Do Contemplative Practices Promote Trauma Recovery? An Umbrella Review from 2018 to 2023

A narrative review of 42 studies from the last five years finds that contemplative practices—including mindfulness, yoga, Tai Chi, Qigong, and meditation—can effectively reduce trauma-related symptoms such as reactivity, intrusion, hyperarousal, and negative cognitions and mood in both adults and youth. Mindfulness was the most studied approach. Results were mixed for avoidance symptoms and physiological measures. The authors suggest combining contemplative practices with trauma-focused psychotherapy to improve emotional expression, metacognition, and a sense of safety, thereby helping restore basic trust in self and others.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Background: Contemplative practices encompass a variety of static and dynamic practices. A theoretical introduction traces differences among contemplative and meditative states; bottom-up and top-down embodied contemplative practices; implications of polyvagal theory in trauma recovery. Contemplative practices, by fostering insights, heightened awareness, and a deeper connection to a broader framework of meaning, may play a crucial role in significantly reducing trauma-related symptoms in both young and adult populations. Methods: The current narrative literature review used Scopus and PubMed to search studies published in the last five years that examined the effects of contemplative practices, as umbrella term that includes Mindfulness-based Interventions, Yoga, Tai Chi, Qigong, meditation, on trauma recovery and PTSD symptoms among adults and youth. Results: The literature search identified 281 articles. Forty-two studies met the inclusion criteria and were critically evaluated. Among the various approaches, mindfulness emerged as the most employed and investigated practice for supporting trauma recovery. Contemplative practices have been shown to effectively reduce various dimensions of traumatic experience, such as reactivity, intrusion, hyperarousal, and negative cognitions and mood. Controversial results were found on avoidance symptoms and physiological parameters. Conclusions: Results give support to the idea of combining contemplative practices with trauma-focused psychotherapeutic interventions to foster a sense of safety, enhance emotional expression and awareness of feelings of fear, shame, guilt, or inferiority while improving metacognitive processes. This, in turn, supports healing the sense of self, restoring a sense of basic trust in self and others, which is often deeply affected in individuals who have experienced trauma.