Chronic pain involves a pain chemokine cycle. Monoterpenoids and diterpenoids from plants can stop this pain chemokine cycle and cure chronic pain.

by Felicity Saunders  , Jane Vosper  , Stuart Gibson  , Rhiann Jamieson  , Jill Zelin  and Janet Barter

Received: 16 October 2021;  Published: 14 April 2022;  doi: 10.21926/obm.icm.2202017

Genito-Pelvic Pain Penetration Disorder (GPPPD) affects between eight and twenty percent of women. There is recent evidence that compassion focused therapy (CFT) can help those with general health conditions and persistent pain. This study aims to investigate application of CFT techniques to an existing psychosexual therapy group of women with GPPPD and establish an effect size that could be used in a fully powered trial in future. The study took place within a routine clinical setting. Women who attended a group w [...]

by Joanna E. Witkin  , Ekaterina Denkova  , Anthony P. Zanesco  , Alexandra B. Morrison  , Joshua Rooks  , Jane Carpenter  , Michael Baime  and Amishi P. Jha

Received: 24 August 2021;  Published: 06 April 2022;  doi: 10.21926/obm.icm.2202016

Mindfulness training (MT) has been shown to benefit sustained attention and mind wandering. Yet, few studies have examined whether benefits differ as a function of individual differences in mind wandering. The sustained attention to response task (SART) measured task accuracy (A′), response time variability (response time intraindividual coefficient of variation, ICV), and self-reported mind wandering in participants before (T1) and after (T2) a 1-month MT retreat (n = 56), as well as in a control group (n = 32) wh [...]

by David Feinstein

Received: 27 January 2022;  Published: 01 April 2022;  doi: 10.21926/obm.icm.2202015

The vague or controversial use of the term energy in the clinical subdiscipline known as “energy psychology” has been an obstacle to the field’s acceptance. This paper discusses five forms of energy and explores the role of each in energy psychology treatments. While patterns in (a) electrical signaling, (b) brain waves, and (c) electromagnetic fields are presumably shifted in any form of effective psychotherapy, a strength of energy psychology interventions is shown to be in their ability to initiate such effects [...]

by Rosita Borlimi  , Greta Riboli  , Mattia Nese  , Matilde Buattini  , Marella Colombardo  and Gianni Brighetti

Received: 07 November 2021;  Published: 01 April 2022;  doi: 10.21926/obm.icm.2202014

The length of the menstrual cycle (MC) varies among women, with an average regularity between 21 and 40 days. Six temporal frames can be observed within the monthly cycle, based on the fluctuations of the hormone levels. These fluctuations are accompanied by alterations in the central nervous system (CNS) and autonomic nervous system (ANS) and can be quantified using psychophysiological techniques. In this systematic review, we discussed the studies conducted with healthy females that examined aspects associated wi [...]

by Musa Itopa Yakubu  , Nahu Mohammed Danjamu  , Mohammed Garba Magaji  , Sani Malami  , Axel Becker  , Medinat Yakubu Abbas  and Ben Ahmed Chindo

Received: 25 February 2022;  Published: 31 March 2022;  doi: 10.21926/obm.icm.2201013

Preparations of Zingiber officinale are used in Nigerian folk medicine to manage colds, pain, arthritis, nausea, and epilepsy. The ameliorative effects of co-administering aqueous Zingiber officinale extract (GE) and sodium valproate (SDV) on pentylenetetrazole-kindled mice were evaluated regarding cognitive deficits, neuronal cell loss, and seizure severity. GFAP was also quantified. Male mice were pretreated with GE (50 mg/kg), SDV (100 and 200 mg/kg), and GE + SDV before kindling. After kindling, the mice underw [...]

by Patricia Gabrielli Vassão  and E-Liisa Laakso

Received: 03 February 2022;  Published: 21 March 2022;  doi: 10.21926/obm.icm.2201012

Photobiomodulation therapy (PBMT) for minimal to moderate Kellgren and Lawrence grade knee osteoarthritis has significant evidence for effectiveness. The effect of PBMT in severe grades of osteoarthritis is less clear; and no studies have investigated the effect of PBMT before and after knee replacement surgery. This small study (n=4) aimed to understand the potential feasibility of undertaking a future randomised controlled clinical trial of a self-administered, home-based light patch system before and after total [...]

by Heather Mary Kempton

Received: 23 November 2021;  Published: 11 March 2022;  doi: 10.21926/obm.icm.2201011

Mindfulness practices have exploded in popularity in public awareness and in therapeutic applications. While mindfulness in a therapeutic context is presented as a secular practice, its primarily Buddhist heritage may make some Christian clients wary of engaging. Research indicates that both reflection (co-creation) on poetry and creation of poetry can be therapeutic, and that both Buddhist and secular/therapeutic mindfulness texts use poetry to convey meaning through key themes of nature, change/impermanence, stag [...]