This study is aimed at evaluating the outcomes of mind–body transformation therapy (MBT-T), previously known as the creative psychosocial genomic healing experience© (CPGHE). The intervention was aimed at reducing the perceived level of stress in two non-clinical groups of students with different educational levels and different expertise in the domain of well-being. Whereas participants from the first group were first-year university students, participants from the second group were students attending a post-graduate program in psychotherapy. All participants (n = 159) were exposed to a single session of MBT-T, each group in a separate session. The results of two paired-samples t-tests, conducted separately on the two samples, showed that there was a statistically significant reduction in the participants’ perceived level of stress between pre- and post-intervention states in both samples (t88 = 5.39, p < 0.001; t53 = 4.56, p < 0.001 respectively). The results, therefore, showed that a single session of MBT-T was beneficial in reducing the perceived level of stress in both first-year university students and students attending a post-graduate program in psychotherapy, regardless of educational level and expertise in the domain of well-being.

Mind-body therapies can be defined as interventions that are based on several practices designed to facilitate the mind's positive impact on the body (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2016). Ancient practices for self-care and well-being such as meditation, yoga, tai chi, and qigong, as well as more modern western practices such as hypnotherapy, progressive relaxation, autogenic training, mindfulness, biofeedback, guided imagery, relaxation training, and psychological therapies, all embrace this definition. The list is ever growing and includes new practices developed over the past few decades that integrate psychology, consciousness, and body movement, such as eye movement desensitization reprocessing (Fernandez & Faretta, 2007), mind-body transformation therapy (Rossi, Mortimer, & Rossi, 2013), and brain wave modulation (Cozzolino & Celia, 2016), which we used for the purposes of this study in a population of university students.

Young people's mental health problems are a matter of concern during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Counselling services for university students by means of telemental support can help them to deal with psychological issues that they may be facing due to the pandemic. The present study investigated the effects of four once‐weekly online counselling sessions based on a mind‐body technique (the Brain Wave Modulation Technique; BWM‐T) on enhancing positive affect and on reducing negative affect and anxiety in a sample of 54 university students (96.3% females; M age = 21.31 years, SD = 2.09). An experimental design was conducted: the participants were randomly assigned to the intervention group, which received 15 min of a guided online BWM‐T session, or to the control group, which watched a 15‐min video on how to sustain their psychological well‐being. The results of a two‐factor mixed‐design analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that the participants in the intervention group reported a significant increase in positive affect and a decrease in negative affect over time compared to those in the control group. They also reported a slight decrease in state anxiety compared to the control group, although this was just short of statistical significance. The information provided by this study, regarding emotional outcomes among university students after four brief online counselling sessions, suggests that such interventions could be an effective and sustainable way to reinforce young people's mental health during the COVID‐19 pandemic, as well as later in their university careers and adult lives.

BackgroundThe mental health of university students is significantly affected when faced with public health emergencies and requires specific interventions to help support and prevent any long-lasting effects that the pandemic may have on their mental health status. This study aims to evaluate the impact of an online individual counseling intervention provided by the University of Foggia and carried out during the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health status of a sample of university students.Methods32 Italian undergraduate students took part in a one-group pretest-posttest research design. The data was gathered in two times: before the start of the counseling intervention (T1), positive and negative affect, satisfaction with life, global mental distress, anxiety, stress, and future time perspective were collected, at the end of the counseling intervention (T2), the same dimensions were measured. A one-way repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was performed, and single Bonferroni-corrected dependent t-tests were conducted on variables showing a significant change over time.ResultsThe results showed that positive affect, subjective well-being, and future time perspective increased significantly after the intervention. In contrast, the participants reported significantly lower levels of negative affect, global mental distress, state and trait anxiety, as well as perceived stress over time.ConclusionsThe study demonstrates the promising impact of online counseling intervention and its efficient contribution in promoting the well-being of university students. The results contribute to the ongoing debate concerning the psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on young adults, helping professionals develop more efficient clinical and psychological interventions.

Cet article se situe dans le sillage des études sur les dynamiques de groupe (Anzieu, Rouchy) et sur la narration (Shafer, Spence, Bruner, White). Il propose de discuter d’un éventuel lien entre le style narratif et la dynamique d’un groupe, en fonction de son évolution. L’hypothèse proposée est que les groupes ont un style narratif spécifique selon les phases dans lesquelles ils se trouvent, et que celles-ci peuvent être identifiées grâce à des indicateurs spécifiques. L’attention portée au style narratif du groupe offre au clinicien d’intéressantes opportunités de « lecture » et d’action : l’analyse des styles narratifs apporte un éclairage sur l’état du groupe, favorise la formulation d’hypothèses d’intervention et en facilite le développement. à partir de l’analyse de la structure linguistique et verbale, de la structure des contenus, de la structure émotionnelle et de l’ambiance des narrations des participants, le clinicien peut orienter son intervention en faveur de l’évolution du groupe, produire des changements chez les participants ou les interpréter.