Many clients struggling with anxiety and depression experience difficulties applying therapeutic skills consistently in daily life, particularly during moments of heightened stress, uncertainty, or emotional reactivity. Mindfulness ecological momentary interventions (MEMIs) represent a promising approach to addressing this gap by delivering brief, real-time mindfulness and coping exercises directly through smartphones during everyday situations. These interventions may help clients strengthen awareness, emotion regulation, cognitive flexibility, and adaptive responding outside the therapy room, while also increasing accessibility for individuals who may face barriers to traditional treatment.
This practice-focused workshop will introduce clinicians to the clinical rationale, structure, and implementation of MEMIs and related digital mental health interventions (DMHIs) for anxiety and depressive disorders. Drawing from randomized controlled trials (RCTs), longitudinal studies, and clinical implementation research, the presentation will review how brief smartphone-based interventions can be integrated into routine care to reinforce therapeutic learning between sessions and support symptom management in real-world contexts. Particular attention will be devoted to practical strategies clinicians can use to enhance engagement, encourage skill generalization, and tailor interventions to clients with varying levels of symptom severity, motivation, and cognitive functioning.
The workshop will also discuss how clinicians can identify clients who may be especially well-suited for brief digital interventions, including individuals who benefit from flexible, low-burden, and scalable care approaches. Common implementation challenges, such as maintaining adherence, selecting appropriate exercises, responding to low engagement, and integrating digital tools ethically into clinical practice, will be addressed through clinically grounded examples and discussion. In addition, participants will review emerging evidence suggesting that targeted digital interventions may improve anxiety symptoms, repetitive negative thinking, self-compassion, executive functioning, and emotional regulation skills across diverse populations.
Overall, this workshop is designed to provide clinicians with concrete, evidence-based strategies for incorporating brief digital mindfulness interventions into contemporary practice. The broader goal is to help clinicians expand access to care, reinforce therapeutic skill use in daily life, and support more personalized and responsive mental health treatment models.
CE Learning Objectives
Following this presentation, participants will be able to:
- 1. Describe the core principles and clinical rationale underlying mindfulness ecological momentary interventions (MEMIs) for anxiety and depressive disorders.
- 2. Apply practical strategies to integrate brief smartphone-based mindfulness exercises into routine clinical care to reinforce therapeutic skill use between sessions.
- 3. Assess common factors associated with engagement and adherence in digital mental health interventions (DMHIs), including barriers experienced by diverse client populations.
- 4. Compare the potential benefits and limitations of mindfulness ecological momentary interventions relative to traditional in-session therapeutic approaches for anxiety and depression treatment.
References
Zainal, N. H., Liu, X., Leong, U., Yan, X., & Chakraborty, B. (2025). Bridging innovation and equity: Advancing public health through just-in-time adaptive interventions (JITAIs). Annual Review of Public Health, 46(1), 46-68. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-071723-103909
Zainal, N. H., & Newman, M. G. (2023). A randomized controlled trial of a 14-day mindfulness ecological momentary intervention (MEMI) for generalized anxiety disorder. European Psychiatry, 66(1), e12. https://doi.org/10.1192/j.eurpsy.2023.2
Zainal, N. H., Soh, C. P., & Van Doren, N. (2024). Do the effects of internet-delivered cognitive-behavioral therapy (i-CBT) last after a year and beyond? A meta-analysis of 154 randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Clinical Psychology Review, 114, 102518. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2024.102518
Zainal, N. H., Tan, H. H., Hong, R. Y., & Newman, M. G. (2025). Prescriptive predictors of mindfulness ecological momentary intervention for social anxiety disorder: Machine learning analysis of randomized controlled trial data. JMIR Mental Health, 12, e67210. https://doi.org/10.2196/67210
About Presenters
Hani Zainal , Ph.D. is a Presidential Young Professor and Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at the National University of Singapore (NUS), where she directs the Optimizing Wellness (OWL) Lab. Her research focuses on digital mental health interventions, mindfulness ecological momentary interventions (MEMIs), anxiety and depressive disorders, precision mental health, and machine learning approaches to psychotherapy research. Hani has authored peer-reviewed publications in journals such as Psychological Medicine, JAMA Psychiatry, Clinical Psychology Review, Journal of Anxiety Disorders, and JMIR Mental Health, and has led multiple randomized controlled trials examining smartphone-based interventions for anxiety and depression.
Chris Molnar, Ph.D., a licensed psychologist and clinical investigator, founded Mindful Exposure Therapy for Anxiety and Psychological Wellness Center (META Center) in 2007. She completed doctoral training at the Pennsylvania State University and post-doctoral fellowship training in traumatic stress, neuroscience, and psycho-physiology at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). She is an expert in the assessment and treatment of anxiety, OCD, PTSD, emotional, and stress-related conditions using evidence-based practices. Through a co-sponsorship between META Center & PBTA she leads one of the handful of professional MBCT Teacher Training Organizations in the USA and virtually offering Continuing Professional Development. This includes the week-long professional CE retreat workshop for professionals seeking foundational training to develop competence teaching MBCT. She also teaches both Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) in individual and group psychotherapy formats. She has developed adaptations for highly distressed clients, using Relational Mindfulness Practices (RMPs), to meet the needs of clients who have difficulty initially with the traditional 8-week MBSR & MBCT programs and elements. At META Center, she offers integrative interventions grounded in findings about the brain, emotion, and learning to facilitate mental and behavioral habit change, even in the face of severe distress. Before founding META Center, she served as a clinical investigator and therapist supported by grants from the National Institute of Health and other agencies. She is also on the editorial board of Behavior Therapy and serves the public in many ways, through professional presentations, workshops, publications, and affiliations.
Target Audience
This presentation is intended for licensed mental health professionals and advanced graduate student trainees seeking licensure. The instructional level of this presentation is BEGINNER.
Continuing Education
- Philadelphia Behavior Therapy Association is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Philadelphia Behavior Therapy Association maintains responsibility for this program and its content.
- Philadelphia Behavior Therapy Association is also approved by the NY State Education Department to offer psychology continuing education
- This program provides two and a half (2.5) CE credits
- PBTA is also an authorized provider of CE credits for Professional Counselors, Marriage and Family Therapists, and Clinical Social Workers licensed in the state of Pennsylvania. Non-Psychologist Licensees outside of PA & practitioners outside of the USA please confirm eligibility with your specific licensing board.
- Full attendance with video display is required to obtain CE credit for this program. APA guidelines do not permit PBTA to issue partial CE credits. No refunds are provided for CE programs. No exceptions allowed.
- All events are Eastern Time Zone
- Contact Claire, PBTA's CE assistant if you need any learning accommodations no later than one week before event. Email Claire at pbtacontinuingedassistant@gmail.com
