Yoga as a pre-treatment of EMDR to treat childhood abuse-related PTSD: feasibility and pilot study

Aug 20, 2025European journal of psychotraumatology

Using Yoga Before EMDR Therapy to Treat PTSD from Childhood Abuse: Feasibility and Initial Study

AI simplified

Abstract

Yoga + therapy resulted in significant improvements in anxiety and emotional dysregulation for patients with childhood abuse-related PTSD.

32 adult women with childhood abuse-related PTSD were included in the study.
Participants were divided into a Yoga + EMDR group and a Wait + EMDR group.
The Yoga + EMDR group showed fewer dropouts compared to the Wait + EMDR group.
No significant differences were found in overall PTSD symptoms or most comorbidities between the groups.
Improvements in anxiety and emotional regulation were specifically noted in the Yoga + EMDR group.

AI simplified

Yoga, a mind-body practice that enhances emotional regulation and self-awareness, may be an effective stabilisation tool for trauma-focused therapy, particularly for patients with childhood abuse-related posttraumatic stress disorder (), who exhibit strong avoidance strategies.This study aimed to test the efficacy of group yoga sessions followed by individual sessions on PTSD symptoms. Secondary objectives included evaluating the efficacy of this combined treatment on the most common associated comorbidities, and measuring the adherence and effectiveness of EMDR sessions.32 adult women with CA-PTSD were randomly assigned to either a Yoga + EMDR group (10 weekly yoga sessions followed by 10 weekly EMDR sessions) or a Wait + EMDR group (12 weeks of waiting followed by 10 weekly EMDR sessions). Assessments were conducted at baseline, week 12, and week 24, primarily using validated self-report questionnaires.While PTSD symptoms and most comorbidities showed no significant group differences, the Yoga + EMDR group exhibited significant improvements in anxiety and emotional dysregulation, fewer dropouts, and more effective EMDR sessions compared to the Wait + EMDR group. The study faced a limitation as the overall therapy duration extended beyond the protocol, rapidly preventing new recruitments.Yoga preceding EMDR shows promise in enhancing emotion regulation and EMDR effectiveness for CA-PTSD patients. Background: Objective: Methods: Results: Conclusions:

Key numbers

Dropout Rate Decrease

Dropout rate in Yoga + group vs. Wait + group.

10 of 12

Traumatic Memory Desensitisation Sessions

Proportion of participants who began desensitisation in the first 10 sessions.

2.8

State Anxiety Improvement

Average state anxiety score improvement in Yoga + group.

Full Text

We can’t show the full text here under this license. Use the link below to read it at the source.

View full text ↗

Abstract

Key numbers

Full Text

Related papers

what lands in your inbox each week: