Integrating yoga into psychotherapy: The ethics of moving from the mind to the mat

Abstract

Given the rise in attention to client preferences in medical treatment and the shift in focus toward health promotion, it is not surprising that the use of complementary health approaches have increased in the past several years. Yoga is among the most prominent complementary health approaches. Recently, both qualitative and quantitative work has emerged supporting its use for a variety of medical and psychological disorders. However, there is a critical gap in knowledge regarding how to most optimally and ethically integrate complementary therapies (i.e., yoga) into current psychology practices. Moreover, it remains unclear which clients are the best candidates for receiving such complementary treatments and which therapists should provide them. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the history of yoga, the scientific evidence in support of its use for mental health issues, and an ethical framework to guide psychologists interested in integrating yoga into psychotherapy.

Integration of hatha yoga and evidence‐based psychological treatments for common mental disorders: An evidence map

“…Considering the costs of larger controlled studies, an understanding of the acceptability and feasibility of implementing yoga alongside psychological treatments via the collection of data such as recruitment, retention, tolerability, and treatment safety (Thabane et al, 2010) is critical. Similarly, gathering the perspectives of health practitioners such as clinical psychologists regarding the inclusion of yoga with current therapeutic approaches is necessary (Liem, 2020), including due regard to the potential ethical issues that arise when combining yoga with evidence‐based treatments (Kamradt, 2017).…”

“…including due regard to the potential ethical issues that arise when combining yoga with evidence-based treatments (Kamradt, 2017).…”

“…Examining this knowledge gap is necessary to examine the evidence base for integrated yoga and psychological treatment (Nauphal et al, 2019; Patwardhan, 2016) and to highlight key areas for future research relevant to clinical practice. Understandably, health practitioners will be reticent to prescribe yoga alongside psychological treatment for mental disorders without a complete understanding of the current evidence base, whilst psychologists interested in integrating yoga with evidence‐based psychological approaches have a responsibility as scientist‐practitioners to critically appraise relevant intervention research as well as the practical and ethical issues arising from the use of yoga as a complementary therapy (Kamradt, 2017; Park, 2013).…”

A Review of the Efficacy of Yoga and Meditation-Based Interventions for Rheumatoid Arthritis

“…In addition to physical symptoms, psychological disorders are highly prevalent among patients with RA [11,12]. Both body-oriented Yoga (Yoga that does not include meditative practice) and mind-body Yoga (meditation-based Yoga) have been used to effectively manage a wide range of psychosomatic and psychiatric disorders [13,14]. Yoga is associated with decreases in resting heart rate and normalization of mean daily cortisol levels which has been linked to reduced symptoms of stress and depression, enhanced quality of life levels, and improved physical function [15,16].…”

Yoga as an Adjunctive Intervention to Medication-Assisted Treatment with Buprenorphine+Naloxone

“…The use of the medication in the treatment of substance use disorders has been shown to increase retention in treatment and decrease relapse rates [2–4]. Yoga has been shown to help with a wide range of physical and psychological symptoms including symptoms commonly experienced in early recovery including depression, anxiety, stress, chronic pain and hypertension [5,6].…”