Yoga Therapy and Trauma (PSYCH401)

Required reading: Overcoming Trauma Through Yoga by Emerson and Hopper 

Materials to bring: standard yoga props (2 blocks, 2 blankets (or 1 blanket and 1 bolster), and strap).

Course Overview

This course explores the psychological foundations and trauma-informed practices essential for working with care-seekers who have experienced mental distress or trauma. Students learn trauma-sensitive communication, nervous system responses to trauma — including hyperarousal, dissociation, and chronic stress — and how to safely integrate yoga therapy tools while staying within professional scope.

Grounded in the research of van der Kolk, Emerson, Levine, and the landmark ACE Study (Felitti et al., 1998), students understand why trauma is 'beyond words' and why body-based interventions are uniquely positioned to access traumatic material. Invitational language, interoceptive focus, and choice-making are understood as active therapeutic mechanisms — not stylistic preferences.

Emphasis is placed on pacing, consent, co-regulation, relational boundaries, and appropriate referral practices, preparing students to serve with competence, compassion, and ethical clarity across a wide range of mental health presentations.

Asynchronous Students — Project Instructions

Option A: Complete the written protocol below. Option B: Record a 15–20 minute trauma-sensitive class using invitational language, then upload to the Facebook group for peer and mentor feedback.

1. Select a trauma-related case study from class, or create a composite profile (no identifying information).

2. Complete the Yoga Therapy Assessment & Planning Form. Include:

• Summary of intake and observed patterns — physical, breath, and emotional regulation — including any nervous system state indicators (hyperarousal, freeze, dissociation)
• Client's stated goals and your therapeutic priorities, including short-term safety and long-term integration objectives
• Practices selected (asana, pranayama, meditation, mantra, relaxation) with rationale for each
• Specific language and structural adaptations that create choice, safety, and agency at each point in the session

3. Submit a 1–2 page clinical reflection addressing:

• How you applied trauma-informed principles — invitational language, pacing, environmental considerations, consent
• Ethical considerations or challenges that arose in the design process
• How you would monitor for signs of dysregulation during practice, and what you would do if you noticed them
• One moment in the session where you would pause to check in, and what you would say

4. Upload your completed form and reflection via the Pillar Project Template Form link.

*Page numbers given in lecture might not match up with the numbers in your source material if you are taking this course asynchronous