Harald Walach
Dados Biográficos
| ID | 235123 |
|---|---|
| NOME | Harald Walach |
| PRENOMES | Harald |
| SOBRENOME | Walach |
| ASSINATURA | WALACH H |
| AFILIAÇÕES | European University Viadrina |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-4603-7717 |
| VERIFICADO | Sim |
| TOTAL DE OBRAS | 36 |
| TOTAL DE CITAÇÕES | 9 |
| TOTAL COMO AUTOR | 35 |
| TOTAL COMO EDITOR | 1 |
| PRIMEIRO ANO DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 1991 |
| ANO MAIS RECENTE DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 2025 |
| ÍNDICE H | 2 |
Freiburg mindfulness inventory (FMI) short form and revised form (FMI-13R) — norm scores and psychometrics in a representative German sample
The Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory (FMI) in its short form is one of the most frequently used instruments in research to measure self-attributed mindfulness levels. Despite the widespread use, there is no calibration sample available until now. Thus, we decided to calibrate it in a representative German sample as norm values are of relevance for clinicians and researchers alike. In addition, we tried to replicate the instruments’ psychometric pro…
Seir models in the light of Critical Realism – A critique of exaggerated claims about the effectiveness of Covid 19 vaccinations
Identifying factors associated with Covid-19 related deaths during the first wave of the pandemic in Europe
Aim: To clarify the high variability in COVID-19-related deaths during the first wave of the pandemic, we conducted a modeling study using publicly available data. Materials and methods: We used 13 population- and country-specific variables to predict the number of population-standardized COVID-19-related deaths in 43 European countries using generalized linear models: the test-standardized number of SARS-CoV-2-cases, population density, life exp…
Was Germany’s Lockdown in Spring 2020 Necessary? How Bad Data Quality Can Turn a Simulation Into a Delusion that Shapes the Future
Experiences and Perceived Effects of Rosary Praying
The aim of this study is to explore experiences and perceived effects of the Rosary on issues around health and well-being, as well as on spirituality and religiosity. A qualitative study was conducted interviewing ten Roman Catholic German adults who regularly practiced the Rosary prayer. As a result of using a tangible prayer cord and from the rhythmic repetition of prayers, the participants described experiencing stability, peace and a contemp…
Subjective Psychophysical Experiences in the Course of Inflammatory Bowel Disease—A Comparative Analysis Based on the Polish Pediatric Crohn’s and Colitis Cohort (Pococo)
No gold standard is available to evaluate subjective psychophysical experiences in pediatric inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). We aimed to assess pain, anxiety, and limitations in social activities at diagnosis and the worst flare of the disease in relation to clinical expression, treatment and IBD severity. A total of 376 children completed the survey (Crohn's disease (CD) n = 196; ulcerative colitis (UC) n = 180). The questionnaire included 12 …
La médecine complémentaire en Allemagne. Quelques réflexions sur son histoire, sur son statu quo et son avenir
A Hypothesis and Evidence That Mercury May be an Etiological Factor in Alzheimer’s Disease
Mercury is one of the most toxic elements and causes a multitude of health problems. It is ten times more toxic to neurons than lead. This study was created to determine if mercury could be causing Alzheimer's disease (AD) by cross referencing the effects of mercury with 70 factors associated with AD. The results found that all these factors could be attributed to mercury. The hallmark changes in AD include plaques, beta amyloid protein, neurofib…
Subtle cues transmit placebo effects
The association between different spiritual practices and the occurrence of Exceptional Human Experiences in a non-clinical sample
The present study aims to analyse the association that different types of spiritual and religious practices have with the occurrence of Exceptional Human Experiences (EHEs) as well as their emotional evaluation. We analysed the relation that meditation, prayer, and ‘other’ spiritual practices, or the lack of them, have with the occurrence of EHEs, which were measured employing the Exceptional Experiences Questionnaire (EEQ). Samples were recruite…
Mindfulness-Based Coping With University Life
The benefits of mindfulness for a variety of clinical and nonclinical populations are well established and there is growing interest in the potential of mindfulness in higher education. This article reports on the results from a randomized wait-list controlled study of Mindfulness-Based Coping With University Life (MBCUL), an adaption of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) for university students. MBCUL is an 8-week program, which aims to h…
Secular spirituality – what it is. Why we need it. How to proceed
Spirituality is the taboo topic of science. Science, in conjunction with political and secular enlightenment movements, was one of the major drivers of modern enlightenment, secularization and progress. Science has itself become a powerful meta-narrative. And part of this meta-narrative is a materialist view of the world. In such a model consciousness can only be secondary to material events in the brain. Yet, spiritual experiences are, as data s…
