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The transtheoretical model (TTM) has been applied to varying areas of physical health, e.g. diabetes. However, research into its applicability to psychotherapy is mixed. The TTM is applied through the University of Rhode Island Change Assessment (URICA). Investigating the utility of the URICA is needed to improve patient care and outcomes. This study aims to assess whether the URICA scores relate to patient outcomes; patient attendance; practitioner ratings of patient readiness, appropriateness, insight, motivation and potential for improvement; and to explore practitioner’s perspectives on the URICA.

Correlational methods were used to assess the relationship between the URICA and therapeutic outcome, attendance and practitioner-rated areas. Content analysis was used to analyse practitioner qualitative data.

The URICA did not correlate with either therapeutic outcome or attendance. A significant negative correlation was found between the URICA and practitioner-rated appropriateness of the referral. This means practitioners perceived individuals with lower URICA scores to be a more appropriate referral, despite the score indicating a reduced readiness to change. Qualitative categories included positive views, negative views, ambivalence and changes to measure and process. To conclude, the URICA does not explain a patient’s outcome or attendance. The URICA may not be appropriate to use in its current format in mental health services; therefore, assessing the TTM verbally may be more helpful.

This study provides research into suitability of using the URICA to assess the TTM and its applicability to attendance and outcome in psychological therapies.

This paper aims to present an examination of selected literature about the lived experiences of those with emetophobia. Its intention is to inform further empirical enquiry and subsequent approaches to treatment and care aimed at inclusive support for sufferers. To that end, it is important to bring the sufferers’ narrative into public and professional domains.

A systematic search of multiple databases using the search engine Discover@bolton and grey literature was undertaken to obtain evidence about the lived experiences of people with emetophobia. The search terms used were “emetophobia” and combinations of associated topic phrases using Boolean operators (AND / OR): “Emetophobia” OR “fear of vomiting” OR “fear of being sick”, Emetophobia AND “lived experiences” and finally Emetophobia OR “fear of vomiting” OR “fear of being sick” AND “lived experiences”. Eight papers were included in the review and five items of grey literature.

Several themes were identified in this literature including fear, escape and avoidance, other influences, consequences and medicalisation. The findings reveal that the experiences of those with emetophobia are subsumed beneath a focus on diagnosis and treatment. When it comes to understanding the actual lived experience of a person with emetophobia, the evidence presents the reader with what treatment may work and how they might respond to it, but largely omits the voice of the individual with emetophobia. This signals a need to undertake enquiry to bring this to the fore and so inform ways of greater inclusive practice for the public and professionals alike.

The evidence reviewed in this paper can be noted for the limited discussion about the individual’s lived experience of emetophobia. Gaining insight into this would contribute to raising awareness in a wider public arena and inform carers and healthcare professionals’ understanding. It would also display the importance of an individual context and health journey.

Knowing this can inform approaches to helping an individual either to live with the phobia and manage its impact on daily living (positive rather than maladaptive coping mechanisms) or to overcome it with or without adjunct medical treatment (if this is possible).

Knowing based on contemporary empirical enquiry will inform policy and guideline development. Whatever course is taken, it must contribute to steps being taken towards achieving a better quality of life for individual sufferers. The findings of this paper likewise inform the need for further study into the individual lived experience of emetophobia.

This paper is original in having identified a need to bring empirical evidence of the lived experience of sufferers with emetophobia into the public and professional domain.

Social avoidance disorders can be disruptive to the individual as they begin to over-manage their lives, at times avoiding social and work commitments. A potential therapeutic approach is exposure therapy and a virtual reality (VR) treatment approach, gameChange VR, has been developed. This provides an opportunity to test their fears in virtual environments. This study aims to investigate the feasibility of using this VR approach to treat people with social avoidance problems within a secure mental health setting.

Nine participants completed the gameChange VR sessions. Participants received 30-minute VR sessions for up to six weeks using selected scenarios at five levels of difficulty. Patients’ comments and behaviours were noted and clinical staff also provided feedback on their observations of patients’ use and experience with VR.

Overall, patients felt that the gameChange VR helped them to build their confidence and reduce their overall anxiety as they became more comfortable with the equipment. Both patients and staff generally found the intervention easy to use and the staff reported an overall high level of engagement among the participants. The key issues raised largely related to technical and safety issues.

While a previous study was carried out using gameChange VR with an outpatient cohort, this was the first using an inpatient group in a secure mental health setting. It has demonstrated that the intervention is viable in this setting, although further studies are required to identify the specific patient population that would benefit optimally from the therapy.

