Effectiveness of Yoga Intervention Program for PTSD Patients

This paper critiques a qualitative study on the effectiveness of a yoga intervention program for patients with PTSD symptoms. The study found that yoga can produce self-care skills and improve the quality of life for those diagnosed with PTSD. The authors' objective is to provide high-quality evidence of its application or not in the case of Tesso who is diagnosed with PTSD symptoms.

Running head: Practice Evidence 1
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Jindani, F. A., & Khalsa, G. F. S. (2015). A yoga intervention program for patients suffering
from symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder: A qualitative descriptive study. The
Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 21(7), 401-408.
Introduction
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a critical health problem that is caused by exposure
to events that are traumatic leading to psychological and physiological distress (Neria, Nandi,
& Galea, 2008). Exposure treatments have been used to alleviate PTSD symptoms, however,
the end result is a reduction in the symptoms with no significant changes in the overall health
and cognitive functioning of the patients. Furthermore, some initial exposure therapies have
been found to be ineffective and resulting in the awakening of implicit memories and body
sensations that worsened trauma symptoms (Ralevski, Olivera-Figueroa, & Petrakis, 2014).
The objective of this paper is to critique the qualitative study on the effectiveness of yoga
intervention programme with an objective of providing high quality evidence of its
application or not in the case of Tesso who is diagnosed with PTSD symptoms
Body
PART A
Authorship
The cited qualifications of the two authors show that one of them has a PhD qualification
(Jindani) while the other has a Bachelors qualification (Khalsa). Jindain is affiliated with the
Centre of Addiction and Mental Health while Khalsa is associated with the University of
Toronto Multi-Faith Centre (Jindani & Khalsa, 2015). The varying qualifications of the
authors’ i.e. qualification in addiction and mental health and in spiritual studies, when
combined gives a balanced approach towards a study on posttraumatic stress disorder

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(PTSD). This is because the illness should be approached from the perspective of mental
health and spirituality. Moreover, the authors’ affiliations are relevant to their areas of study
thus equipping them with real life scenarios. This implies that the article is informative
regarding PTSD. However, the authors do not have any additional professional certifications
thus limiting the study to their rather little professional expertise.
The possible ground for bias exists regarding the affiliations of the authors. For instance,
Jindani and Khalsa are affiliated with a healthcare centre dealing the addiction and mental
health and khalsa is affiliated with a Multi-faith centre for spiritual study and roles. The
authors may be biased in their findings due to personal conflict when they find out that the
Yoga intervention program goes against the normal practice at work. Furthermore, one of the
author is in charge of Multicentre for spirituality study and his or her assumption of Yoga
may be biased by the studies already taken.
Research aims
The aim of the research is to explore the experiences of individuals with PTSD symptoms
that are undergoing trauma-sensitive Kundalini Yoga program. The study seeks to also assess
the effectiveness of yoga in treating PTSD.
The treatment of PTSD symptoms using exposure treatment is significant in minimizing the
symptoms. However, studies have shown that the reduction is not related with the general
progress in the health, social, and work-related functioning (Bonomi et al., 2008). Thus, there
is need for an intervention that focuses on both mind and body healing (Brown, Gerbarg, &
Muench, 2013). Several studies have shown that yoga is much more effective in addressing
disorders associated with the body and mind (Köhn, Persson Lundholm, Bryngelsson,
Anderzén-Carlsson, & Westerdahl, 2013; Anderzén-Carlsson, Persson Lundholm, Köhn, &
Westerdahl, 2014). However, no studies have scrutinised the experiences of PTSD patients

