Date of Award

Winter 3-21-2015

Document Type

Doctoral Research Paper

Degree Name

Psy.D. in Clinical Psychology

Organizational Unit

Graduate School of Professional Psychology

First Advisor

John McNeil

Second Advisor

Peter Buirski

Third Advisor

Kimberly Spring Thompson

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Keywords

Yoga, Successful psychotherapists, Therapeutic outcomes, Self-­care, Therapeutic relationship

Abstract

Yoga practice promotes awareness and acceptance, and serves as a body-centered medium for developing deepened self-understanding. Among patient populations, a growing body of evidence suggests that the benefits of yoga practice extend to both physical health and psychological well-being. However, the psychological impact of yoga practice on psychotherapists’ interpersonal responses, while potentially promising, has received little attention in the literature. This paper provides a historical overview of contemplative practices and discusses the role that yoga can play in developing certain interpersonal characteristics of the psychotherapist that are hypothesized to empower the therapeutic relationship and facilitate constructive behavior change on the part of the client, with a focus on acceptance, empathy, and compassion as core conditions. A model will be presented with emphasis on an epistemology of caring, developed through repeated exposure to the somatic field of experience as engendered through yoga centered mindfulness practice, and how this practice can help cultivate core characteristics of interpersonal responding that may benefit both the client and practitioner alike.

Copyright Date

12-23-2014

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.

Rights Holder

Jennifer Paz

Provenance

Received from Author

File Format

application/pdf

Language

English (eng)

Extent

42 pgs

File Size

339 KB

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