Terapi SEFT (Spiritual Emotional Freedom Technique) Sebagai Upaya Penurunan Hipertensi Pada Lansia: Literature Review

Spiritual Emotional Freedom Technique (SEFT) is a relaxation technique which is a form of mind-body-therapy from complementary and alternative therapies. SEFT works by activating the body's meridian pathways by light tapping on 9 or 18 meridian points of the body, with the mind and heart concentrating on the place and the pain that we feel accompanied by prayer. The study aimed to examine the effect of SEFT therapy on blood pressure in the elderly with hypertension. The study applied a literature review. By using the keywords "SEFT, Hypertension, Elderly" the articles were searched from GARUDA and Google Scholar databases. The articles that published in period of 2011 to 2021 and fit with the inclusion and exclusion criteria were reviewed. The quality of articles was assessed using CONSORT checklist. The results show that the mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure before SEFT therapy was 163 mmHg and 93 mmHg, respectively. Meanwhile, the mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure after SEFT therapy was 154 mmHg and 88 mmHg, respectively. There is a significant effect of SEFT therapy on reducing blood pressure in the elderly with hypertension. SEFT therapy is effective and can be applied as a complementary therapy in reducing blood pressure in the elderly. Based on the results, SEFT therapy can be socialized to the wider community and can be applied as an alternative therapy to reduce blood pressure in hypertensive patients.Keywords: Elderly, Hypertension, SEFT AbstrakSpiritual Emotional Freedom Technique (SEFT) merupakan teknik relaksasi yang merupakan salah satu bentuk mind-body-therapy dari terapi komplementer dan terapi alternatif. SEFT bekerja dengan mengaktifkan jalur-jalur meridian tubuh dengan cara ketukan ringan atau tapping di 9 atau 18 titik meridian tubuh, dengan pikiran dan hati konsentrasi pada tempat dan rasa sakit yang kita rasakan disertai dengan doa. Untuk mengetahui pengaruh terapi SEFT terhadap tekanan darah pada lansia. Penelitian ini menggunakan literature review, dengan pencarian artikel menggunakan database garba garuda dan google scholar untuk menemukan artikel yang sesuai kriteria inklusi dan eksklusi dengan memasukan kata kunci “SEFT, Hipertensi, Lansia” dalam periode 2011-2021. Instrument untuk menilai kualitas artikel menggunakan CONSORT Instrumen. Hasil literature review menunjukan mean tekanan darah systole dan diastole sebelum dilakukan terapi SEFT adalah 163 mmHg dan 93 mmHg. Sedangkan mean tekanan darah systole dan diastole setelah dilakukan terapi SEFT adalah 154 mmHg 88 mmHg. Terdapat pengaruh yang signifikan terapi SEFT terhadap penurunan tekanan darah pada lansia lansia dengan hipertensi.Terapi SEFT efektif dan dapat diterapkan sebagai terapi komplementer dalam penurunan tekanan darah pada lansia. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian ini terapi SEFT dapat disosialisasikan kepada masyarakat luas dan dapat diterapkan sebagai terapi alternatif untuk menurunkan tekanan darah pada pasien hipertensi.Kata kunci: SEFT; Lansia;Hipertensi

Migraine Disability, Pain Catastrophizing, And Headache Severity Are Associated With Evoked Pain And Targeted By Mind-Body Therapy

Meta-analysis suggests migraine patients are no more sensitive to experimentally evoked pain than healthy controls. At the same time, studies have linked some migraine symptoms to Quantitative Sensory Testing (QST) profiles. Unfortunately, previous studies associating migraine symptoms and QST have important methodological shortcomings, stemming from inappropriate statistics, small sample sizes, and frequent use of univariate statistics for multivariate research questions. In the current study we seek to address these limitations by using a large sample of episodic migraine patients (n=103) and a multivariate analysis that associates pain ratings from many thermal intensities simultaneously with 12 clinical measures ranging from headache frequency to sleep abnormalities. We identified a single dimension of association between QST and migraine symptoms that relates to pain ratings for all stimulus intensities and a subset of migraine symptoms relating to disability (Headache Impact Trauma 6 and Brief Pain Inventory interference), catastrophizing (Pain Catastrophizing Scale), and pain severity (average headache pain, Brief Pain Inventory severity, and Short Form McGill Pain Questionnaire 2). Headache frequency, allodynia, affect, and sleep disturbances were unrelated to this dimension. Consistent with previous research, we did not observe any difference in QST ratings between migraine patients and healthy controls. Additionally, we found that the linear combination of symptoms that related to QST were modified by mind-body therapy. These results suggest that QST has a selective relationship with pain symptoms even in the absence of between-subjects differences between chronic pain patients and healthy controls.

