Conference Presentations

Talks

CALT, 2024

High rates of mental health issues have been reported among legal professionals and law students alike. Research conducted in the legal field and beyond has consistently linked mindfulness with improved well-being. Consequently, in 2019, Thomas Telfer launched an upper year credit course at Western University called Mindfulness and the Legal Profession with the intention of bolstering student wellness and providing training in skills not traditionally covered in the law school curriculum. The course—believed to be the first credit course on mindfulness at a Canadian law school—combines a daily mindfulness practice with readings and discussion on topics such as mental health, focus and distraction, emotional intelligence, resilience, compassion, mindful listening, negotiation, and legal ethics. We present results from a qualitative study of student reflections on the course. Our analysis shows that the course had a significant impact on student mental health and led to growth in skills relevant to the legal profession, including enhanced focus, increased productivity, and improved communication skills. Students also experienced greater self-awareness and an enhanced ability to attend to the present moment. Furthermore, students benefited from the sense of community fostered by the class, which allowed them to recognize that they are not alone in their experiences. Many students expressed an intention to use the skills that they learned in the course in their professional lives moving forward, and a belief that the law school curriculum should be expanded to include courses such as Mindfulness and the Legal Profession. We argue that courses such as Mindfulness and the Legal Profession belong in the law school curriculum and are deserving of consideration by the broader legal community.

Study conducted in collaboration with Thomas Telfer, Sara Ahola-Kohut, and Elli Weisbaum. Talk presented by Thomas Telfer and I at the 2024 Canadian Association of Law Teachers conference.

FINALCALT Telfer and Nielsen.pptx

National Wellness for Law Forum, 2024

Research has consistently linked mindfulness with improved well-being. Consequently, in 2019, Thomas Telfer launched an upper year credit course at Western University called Mindfulness and the Legal Profession with the intention of bolstering student wellness and providing training in skills not traditionally covered in the law school curriculum. The course—believed to be the first credit course on mindfulness at a Canadian law school—combines a daily mindfulness practice with readings and discussion on topics such as mental health, focus and distraction, emotional intelligence, resilience, compassion, mindful listening, negotiation, and legal ethics. We present results from a qualitative study of student reflections on the course. Our analysis shows that the course had a significant impact on student mental health and led to growth in skills relevant to the legal profession, including enhanced focus, increased productivity, and improved communication skills. Students also experienced greater self-awareness and an enhanced ability to attend to the present moment. Furthermore, students benefited from the sense of community fostered by the class, which allowed them to recognize that they are not alone in their experiences. Many students expressed an intention to use the skills that they learned in the course in their professional lives moving forward, and a belief that the law school curriculum should be expanded to include courses such as Mindfulness and the Legal Profession. We argue that courses such as Mindfulness and the Legal Profession belong in the law school curriculum and are deserving of consideration by the broader legal community.

Study conducted in collaboration with Thomas Telfer, Sara Ahola-Kohut, and Elli Weisbaum. Talk presented by Thomas Telfer and I.

Posters

CSBBCS, 2019

Research suggests that mindfulness meditation improves psychological and emotional well-being. The present study sought to assess these claims among graduate students — a group who, in recent years, have demonstrated high levels of stress and mental illness. All participants completed a series of self-report measures designed to assess perceived well-being and mindful cognition. Following the completion of these measures, the experimental group (n = 77) participated in a 4-week mindfulness program. At the end of this program, all participants completed the self-report measures for a second time. The control group (n = 63) then participated in the same 4-week mindfulness program and, at the end of this program, all participants completed the self-report measures for a third and final time. Completion of the mindfulness program was associated with significant decreases in stress, negative affect, and depression, as well as significant increases in resilience and mindful cognition.

Study conducted as part of my doctoral dissertation and Lauren Martyn's undergraduate independent study project. Poster created and presented by Lauren at the 2019 Canadian Society for Brain, Behaviour, and Cognitive Science conference.

