Childs-Fegredo, Jasmine ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6447-0034, Fontana, Elisa, Moran, Mary and Faulkner, Paul (2022) Yoga-integrated psychotherapy for emotion dysregulation: A pilot study. Counselling and Psychotherapy Research, 23 (3). pp. 638-652.

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Abstract

Yoga has been evidenced as beneficial for physical and mental health. The present study sought to pilot the acceptability and feasibility of a yoga-integrated psychotherapy intervention, aimed to alleviate difficulties in emotion regulation. A further aim was to explore the perceived effectiveness of YiP in alleviating depression, anxiety, and improving wellbeing.
Methods: Seven participants who scored significantly on the Difficulties in Emotion Dysregulation Scale (DERS) took part in a psychological assessment session followed by six-weekly one hour therapy sessions. Participants completed self-report measures in each session to quantify the effects of each YiP session on emotion regulation, wellbeing, depression and anxiety. Following seven sessions, five participants completed qualitative follow-up interviews to explore subjective experiences of YiP and any perceived impacts.
Findings: An ANOVA that contained data from 7 participants who completed all 6 sessions revealed that compared to at baseline, DERS scores were significantly lower, and wellbeing scores were significantly higher, at both mid-point and end-point. Thematic analysis of qualitative interviews identified five themes: ‘YiP assists the client's psychological and emotional processing’, ‘YiP improves insight and focus’, ‘YiP is culturally sensitive’, ‘the body as an agent for regulation and resilience’ and ‘YiP as acceptable & impactful’.
Conclusion: The study presents promising findings for the integration of yoga into psychotherapeutic practice, and indicates that YiP may have beneficial effects on emotion regulation and psychological wellbeing. Future research should use randomized controlled methodologies to examine the ability of YiP to alleviate a wide of affective symptoms using a larger sample of participants.

Item Type:	Article
Status:	Published
DOI:	https://doi.org/10.1002/capr.12602
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology > BF636 Applied psychology B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology > BF637 Counselling
School/Department:	School of Education, Language and Psychology
URI:	https://ray.yorksj.ac.uk/id/eprint/7057

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