About

Dr. Willoughby Britton is a professor and the lab director at the Clinical and Affective Neuroscience Laboratory. Her research focuses on the dismantling of mindfulness and exploring the varieties of contemplative experience. She is involved in studying the safety of meditation practices and examining the scientific aspects of mindfulness in various educational settings, including college and middle school programs. Her work aims to understand the psychological and neurological effects of contemplative practices and to differentiate between different types of mindfulness experiences.

Research topics

• Psychiatry
• Internal medicine
• Clinical psychology
• Medicine
• Psychology
• Social psychology
• Psychotherapist

Selected publications

• Navigating Enduring Challenges from Meditation Retreats:

  University of Hawaii Press eBooks · 2026-04-30

  book-chapterSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• 21. Navigating Enduring Challenges from Meditation Retreats: Interviews with Three Western Practitioners from the Varieties of Contemplative Experience Study

  University of Hawaii Press eBooks · 2026-05-13

  book-chapterSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Dietary changes as a risk factor and remedy for meditation-related challenges

  Frontiers in Nutrition · 2025-10-23

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Objectives: Recent research has documented a range of challenging, distressing, or impairing experiences that can result from Buddhist meditation practices (Lindahl et al.). The present study investigates the impact of dietary changes on the trajectories of Western Buddhist meditators who reported meditation-related challenges. Methods: Interviews were conducted with 68 Western Buddhist meditators and 33 meditation experts (teachers and clinicians). Results: Thematic analysis resulted in the following observations: (1) dietary restrictions could be a risk factor for the development of meditation-related challenges; (2) a loss of appetite or lack of eating was often an exacerbating factor and diagnostic indicator of more severe distress when meditation-related challenges were already occurring; and (3) diet-related remedies, such as eating "heavy" foods and meat, were often described as helpful and associated with "grounding" effects for meditators-in-distress. Conclusion: This study highlights the importance of considering diet-related factors as both risk factors and remedies for meditation-related challenges and suggests possible implications for research and practice.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• “I was trying to save the world”: delusion-like ideation and associated impacts reported by Western practitioners of Buddhist meditation

  Frontiers in Psychology · 2025-10-24 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Delusional ideation is characteristic of psychopathology (e.g., psychosis, bipolar disorder) and is also found among the general population. Contemporary case studies have documented delusional ideation as a feature of meditation-induced psychosis, and Buddhist literature on the side effects and adverse effects of meditation also includes discussion of transient experiences that could be considered delusional or delusion-like ideation. Drawing upon interviews with more than 100 Buddhist meditation practitioners and meditation experts (teachers and clinicians) in the West, this paper presents a mixed-methods study of delusion-like ideation (DLI) associated with meditation. We establish a typology of eight types of DLI and report their relative frequencies among the sample; we identify impacts and treatment outcomes associated with DLI; and we provide four case studies that illustrate the risk factors, trajectories, outcomes, and appraisals associated with DLI. We show how responses to DLI are shaped not only by the type of DLI but also by their duration, severity, and impact, as well as the associated appraisals made both by meditators and by meditation teachers and psychiatrists. In some cases, the phenomenology of DLI suggests influences from the lived context of Buddhist meditation cultures. Furthermore, although DLI are normalized in Buddhist meditation culture under certain circumstances, meditation experts also noted the potential severity of meditation-related DLI, with some identifying it as a "red flag" meriting close monitoring if not immediate intervention. Finally, we discuss various explanatory models that could account for the presence, content, and impacts of DLI among meditators, drawing upon the environmental conditions and social contexts of meditation retreats, the role of attention and sensory attenuation in meditation practice, and the ways in which meditation-related DLI can function as a cultural and spiritual "idiom of distress."

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Childhood trauma and subclinical PTSD symptoms predict adverse effects and worse outcomes across two mindfulness-based programs for active depression

