The fundamental mission of the Mindful Behavior therapies and Psychophysiology (MAP) lab is to develop knowledge and methods that can be used to alleviate human suffering and enhance well-being.  We strive to advance this overarching goal by: (a) engaging in basic research designed to better understand the nature of biobehavioral disorders; (b) engaging in applied research focused on the development and evaluation of innovative clinical procedures; (c) sharing our learning through teaching, supervision, and scholarly writing; and (d) providing direct clinical services to persons in hospital settings, nursing homes, community medical settings, and outpatient mental health settings using a scientist-practitioner model of service delivery.

The MAP lab is staffed by graduate students who are enrolled in the clinical psychology program at Bowling Green State University.  Undergraduate students at Bowling Green State University are also engaged in research in the lab.  Research and clinical supervision is provided by Dr. O’Brien.

MAP researchers are engaged in three broad areas of research: 

(1) Biobehavioral mechanisms associated with stress and stress related disorders.  

The fundamental aim of this area of research is to learn about mechanisms involved in the development, maintenance, and/or remediation of psychophysiological disorders that are linked to stress. 

Projects in this domain include: 

• The relationship between psychological experiences (anger, anxiety, daily stress, disclosure/confession, financial stress, social support, worry) and cardiovascular reactivity and recovery.
• Psychophysiological mechanisms underlying the development and maintenance of tension headache and migraine headache.
• The impact of cognitive-behavioral interventions on psychophysiological reactivity and recovery.

Current projects are investigating the impact of cognitive-behavioral interventions on work stress and cardiovascular reactivity, associations between worry and cardiovascular variability, measurement of cardiovascular variability, and the effect of financial stress on cardiovascular reactivity.

(2) Systematic evaluation of the outcomes and processes associated with “third wave” cognitive behavioral therapies . 

The aim of this area of research is to systematically investigate the philosophical, theoretical, and empirical foundations of what have been termed “third-wave” behavior therapies.  These newly developed interventions are derived from the philosophical and theoretical positions found in radical behaviorism and functional contextualism.  

Projects in this domain include: 

• Evaluation of the effectiveness of a work stress intervention using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
• Evaluation of the effectiveness of an ACT intervention for persons with HIV
• Examination of the role of gratitude among women with a history of trauma and HIV
• Evaluation of the reliability and validity of the Implicit Relations Assessment Procedure as a measure of work stress.

(3) Cognitive-Behavioral Assessment and Decision Making

The aim of this area of research is to (a) better understand how clinicians make decisions about case formulations and treatment design and (b) develop more empirically sound assessment procedures in cognitive-behavioral therapy.

Projects in this domain include: 

• An evaluation of decision making accuracy among behavior therapists
• The utility of using functional analytic causal modeling for the assessment and treatment of psychophysiological disorders
• The philosophical and theoretical foundations of cognitive-behavioral assessment.