In the past 15 years, Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) has achieved broad appeal and effectiveness for depressive and anxiety disorders. This presentation will trace the personal and scientific milestones behind MBCT’s development, including initial failures and subsequent revisions of the approach in advance of controlled evaluation. It will also highlight advances in MBCT dissemination achieved …
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Join two renowned leaders in the field of contemplative studies for a conversation reviewing a 15-year history of collaboration between contemplatives and neuroscientists, with perspectives from both traditions. The discussion will explore the philosophical and scientific issues germane to the investigation of well-being. The possibility of cultivating well-being will be considered, along with the underlying …
Meaning–making is fundamental to biological survival, insofar as hedonic valuation (i.e., “is this good for me, or bad for me?”) drives behavior to facilitate homeostatic goal attainment. Yet, the dysregulation of hedonic value is at the root of many of the most pressing maladies afflicting modern society, including addiction, stress, and chronic pain. For instance, …
In 2002, His Holiness the Dalai Lama wrote, “The desperate state of our world calls us to action…We all are responsible for creating a better future.” Over 15 years later, those words inspire and alarm. Enormous suffering exists in our world today. Mental health problems and adversity are prevalent and impairing, including among children and …
Continue reading “Keynote: To Be of Benefit: The Promise of Contemplative Research and Practice”
Mental afflictions challenge people everywhere in the world and every tradition has methods for alleviating mental suffering. Cultural psychiatry explores the impact of diverse social histories, cultures, and contexts on mental health and illness. A growing literature demonstrates the role of culture in shaping illness onset, experience, coping, healing, and recovery. Recent work in cognitive …
Continue reading “Ecologies of Mind in Health and Illness: A Perspective from Cultural Psychiatry”
A focus on cultural ecology—how human actions or practices shape the physical, social, and mental landscapes in which we grow up and live—permits one to track the biocultural dynamics through which culture gets “under the skin.” Such embodiment is driven by adaptive context-expectant features of human development and biology that operate through experience-contingent, epigenetic, time-sensitive, …
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This session will present recent studies on the placebo effect as critical points of reference for understanding the “context” of mindfulness. I will focus on numerous “non-specific” mechanisms that have been evaluated in studies of the placebo effect, including the therapeutic effects of relationship, expectation, hope, surprise, and embodiment. I will draw from published studies …
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The 2017 Mind & Life Summer Research Institute gives attention to scientific, humanistic and first-person contemplative perspectives on intersubjectivity and social connectivity. Plenary presentations, workshops and small group discussions explore interrelational human dynamics, including how we relate to ourselves and others, and to community and strangers. Faculty from across a multitude of disciplines present research findings on the meditative cultivation of pro-social emotions, intergroup dynamics, social and embodied cognition, cognitive ecology, implicit bias and social justice.
This panel will discuss and explore cross-cutting perspectives about interpersonal relationships and the interdependent forces that bind humans. The conversation will consider the range of human relations from implicit biases that inhibit inter-personal communication to spontaneous intimate relations with strangers. Panelists will discuss from both empirical and theoretical perspectives how human relations impact people at …
Close relationships provide a critical context for health. In this Plenary Session, David Sbarra will discuss the evolutionary basis of the relationship-health association, and in particular the central role of perceived partner responsiveness (PPR) as a key interpersonal behavior that maintains high-quality relationships. After reviewing research in this area, he will discuss a growing literature …
Continue reading “Relationships, Health, and Technology: Toward an Evolutionary Mismatch?”