  PLoS ONE · 2025-01-30 · 9 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Within mindfulness-based programs (MBPs), mixed results have been found for the role of childhood trauma as a moderator of depression outcomes. Furthermore, childhood trauma and PTSD symptoms have been identified as possible risk factors for the occurrence of meditation-related adverse effects (MRAE). The present research examined multiple forms of childhood trauma and PTSD symptoms as predictors of depression treatment outcomes and MRAEs. Various forms of childhood trauma (e.g., abuse and neglect) were examined as predictors of depression treatment outcomes and participant attrition using secondary analyses of two MBP clinical trials (N = 52 and 104, respectively). Study 2 also examined meditation-related side effects (MRSE) and MRAE as outcomes and current subclinical and past PTSD symptoms as predictors. Childhood trauma led to worse depression outcomes across both study 1 and study 2, such that total childhood trauma and childhood sexual abuse were significant predictors across both studies. Childhood sexual abuse predicted attrition in study 2. Finally, multiple forms of childhood trauma and PTSD symptoms predicted MRSE, while total childhood trauma, childhood emotional abuse, and subclinical PTSD symptoms predicted lasting MRAE. Childhood trauma and PTSD symptoms may lead to worse outcomes and a greater occurrence of adverse effects within MBPs for active depression. These results call for further trauma-sensitive modifications, safety monitoring, participant screening, and provider education when implementing these programs.

  PublisherDOI

• The Teacher Matters: The Role and Impact of Meditation Teachers in the Trajectories of Western Buddhist Meditators Experiencing Meditation-Related Challenges

  Contemporary Buddhism · 2025-04-22 · 1 citations

  articleSenior authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Clarifying and measuring the characteristics of experiences that involve a loss of self or a dissolution of its boundaries

  Consciousness and Cognition · 2024-02-11 · 10 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Leveraging meditation research for the study of psychedelic-related adverse effects

  International Review of Psychiatry · 2024-11-13 · 6 citations

  reviewSenior author

  Psychedelics have shown early evidence for a range of benefits and low harm profiles in extant research. However, adverse effects (AEs) research in psychedelics has been limited, leading to underspecified AE profiles, inconsistent measurement, and potential undercounting of AEs. The development of safe, effective psychedelic therapies and treatments for AEs when they occur requires a thorough assessment of psychedelic-related AEs, their phenomenology, risk factors, and longitudinal duration. This article proposes that research on meditation-related AEs, which overlap in important ways with the phenomenological and contextual characteristics of psychedelic-related AEs, has engaged many methodological challenges present in the study of psychedelic-related AEs. Thus, meditation-related AE research offers thematic and methodological insights that are valuable to psychedelic AE research. An integrative review of extant AE research in both psychedelics and meditation is provided, and an agenda for leveraging meditation research to advance the investigation of psychedelic AEs is recommended. This includes the utility of meditation-related AEs as a comparator condition for psychedelic-related AEs, as well as recommendations for the adoption of (1) detailed and comprehensive, (2) user-informed, (3) impact-based, (4) standardized, (5) unbiased, and (6) representative measures of AEs and (7) examining factors that influence their impacts and trajectories.

  PublisherDOI

• Effect of Adapted Mindfulness Training in Participants With Elevated Office Blood Pressure: The MB‐BP Study: A Randomized Clinical Trial

  Journal of the American Heart Association · 2023-05-23 · 25 citations

  articleOpen access

  Background Hypertension is a leading risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Despite availability of effective lifestyle and medication treatments, blood pressure (BP) is poorly controlled in the United States. Mindfulness training may offer a novel approach to improve BP control. The objective was to evaluate the effects of Mindfulness-Based Blood Pressure Reduction (MB-BP) versus enhanced usual care control on unattended office systolic BP. Methods and Results Methods included a parallel-group phase 2 randomized clinical trial conducted from June 2017 to November 2020. Follow-up time was 6 months. Outcome assessors and data analyst were blinded to group allocation. Participants had elevated unattended office BP (≥120/80 mm Hg). We randomized 201 participants to MB-BP (n=101) or enhanced usual care control (n=100). MB-BP is a mindfulness-based program adapted for elevated BP. Loss-to-follow-up was 17.4%. The primary outcome was change in unattended office systolic BP at 6 months. A total of 201 participants (58.7% women; 81.1% non-Hispanic White race and ethnicity; mean age, 59.5 years) were randomized. Results showed that MB-BP was associated with a 5.9-mm Hg reduction (95% CI, -9.1 to -2.8 mm Hg) in systolic BP from baseline and outperformed the control group by 4.5 mm Hg at 6 months (95% CI, -9.0 to -0.1 mm Hg) in prespecified analyses. Plausible mechanisms with evidence to be impacted by MB-BP versus control were sedentary activity (-350.8 sitting min/wk [95% CI, -636.5 to -65.1] sitting min/wk), Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension diet (0.32 score [95% CI, -0.04 to 0.67]), and mindfulness (7.3 score [95% CI, 3.0-11.6]). Conclusions A mindfulness-based program adapted for individuals with elevated BP showed clinically relevant reductions in systolic BP compared with enhanced usual care. Mindfulness training may be a useful approach to improve BP. Registration URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov; Unique identifiers: NCT03256890 and NCT03859076.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Adapted Mindfulness Training for Interoception and Adherence to the DASH Diet

