Introduction: This study describes the implementation of a mind–body intervention to reduce the perceived level of stress in a nonclinical group of university students. We used a novel approach including a single session of a mind–body technique known as the brain wave modulation (BWM) as an adjunct to a single information session on stress management.Methods: Three hundred and six students participated in the study. A quasi‐experimental design was adopted: Students in the experimental group were exposed to an information session on stress management followed by a single session of the BWM, while the other students were exposed to the information session alone.Results: A 2 × 2 mixed factor analysis of variance demonstrated that the single session of the BWM was effective in reducing the perceived level of stress in the experimental group as compared to the control group.Conclusion: The BWM is a very easy‐to‐learn technique that presents certain advantages over traditional mind–body methods.

This study is aimed at evaluating the outcomes of mind-body transformation therapy (MBT-T), previously known as the creative psychosocial genomic healing experience© (CPGHE). The intervention was aimed at reducing the perceived level of stress in two non-clinical groups of students with different educational levels and different expertise in the domain of well-being. Whereas participants from the first group were first-year university students, participants from the second group were students attending a post-graduate program in psychotherapy. All participants (n = 159) were exposed to a single session of MBT-T, each group in a separate session. The results of two paired-samples t-tests, conducted separately on the two samples, showed that there was a statistically significant reduction in the participants’ perceived level of stress between pre- and post-intervention states in both samples (t₈₈ = 5.39, p < 0.001; t₅₃ = 4.56, p < 0.001 respectively). The results, therefore, showed that a single session of MBT-T was beneficial in reducing the perceived level of stress in both first-year university students and students attending a post-graduate program in psychotherapy, regardless of educational level and expertise in the domain of well-being.

Young people's mental health problems are a matter of concern during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Counselling services for university students by means of telemental support can help them to deal with psychological issues that they may be facing due to the pandemic. The present study investigated the effects of four once‐weekly online counselling sessions based on a mind‐body technique (the Brain Wave Modulation Technique; BWM‐T) on enhancing positive affect and on reducing negative affect and anxiety in a sample of 54 university students (96.3% females; M_age = 21.31 years, SD = 2.09). An experimental design was conducted: the participants were randomly assigned to the intervention group, which received 15 min of a guided online BWM‐T session, or to the control group, which watched a 15‐min video on how to sustain their psychological well‐being. The results of a two‐factor mixed‐design analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that the participants in the intervention group reported a significant increase in positive affect and a decrease in negative affect over time compared to those in the control group. They also reported a slight decrease in state anxiety compared to the control group, although this was just short of statistical significance. The information provided by this study, regarding emotional outcomes among university students after four brief online counselling sessions, suggests that such interventions could be an effective and sustainable way to reinforce young people's mental health during the COVID‐19 pandemic, as well as later in their university careers and adult lives.

This paper contains a narrative review of the literature in the field of school-based mind–body interventions (MBIs). The aim of the current review is to verify whether the school-based MBI programs implemented in primary and secondary schools over the past 5 years are effective in helping schoolchildren cope with stress-related, behavioral, and affective issues, as well as improve stress response and school performance. All articles were retrieved using a number of databases. Inclusion criteria comprised qualitative and quantitative, English language, and peer-reviewed studies among third graders (8–9 years old) to twelfth graders (17–18 years old), including special needs pupils. Qualitative studies were limited to pupils’ experience only. Ten studies meeting the criteria for this review were assessed. The school-based interventions included yoga-based programs and mindfulness training. Evidence was evaluated and summarized. Across the reviewed studies, we found support for MBIs as part of school curricula to reduce negative effects of stress and promote overall well-being with caveats to consider in choosing specific programs. The practical implications of the current review include considerations related to the incorporation of MBIs in school curricula, which would likely benefit schoolchildren.

The psychosocial genomics paradigm first proposed by Ernest Rossi established an epistemological shift in our application of hypnosis. We present original experimental research conducted within this paradigm that highlights the mind–gene relationship and, in particular, the positive health effects associated with hypnosis and mind–body integrated psychotherapy. We document that these approaches can stimulate epigenetic modifications and the expression of genes related to anti-inflammatory processes. These strategies strengthen the immune system and reduce oxidative stress both in normal and in oncological participants.

This paper presents a novel psychological model of the socio-cognitive management of uncertainty, the semiotic dimensional model (SDM). The SDM claims that uncertainty increases the momentum of affect-laden meanings in meaning-making. This is so because affective meanings provide a simplified interpretation of the world that restores the experience of being able to make sense of the reality destabilized by uncertainty. Moreover, the SDM models the affective meanings in terms of low-dimensional mental phase space (MPS). Each dimension of the MPS detects a facet of the context. The lower the MPS dimensionality, the lower the number of facets of the context processed, therefore, the more simplified the meaning-making is. We attained the first empirical validation of the SDM in a sample of 120 Italian people. First, the SDM assumption that the low-dimensional MPS is the computational descriptor of affective meaning was tested. Second, an experimental study was designed in which uncertainty was manipulated so as to assess its effects on the dimensionality of participants’ MPS. It was hypothesized that uncertainty induces a decrease in the MPS dimensionality. Results were consistent with both hypotheses. Theoretical implications of the SDM and its relationship with other theories are discussed and future research direction outlined.