Mind-Body Therapies: Holistic Care

This assignment explores the concept of mind-body therapies as a crucial aspect of holistic healthcare. It emphasizes the importance of practitioners integrating evidence-based mind-body techniques like mindfulness and yoga into patient care. Open communication with patients is highlighted to ensure they choose therapies that align with their comfort and needs. The document acknowledges the limited research on mind-body therapies, advocating for increased awareness and further studies to solidify their effectiveness.

Running head: CRITICAL REVIEW AND ANALYSIS OF MIND-BODY THERAPIES. 1
Critical review and analysis of three mind-body therapies.
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CRITICAL REVIEW AND ANALYSIS OF MIND-BODY THERAPIES. 2
Introduction
Mind-body therapy is a healing approach that focuses on body, mind and spirit as an
integrated whole. It is a holistic approach that emphases on the connection between a people’s
physical, mental, and spiritual capabilities. Various studies conducted have proved that
emotional dysfunction like stress and depression influence health outcomes and physiological
functions (Rossi, 2017). Clinical practitioners and medical education overlooks the psychosocial
factors as major contributors in acceleration of sicknesses. Mind-body therapy should be
integrated in the multidisciplinary approach that is aimed at reducing mood disturbance, pain,
and anxiety. Understanding and providing patients with appropriate mind-body therapies
enhances doctor-patient relationship, helps patients to understand what they are going through
better, and improves the body system. Although evidence of the successful administration of the
mind-body therapy is not satisfactory, it should not be ruled out in aiding clinical practice
(Leung, 2015). There are dominant relations that occur between the immune system and the
brain, and behavior is directly influenced by psychosocial factors. Mind-body therapy may shield
these immune modifications through enhanced mood, physical exercise, relaxation, and stress
decline. Behavioral reactions are thus the basic elements to activating body-mind system, which
in turn modify the immune system and have inferences for vulnerability to many diseases. The
changes in the body weaken the body system and the intervention of a health practitioner is
sought (Benn, 2015). Thus, the practitioner should provide medical and therapy solution to
facilitate faster healing process. Some of the mind-body therapy modalities include; meditation,
relaxation techniques and guided imagery

CRITICAL REVIEW AND ANALYSIS OF MIND-BODY THERAPIES. 3
Meditation
Meditation is the deliberate self-regulation of attention. Adapted from the Eastern traditional
systems, it focuses on cumulative transparency of minds and mental consciousness (Alexander,
2008). It is an organized mental emphasis on specific features of internal and external
experiences. It includes reception, yoga, stretching and group dynamics. In order to determine
the effectiveness of meditation as a mind-body therapy a research was conducted on cancer
patients. The method used was randomized controlled trial of both male and female patients, and
it was found that the cancer patients in the randomized trial had less mood disturbance and less
stress symptoms, these patients were provided with meditation group and home meditation
services, compared to the cancer patients who were undergoing treatment only. Meditation falls
between two major categories that is Mindfulness Based Cognitive Techniques (MBCT) and
Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), meta-analysis on clinical literature for
therapeutics for psychological symptoms have tried to draw conclusion between the two broad
categories of MBSR and MBCT techniques ("Alternative Therapy: Mind, Body, and Spirit,"
2017). These meta-analyses have generally concluded that meditation techniques provide
effective results to depression patients. Patients found with depression and cannot concentrate
are required to take meditative classes to help them focus their attention. Handling of clinical
depression disorders happen during different phases of the disorder; acute, continuation and
maintenance phases, depression times time to heal and therefore it is necessary to repeat the
acute phase after all the phases are over to prevent the recurring of depression (Evans, 2010).
Medication coupled with regulated meditation helps cure depression. Also, meditation provides
small to moderate benefits for symptoms of anxiety, especially in patients with comorbid
illnesses. There are difficulties in identifying the efficacious components of meditation therapies

