Yoga as a pre-treatment of EMDR to treat childhood abuse-related PTSD: Feasibility and pilot study
This study aimed to test the efficacy of group yoga sessions followed by individual EMDR sessions on PTSD symptoms.
Article Abstract
“Background: 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 (CA-PTSD), who exhibit strong avoidance strategies.
Objective: This study aimed to test the efficacy of group yoga sessions followed by individual EMDR 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.
Methods: 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.
Results: 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.
Conclusions: Yoga preceding EMDR shows promise in enhancing emotion regulation and EMDR effectiveness for CA-PTSD patients.”
—Description from publisher
Article Access
Open Access
Allene, C., Durand, F., Negre, G., De Vallois-Moquet, M., Gerber, G-I., Dupasquier, A., Roland, V., Hirou, L., Coupey-Bolloré, O., Vigne, S., François, S., Moulier, V., Ateb, S., Kalalou, K., & Januel, D. (2025). Yoga as a pre-treatment of EMDR to treat childhood abuse-related PTSD: Feasibility and pilot study. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 16(1), 2530917. Open access: https://doi.org/10.1080/20008066.2025.2530917
Date
August 20, 2025
Creator(s)
Camille Allene, Florence Durand, Guillaume Negre
Contributor(s)
Marie De Vallois-Moquet, Gersende-Indira Gerber, Aurélien Dupasquier, Varenka Roland, Léa Hirou, Ombline Coupey-Bolloré, Samantha Vigne, Stéphanie François, Virginie Moulier, Sarra Ateb, Khalid Kalalou, Dominique Januel
Topics
Abuse/Neglect, Childhood Trauma, PTSD
Practice & Methods
Integrative Therapies
Extent
13 pages
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Rights
© 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
APA Citation
Allene, C., Durand, F., Negre, G., De Vallois-Moquet, M., Gerber, G-I., Dupasquier, A., Roland, V., Hirou, L., Coupey-Bolloré, O., Vigne, S., François, S., Moulier, V., Ateb, S., Kalalou, K., & Januel, D. (2025). Yoga as a pre-treatment of EMDR to treat childhood abuse-related PTSD: Feasibility and pilot study. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 16(1), 2530917. Open access: https://doi.org/10.1080/20008066.2025.2530917
Audience
EMDR Therapists
Language
English, Spanish
Content Type
Article, Peer-Reviewed
Access Type
External Resource, Open Access