Providing Psychological and Pedagogical Support to Young Children during the Period of Social and Psychological Adaptation

В статье рассмотрена проблема социально-психологической адаптации к дошкольному учреждению детей раннего возраста. Ее актуальность обоснована требованиями Федерального Закона «Об образовании» в Российской Федерации от 29.12.2012 года № 273-ФЗ (глава 7, статья 64) о необходимости создания условий для развития и социальной адаптации, способствующих укреплению и сохранению здоровья детей дошкольного возраста. Цель исследования состояла в определении содержательного и процессуального компонентов программы психолого-педагогического развития социально-психологической адаптации детей раннего возраста. В работе представлены результаты экспериментального исследования содержательного и процессуального аспектов адаптации этих детей к дошкольному учреждению, а также представлены результаты поиска новых концептуальных и эмпирических оснований психолого-педагогического сопровождения адаптации детей к дошкольному учреждению на базе ведущих подходов отечественной психологии — субъектно-деятельностного и личностно-ориентированного. Авторы выдвинули гипотезу о том, что эффективность программы развития социально-психологической адаптации детей раннего возраста обеспечивается развитием следующих ее компонентов: эмоционально-мотивационного (создание эмоционально благоприятной атмосферы в группе детей, снятие эмоционального напряжения, импульсивности, тревоги и агрессии); содержательно-целевого (развитие коммуникативных навыков, создание благоприятных условий для знакомства детей друг с другом, предпосылок для групповой сплоченности; развитие игровых навыков, произвольного поведения, формирование у детей ситуативно-делового общения на базе ситуативно-личностного); организационно-дея­тельностного (игровая деятельность, рефлексивная деятельность, изобразительная, сказкотерапия, пальчиковая гимнастика; элементы телесной терапии) и контрольно-оценочного (контроль и оценка с учетом критериев адаптированности на когнитивном, физиологическом, социальном, поведенческом и личностном уровнях). На базе эмпирического материала констатирующего этапа эксперимента, в котором участвовали 33 ребенка двух–трех лет, входящих в состав двух младших групп детского сада, 3 педагога и 33 родителя, авторы анализируют факторы адаптации детей раннего возраста к дошкольному образовательному учреждению. Результаты данного этапа могут быть использованы в качестве обоснования программы развития социально-психологической адаптации детей раннего возраста. Кратко представлена разработанная программа развития социально-психологической адаптации детей, которая была реализована на этапе формирующего эксперимента, оценка ее эффективности на контрольном этапе и перспективы дальнейших исследований. The article treats the issue of young children’s social and psychological adaptation to preschool environment. The relevance of the research is accounted for by the requirements stipulated in the Federal Law on Education in the Russian Federation of 29.12.2012 no 273-ФЗ (chapter 7, article 64) and associated with the necessity of providing favorable environments for young children’s development and social adaptation aimed at the preservation and improvement of their health. The aim of the research is to explore the content and procedure of young children’s social and psychological adaptation and their psychological and pedagogical development. The article presents the results of an empirical research aimed at the investigation of the content and procedure of young children’s psychological adaptation to preschool environment. It also presents the results of a research aimed at the investigation of the conceptual and empirical foundation of young children’s psychological and pedagogical adaptation to preschool environment through the prism of subject-activity approach and person-cantered approach as leading approaches of Russian psychology. The authors of the article hypothesize that the efficiency of programs aimed at young children’s social and psychological adaptation closely depends on the following components: emotion and motivation (the creation of an emotionally favourable atmosphere, removal of emotional strain, reduction of impulsiveness, anxiety and aggression); content and goal (the development of communication skills, the creation of favourable conditions for children’s communication, the instigation of cooperation, the development of game playing skills and arbitrary behaviour, the development of formal and informal communication skills); activity and implementation (game activities, reflexive activities, drawing ad painting activities, fairytale therapy, fingerplays, body therapy), monitoring and assessment (monitoring and evaluating adaptation at cognitive, physiological, social, behavioural and personal levels). The authors use empirical data gathered during the concluding stage of an experiment involving 33 young children (2-3-year olds attending junior kindergarten groups), 3 teachers, and 33 parents to analyze factors affecting young children’ adaptation to preschool environment. The results of the research can be used to develop a program of young children’s social and psychological adaptation. The authors summarize the main principles of the program of young children’s social and psychological adaptation which was employed in the experiment; they assess its efficiency and evaluate the potential of its further application.