Placebo Studies (Double-Blind Studies)
Secular Spirituality
This book discusses spirituality as an emerging scientific topic from a historical perspective, with extensive discussion of the mind-body problem and of scientific concepts of consciousness. While the book focuses on the Western tradition of ‘Enlightenment’, it also implicitly addresses the double meaning of the term, with the Eastern tradition describing it as ‘a state of true knowledge, which is an important goal on an individual’s spiritual p…
Mindfulness-based interventions in schools—a systematic review and meta-analysis
Assessment of Mindfulness
The combined effects of healthy lifestyle behaviors on all cause mortality
Meditation Based Therapies—A Systematic Review and Some Critical Observations
This article systematically reviews the evidence for Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) and analyses the conditions around their rising popularity. MBSR, MBCT and Mindfulness Meditation were used as key words. The inclusion criteria were randomized controlled trials using the standard MBSR/MBCT program with a minimum of 33 participants. Twenty four studies were included. MBSR improved mental h…
Subjective Concepts of Chronically Ill Patients Using Distant Healing
Distant healing procedures consist of benevolent intentions, often taking the form of prayers for a patient. Despite inconclusive evidence regarding distant healing, prayers are a widespread health-related technique. We studied subjective concepts of distant healing in 17 patients suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome and multiple chemical sensitivity who were given distant healing during a randomized controlled trial. We applied reconstructive…
Mind-Body Practices in Integrative Medicine
Mind-Body practices have become increasingly popular as components of psychotherapeutic and behavior medicine interventions. They comprise an array of different methods and techniques that use some sort of mental-behavioral training and involve the modulation of states of consciousness in order to influence bodily processes towards greater health, well-being and better functioning. Mind-body practices may thus be interpreted as the salutogenetic …
Implicit and explicit emotional behavior and mindfulness
Neuroscience, Consciousness and Spirituality
"Neuroscience, Consciousness and Spirituality presents a variety of perspectives by leading thinkers on contemporary research into the brain, the mind and the spirit. This volumes aims at combining knowledge from neuroscience with approaches from the experiential perspective of the first person singular in order to arrive at an integrated understanding of consciousness. Individual chapters discuss new areas of research, such as near death studies…
Measuring Mindfulness
The objective of the study was to assess the psychometric properties of the Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory (FMI-14) using a Rasch model approach in a cross-sectional design. The scale was administered to N = 130 British patients with different psychosomatic conditions. The scale failed to show clear one-factoriality and item 13 did not fit the Rasch model. A two-factorial solution without item 13, however, appeared to fit well. The scale seemed t…
The relationship between spiritual experiences, transpersonal trust, social support, and sense of coherence and mental distress—a comparison of spiritually practising and non-practising samples
We compared the pathways from exceptional experiences (measured with the Exceptional Experiences Questionnaire, EEQ), transpersonal trust (TPV), social support (F-SoZu) and sense of coherence (SOC) scales towards mental distress within a spiritually practising (SP) and a non-practising sample (NSP), using structural equation modelling. We found a high amount of variance explained for SOC (SP: R 2 = 0.50; NSP: R 2 = 0.61), a moderate amount for F-…
Spirituality
Spirituality is a topic of recent interest. Mindfulness, for example, a concept derived from the Buddhist tradition, has captivated the imagination of clinicians who package it in convenient intervention programs for patients. Spirituality and religion have been researched with reference to potential health benefits. Spirituality can be conceptualised as the alignment of the individual with the whole, experientially, motivationally and in action.…
Was Germany’s Lockdown in Spring 2020 Necessary? How Bad Data Quality Can Turn a Simulation Into a Delusion that Shapes the Future
Measuring Mindfulness
The objective of the study was to assess the psychometric properties of the Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory (FMI-14) using a Rasch model approach in a cross-sectional design. The scale was administered to N = 130 British patients with different psychosomatic conditions. The scale failed to show clear one-factoriality and item 13 did not fit the Rasch model. A two-factorial solution without item 13, however, appeared to fit well. The scale seemed t…
Distant intentionality and the feeling of being stared at
