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Faculty for Holistic Psychology

Newsletter – Mar 2020

Welcome to the latest edition of the Division of Clinical Psychology’s Faculty for Holistic Psychology newsletter, looking back at our 2019.

Faculty events

Our first event of 2019 was our annual conference on 3 and 4 May at Friends Meeting House in Brighton, which had a psychology and the body theme. On the first day, Dr Suzanne Heywood-Everett presented Heartmath: Reducing stress and anxiety, developing self-regulation skills to build mental and emotional resilience. Suzanne’s presentation introduced us to this model of embodied emotion, and we had the opportunity to try the mapping technology on ourselves. The day was completely with an experiential session on Biodanza with Alice Plummer of Mindful world.

On 4 May we welcomed Ben Brown, N.D. Naturopath and Nutritionalist, to present The Biome. This was an informative and entertaining review of the scientific evidence surrounding this much-discussed aspect of ‘the brain in the gut’. Finally, Charlotte Watts, nutritional therapist and teacher, led a session on yoga, the gut and mental health, which combined an informative presentation with experiential practice.

Then, on 11 October last year, we welcomed delegates for a Holistic Faculty workshop on yoga and psychology. Our committee members Nina Dhiman and Suzanne Heywood-Everett report on having organised a successful day. Faculty for Holistic Psychology Newsletter – Mar 2020

Introduction and objectives Yoga is a holistic system for developing awareness • ’s Yoga on the mind and of physical, psychological, spiritual and emotional psychological health wellbeing, and is increasingly recognised and practised in modern secular society. • Applications of therapeutic yoga

Its value alongside therapeutic approaches is being • Experiential embodied practice explored more closely, with a growing evidence base. It was a collaboration with the following presenters: The ancient practice of yoga was described in a number of texts, notably Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. • Lina Newstead (yoga teacher and trainer for BWY and now teacher) The workshop was to enable delegates to learn and experience a better understanding of how these ancient • Andy Curtis-Payne (yoga therapist, teacher, trainer philosophies can inform current psychological theory and chair of the Society of Yoga Practitioners) and practice. • Tracy Pellatt-Higgins (senior research fellow, Inherent in the yoga tradition is the focus on counselling psychologist and yoga teacher) psychological wellbeing and Patanjali’s Sutras give • Nina Dhiman (clinical psychologist, UK-registered equal emphasis to a range of facets to develop and mindfulness teacher and yoga teacher) sustain wellbeing. • Dr Suzanne Heywood-Everett (consultant clinical The workshop covered: psychologist) • A brief history of yoga for health, personal growth and self-development Faculty for Holistic Psychology Newsletter – Mar 2020

Nina Dhiman - Recognising Dukha and A small but enthusiastic group of about 35 delegates both in ourselves and in the poeople we support, teach attended the workshop, and I was delighted to be or ‘hold’ therapeutically. joined by four colleagues from psychology, research and professional yoga backgrounds to share our Speakers referred to a ‘holistic model’ of yoga for work reflecting on the connections between yoga and physical, mental, psychological and spiritual wellbeing: psychology. • - Mindful living/values/conduct

Delegates took their seats and settled to the sound of • - Cultivating positive attitudes Indian bells, allowing a mindful connection between body, breath and mind. • - Posture, comfort and ease on and off the mat I opened the day with a personal memory from my childhood. I was around 10 years old, sitting with my • Pranyama - Breathing practices mum as another lady arrived in our home to offer • - Restoring the senses and tuning condolences following the loss of a family member. inwards My mum’s words stayed with me. “Bhaenji, ki kar • Dharana - Attentional skills and focus sakthaaya?” she asked. “Duniyaa chei dukh bhi hundaa, thaan sukh bhi hundaa. Kuch nai kaar • Dhyana - Sustaining attention sakthaya.” This translates as “sister, what can we do? In life there is suffering (dukha) and joy (sukha). There • - Settled mind, enlightened is nothing we can do.” In the silence that followed, I The first two limbs containing guiding values and was aware of my body, its frame, weight, my breath, ethics. and a quality of wonderment in listening and watching, as they wiped their tears. Yama:

The question was rhetorical. And far from feeling that • Ahimsa - Non-violence, non-judgement, which is nothing could be done, it felt like it was everything sensitivity - these women held each other and me in a warm, caring space. • - Honesty

There wasn’t anything we could or needed to do. We • Aparigarha - Not hoarding, openness could just be together in a spirit of human kindness • Bharmacharya - Intimacy and compassion. It was naturally therapeutic, honest and real. • Asteya - Acceptance

In 2013 I heard the words dukha and sukha referred to Nyama: by Jon Kabat-Zinn (a pioneer in secular mindfulness) at the Mindfulness in Society Conference, hosted by • Sauca - Integrity and trust Bangor University. • - Contentment It seems that no matters what our culture, tradition and • - Effort and passion professional background, the interplay between doing and being helps to develop awareness and insight. • Svadhaya - Self-inquiry

This is relevant to psychology, yoga and mindfulness. • Ishavara Pranidhna - Higher sense of awareness, Each offers ways to understand and learn about the oneness, faith and a greater cause mind and our ability to foster and train wellbeing through mental, physical and compassionate practices Faculty for Holistic Psychology Newsletter – Mar 2020