Acupuncture for Psychological Disorders Caused by Chronic Pain: A Review and Future Directions

Accumulating evidence supports an association between chronic pain and psychological disorders, a connection that seems to be bidirectional. Treating both the pain and psychological conditions together is essential for effective treatment outcomes. Acupuncture is a somatosensory-guided mind–body therapy that can tackle the multidimensional nature of pain with fewer or no serious adverse effects. In this review, we discuss the use of acupuncture in some conditions with a high incidence of psychological disorders caused by chronic pain: headache, musculoskeletal pain, low back pain, and cancer pain, focusing on the effect and potential mechanisms of acupuncture. Overall clinical studies indicated that acupuncture might effectively contribute to management of psychological disorders caused by chronic pain. Mechanistic studies showed that acupuncture significantly alleviated such psychological disorders by regulating the activity of amygdala and insula, and regulating functional connectivity of insular and limbic regions/medial prefrontal cortex in humans and the corresponding animal models. In addition, 5-HT in the dorsal raphe nucleus, opioid receptors in the cingulate cortex, and plasma met-enkephalin are involved in acupuncture relief of pain and psychological symptoms. Substantial evidences from animal and human research support a beneficial effect of acupuncture in psychological disorders caused by chronic pain.

A Psychosocial Genomics Pilot Study in Oncology for Verifying Clinical, Inflammatory and Psychological Effects of Mind-Body Transformations-Therapy (MBT-T) in Breast Cancer Patients: Preliminary Results

Several studies have highlighted the key role of chronic inflammation in breast cancer development, progression, metastasis, and therapeutic outcome. These processes are mediated through a variety of cytokines and hormones that exert their biological actions either locally or distantly via systemic circulation. Recent findings suggest that positive psychosocial experiences, including psychotherapeutic interventions and therapeutic mind-body protocols, can modulate the inflammatory response by reducing the expression of genes/proteins associated with inflammation and stress-related pathways. Our preliminary results indicate that a specific mind-body therapy (MBT-T) could induce a significant reduction of the release of different cytokines and chemokines, such as SCGFβ, SDF-1α, MCP3, GROα, LIF, and IL-18, in the sera of breast cancer patients compared to a control group, suggesting that MBT-T could represent a promising approach to improve the wellness and outcome of breast cancer patients.

Somatic Research Bibliography: A Working Tool for Somatics and Somatic Psychology

Many years ago when Somatics magazine was young, it occurred to me that it would be valuable to collect and publish research article references in Somatics magazine that were relevant to the different somatics disciplines to encourage the development of the field. There were next to no studies devoted to Somatics itself, but there were many studies devoted to the elements of somatic practices. Somatics is a multidisciplinary field. It builds on the research findings from many fields, such as anatomy, physiology, neurophysiology, psychology, dance, biomechanics, and education. The references are selected to be suggestive to the interested researcher and practitioner for their purposes and of the many possible research avenues that are yet to be explored. I have collected these research references for more than four decades. I worked originally with Psychological Abstracts, then PsychInfo, and finally, PubMed. Over that time there has been more research done on the somatic disciplines themselves. The greatest amount of research has been done on yoga (the oldest and largest of the somatic disciplines) and yoga therapy. These studies are examples of the research that can be done with the other somatics disciplines as well. We are in an era that appreciates evidence-based practice and practice-based evidence. This is evidence. These research articles are selected according to the following criteria: The article combines both body and mind either in its research design or theoretical perspective; the research design incorporates convergent measures—that is, it includes physiological, behavioral, and psychological measures; subjective and objective measures; and the research focuses on the whole organism (human) from a somatic perspective—that is, the effect of a body therapy on a psychological state. Topics addressed include biofeedback, body psychotherapy, consciousness states, electrophysiology, kinesiology, mind and body, motor processes, neural basis of motor control, neuroscience, posture and emotion, psychophysiology, and yoga/yoga therapy.

The Effect of Naturism on Body Image and Interoceptive Awareness

Research considering the benefits of Naturism on body image recently re-emerged after decades of neglect. The present study continued prior work assessing positive body image and went further adding an instrument used to assess Eating Disorder treatment efficacy expecting to benchmark naturists with very low symptomatology scores. Self-report Interoceptive testing was also employed to consider neurological underpinnings and benefits of their exceptional resilience. 43 naturists (37 male), average age 57, and 36 controls (21 male), average age 38, British origin, participated online. Utilizing the Body Appreciation Scale 2 and The Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire, naturists consistently, significantly achieved higher positive, and lower negative body image scores across all measures. Naturist results on the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness 2 across all dimensions were also persistently higher than controls. Naturist results confirm their position as a unique population demonstrating exceptionally high negative body image resilience, this coupled with potential advantageous neurological benefits that with further investigation could lead to naturism becoming a proactive mind-body therapy to help prevent eating disorders. Comprehensive future philosophical, phenomenological and longitudinal research options were also put forward.