Mindfulness Research (Grad Schools)?

[TKYU]

Hey guys,

 

I'm planning on applying to grad schools this coming fall in Clinical Psychology. My area of interest is mindfulness. Although this is a popular topic in psychology nowadays, I can't seem to find a lot of professors who are in this line of research. I'm from Canada, so my plan is to apply to Canadian schools. However, I am open to the idea of applying to grad schools in the states as well!

 

If anyone is familiar with this area of research, or know of any professors conducting mindfulness research, please let me know!

[Jay's Brain]

Hey! Fellow Canadian here. The first person that springs to mind is Dr. Zindel Segal at UTSC in Toronto. He's pretty much synonymous with mindfulness-based research, and one of the co-founders of MBCT. When applying, you can be supervised by him solely or by one of the co-supervisors listed. 

I'll be attending a Canadian Clinical Psychology program this coming September, so if you have questions about the application process feel free to PM me!

Edited July 15, 2015 by Jay's Brain

[med latte]

Jeffrey Zacks at WashU.

[avidman]

Stanford's Center for Compassion And Altruism Research And Education has quite a bit on mindfulness, as it is a core component in compassion. I went to their conference back in 2012 and met a ton of great people. The site has a list of events and people, so check that out.

[TKYU]

Thanks guys! I'll look into it!

 

Seems like there are more programs in the states than Canada that are involved in mindfulness. I was hoping there would be a lot more in Canada haha.

[JoePianist]

Thanks guys! I'll look into it!

 

Seems like there are more programs in the states than Canada that are involved in mindfulness. I was hoping there would be a lot more in Canada haha.

 

USA > Canada

[TKYU]

USA > Canada

Haha 

[psychsquirrel]

Sona Dimidjian at the University of Colorado Boulder

[TKYU]

Sona Dimidjian at the University of Colorado Boulder

 

Thank you so much! Unfortunately she's not accepting grad students at the moment but I found two other professors from that university that are conducting mindfulness research and are accepting students!

[FantasticalDevPsych]

Paul Salmon and Sandra (Sandie) Sephton at University of Louisville (in Kentucky, USA) co-direct a lab that does some mindfulness research!

[JoePianist]

What kind of mindfulness research experience are you looking for? For the past week, I've been searching for Ph.D Clinical Psychology programs to apply for this upcoming application cycle, and I've noticed several Clinical Health Psychology professors incorporating mindfulness therapies for chronic illness & pain. There were also a handful of professors using mindfulness techniques for mood disorders, especially in treating anxiety

[TKYU]

What kind of mindfulness research experience are you looking for? For the past week, I've been searching for Ph.D Clinical Psychology programs to apply for this upcoming application cycle, and I've noticed several Clinical Health Psychology professors incorporating mindfulness therapies for chronic illness & pain. There were also a handful of professors using mindfulness techniques for mood disorders, especially in treating anxiety

 

I'm mostly interested in mindfulness-based psychotherapies for clinical disorders (depression, anxiety, BPD, etc). So everything you've mentioned would line up with my area of interest! Are the programs that you came across all in the States?

[JoePianist]

I'm mostly interested in mindfulness-based psychotherapies for clinical disorders (depression, anxiety, BPD, etc). So everything you've mentioned would line up with my area of interest! Are the programs that you came across all in the States?

 

I have some ideas in mind -- I'll send you a private message with some of my results, in case you have some competition looking for ideas on this thread ;-)

[Mystic_Fog]

Hey guys,

 

I'm planning on applying to grad schools this coming fall in Clinical Psychology. My area of interest is mindfulness. Although this is a popular topic in psychology nowadays, I can't seem to find a lot of professors who are in this line of research. I'm from Canada, so my plan is to apply to Canadian schools. However, I am open to the idea of applying to grad schools in the states as well!

 

If anyone is familiar with this area of research, or know of any professors conducting mindfulness research, please let me know!