Holistic yoga for self-development and health Lina Newstead gave a general overview of yoga being taught. In her experienced of teaching longer psychology for heallth, personal growth and self- yoga programmes, profound change can occur when awareness, stating that yoga is not a swift change but a (breath practice) is practised daily. Despite gradual one. Those changes usually stay with the person, anecdotal reports that pranayama is falling out of fashion provided that they maintain practice over time. in regular yoga classes, a few organisations are now set up simply to teach breathing practices - most of which Yoga can be considered as a ‘toolbox’, in which are yogic ones! you can find the right practice to deal with difficulty whether physically, emotionally or spiritually. A lot of Lina felt that integral and transpersonal psychology the early postures were simply seated to make the have overlaps with yoga, as all aim to increase self- comfortable in posture as they explored knowledge - how you behave and how to function well consciousness. In Patanjali’s ‘Eight Limbs’ of yoga, in life. Historically, Roberto Assagiolo and Carl Jung asana - physical practice - is but one aspect to support were interested in yoga, although Jung was wary about wellbeing. integrating an Eastern system into the Western mind. But, over time, these prejudices have been overcome. Lina felt that what most people are practising now in the West is modern postural yoga, and there are From her teaching career, Lina gave examples of numerous published research articles that report profound changes in behaviour or lifestyle that some physical benefits. She commended the holistic faculty in of her students shared through reflecting on Clinical Psychology Forum in 2018 for featuring holistic and . Such changes included becoming more approaches, and recognising the psychological and altruistic and able to challenge the norms of materialistic mental benefits of yoga practice. Lina informed delegates society. She finished by sharing a student’s reflection: of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Yoga in Society, and the drive to make yoga available through clinical “I believe that if I hadn’t started learning yoga, I may not commissioning on the NHS. Yoga could provide a cost- be making this journey that I am in terms of not smoking effective adjunct to health care and be made more widely or drinking. The yamas have made me look at who I am available. and where I am - then make changes as I go.”

However, not all Western yoga teachers bring in all eight limbs of yoga, and so an unbalanced yoga is currently

Andy Curtis-Payne shares a person-centred approach Andy Curtis-Payne shared with us how a yoga therapist This was followed by Prasnam - dialogue, or that approaches the consultation process when meeting a ‘which I hear’, and includes the volume, pace and new client. This included information gathering and clarity of the voice regarding what is said and what establishing a good relationship with the clients. Andy isn’t. Andy told us that listening skills were based on said that information was generally gathered by the use the principles outlined by the British Association for of appropriate consultation proforma in a safe space Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), using tools where the client is able to feel comfortable at all levels - such as reflection and paraphrasing to allow the client physically, psychologically and emotionally. to tell and explore their own story in their words.

From a yoga perspective, two main sets of tools are Following assessment, Andy said he draws on a range employed. Darsanam - observation, or that which of models provided in ancient yoga texts to investigate is seen, which beings the moment a client is met, how yoga can be used by the client to improve their their demeanour, body language and includes psychological wellbeing. The simplest and most physiogonomy. All hold potential clues to the current profound tool in the yoga therapist’s toolkit is the state of wellbeing. breath - by enabling the client to regular their breathing to influence the mind in a positive way. This includes Faculty for Holistic Psychology Newsletter – Mar 2020

learning to gradually extend exhalation and through Yoga: Two philosophies of mind compared, by TKV basic body movements, and/or the use of chanting Desikachar and Hellfried Krushe. and sound if comfortable to the client. “I am sure that there is very much more that we can Andy was delighted by the enthusiasm and energy learn from and teach each other about improving of the group, the presence of a young cohort of our clients’ mental wellbeing and, more importantly, professionals, and recognised common ground and empowering our clients to care for themselves in a shared generic skills that exist between yoga therapists world whose demands seem to become ever greater and psychologists. and more challenging.” - Andy Curtis-Payne

Following the day, Andy shared a book which might be of interest to psychologists and - Freud and

A feasibility study of a therapeutic and motivational for stress, anxiety and burnout in a UK university Delegates were guided by Nina for a 30-minute practice • To explore whether a six-week therapeutic hatha of Yoga-Nidra after the lunch break, before she and yoga course has the potential to improve stress Tracy Pellatt-Higgins copresented their study to explore and burnout outcomes in university staff members whether attendance of a six-week yoga course has resporting stress and/or anxiety in the previous six the potential to improve stress, burnout and anxiety month period outcomes in university staff members. The study was a double blind, single centre, active control, prospective, • To explore whether a motivational intervention can cluster randomised study. affect behaviour change through the potential to increase uptake of class and home yoga practice Tracy shared that existing data suggested that more than a third of university staff reported often or always • To estimate the difference between the intervention experiencing levels of stress that are unacceptable. and active control group in stress and burnout Yoga practices have been shown to be beneficial outcomes on the Perceived Stress Scale and in a range of mental health conditions: depressive Maslach Burnout Inventory General Survey after and anxiety disorders, PTSD, eating disorders and three months psychosis. • To explore the ‘dose’ response of stress and However, there are no published trials which address burnout outcomes based on yoga practice hours the effective ‘dosage’ of yoga for stress and burnout, or and class attendance after three months ways of maintaining yoga practice longer term and the impact of home yoga practice. These factors contribute to the effectiveness of yoga and were explored in the study. Study objectives:

