Researchers from Boston University conducted an effect size analysis of MBSR (Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction) for anxiety and mood symptoms in clinical samples. The meta-analysis was based on 39 studies totaling 1,140 participants receiving mindfulness-based therapy for a range of conditions, including cancer, generalized anxiety disorder, depression, and other psychiatric or medical conditions.
 
Effect size estimates suggest that mindfulness-based therapy was moderately effective for improving anxiety (Hedges's g = 0.63) and mood symptoms (Hedges's g = 0.59) from pre- to posttreatment in the overall sample.

Researchers from University Medical Center in Groningen, The Netherlands, examined the longterm effectiveness of three treatments for panic disorder, with or without agoraphobia: cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), pharmacotherapy using a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), or the combination of both (CBT + SSRI). As a secondary objective, the relationship between treatment outcome and 7 predictor variables was investigated.
 
One hundred fifty patients were assigned to a treatment arm lasting one year. Pharmacotherapists were free to choose between 5 SSRIs currently marketed in The Netherlands. Outcome was assessed after 9 months of treatment (posttest 1), after discontinuation of treatment (posttest 2), and at 6 and 12 months after treatment discontinuation (follow-up 1 and follow-up 2).

Researchers from the University of Southern California’s Department of Psychology performed a meta-analysis of what treatment approaches work best for women who have been sexually assaulted during adolescence or adulthood.
 
Altogether, 32 articles were located using data from 20 separate samples. Of the 20 samples, 12 targeted victims with chronic symptoms, three focused on the acute period post-assault, two included women with chronic and acute symptoms, and three were secondary prevention programs.

Researchers from the Department of Mental Health at the Naval Medical Center in San Diego compared the effectiveness of Exposure Therapy (ET) to Virtual Reality (VR) in the treatment of combat-related posttraumatic stress in theater at Camp Fallujah in Iraq.

This case series documents the first use of VR-based therapy in the treatment of PTSD in a combat theater.  Results of therapy are being reported from a mental health clinic in Camp Fallujah, Iraq.

Combat PTSD constituted a relatively small percentage of overall mental health patients seen. Those who did present with PTSD were offered either VR-based ET or traditional ET.  

Researchers from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia conducted a systematic review of studies that compare the impact of various techniques on reducing pain and distress in children getting shots for immunization.

The investigators identified randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and quasi-RCTs that measured the impact of these interventions during the injection of vaccines in children 0 to 18 years of age. Both self-report and observer assessments were used as measures.

A research team from New York University and the University of Texas at Austin demonstrated that timing is critical in extinguishing a fear response – and this has groundbreaking potential for the treatment of phobias, anxiety disorders and posttraumatic stress.  Evidently, there’s a brief window of opportunity for rewriting painful emotional memories immediately after re-activating them, when the imprinted memory becomes labile and open to change.

Simple fear was created in 65 subjects by giving them a mild electrical shock on the wrist one third of the time when shown a colored square appear on a computer screen (Earlier research in conditioned learning shows that this is the frequency of ‘punishment’ that creates a lasting association).

Researchers from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada reviewed the literature to investigate whether Eastern techniques, such as mindfulness, acupuncture or yoga might be used to improve unsatisfying sexual experiences in women (problems with desire, arousal or orgasm).

The search revealed only two empirical studies of mindfulness, two of acupuncture, and one of yoga in the treatment of sexual dysfunction.  These limited results revealed that mindfulness significantly improved several aspects of sexual response and reduced sexual distress in women with sexual desire and arousal disorders. 

Researchers from Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust in Wales, UK, explored the impact of various interventions when they are delivered within 3 months of the traumatic event.

The study identified 25 randomized, controlled trials of multiple-session psychological treatments aimed at preventing or reducing traumatic stress symptoms in individuals within 3 months of exposure to a traumatic event.  The studies examined a range of interventions. 

Researchers from Monash University in Victoria, Australia, compared Panic Online (PO), an internet-based Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) intervention, to best-practice, face-to-face CBT, for people with panic disorder with or without agoraphobia.