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Complementary and integrative interventions for PTSD.

Barbara L Niles, Ariel J Lang, Miranda Olff

European Journal of Psychotraumatology 2023 DOI: 10.1080/20008066.2023.2247888 (opens in new tab)

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Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Review Peer reviewed
Interventions Mindfulness service dogs scuba diving meditative and relaxation-based interventions
Topics Meditation PTSD
Keywords Tept Trauma Alternativa Alternative Animales de servicio Complementario Complementary Integradora Integrative Intervenciones Interventions Mecanismos de acción Mechanisms of action Meditación Mente-cuerpo Mind–body Service animals 作用机制 冥想 创伤 干预措施 替代性的 服务性动物 综合的 补充 身心
Citations 16
Key findings Complementary and Integrative Health interventions show emerging evidence for meditative and relaxation-based approaches, but high-quality trials are lacking, making it premature to recommend them as first-line treatments for trauma.

Abstract

ABSTRACTTo treat the impact of trauma, most current evidence supports the use of trauma-focused psychotherapy as the first line approach. However, millions of individuals exposed to trauma worldwide seek Complementary and Integrative Health (CIH) therapies in hopes of achieving wellness above and beyond reducing symptoms. But what is the evidence for CIH interventions? What are potential pitfalls? Given the growing popularity of and strong interest in CIH, EJPT is featuring research on these approaches in this special issue. The papers range from common interventions such as mindfulness to the use of service dogs and scuba diving to alleviate trauma related symptoms. A featured editorial highlights the importance of defining when, where, and how placebo responses work. Nonspecific elements of treatment such as positive expectations, therapeutic rituals, healing symbols, and social interactions are identified as factors influencing treatment response and scientists looking to add to the CIH evidence base are encouraged to consider the impact and methodological challenges these elements present. CIH interventions more specifically recognize and harness some of these factors in addition to intervention-specific factors such as attention or emotion regulation along with focus on overall wellbeing. The body of work in this special issue supports the emerging evidence for meditative and relaxation-based interventions and illustrates a creative but nascent state of the field. Cross-intervention mechanisms that may play a role in achieving wellness, such as arousal reduction, emotion regulation, posttraumatic growth, and positive affect are highlighted. The trauma field would benefit from accumulation of evidence for promising CIH interventions, evaluation of potential mechanisms, and examination of health and wellbeing outcomes. With the paucity of high-quality trials, it would be premature to recommend CIH interventions as first-line treatments. However, the emerging literature on CIH continues to advance our understanding of what works and how these interventions exert their effects.

Comparable studies

Other narrative reviews on PTSD, most cited first.

Study Year Design Participants
Psychedelic Psychiatry's Brave New World. 2020 Review
Reviewing the Potential of Psychedelics for the Treatment of PTSD 2020 Review
Novel psychopharmacological therapies for psychiatric disorders: psilocybin and MDMA. 2016 Review
MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD: Are memory reconsolidation and fear extinction underlying mechanisms? 2018 Review
Clinical applications of hallucinogens: A review. 2016 Review

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