title: Practicing medicine in the now: An interview with John Astin, PhD. Interview by Nancy Nachman-Hunt.
abstract: John Astin, PhD, is a health psychologist at the California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute in San Francisco. He studies psychological, attitudinal, and sociocultural barriers to the integration of mind-body factors in medicine and is especially interested in the role of contemplative practices, particularly meditation, in improving mental and physical health. As part of a National Institutes of Health project, Dr Astin has examined physicians', medical students', and medical residents' attitudes toward the role of psychosocial/mind-body factors and therapies in medicine. With his colleague, Cassi Vieten, he currently is developing a series of mindfulness-based interventions to help substance-dependent individuals manage stress.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Astin
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D006801:Humans; D019122:Meditation; D019222:Mind-Body Relations, Metaphysical; D011584:Psychology; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000628:therapy*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000523:psychology