Methods

Hello all and welcome to Week 9 of the Senior Research Project through my eyes!

This week, as the title of this post suggests, I worked on writing my Methodology. It is quite uninteresting so rather that including the entire section, I will instead post a couple steps (I had 8 steps and wrote a paragraph per step).

Step 1: Review Question, Inclusion Criteria, and Protocol

A broad review question, “How does Acceptance and Commitment Therapy cause physical change in the brain?”, was chosen so that the systematic review would neither be so limited as to provide no answers nor so broad that any answers are viewed as common knowledge. Next, a basic protocol was written to establish a general understanding of the format of the paper. The expected inclusion criteria was included in the protocol (further discourse on the inclusion criteria can be found in Step 5).

Step 2: Literature Searching

Step 3: Screening Titles and Abstracts

The papers identified by the search results were sorted into one of four categories based off of their titles and abstracts: neurobiological, psychological, transition, or rejected. The papers sorted into the “neurobiological” category focused on the physical aspects of brains affected by various disorders or conditions. The papers sorted into the “psychological” category focused on the conception of ACT, on the philosophy inspiring the therapy. The papers sorted into the “transition” category focused on the re-molding of neural pathways. The papers which were rejected were not centered enough on the subject at hand.

Step 4: Obtaining Papers

Step 5: Selecting Full-Text Papers and Inclusion Criteria

All papers set forth for plausible inclusion were read in full and content quality was appraised. There were three reasons for non-inclusion 1) a lack of sufficient information 2) a lack of

original information and 3) a lack of information sufficiently focused on the desired material.

Step 6: Data Extraction

The remaining papers were dissected, unedited content placed in a spreadsheet. The Neurological Underpinnings spreadsheet concentrated on data about neuroimaging, alternate treatments, receptors, and pathways associated with disorders and conditions such as chronic stress, anorexia nervosa, anxiety, trichotillomania, chronic pain (and fibromyalgia), self-harm, substance abuse (including opioid and methamphetamine dependence), and attention deficit hyperactive disorder. The Psychological Underpinnings spreadsheet concentrated on data about peaceful teachings, mindfulness, and relation to ACT. In addition to the information found in the aforementioned literature searches, information was drawn from [textbook] and a variety of web pages so as to further explain the origins of ACT. The Transitional Stages spreadsheet concentrated on data about how the psychology behind ACT causes change in the neurobiology.

Step 7: Analysis and Synthesis

Step 8: Writing Up and Editing

Also, I updated the introduction to my "Transitional Stages" subsection:

The root of ACT’s success lays in its emphasis on peaceful teachings and smooth training. Rather than forcefully attempting to enact physical neural change, the therapy allows for the brain to be taught a familiar, or an entirely new way of functioning. Neural pathways are remolded not through trickery or submission, but are instead led towards change through the impact of the six pillars of ACT: acceptance, self-as-context, defusion, values, contact with the present moment, and committed action. Both the patient and the therapist are involved in the transitional stages of therapy, empowering the patient to come to their own conclusions and improve their own quality of life. Therefore the therapist acts as a “guiding hand”, inspiring the will to change, rather than a “strict enforcer” who imposes this will upon the patient. The psychological aspects of ACT affect the neurobiological aspects, leading to changes in neural pathways; the philosophy behind the therapy enables the physical change seen in patients before and after implementing ACT.