Martyn_CSBBCS_2019.pdf

Nielsen_APS_2019.pdf

APS, 2019

Fifty lawyers completed a 30-day, mindfulness program. Pre- and post-test comparisons revealed significant decreases in stress, negative affect, and depression, as well as increases in positive affect and mindful cognition. No changes were observed in a wait-list control group of fifty lawyers.

Study conducted as part of my doctoral dissertation. Poster created and presented by me at the 2019 Association for Psychological Science conference.

AOPUTC, 2019

The literature suggests that mindfulness reduces the occurrence of cognitive biases. Given that mindfulness is thought to promote attentional processes — a defining feature of System 2 thinking — a possible explanation for this effect is that high levels of mindfulness lead to a reduced reliance on System 1 thinking and increased use of System 2 thinking. In this study, 267 participants completed the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ; a measure of trait mindfulness) and a series of cognitive tasks. Various facets of trait mindfulness were found to differentially predict base rate neglect; belief bias and anchoring effects; and use of the representativeness and availability heuristics.

Study conducted as part of my doctoral research and Emma Guimaraes' undergraduate thesis. Poster created and presented by Emma at the 2019 Annual Ontario Undergraduate Thesis Conference.

Guimaraes_AOPUTC_2019.pdf

Nielsen_APS_2017.pdf

APS, 2017

Forty-six lawyers completed an eight-week, mindfulness meditation course. Pre and post-test comparisons revealed significant reductions in depression, anxiety, and stress. Significant increases in positive mood, resiliency, mindful cognition, and perceived effectiveness were also observed. Changes in positive mood and perceived stress were found to be correlated with time spent meditating.

Study conducted as part of my doctoral dissertation. Poster created and presented by me at the 2017 Association for Psychological Science conference.

APS, 2015

Relative to no noise, high-volume ambient noise was found to enhance performance on a creative thinking task. Noise did not produce differential performance on rule-defined vs. information integration category learning. Noise, therefore, appears to affect creativity but not cognitive flexibility.

Study conducted as part of my master's thesis. Poster created and presented by me at the 2015 Association for Psychological Science conference.

Emily_APS.pdf

Nielsen_ICPS_2015.pdf

ICPS, 2015

We tested the effects of self-regulatory exertion (SRE) on category learning. Subjects who engaged in an SRE task were impaired in the rule-based category task relative to controls. The SRE task had no effect on learning non-rule-based categories. These results have implications for the design of optimal cognitive work environments.

Study conducted by Dr. Rahel (Rachel) Rabi. Poster created and presented by me at the 2015 International Convention of Psychological Science.

CSBBCS, 2014

Eighty-nine participants completed compound remote associate (CRA) problems while exposed to either a low, moderate, or high volume of ambient noise. The CRA task is thought to measure cognitive flexibility and creativity. Compared to participants in the low-volume condition, participants in the high-volume condition correctly answered more of the most difficult CRA items. This suggests that higher noise levels can enhance cognitive flexibility relative to lower noise levels. Additional work is proposed to further investigate the relationship between sound and cognitive flexibility. The results of this study may be useful in defining environments that are conducive to creativity and learning.

Study conducted as part of my master's thesis. Poster created and presented by me at the 2014 Canadian Society for Brain, Behaviour, and Cognitive Science conference.

Nielsen_CSBBCS_2014.pdf

Thesis Poster.pdf

WLU Honours Thesis Poster, 2013

Sadler et al.'s computer joystick method provides researchers with the unique ability to capture interpersonal behavioural changes on dominance and affiliation continuously and simultaneously. Though theories of cognitive processing predict an inability to effectively multitask, coding the dimensions separately resulted in decreases in reliabilities of the means and of the time-series. Consequently, multitasking does not appear to be a factor in simultaneously collecting ratings of dominance and affiliation with the joystick method. There is no evidence, therefore, to suggest that the traditional application of the joystick method should be altered for future coding.

My undergraduate thesis project. Poster created and presented by me at the 2013 Wilfrid Laurier University Undergraduate Thesis Conference.

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