Findings in parapsychology suggest an effect of distant intentionality. Two laboratory set-ups explored this topic by measuring the effect of a distant intention on psychophysiological variables. The 'Direct Mental Interaction in Living Systems' experiment investigates the effect of various intentions on the electrodermal activity of a remote subject. The 'Remote Staring' experiment examines whether gazing by an observer covaries with the electro…
Seir models in the light of Critical Realism – A critique of exaggerated claims about the effectiveness of Covid 19 vaccinations
Mind-Body Practices in Integrative Medicine
Mind-Body practices have become increasingly popular as components of psychotherapeutic and behavior medicine interventions. They comprise an array of different methods and techniques that use some sort of mental-behavioral training and involve the modulation of states of consciousness in order to influence bodily processes towards greater health, well-being and better functioning. Mind-body practices may thus be interpreted as the salutogenetic …
Homeopathy as semiotic
Mind Machines
Mind machines are said to induce relaxation and an altered state of consciousness. The influence of optical-acoustic (OAS) and electrical stimulation (ES) mind machines on general well-being, electrodermal activity, and altered states of consciousness was investigated and compared with pure rest and a placebo. Thirty participants underwent 4 conditions in random sequence: rest, placebo stimulation, OAS, and ES. Statistical evaluations before and …
Respiration-Related Artifacts in EDA Recordings
When electrodermal activity (EDA) recordings are controlled for artifacts, i.e., electrodermal reactions [EDRs] elicited by breathing irregularities, several problems arise. For example, respiration is difficult to evaluate because there are no clear-cut criteria for its values, e.g., wave form, depth. Furthermore, respiration and EDA are rather complexly intertwined, and there is no established or standardized method for evaluation. Especially w…
Mindfulness-based stress reduction and health benefits
Measuring the effects of acupuncture and homoeopathy in general practice
Since the results showed evidence of a subjective benefit for patients from acupuncture and homoeopathy, this may account for the increase in demand for these treatments especially when patients are chronically ill and unsatisfied with the conventional treatment given previously
Distant intentionality and the feeling of being stared at
Findings in parapsychology suggest an effect of distant intentionality. Two laboratory set-ups explored this topic by measuring the effect of a distant intention on psychophysiological variables. The 'Direct Mental Interaction in Living Systems' experiment investigates the effect of various intentions on the electrodermal activity of a remote subject. The 'Remote Staring' experiment examines whether gazing by an observer covaries with the electro…
Measuring mindfulness—the Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory (FMI)
Psychological Distress, Experiences of Ego Loss and Spirituality
The literature supports a positive relationship between spirituality and health. The relationship between spirituality and distress is an underresearched topic. We investigated the relationship between spiritual experiences (SE) and mental distress within two sociodemographically balanced samples ( n = 100) of a spiritually practicing (SP) and a nonpracticing sample (NSP) for two points of measurement ( t 1; t 2). Applying linear regression analy…
Measuring the Unmeasurable by Ticking Boxes and Opening Pandora's Box? Mixed Methods Research as a Useful Tool for Investigating Exceptional and Spiritual Experiences
A monomethod bias still prevails in the psychology of religion, with the developing field studying the relationship between religiosity, spirituality and health being almost completely dominated by questionnaire research. This comes as a surprise, because the experiential side of religion, spirituality, can by definition be regarded as inner and private experiences of transcendence that have frequently been described as being of utmost importance…
The relationship between spiritual experiences, transpersonal trust, social support, and sense of coherence and mental distress—a comparison of spiritually practising and non-practising samples
We compared the pathways from exceptional experiences (measured with the Exceptional Experiences Questionnaire, EEQ), transpersonal trust (TPV), social support (F-SoZu) and sense of coherence (SOC) scales towards mental distress within a spiritually practising (SP) and a non-practising sample (NSP), using structural equation modelling. We found a high amount of variance explained for SOC (SP: R 2 = 0.50; NSP: R 2 = 0.61), a moderate amount for F-…
Spirituality
Spirituality is a topic of recent interest. Mindfulness, for example, a concept derived from the Buddhist tradition, has captivated the imagination of clinicians who package it in convenient intervention programs for patients. Spirituality and religion have been researched with reference to potential health benefits. Spirituality can be conceptualised as the alignment of the individual with the whole, experientially, motivationally and in action.…