  JAMA Network Open · 2023-11-02 · 23 citations

  articleOpen access

  Importance: Hypertension is a major cause of cardiovascular disease, and although the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet lowers blood pressure (BP), adherence is typically low. Mindfulness training adapted to improving health behaviors that lower BP could improve DASH adherence, in part through improved interoceptive awareness relevant to dietary consumption. Objective: To evaluate the effects of the Mindfulness-Based Blood Pressure Reduction (MB-BP) program on interoceptive awareness and DASH adherence. Design, Setting, and Participants: Parallel-group, phase 2, sequentially preregistered randomized clinical trials were conducted from June 1, 2017, to November 30, 2020. Follow-up was 6 months. Participants with elevated unattended office BP (≥120/80 mm Hg) were recruited from the population near Providence, Rhode Island. Of 348 participants assessed for eligibility, 67 did not meet inclusion criteria, 17 declined, and 63 did not enroll prior to study end date. In total, 201 participants were randomly assigned, 101 to the MB-BP program and 100 to the enhanced usual care control group, with 24 (11.9%) unavailable for follow-up. Outcome assessors and the data analyst were blinded to group allocation. Analyses were performed using intention-to-treat principles from June 1, 2022, to August 30, 2023. Interventions: The 8-week MB-BP program was adapted for elevated BP, including personalized feedback, education, and mindfulness training directed to hypertension risk factors. Both MB-BP and control groups received home BP monitoring devices with instructions and options for referral to primary care physicians. The control group also received educational brochures on controlling high BP. Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary outcome was Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA) questionnaire scores (range 0-5, with higher scores indicating greater interoceptive awareness), and the secondary outcome was DASH adherence scores assessed via a 163-item Food Frequency Questionnaire (range 0-11, with higher scores indicating improved DASH adherence), all compared using regression analyses. Results: Among 201 participants, 118 (58.7%) were female, 163 (81.1%) were non-Hispanic White, and the mean (SD) age was 60.0 (12.2) years. The MB-BP program increased the MAIA score by 0.54 points (95% CI, 0.35-0.74 points; P < .001; Cohen d = 0.45) at 6 months vs control. In participants with poor baseline DASH adherence, the MB-BP program also significantly increased the DASH score by 0.62 points (95% CI, 0.13-1.11 points; P = .01; Cohen d = 0.71) at 6 months vs controls. The intervention was also associated with a 0.34-point improvement in the DASH diet score in all MB-BP participants from baseline (95% CI, 0.09-0.59 points; P = .01; Cohen d = 0.27), while the control group showed a -0.04 point change in DASH diet score from baseline to 6 months (95% CI, -0.31 to 0.24 points; P = .78; Cohen d = -0.03). Conclusions and Relevance: A mindfulness program adapted to improving health behaviors to lower BP improved interoceptive awareness and DASH adherence. The MB-BP program could support DASH dietary adherence in adults with elevated BP. Clinical Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifiers: NCT03859076 and NCT03256890.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• Mindfulness Influences on Self-Regulation: Mental and Physical Health Implications

  NIH · $2.4M · 2015–2021

• Mindfulness Influences on Self-Regulation: Mental and Physical Health Implications

  NIH · $2.7M · 2015–2020

• Dismantling Mindfulness: Contributions of Attention vs. Acceptance

  NIH · $134k · 2011–2016

• Dismantling Mindfulness: Contributions of Attention vs. Acceptance

  NIH · $534k · 2011–2018

Frequent coauthors

• Jared R. Lindahl

  Providence College

  48 shared

• Nicholas K. Canby

  Brown University

  43 shared

• Eric B. Loucks

  40 shared

• Hadley Rahrig

  Providence College

  38 shared

• Kristina Eichel

  John Brown University

  38 shared

• Zev Schuman‐Olivier

  Cambridge Health Alliance

  32 shared

• Roee Gutman

  24 shared

• Roman Palitsky

  Emory University

  18 shared

Labs

• The Clinical and Affective Neuroscience LaboratoryPI

  1-2 sentence research focus

Education

• B.A., Neuroscience

  Colgate University

  1996

• Ph.D., Clinical Psychology

  University of Arizona

  2007