CRITICAL REVIEW AND ANALYSIS OF MIND-BODY THERAPIES. 4
for several reasons. First, a rigorous comparison of the praxis elements of individual meditative
therapies has not been undertaken, and thus the extent of commonality is not known. Because
there is evidence to suggest that different meditative practices involve different neuronal
substrates it is likely that meditation therapies that incorporate different practices affect the
biological substrates of target psychological symptoms differently (Fogerite & Goldberg, 2008).
Relaxation techniques
It exploits responsiveness of breathing rate, rhythm, and volume. It involves techniques
whose key objective is elicitation of a psychophysiological state of relaxation or hypo arousal.
Relaxation therapy decreases sensitive nervous system reaction, which in turn minimizes demand
for oxygen, decreases heartbeat, and lowers blood pressure (Joyce, Etty-Leal, Zazryn, &
Hamilton, 2010). Relaxation therapies combines a range of practices such as yoga, biofeedback,
breathing deeply, hypnosis, and guided imagery. Relaxation can be used in some instances to
relax tensed muscles. From the randomized controlled trial, most of the patients who had muscle
relaxation training, had a regular sleep pattern compared to those patients in the control program.
The randomized control trial for the muscle relaxation training concluded that the therapy had an
impact as the cancer patients showed reduction in depression and anxiety, while the controlled
program had patients with anxiety and depression symptoms (Leung, 2015). Another trial that
involved cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, it was set for one group to undergo
relaxation training and the other group to miss the training. From the two groups, the trained
group reported decreased anger, fatigue, depression, and tension symptoms. Relaxation
technique has also been known to help reduce pain, coupled with guided imagery the cancer
patients are able to endure the chemotherapy with much ease compared to those who do not

CRITICAL REVIEW AND ANALYSIS OF MIND-BODY THERAPIES. 5
undergo the therapy. This is analyzed by the pain score that the patients report after their
subsequent treatment (Stam, 2004).
Cognitive-behavioral therapy
It is a form of therapy aimed at modifying a patient’s opinions, manners or emotional
responses to help in identifying and monitoring reaction to symptoms using an automated
learning or counselling approach (Ventegodt & Merrick, 2013). Patients are given an opportunity
to use their own imaginations to formulate mental images that help them get away from their
immediate symptoms, this is done through guided imagery and relaxation. Analysis of studies
relating to cancer patients with sleep disorders, fatigue, and pain expressed satisfaction in the
cognitive behavior therapy. The studies demonstrated improvements in the symptoms noted. The
randomized controlled trial involved cancer patients who were in pain, had sleep disorders and
were fatigued (Wainrib, 2006). The trial trained half of the patients, and gave them music players
to listen to when undergoing chemotherapy. It was found that the patients who were trained and
listened to music endured pain better than those who were not trained. Cognitive behavior
therapy helps patients forget their immediate pain and give them a chance to focus on something
else rather than their surroundings and pain. Pain makes the patients experience depression and
anxiety, which can deteriorate their ailing state further (Benn, 2015).
Findings
There is sufficient evidence that medicine practitioners ought to include psychosocial
models in the health models that have been adapted (Kimko & Peck, 2011). There are affirmative
outcomes of meta-analysis and randomized controlled trials, there is a convincing evidence to
incorporate the modalities of body-mind therapies in treatment of all types of diseases including

CRITICAL REVIEW AND ANALYSIS OF MIND-BODY THERAPIES. 6
cancer, and there are further researches that should be conducted to give more satisfactory
conclusions. From the negligible side effects related to the mind-body therapies that are being
used to enhance the healing process, the health practitioners should highly encourage them
because they are cost effective. Clinical practitioners should integrate the psychosocial mind
body approaches to be considered a priority. Also, patients should be provided with insurances
that cover such therapies to enable them utilize the services easily. The patients should be
allowed the freedom to choose whether to engage in mind body techniques as an additional
therapy, since free will of the patients would mean willingness to heal therefore physiologic
benefits will be realized easily.
Conclusion
Support groups should be formed by the clinicians and also the patients, this will help to
provide information for members, provide skills for coping with their issues, help moderate
anxiety and offer the people a place where they would share their emotions and concerns. The
settings could be hospital based or community. Support groups help reduce depression, anxiety,
illness adaptation, and marital relationships. Practitioners should provide evidence-based, holistic
care including mind-body therapy to patients. Practitioners should establish open communication
with the patients to help them choose the most comfort therapy to use. The few studies for mind-
body therapies are not adequate therefore more needs to be done to create awareness of the
importance of the mind-body interventions.

CRITICAL REVIEW AND ANALYSIS OF MIND-BODY THERAPIES. 7
References
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Benn, R. (2015). Mind–Body Therapies. Integrative Women's Health, 78-108.
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Evans, S. (2010). Review: mindfulness-based therapies effective for anxiety and depression.
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