UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — J. David Creswell, associate professor of psychology and director of the Health and Human Performance Laboratory at Carnegie Mellon University, will present “Mindfulness Training Interventions and Health” as part of the Biobehavioral Health Colloquium Series on Monday, Nov. 13. On Tuesday, Nov. 14, he will visit the Arts and Design Research Incubator (ADRI) to offer a dialogue and workshop on “Mindfulness Training for Health.”
Creswell’s research focuses broadly on understanding what makes people resilient under stress. He conducts community intervention studies, laboratory studies of stress and coping, and neuroimaging studies to understand how various stress management strategies alter coping and stress resilience.
Creswell is currently working on studies that test how mindfulness meditation training impacts the brain, peripheral stress physiological responses, and stress-related disease outcomes in at-risk community samples. He also explores how the use of simple strategies such as self-affirmation, rewarding activities, and cognitive reappraisal can buffer stress and improve problem-solving under pressure.
Creswell has made some recent research forays into other areas, such as in describing the role of unconscious processes in learning and decision-making, developing new theory and research on behavioral priming, and in building a new field of health neuroscience.
His presentation and workshop at the ADRI will introduce mindfulness training as a tool for improving mental and physical health. Creswell will discuss theory and explore practical approaches for practicing mindfulness, consider the scientific evidence for mindfulness training effects on health, and evaluate new research indicating how mindfulness training might get under the skin to influence our brain and physiology for health.
Creswell’s work has been published in general science, health psychology, social psychology, neuroscience, and medical journals. He was recognized in 2011 as a Rising Star by the Association for Psychological Science, and in 2014 received the American Psychological Association Early Career Award for his scientific contributions to psychology.
Both events are free and open to the public.
Mindfulness Training Interventions and Health
Monday, Nov. 13
3:30 to 4:30 p.m.
Ruth Pike Auditorium (Room 022 Biobehavioral Health Building)
Mindfulness Training for Health
Tuesday, Nov. 14
Noon to 1:30 p.m.
Arts and Design Research Incubator (Room 16 Borland Building)
The biobehavioral health program explores health issues from all angles, emphasizing the role of biology, behavioral, psychological, sociocultural, and environmental variables that interact across time. For more information about the program and how to apply, visit http://hhd.psu.edu/cms/bbh/.
The Arts and Design Research Incubator provides support for high-impact arts and design research projects. For more information and to view the full listing of dialogues, workshops and events, visit http://adri.psu.edu. Connect with the ADRI at www.facebook.com/PennStateADRI.