“…These improvements may also interact with improved behaviors that are associated with health. For example, prayerful states and meditation are associated with activation in the prefrontal cortex ( Newberg and d’Aquili, 2001 ; Azari et al, 2005 ; Seybold, 2007 ; Goleman and Davidson, 2017 ), an area of the brain that plays a role in self-regulation. In much the same way as a muscle, “working out” one’s self-regulation muscle may provide it with greater strength and ability to apply it in other ways and settings ( Baumeister et al, 2006 ).…”
In the Mindfulness-Based Eating Awareness Training program (MB-EAT) (Kristeller and Wolever, 2014; Kristeller and Wolever, in press), mindfulness practice is taught, mindful eating is cultivated, and self-acceptance and spiritual well-being are enhanced. An integrative concept is the value of cultivating ‘wisdom’ in regard to creating a new and sustainable relationship to eating and food. ‘Wisdom’ refers to drawing on personal experience and understanding in a flexible, insightful manner, rather than strictly following external rules and guidelines. Several clinical trials involving variations of MB-EAT have documented substantive improvement in how people relate to their eating, including individuals with both binge eating disorder (BED) and subclinical eating issues. Based on the traditional value of contemplative practices for cultivating spiritual engagement, and on evidence from related research showing that spiritual well-being increases in the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program and is related to other effects, we hypothesized that the MB-EAT program would also engage this aspect of experience, as assessed by the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy – Spiritual Well-Being subscale (FACIT-Sp), and that increases in spiritual well-being would relate to other measures of adjustment such as emotional balance and improvement in disordered eating. Participants (N = 117) with moderate to morbid obesity, including 25.6% with BED, were randomly assigned to MB-EAT or a wait-list control, and assessed on the FACIT-Sp and other measures at baseline, immediate post (IP), and 2-month followup (F/Up). Both FACIT-Sp factors [Meaning/Peace (M/P) and Faith] increased significantly in the MB-EAT group and were stable/decreased in the control group. Increases in these factors related to improvement in emotional adjustment and eating regulation at IP and at F/Up, and to increases in aspects of mindfulness measured by the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ). Increases in M/P during treatment mediated effects of the FFMQ Observe factor on eating regulation and depression at IP. Results are discussed in terms of the role that mindfulness practice plays in cultivating ‘wise mind’ and the related value of spirituality. It is argued that the core elements of the MB-EAT program lead to meaningful spiritual engagement, which plays a role in people’s ability to improve and maintain overall self-regulation.
“…These improvements may also interact with improved behaviors that are associated with health. For example, prayerful states and meditation are associated with activation in the prefrontal cortex ( Newberg and d’Aquili, 2001 ; Azari et al, 2005 ; Seybold, 2007 ; Goleman and Davidson, 2017 ), an area of the brain that plays a role in self-regulation. In much the same way as a muscle, “working out” one’s self-regulation muscle may provide it with greater strength and ability to apply it in other ways and settings ( Baumeister et al, 2006 ).…”
In the Mindfulness-Based Eating Awareness Training program (MB-EAT) (Kristeller and Wolever, 2014; Kristeller and Wolever, in press), mindfulness practice is taught, mindful eating is cultivated, and self-acceptance and spiritual well-being are enhanced. An integrative concept is the value of cultivating ‘wisdom’ in regard to creating a new and sustainable relationship to eating and food. ‘Wisdom’ refers to drawing on personal experience and understanding in a flexible, insightful manner, rather than strictly following external rules and guidelines. Several clinical trials involving variations of MB-EAT have documented substantive improvement in how people relate to their eating, including individuals with both binge eating disorder (BED) and subclinical eating issues. Based on the traditional value of contemplative practices for cultivating spiritual engagement, and on evidence from related research showing that spiritual well-being increases in the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program and is related to other effects, we hypothesized that the MB-EAT program would also engage this aspect of experience, as assessed by the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy – Spiritual Well-Being subscale (FACIT-Sp), and that increases in spiritual well-being would relate to other measures of adjustment such as emotional balance and improvement in disordered eating. Participants (N = 117) with moderate to morbid obesity, including 25.6% with BED, were randomly assigned to MB-EAT or a wait-list control, and assessed on the FACIT-Sp and other measures at baseline, immediate post (IP), and 2-month followup (F/Up). Both FACIT-Sp factors [Meaning/Peace (M/P) and Faith] increased significantly in the MB-EAT group and were stable/decreased in the control group. Increases in these factors related to improvement in emotional adjustment and eating regulation at IP and at F/Up, and to increases in aspects of mindfulness measured by the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ). Increases in M/P during treatment mediated effects of the FFMQ Observe factor on eating regulation and depression at IP. Results are discussed in terms of the role that mindfulness practice plays in cultivating ‘wise mind’ and the related value of spirituality. It is argued that the core elements of the MB-EAT program lead to meaningful spiritual engagement, which plays a role in people’s ability to improve and maintain overall self-regulation.