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undergoing yoga treatment. Thus, the authors’ objective is to seal the existing knowledge
gap.
Research Design
The study has used a qualitative descriptive design. This is an approach which involves the
study of status and is based on the belief that issues can be solved and practices enhanced
through description, analysis and observation (Novick, 2008). A qualitative descriptive
design is most appropriate where information is needed directly from those undergoing an
actual experience of the subject under study and in which the aspects of resources and time
are scarce.
A qualitative research design was befitting for the research since it aimed at examining the
actual experiences of patients diagnosed with PTSD symptoms. Thus, making it most
appropriate for the research question.
Research Methods
Recruitment of study participants was done using posters in public areas, advertisements at
social services, and through an online bulletin for patients in the GTA. Telephone interviews
were conducted for initial entry. The qualifying respondents were physically examined of
PTSD admissibility using the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist (PCL-17). Random
selection was done to either the placebo or experimental group. Data collection was done
using semi structured, telephone and audio recorded interviews. The collected data was then
analysed using qualitative thematic analysis.
Telephone interviews are much faster in collecting data but the information can be
compromised due to the absence of visual cues (Knox & Burkard, 2009). Semi structured
interviews permit informants to freely express their opinions in their own ways but can be

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time consuming and require more resources (Qu & Dumay, 2011). Audio recorded interviews
provide accurate responses and enables the researcher to listen repetitively to them for
purposes of clarity. However, audio recordings are not available immediately for analysis
thus prolonging the period of research (Gill, Stewart,Treasure, & Chadwick, 2008).
Results
The research found out that yoga may produce self-care skills which can easily be adapted by
PTSD patients in order to manage their symptoms and feelings when stressed. Furthermore,
the findings indicate that yoga can be effective in improving the quality of life for those
diagnosed with PTSD. Hence, these findings provide answers to the research objective. The
sample size was small thus limiting generalizability
PART B
The appraised article contains information that is very much relevant to the given scenario
and clinical question. The findings show that self-care tools are significant in the recovery
from PTSD symptoms. Furthermore, the treatment of trauma programs are effective when
they integrate components of mind and body into the treatment. Yoga is cited by the study as
most effective in offering self-care skills which are important in alleviating PTSD symptoms.
Therefore, the outcomes of this research provides high-quality evidence supporting the
application of yoga treatment programme in individuals with PTSD.
However, the application of this research is limited because the yoga treatment programme is
applied at home and requires some degree of intrinsic motivation to complete the 8 week
sessions. This will particularly be difficult for Tasso who is already doubting the
effectiveness of yoga treatment. Additionally, the participants in the research might have
been interested in trying out complimentary methods of treatment or might have been

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healthier been healthier. This bars the application of the treatment programme to different
contexts like that of Tesso.
Conclusion
The research by Jindani and Khalsa (2015) shows that yoga treatment is much more effective
in the treatment of PTSD symptoms compared to exposure treatments. This is because
complimentary treatment methods such as yoga causes improvement in health and welfare,
mental incorporation, lifestyle, and self-perceptions regarding the world. Yoga also offers
self-care skills which can be practiced at home by individuals with PTSD symptoms. The
research study provided justification for the research questions and the research design was
most applicable for responding to the study questions. This makes the inferences valid and of
high quality. Therefore, the study provides applicable evidence of the effectiveness of the
application of yoga treatment in the given scenario.

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References
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Brown, R. P., Gerbarg, P. L., & Muench, F. (2013). Breathing practices for treatment of
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Jindani, F. A., & Khalsa, G. F. S. (2015). A yoga intervention program for patients suffering
from symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder: A qualitative descriptive study. The
Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 21(7), 401-408.
Knox, S., & Burkard, A. W. (2009). Qualitative research interviews. Psychotherapy
Research, 19(4-5), 566-575.
Köhn, M., Persson Lundholm, U., Bryngelsson, I. L., Anderzén-Carlsson, A., & Westerdahl,
E. (2013). Medical yoga for patients with stress-related symptoms and diagnoses in
primary health care: a randomized controlled trial. Evidence-Based Complementary
and Alternative Medicine, 2013.

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Neria, Y., Nandi, A., & Galea, S. (2008). Post-traumatic stress disorder following disasters: a
systematic review. Psychological medicine, 38(4), 467-480.
Novick, G. (2008). Is there a bias against telephone interviews in qualitative
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