You should check out Seligman from U Penn. he was my advisers graduate adviser, and he does a lot with positive psychology (esp interventions and mindfulness). Another great resource is actually a book called The Wiley-Blackwell Handbook of Positive Psychological Interventions. It's a bit of an anthology, and all of the chapters deal with interventions. It's a great place to start and get some background info and leads on where to look next.

Edited July 24, 2015 by Mystic_Fog

[JoePianist]

You should check out Seligman from U Penn. he was my advisers graduate adviser, and he does a lot with positive psychology (esp interventions and mindfulness). Another great resource is actually a book called The Wiley-Blackwell Handbook of Positive Psychological Interventions. It's a bit of an anthology, and all of the chapters deal with interventions. It's a great place to start and get some background info and leads on where to look next.

 

Seligman is a very well-known and well-respected researcher in the field (his contribution to "Learned Helplessness" studies in the 1960s is noted in every modern Psychology textbook), but do you know how he is as a mentor these days?

 

From my impression, he doesn't seem very approachable, especially considering that he has A TON of projects he's overlooking and book tours around the world. Last year, I had contacted him by email to express interest in applying to UPenn's doctorate psychology program with him as my mentor, and he replied with a rather standoffish and blunt response saying that I'd need a near-perfect application to even have a chance to be under consideration. I showed this email exchange to my undergrad psychology research mentor, and she felt his personality would be a bit "difficult" to deal with as a mentor

[VulpesZerda]

Maybe look into Ellen Langer at Harvard. Good luck!

[Mystic_Fog]

Seligman is a very well-known and well-respected researcher in the field (his contribution to "Learned Helplessness" studies in the 1960s is noted in every modern Psychology textbook), but do you know how he is as a mentor these days?

 

From my impression, he doesn't seem very approachable, especially considering that he has A TON of projects he's overlooking and book tours around the world. Last year, I had contacted him by email to express interest in applying to UPenn's doctorate psychology program with him as my mentor, and he replied with a rather standoffish and blunt response saying that I'd need a near-perfect application to even have a chance to be under consideration. I showed this email exchange to my undergrad psychology research mentor, and she felt his personality would be a bit "difficult" to deal with as a mentor

Ah yes. Well she was a graduate student years ago, so maybe he was more responsive then. Don't take his response personally - as I understand it, that's just how he is. You know the type. He's very good at what he does but he isn't necessarily the friendliest. I would maybe just focus more on reading his work than approaching him directly. In addition, U Penn is an Ivy school and their psych program is one of the best (VIA was created there, after all and they work often with resiliance programs for the milittary) so they get tons of applications. It seems rude, but from what I've heard it's actually good when they tell you this - they want you to know your shots so you don't waste time or energy getting invested in something that probably won't pan out. It sucks to hear so bluntly, but at least you don't waste your time, y'know?

[RunnerGrad]

There is some mindfulness work being done at Guelph by Michael Grand.

http://www.uoguelph.ca/psychology/page.cfm?id=683

[Realities]

Ruth Baer at University of Kentucky also sounds like a good fit.

[Generic_Applicant]

Any others in Canada? I'm struggling with the same

[dancedementia]

Here's the "Mindfulness" list from the latest Insider's Guide:

• Illinois School of Professional Psychology
• Carlow University
• Catholic University of America
• Drexel University
• La Salle University
• University at Albany/SUNY
• University at Buffalo/SUNY
• University of Montana

The Positive Psychology list:

• Colorado State
• Fuller Theological Seminary
• George Fox University
• Immaculata University
• Marquette University
• Marywood University
• Miami University
• New York University
• Pepperdine University
• Seton Hall University
• Teacher's College at Columbia University
• Tennessee State University
• University of Memphis
• University of Denver
• University of Georgia
• University of Kansas
• University of Pennsylvania
• University of Texas at Austin
• Washington State

Edited September 20, 2015 by dancedementia

[HermoineG]

SDSU/UCSD joint doctoral program has mindfulness meditation track.