Acceptance and Mindfulness Techniques as Applied to Refugee and Ethnic Minority Populations With PTSD: Examples From "Culturally Adapted CBT"

In this article we illustrate how we utilize acceptance and mindfulness techniques in our treatment (Culturally Adapted CBT, or CA-CBT) for traumatized refugees and ethnic minority populations. We present a Nodal Network Model (NNM) of Affect to explain the treatment's emphasis on body-centered mindfulness techniques and its focus on psychological flexibility. We explain the definition of mindfulness that guides our treatment, and we outline a typology of mindfulness states and show how many of the techniques in our treatment can be analyzed by these categories. We argue that acceptance and mindfulness are therapeutic for refugees and minority populations for several reasons. These include their increasing psychological flexibility, decreasing somatic distress, decreasing rumination, serving as emotion regulation techniques, decreasing the attentional bias to threat, and forming part of a new adaptive processing mode (which in CA-CBT centers on psychological flexibility). We describe the specific ways we teach acceptance and mindfulness with Latino and Southeast Asian refugee populations and present case examples of the treatment of a traumatized Latino and Cambodian patient.     

Neural Substrates of Olfactory Discrimination Learning with Auditory Secondary Reinforcement. I. Contributions of the Basolateral Amygdaloid Complex and Orbitofrontal Cortex

The basolateral amygdaloid complex (BLA) and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) share extensive reciprocal connections, and interactions between these regions likely contribute to both mnemonic and affective processes. The present study examined the potential differential contributions of the BLA and OFC to performance of an olfactory discrimination task that incorporates auditory conditioned reinforcement and to expression of immediate post-shock freezing behavior. Damage to the BLA had little effect on performance of the conditioned reinforcement task but abolished immediate post-shock freezing behavior. In contrast, damage to OFC resulted in both a mild but significant performance decrement in the conditioned reinforcement task and a significant attenuation of immediate post-shock freezing behavior. These findings suggest that immediate post-shock freezing behavior is likely critically dependent upon interactions between the BLA and OFC. However, although mnemonic processes underlying accurate performance of the conditioned reinforcement task might be supported by OFC in part, such processes are independent of either the BLA or interactions between these two regions.     

How to design an electronic memory aid for brain‐injured patients: Considerations on the basis of a model of prospective memory

There has been an enormous development in the field of electronic memory aids, such as mobile phones, organizers, or combinations of both. Nevertheless, these devices have hardly been useful in the neuropsychological therapy of memory‐impaired patients so far. The model of prospective remembering by Ellis (1996) is used as theoretical background in order to (1) analyse patients' needs concerning electronic memory aids, (2) evaluate the usefulness of electronic memory aids for patients described in the literature, as well as of two commercially available electronic memory aids, and (3) derive conclusions concerning demands on how to design a memory aid suitable for patients. While most of the devices designed for patients improve their reliability by compensating for lack of self‐initiated retrieval, most of them are not able to compensate for problems during execution or evaluation. Commercially available memory devices have the advantage of being available to everybody, but they can only support mildly impaired patients. Patients with more severe deficits, however, need a more suitable interface in order to facilitate data entry. In addition, interactive chains of actions should be implemented in order to support execution and evaluation of future intentions. MEMOS, a system in development that tries to realize these demands, is presented.     

Religion as capital: Christianity in the lives of Anglo-Indian youth in India

Religion is an important marker of identity for India’s Anglo-Indians. It distinguishes them within the principally non-Christian context and is integral to socializing youth to their distinct Anglo-Indian culture and heritage. This can be observed in Anglo-Indian practice—attending Christian schools, church-going, celebrating religious festivals, making pilgrimages—which forms a significant part of a matrix through which young Anglo-Indians learn how to perform their Anglo-Indianness. Our recent research (2013–2014) looked at the role of religion in the lives of Anglo-Indians intergenerationally and transnationally, through a survey, interviews, and participant observation. The results suggest that the performed religiosity of Anglo-Indian youth in India yields certain benefits for this group. It constitutes a capital which has the potential to make an enormous difference to their lives—socially, culturally, and otherwise. For example, Christian practice provides them with access to élite Christian educational institutions and the career possibilities that follow from such education. This article describes our research, focusing upon the findings related to Anglo-Indian youth in India. In particular, it argues that in various ways, the practice of Christianity both acts and is recognized by young Anglo-Indians as a source of capital in their lives, which is not to say that religion is practised for the purpose of acquiring capital. Rather, religious practice is a part of being Anglo-Indian that in India accrues capital.     

REDUCTION OF RUMINATION USING A SUPPLEMENTAL STARCH FEEDING PROCEDURE

A supplemental starch feeding (SSF) procedure was used to decrease rumination in a 27‐year‐old man. A multiple baseline across mealtimes design determined treatment efficacy, followed by 26 months of maintenance and fading implemented by direct‐care staff. Following intermittent meals, four slices of bread were offered in a paced manner, after which the frequency of rumination was measured. Subsequent to the SSF sessions, the participant's rumination reduced 47%, from 0.19 per minute (8.5 per session) after baseline sessions to 0.09 per minute (4.1 per session) after treatment sessions. Ongoing measures in the natural setting continued to show reductions through maintenance and fading of the supplemental feeding. No weight gain was noted during the time the procedure was in place. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Social and Temporal Comparisons Made by Individuals Living With HIV Disease: Relationships to Adherence Behavior1

When faced with the uncertainty of serious illness, individuals cope by comparing themselves to other people (social comparisons) and to other times in their lives (temporal comparisons). Participants were 44 individuals being treated for HIV who completed questionnaires measuring comparisons, adherence, and self‐efficacy; 34 also completed qualitative interviews that were coded for comparisons. High levels of comparison to worse‐off others, worse‐off past selves, and better‐off future selves were prevalent. Comparisons to worse‐off others resulting in positive affect were associated with greater medication adherence; comparisons to better‐off others resulting in negative affect were related to worse adherence. Self‐efficacy to adhere mediated the relationship between comparison and adherence. Individuals who are uncertain about treatment outcomes may engage in social comparison to gain specific knowledge about adherence.