This study aims to explore the potential benefits of integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) with Social Emotional Learning (SEL) in educational settings.

A systematic review of emerging AI technologies such as virtual reality, chatbots, sentiment analysis tools, gamification and wearable devices is conducted to assess their applicability in enhancing SEL.

AI technologies present opportunities for personalized support, increased engagement, empathy development and promotion of well-being within SEL frameworks.

Future research should focus on addressing ethical concerns, fostering interdisciplinary collaborations, conducting longitudinal studies, promoting cultural sensitivity and developing robust ecosystems for AI in SEL.

This study contributes by outlining pathways for leveraging AI to create inclusive and supportive learning environments that nurture students' socio-emotional competencies, preparing them for success in a globally connected world.

The purpose of this study is to determine the psychological features of providing initial psychotherapeutic assistance to victims, in particular to military servants.

Theoretical analysis of scientific works; observation of servicemen in hospital conditions; conversations with servicemen and doctors; and interviews with foreign colleagues.

As a result of theoretical and empirical research, it was found that initial psychological assistance is more effective if it is provided in a timely and comprehensive manner in cooperation with medical assistance, if the recommended exercises are performed systematically by the victim and if a certain algorithm for providing initial psychotherapeutic assistance is used.

The authors present their own algorithm for providing initial psychological assistance to military servants: psychophysiological stabilization; adjustment of emotional balance; restoration of cognitive processes and acquisition of constructive coping strategies; and formation of life meanings that provide an opportunity to survive the crisis period of life. In this paper, the authors also note the importance of providing psychological first aid to victims of extreme situations in a timely manner, which helps reduce the intensity of symptoms of acute stress disorder and reduces the likelihood of post-traumatic stress disorder.

This research aims to study the effects of mindfulness and self-compassion in addressing COVID-19 phobia issues. To date, not a single study has examined the influence of these constructs on COVID-19 phobia amongst frontline employees (FLEs) in the services sector. In this context, the present study examined the association between FLE’s trait mindfulness and COVID-19 phobia and the mediating effect of self-compassion on this relationship.

Data were collected using 335 FLEs working in the Indian services sector, and the analysis was undertaken using the PROCESS macro of Hayes (2018).

FLE's trait mindfulness was found to influence COVID-19 phobia negatively, and the mediation role of self-compassion was also noted. Findings for the COVID-19 phobia composite and its four facets are discussed.

Corporate leaders could encourage mindfulness and self-compassion training helping in buffering the negative issues associated with COVID-19 phobia among FLEs.

It is one of the few studies conducted in the South-Asian context that highlights how mindfulness can help enhance self-compassion among frontline service sector employees while guiding them to overcome COVID-19 phobia. This could be the first study to examine the mediating effects of self-compassion in the relationships between mindfulness and COVID-19 phobia.

Since COVID-19, many services have burgeoned within the UK, but what about sexual minorities? Since the last review, there are appropriate therapies, but there is often inadequate research. The purpose of this mixed-method review synthesis looking into the efficacy of psychological therapies for sexual minorities. Seven studies were found in total.

A mixed-method review synthesis, three studies looking into the efficacy of psychological therapies for sexual minorities and four studies addressing the experiences of sexual minorities partaking in psychological therapies were identified.

These included three quantitative and four qualitative studies. The minority stress hypothesis is used to formulate problems, but challenges remain to confidentiality and privacy in this context. Therapists still operate within the heteronormative framework, discounting intersectionality in therapy conversations.

Most studies have had low retention rates since 2021. It shows that minority stress needs to be accounted for at the ethics committee and research delivery levels.

Applying a heteronormative framework to sexual minorities is not working. An alternative progress world view is needed.

Health-care clinicians strive for equitable care. Unfortunately, using an equitable health service scale adapted from Levesque et al. (2013), the rating is 3 out of 6. More work is needed to improve services.

Some services are reporting much improvement post-pandemic. Sadly, this is not the case for sexual minorities. Individual and systemic barriers remain.

This study aims to evaluate and summarize the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and internet-based CBT (ICBT) interventions on relapse prevention and severity of symptoms among individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD). CBT is one of the most used and suggested interventions to manage MDD, whereas ICBT is a novel effective proposed approach.

The review was conducted following the preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis protocol. A comprehensive and extensive search was performed to identify and evaluate the relevant studies about the effectiveness of CBT and ICBT on relapse prevention and severity of symptoms among patients with MDD.

