Clinician Counseling ’ s Digest Tips continued from page 910
Breathwork may improve mood and change physiological states more effectively than mindfulness meditation
“[ I ] ndividuals who use assigned breathwork techniques experienced greater improvements in mood and lowered respiratory rates as compared to those practicing mindfulness meditation . These findings indicate that breathwork may be an important therapeutic tool for those experiencing depressed mood or an overactive nervous system . … Unlike mindfulness meditation , breathwork involves intentionally altering the body ’ s physiological state through controlled breathing techniques . Mindfulness meditation focuses on observing one ’ s breath without actively trying to change it , with the goal of increasing present moment awareness .”
SOURCE : Cell Reports Medicine , March 10 , 2023 : ( See also the PsyPost artible at bit . ly / 3WQRe9r .)
Neuroscience evidence counters a rape myth
“ Victims frequently report immobility during rape and sexual assault , often using the term ‘ freezing .’ Neuroscientific evidence suggests fear and threat can block cortical neural circuits for action control , leading to involuntary immobility . Defense arguments that blame victims for freezing are thus inappropriate and unjust . Rape and sexual assault ( collectively , RSA ) are distinctive types of aggressive and criminal human behavior that are overwhelmingly committed by men and directed at women . Thirty per cent of women have experienced RSA in their lifetime .
SOURCE : Nature Human Behavior ( May 22 , 2023 ): bit . ly / 3qoJvnc
Human – AI collaboration enables more empathic conversations in text-based , peer-to-peer mental health support
“ An artificial intelligence ( AI ) -based chat interface named HAILEY … offers assistance to mental health peer supporters who interact online with individuals seeking support … . Peer supporters who took part in the study reported an overall increase in conversational empathy when using the interface and also felt more confident about providing support . … Although access to therapy and counselling is limited , peer-to-peer platforms in nonclinical settings can provide some support , which provides health benefits and is strongly correlated with mental health symptom improvement . … HAILEY , a chat interface , … uses a previously developed language model that is specifically trained for empathic writing . [ Researchers ] recruited 300 mental health supporters from the peer-to-peer platform TalkLife . In a controlled trial , participants were split into two groups , with one group receiving feedback on responses they wrote via HAILEY to real-world posts that were filtered to avoid harm-related content . HAILEY provided suggestions for phrases to either replace or insert , which participants could choose to ignore or adopt ; for example , suggesting replacing the phrase “ Don ’ t worry ” with “ It must be a real struggle .” The authors found that the human – AI collaboration approach led to an almost 20 % increase in conversational empathy , evaluated by a previously validated AI model , and an almost 40 % increase in conversational empathy for peer supporters who had reported experiencing difficulties in providing support .” SOURCE : Nature Machine Intelligence , Jan . 23 , 2023 : bit . ly / 43EWmQu
How Parents Feel About Feelings Can Deeply Affect a Child ’ s Emotional and Social Development
“ We conducted random effects meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials of emotion socialization interventions delivered to parents of children aged 18 months to 6 years 11 months . … Interventions had a positive effect on positive and negative emotion socialization parenting practices ( g ’ s = 0.50 ) and child emotional competence ( g = 0.44 ). Interventions also had a positive effect on positive ( g = 0.74 ) and negative parenting behaviors ( g = 0.25 ), parent psychological well-being ( g = 0.28 ), and child behavioral adjustment ( g = 0.34 ). … Conclusions : Emotion socialization parenting interventions are effective for improving emotion socialization parenting practices and child emotional competence . “
SOURCE : Clinical Psychology Review , Vol . 100 , March 2023 , By Gillian England-Mason , bit . ly / 3MMUNsR . ( See also April 8 , 2023 , Neuroscience News article at bit . ly / 3N9yizJ .
Evaluation of Brain-Body Health in Individuals With Common Neuropsychiatric Disorders
“ Physical health and chronic medical comorbidities are underestimated , inadequately treated , and often overlooked in psychiatry . … This multicenter population-based cohort study including 85,748 adults with neuropsychiatric disorders and 87,420 healthy control individuals found that poor body health , particularly of the metabolic , hepatic , and immune systems , was a more marked manifestation of mental illness than brain changes . … Management of serious neuropsychiatric disorders should acknowledge the importance of poor physical health and target restoration of both brain and body function .” Finding : “ Poor body health was a more pronounced illness manifestation compared to brain changes in schizophrenia …, bipolar disorder …, depression …, and anxiety .”
SOURCE : JAMA Psychiatry , by Ye Ella Tian , MBBS , PhD , et al ., published online April 26 , 2023 . bit . ly / 3NcqlcX . ( See also Science Alert article at bit . ly / 43Ecth2 .)
10 The Advocate Magazine 2023 , Issue # 1 American Mental Health Counselors Association ( AMHCA ) www . amhca . org