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Mindfulness practices are now utilized in a variety of behavioral healthcare settings, including the criminal justice system. This article summarizes the findings of a pilot project incorporating mindfulness practices into a jail-based... more
Mindfulness practices are now utilized in a variety of behavioral healthcare settings, including the criminal justice system. This article summarizes the findings of a pilot project incorporating mindfulness practices into a jail-based substance abuse program in a rural county jail. Participants that engaged in a psychoeducational mindfulness group that utilized practices adapted from the Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention (MBRP) curriculum had improved scores on measures of mindfulness, self-compassion, and quality of life. A mediated path model suggested that the length of time participants were involved in the group and their estimated amount of mindfulness practice outside the group was related to increases in mindfulness, which appeared to support subsequent increases in self-compassion and quality of life. Implications for incorporating these practices into jail-based programs and limitations are discussed.
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Previous research has documented similarities between symptoms of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Anorexia Nervosa, and Bulimia Nervosa and elevated comorbidity between these conditions in clinical samples, with the relationship... more
Previous research has documented similarities between symptoms of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Anorexia Nervosa, and Bulimia Nervosa and elevated comorbidity between these conditions in clinical samples, with the relationship between OCD and Anorexia being stronger than between OCD and Bulimia. Researchers adopting a continuum view of psychopathology have also found that individuals with sub-clinical expressions of obsessive-compulsive symptoms resemble their clinical counterparts in several ways. The goal of the current study was to explore whether or not the observed relationship between obsessive-compulsive symptoms and eating disorder symptoms observed in clinical populations would also be observed in a nonclinical population. 264 participants from a college sample completed self-report measures of these symptoms. A positive correlation was found between scores on obsessive-compulsive, anorexia and bulimia instruments, and reflective of their clinical counterparts the re...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
There are numerous ethical theories from which faculty may choose to teach in undergraduate philosophical ethics courses. Whether learning such theories results in ethical behavior change remains an open question. If one of the goals of... more
There are numerous ethical theories from which faculty may choose to teach in undergraduate philosophical ethics courses. Whether learning such theories results in ethical behavior change remains an open question. If one of the goals of teaching ethics is to support ethical behavior, then alternative approaches are merited. Within the past decades, there has been a growing emphasis on mindfulness and compassion-based practices in particular, as applied to psychotherapy in the field of psychology. Such findings have bearing on ways in which compassion-based practices might be fruitful in the philosophical ethics classroom. This article will identify issues with the dominant approach to teaching philosophical ethics, focusing on the need for a bridge between theory and action. It will also explore the potential benefits of utilizing mindfulness in the classroom, with a focus on compassion-based practices such as loving-kindness, to contribute to meeting this need to enhance the teaching of undergraduate philosophical ethics.