"We really need this": Trauma-informed yoga for Veteran women with a history of military sexual trauma
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Authors
Braun, Tosca D.Uebelacker, Lisa A.
Ward, Mariana
Holzhauer, Cathryn Glanton
McCallister, Kelly
Abrantes, Ana
UMass Chan Affiliations
Department of PsychiatryDocument Type
Journal ArticlePublication Date
2021-06-01Keywords
Military sexual traumaMindfulness
PTSD
Veterans
Women
Yoga
Alternative and Complementary Medicine
Domestic and Intimate Partner Violence
Mental and Social Health
Military and Veterans Studies
Movement and Mind-Body Therapies
Psychiatry and Psychology
Women's Health
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OBJECTIVES: Up to 70% of women service members in the United States report military sexual trauma (MST); many develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and co-occurring disorders. Trauma-informed yoga (TIY) is suggested to improve psychiatric symptoms and shown feasible and acceptable in emerging research, yet no work has evaluated TIY in MST survivors. The current quality improvement project aimed to examine TIY's feasibility, acceptability, and perceived effects in the context of MST. DESIGN: Collective case series (N = 7). SETTING: New England Vet Center. INTERVENTIONS: Extant TIY program (Mindful Yoga Therapy) adapted for Veteran women with MST in concurrent psychotherapy. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Attrition and attendance; qualitative exit interview; validated self-report measure of negative affect pre/post each yoga class, and symptom severity assessments and surveys before (T1; Time 1) and after the yoga program (T2; Time 2). RESULTS: Feasibility was demonstrated and women reported TIY was acceptable. In qualitative interviews, women reported improved symptom severity, diet, exercise, alcohol use, sleep, and pain; reduced medication use; and themes related to stress reduction, mindfulness, and self-compassion. Regarding quantitative change, results suggest acute reductions in negative affect following yoga sessions across participants, as well as improved affect dysregulation, shame, and mindfulness T1 to T2. CONCLUSIONS: TIY is both feasible and acceptable to Veteran women MST survivors in one specific Vet Center, with perceived behavioral health benefits. Results suggest TIY may target psychosocial mechanisms implicated in health behavior change (stress reduction, mindfulness, affect regulation, shame). Formal research should be conducted to confirm these QI project results.Source
Braun TD, Uebelacker LA, Ward M, Holzhauer CG, McCallister K, Abrantes A. "We really need this": Trauma-informed yoga for Veteran women with a history of military sexual trauma. Complement Ther Med. 2021 Jun;59:102729. doi: 10.1016/j.ctim.2021.102729. Epub 2021 May 6. PMID: 33965560. Link to article on publisher's site.
DOI
10.1016/j.ctim.2021.102729Permanent Link to this Item
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14038/41916PubMed ID
33965560Related Resources
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This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).Distribution License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1016/j.ctim.2021.102729
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Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).