Yoga as an Adjunctive Treatment for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Randomized Controlled Trial

BESSEL A. VAN DER KOLK, MD; LAURA STONE, MA; JENNIFER WEST, PHD; ALISON RHODES, MSW MED;
DAVID EMERSON, MA; MICHAEL SUVAK, PHD; AND JOSEPH SPINAZZOLA, PHD | ORIGINAL RESEARCH

More than a third of the approximately 10 million women with histories of interpersonal violence in the United States develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Currently available treatments for this population have a high rate of incomplete response, in part because problems in affect and impulse regulation are major obstacles to resolving PTSD. This study explored the efficacy of yoga to increase affect tolerance and to decrease PTSD symptomatology