The Impact of Positive and Negative Spiritual Experiences on Distress and the Moderating Role of Mindfulness
Both spiritual experiences and mindfulness as a psychological variable have been identified as components of wellbeing and health. As there is uncertainty about their relationship, we have investigated the impact of spiritual experiences and mindfulness as well as their interaction on distress in chronically ill patients. The unidimensional Daily Spiritual Experiences Scale (DSES), the multidimensional Exceptional Experiences Questionnaire (EEQ),…
Does Science have to be Causal in Order to be Science? Reflections on Nina Azari's Questions
Nina Azari in her commentary on our article in this issue “Spirituality: The Legacy of Parapsychology” has raised the issue of what it actually takes for something to be called science. Does causality come into the picture? If so, how does causality relate to our non-local model that seems to explicitly eschew the question of causality? The answer lies in what one is willing to accept as causality. If causality can be conceived broader than just …
Implicit and explicit emotional behavior and mindfulness
Neuroscience, Consciousness and Spirituality
"Neuroscience, Consciousness and Spirituality presents a variety of perspectives by leading thinkers on contemporary research into the brain, the mind and the spirit. This volumes aims at combining knowledge from neuroscience with approaches from the experiential perspective of the first person singular in order to arrive at an integrated understanding of consciousness. Individual chapters discuss new areas of research, such as near death studies…
Measuring Mindfulness
The objective of the study was to assess the psychometric properties of the Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory (FMI-14) using a Rasch model approach in a cross-sectional design. The scale was administered to N = 130 British patients with different psychosomatic conditions. The scale failed to show clear one-factoriality and item 13 did not fit the Rasch model. A two-factorial solution without item 13, however, appeared to fit well. The scale seemed t…
The combined effects of healthy lifestyle behaviors on all cause mortality
Meditation Based Therapies—A Systematic Review and Some Critical Observations
This article systematically reviews the evidence for Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) and analyses the conditions around their rising popularity. MBSR, MBCT and Mindfulness Meditation were used as key words. The inclusion criteria were randomized controlled trials using the standard MBSR/MBCT program with a minimum of 33 participants. Twenty four studies were included. MBSR improved mental h…
Subjective Concepts of Chronically Ill Patients Using Distant Healing
Distant healing procedures consist of benevolent intentions, often taking the form of prayers for a patient. Despite inconclusive evidence regarding distant healing, prayers are a widespread health-related technique. We studied subjective concepts of distant healing in 17 patients suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome and multiple chemical sensitivity who were given distant healing during a randomized controlled trial. We applied reconstructive…
Mind-Body Practices in Integrative Medicine
Mind-Body practices have become increasingly popular as components of psychotherapeutic and behavior medicine interventions. They comprise an array of different methods and techniques that use some sort of mental-behavioral training and involve the modulation of states of consciousness in order to influence bodily processes towards greater health, well-being and better functioning. Mind-body practices may thus be interpreted as the salutogenetic …
Assessment of Mindfulness
Mindfulness-based interventions in schools—a systematic review and meta-analysis
Placebo Studies (Double-Blind Studies)
Secular Spirituality
This book discusses spirituality as an emerging scientific topic from a historical perspective, with extensive discussion of the mind-body problem and of scientific concepts of consciousness. While the book focuses on the Western tradition of ‘Enlightenment’, it also implicitly addresses the double meaning of the term, with the Eastern tradition describing it as ‘a state of true knowledge, which is an important goal on an individual’s spiritual p…
Secular spirituality – what it is. Why we need it. How to proceed
Spirituality is the taboo topic of science. Science, in conjunction with political and secular enlightenment movements, was one of the major drivers of modern enlightenment, secularization and progress. Science has itself become a powerful meta-narrative. And part of this meta-narrative is a materialist view of the world. In such a model consciousness can only be secondary to material events in the brain. Yet, spiritual experiences are, as data s…
Psychology (26 obras) · Medicine (20 obras) · Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions (13 obras) · Social Psychology (12 obras) · Epistemology (11 obras) · Psychotherapist (11 obras) · Clinical Psychology (10 obras) · Mindfulness (9 obras) · Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology (9 obras) · Psychiatry (8 obras)