A total of eight research studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in this systematic review. RCT studies were conducted to assess and evaluate the effectiveness of CBT and ICBT on relapse prevention and severity of symptoms among patients with MDD. It has been found that CBT is a well-supported and evidently based effective psychotherapy for managing depressive symptoms and reducing the relapse and readmission rate among patients diagnosed with MDD. The ICBT demonstrated greater improvements in depressive symptoms during major depressive episodes among patients with MDDS. The ICBT program had good acceptability and satisfaction among participants in different countries.

Despite the significant findings from this systematic review, certain limitations should be acknowledged. First, it is important to note that all the studies included in this review were exclusively conducted in the English language, potentially limiting the generalizability of the findings to non-English speaking populations. Second, the number of research studies incorporated in this systematic review was relatively limited, which may have resulted in a narrower scope of analysis. Finally, a few studies within the selected research had small sample sizes, which could potentially impact the precision and reliability of the overall conclusions drawn from this review. The authors recommend that nurses working in psychiatric units should use CBT interventions with patients with MDD.

This paper, a review of the literature gives an overview of CBT and ICBT interventions to reduce the severity of depressive symptoms and prevent patients’ relapse and rehospitalization and shows that CBT interventions are effective on relapse prevention among patients with MDD. In addition, there is still no standardized protocol to apply the CBT intervention in the scope of reducing the severity of depressive symptoms and preventing depression relapse among patients with major depressive disorder. Further research is needed to confirm the findings of this review. Future research is also needed to find out the most effective form and contents of CBT and ICBT interventions for MDD.

CBT is a psychological intervention that has been recommended by the literature for the treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD). It is a widely recognized and accepted approach that combines cognitive and behavioral techniques to assist individuals overcome their depressive symptoms and improve their overall mental well-being. This would speculate that effectiveness associated with several aspects and combinations of different approaches in CBT interventions and the impact of different delivery models are essential for clinical practice and appropriate selection of the interventional combinations.

This systematic review focuses on the various studies that explore the effectiveness of face-to-face CBT and ICBT in reducing depressive symptoms among patients with major depressive disorder. These studies were conducted in different countries such as Iran, Australia, Pennsylvania and the USA.

Scholarly interest in the business effects of organised crime (OC) has recently increased. This study aims to conduct a systematic literature review (SLR) on the conditions under which OC could pose a threat to or take control of firms within a particular context.

We use narrative synthesis and thematic analysis, with a sample of 46 theoretical and empirical studies published over the past 30 years on the relationship between OC and firms within the disciplines of Business, Management and Accounting (BMA).

SLR and thematic analysis show that scholarly interest has focused on four key domains: OC as a firm, the impact of OC on firms, firms’ efforts to counter OC’s influence and governmental interventions. Using medical metaphors, we also develop a diagram depicting the interplay between OC and firms within the BMA literature.

This study contributes to the literature shaping an agenda to steer future research towards these four key themes. The effectiveness of anti-OC tools and measures depends on a thorough understanding of local norms, behaviours and business practices. In addition to measurement and methodological challenges, several grey areas remain, including the distinction between criminal enterprises and legitimate businesses. Ambiguities also surround the circumstances under which the OC preys upon firms or employs them to establish dominance over a territory.

Psychotherapy and clinical supervision outcomes are influenced by client and supervisee factors, one of which is cultural identity. Those with diverse racial and ethnic minoritised identities often experience disparities in therapy outcomes. Therapists and supervisors need to be responsive to the identity of those they support. The multicultural orientation (MCO) framework is an emerging concept in psychotherapy and clinical supervision that may offer these practitioners a framework to be responsive.

A preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses extension for scoping reviews was conducted. Six databases, PubMed, Scopus, Embase, Academic Search Complete, Web of Science and PsychInfo, were searched for peer-reviewed literature published in English between the years 2000 and 2023.

A total of 1,553 sources were identified, of which (n = 42) are included in this review. Findings suggest that MCO is still in its infancy as applied to therapy and clinical supervision. Most of the research has been conducted in America, using quantitative methodologies with white western populations. Cultural humility is the most studied MCO pillar, and variables such as reductions in psychological stress, the working alliance and microaggressions are reported on as outcomes. MCO applied to the group therapy process is an emerging finding of interest. However, more research is needed, especially experiential designs across different and diverse populations and contexts.

MCO is an emerging therapy and clinical supervision process that has the potential to improve the outcomes for therapy clients and supervisees. Further research is needed to replicate current studies, and further research with diverse populations, countries and contexts should be undertaken as a priority.