BMC medical education
March 27, 2025
Camilla Sköld, Anton Steen, Maria Niemi et al.
6 citations
A mixed-method survey of 201 healthcare students who completed a mindfulness-based stress management course found that most continued to practice mindfulness after graduation, with 85.3% of those who continued reporting that the competence helped in relationships with patients, compared to 57.1% who did not continue. Participants with prior mindfulness experience were more likely to sustain practice (84% vs. 50%). The qualitative analysis identified themes of increased acceptance, relaxation, self-compassion, and better patient interactions, alongside some negative experiences like aversiveness. The authors argue that learning mindfulness as a student can contribute to a sustainable professional life by building skills to handle stress and develop compassionate relationships.
PloS one
January 1, 2024
Erik Jönhagen, Tim Wood, Maria Niemi et al.
5 citations
Mindfulness practice can produce intense experiences that for some individuals resemble psychotic-like experiences, according to a qualitative study of 13 mindfulness teacher trainees. Over four months, participants submitted fortnightly meditation reports. Most practitioners frequently described intense experiences during meditation, and in some cases these experiences were similar to psychotic-like experiences. The findings suggest that adverse effects, including intense and potentially psychosis-like experiences, can occur as a natural part of mindfulness practice, raising concerns for both clinical and non-clinical settings.
Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics
June 12, 2026
Thorsten Barnhofer, Maria Niemi, Johannes Michalak et al.
1 citation
For adults with difficult-to-treat depression—those who have not responded to prior treatments, have treatment-resistant depression, or have a chronic course—mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) is likely superior to usual care, reducing depressive symptoms by a standardized mean difference of -0.40 at post-treatment and -0.41 at medium-term follow-up. There was a 92% and 85% probability, respectively, that these benefits exceeded a minimal important difference. However, MBCT did not show clear superiority over other active psychosocial interventions, and no robust moderators of outcome were identified across baseline severity, chronicity, or comorbidity.