“…This is a role operationism has played in scientific psychology for decades. For example, in his book, Explorations in Neuroscience, Psychology, and Religion , Seybold () contends: Adopting methodological naturalism and reductionism are necessary positions for scientists to hold when working in a lab or in the field, but they can hold these beliefs without also assuming that natural mechanisms are all that exist (ontological naturalism) or that reality is nothing more than the reduced individual parts that make up some phenomenon. A psychologist can use methodological reductionism to study some mental or behavioral process, for example the brain areas involved in empathy and forgiveness, without assuming that empathy and forgiveness are nothing more than patterns of neural activity.…”
Section: Methodological Naturalism and Operationism In Psychologymentioning
Many scientists and philosophers of science have argued that metaphysical naturalism and methodological naturalism represent distinct and separable philosophical commitments. This claim is true in the sense that metaphysics and epistemology reflect different philosophical projects. The major question of interest to psychologists, however, is whether at the pragmatic level of research designed to discover the psychological sphere in which we live our lives, the metaphysical and the methodological realms are so tightly interwoven that some important aspects of our humanity cannot be faithfully revealed without distortion, or even missed altogether. This paper argues that, in light of its intellectual origins, methodological naturalism is informed by metaphysical naturalism at the level of its formulation, and, thereby, is by its nature more apt to reveal phenomena of certain ontological types and less apt to faithfully reveal phenomena of other ontological types. In this sense, metaphysical naturalism cannot help but subtly shape psychological investigation and thus insert itself to some degree into our understanding of many important psychological phenomena. The work of the French phenomenologist Jean‐Luc Marion, particularly his concept of “saturated phenomena,” is briefly discussed by way of a call for greater methodological openness in psychological research – an openness that will permit psychological scientists to better “save the phenomena” in their accounts of human experience.
“…However, forgiving is not the same as reconciling with an offender (Enright & North, 1998;Worthington & Drinkard, 2000). A person can choose to forgive an offender without restoring the fractured relationship (Freedman, 1998;Seybold, 2007). As Wade and his colleagues note, this understanding of forgiveness permits an offended party to continue to hold an offender accountable for the consequences of her or his behavior and to contemplate whether a relationship (along with its antecedents, e.g., trust) can be reestablished (Wade, Worthington, & Haake, 2009).…”
v CHAPTER 1. LITERATURE REVIEW 1 CHAPTER 2. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 43 CHAPTER 3. METHODS AND PROCEDURES 46 CHAPTER 4. RESULTS 64 v ABSTRACT Research over the past quarter-century has revealed a host of benefits associated with forgiving someone for a past hurt, such as reductions in anxiety and depression and increased satisfaction with life and subjective well-being. Despite these potential benefits, forgiving is difficult. As such, researchers and clinicians have examined the efficacy of therapeutic interventions that assist clients in developing forgiveness. Ultimately, such interventions are evaluated by their efficacy in successfully cultivating forgiveness and promoting well-being (e.g., reducing psychological symptoms). The present experiment was conducted to understand the potential value of two group counseling interventions for individuals suffering the effects of a past hurt. In particular, this study sought to determine (a) whether some interventions are more effective than others at cultivating forgiveness; (b) whether individuals with masculine versus feminine gender role orientations will respond differently to these interventions; and (c) whether individuals with masculine gender role orientations in particular have unique needs when it comes to forgiving. The investigation was informed by the growing body of literature indicating that males and females often respond better to particular psychotherapy
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