Date of Submission

Spring 2015

Academic Programs and Concentrations

Psychology

Project Advisor 1

Farnaz Kaighobadi

Abstract/Artist's Statement

Yoga is an adjunctive treatment of increasing interest in many health-related fields, including clinical psychology. One particular field of psychopathology in which yoga is seeing burgeoning interest is in the treatment of trauma and its resulting psychological problems. Yoga has been shown to be effective in ameliorating the symptoms of a wide range of traumatized populations, including, but not limited to samples affected by natural disaster, intimate partner violence, and war combat. This project explores the use of yoga as an adjunctive treatment to more traditional modes of therapy for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and various trauma-related symptoms. I begin by considering the efficacy of yoga for traumatized populations while describing specific yogic techniques aimed at alleviating particular symptoms and the mechanisms of action behind their observed effects. I then discuss ethical considerations such as the management of boundary crossings within the sensitive population of trauma survivors as well as common criticisms regarding the accessibility of yoga to a diverse range of individuals. The project is concluded with suggestions for future research and practice synthesized from observations made and principles adopted by trauma-sensitive yoga instructors as well as findings and drawbacks seen in the existing literature in this small, yet rapidly growing field.

Open Access Agreement

On-Campus only

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
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