Yoga as an Adjunctive Treatment for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Kolk, Bessel A. van der; Stone, Laura S.; West, Jennifer; Rhodes, Alison M.; Emerson, David J.; Suvak, Michael K.; Spinazzola, Joseph

doi:10.4088/jcp.13m08561

Cited by 304 publications

(306 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…These additional interventions may have contributed to the treatment effect we found. Especially trauma-sensitive yoga has shown promising results as stand-alone intervention (Van der Kolk et al, 2014) and various forms of physical activity, including yoga, show potential to contribute to effective multidisciplinary treatments for PTSD (Rosenbaum et al, 2015). We cannot completely rule out the possibility that trauma-informed yoga may have lessened the effects of EMDR either, because the effect of the yoga interventions cannot be separated from the effect of the EMDR components in this pilot study.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A five-day inpatient EMDR treatment programme for PTSD: pilot study

Méndez

Nijdam

Heide

et al. 2018

European Journal of Psychotraumatology

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Background: Trauma-focused psychotherapies for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have been demonstrated to be efficacious, but also have considerable non-response and dropout rates. Intensive treatment may lead to faster symptom reduction, which may contribute to treatment motivation and thereby to reduction of dropout. Objective: The aim of the current study was to investigate the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of an intensive five-day inpatient treatment with Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and trauma-informed yoga for patients with PTSD. Method: A non-controlled pilot study with 12 adult patients with PTSD was conducted. At baseline the PTSD diagnosis was assessed with the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS-5) and comorbid disorders with the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI). Primary outcome was self-reported PTSD symptom severity (PTSD Check List for DSM-5; PCL-5) measured at the beginning of day 1 (T1), at the end of day 5 (T2) and at follow-up on day 21 (T3). Reliable change indexes (RCI) and clinically significant changes were calculated. Results: From T1 to T3, PTSD symptoms significantly improved with a large effect size (Cohen’s d = 0.91). Nine of the 11 patients who completed treatment showed reliable changes in terms of self-reported PTSD. At T3, two of the patients no longer met criteria for PTSD as measured with the PCL-5. One patient dropped out after the first day. No serious adverse events occurred. Conclusions: The majority of patients in our pilot study experienced symptom reduction consistent with reliable changes in this five-day inpatient treatment with EMDR and yoga. Randomized controlled trials – with longer follow up periods – are needed to properly determine efficacy and efficiency of intensive clinical treatments for PTSD compared to regular treatment. This is one of the first studies to show that intensive EMDR treatment is feasible and is indicative of reliable improvement in PTSD symptoms in a very short time frame.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A five-day inpatient EMDR treatment programme for PTSD: pilot study

Méndez

Nijdam

Heide

et al. 2018

European Journal of Psychotraumatology

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“…We hope you do. Our sport demands an extensive control of the breath when doing strokes or flipping the body under the water to reach the shore, which in many ways, is just a regulation [25][26][27][28][29]. But, for that too, practicing Pranayama, a part of yoga helped us a lot.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Yoga as an Exercise in the Professional Life of a Swimmer Leads to Perfection

Mandapaka¹

2016

J Yoga Phys Ther

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“…Rapidly emerging in the effort to enhance recovery and build resilience for trauma survivors are mind/body, experiential approaches and expressive therapies, including: mindfulness programs (Davis & Hayes, 2011;Omidi, 2013), Trauma-focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy or TF-CBT (Getz, 2012;Kliethermes & Wamser, 2012), traumasensitive yoga (Rhodes, 2015;van der Kolk et al, 2014;West, Lian, & Spinazzola, 2016), and expressive art therapies including psychodrama (Zucker, Spinazzola, Pollack, Pepe, & Barry, 2010). By deemphasizing verbal communication, these approaches allow for the inclusion of non-verbal approaches that support the therapeutic relationship and the establishment of safety and trust, which in turn can improve affect regulation and cognitive processing (Bray, Stone, & Gaskill, 2017).…”

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confidence: 99%