Constructing a therapeutic yoga course Nina then presented on how she planned the course She shared the first four sutras of Patanjali’s content, drawing on Patanjali’s classical yoga text and a work, and their relevance to psychology: range of contemporary resources appropriate for secular teaching. While yoga is traditionally a spiritual path, yoga • Atha yoganusasanam - Now the teaching of yoga confers benefit to everyone regardless of spiritual belief. begins Faculty for Holistic Psychology Newsletter – Mar 2020

• Yogaasgcittavrrtinirodhah - Yoga is the settling of the evidence-based mindfulness - intentional present mind (from distraction) moment awareness. This was guided by inviting awareness to an interplay of ‘doing’ and ‘being - • Tada drastuh svarupe vasthanam - Then the sensations, movement, kinaesthetic feedback, breath, observer/’seer’ abides in presence, otherwise... thoughts, feelings.

• Vrttisarupyamitaratra - we identify with the waves of “Although it looks like exercise and conveys the benefits thinking! of exercise - yoga is far more than exercise. Done We cultivate this ‘observer’ capacity to develop insight mindfully, it is meditation just as much as the sitting on and off the mat repeatedly. practice or the body scan is meditation.” - Jon Kabat- Zinn in Practices were also selected with reference to contemporary published consensus statements on Some of the themes that emerged from participants’ beneficial practices for reducing anxiety, improving comments included: positive emotions and wellbeing. • Improved sleep

All participants attended the course between January • Better and March 2019 - classes included the repetition of yoga postures, sequences, breath practices and • Transferring yoga practice and breathing techniques relaxation which could be practised at home. to prepare for assessments/when frustrated by work/anxious moments Course materials and workbooks were compiled and given to aid home practice. In the intervention group, • Easier relaxation participants received an additional workbook about developing a regular yoga practice, with personal • Eating more healthily motivation, goal-setting and strategies for overcoming Some comments from participants on the course: barriers to promote behaviour change. This workbook was drawn from the NHS health trainer handbook. • “Feeling calm after each session. I was able to use this feeling at other times.” Integral in the teaching was drawing from secular Faculty for Holistic Psychology Newsletter – Mar 2020

• “I have learned that very short but mindful yoga • Participants in both groups showed evidence of movements are very effective for my own wellbeing greater wellbeing at week 12 and both achievable and enjoyable.” • There was some evidence of potentially greater Tracy shared that although the study was only a feasibility wellbeing in the intervention group, compared to the study, the results were promising and there was evidence control of benefits from therapeutic yoga in qualitative and quantitative data in both groups: • The data suggested that the motivational intervention had an impact on encouraging and sustaining • Participants in the intervention group practiced more therapeutic yoga therapeutic yoga at home in week six Tracey and Nina hope to publish the study and to extend • The amount of home therapeutic yoga was similar in the study into mental health services. both groups at week 12 (follow-up)

How psychological therapies are commissioned and delivered in the NHS Dr Suzanne Heywood-Everett covered what is meant • A series of postures? by ‘evidence-based practice’, and the challenges we currently have around the evidence base for • A way of life - mind, body, spirit? psychological therapies. Methodological challenges • Lanaguage - do we acknowledge Sanskrit words, mean that gold standard RCTs are often lacking, what are we comfortable with in the NHS? particularly where the individual’s psychological difficulties are complex. • How can we respect the cultural context of yoga and deliver yoga in a secular society? Research is often diagnosis-specific, or modality- specific, and increasingly there has been a need to Some features to consider in bringing yoga into the NHS: examine the non-specific variables in therapy. • A clear evidence-based RCT gold standard Suzanne drew parallels with the study of yoga. Whilst • Outcome-based, ie measureable change yoga is an ancient practice, and has been associated with a way of life that can balance emotional, physical • Condition-specific for physical and/or mental health and spiritual health for more than 2,000 years, only recently has there been a move to substantiate these • Structured and protocol driven claims through research. • Reproducible Ethical and mindful considerations: • Scalable • Is yoga an intervention? • Quality-assured and certified • Are we potentially dissecting yoga to something that • Timed return on investment is longer yoga?

Interest by the Holistic Pre-Qualification Committee Cindy Toloza, faculty representative for the pre- “The information from the event was really valuable and qualification committee, was keen to inform her peers it was surprising to learn that there are so many links with who were unable to attend the workshop about the day. yoga and psychological therapies, which overall can help She found it inspiring and said: to inspire or spark ideas for aspiring psychologists.” Faculty for Holistic Psychology Newsletter – Mar 2020

Taking applications of therapeutic yoga forward in the BPS Delegates were keen to build on issues discussed on between yoga, psychology and mindfulness, increasingly the day, and expressed interest in creating a psychology East meets West. This can only be more inclusive for the and yoga sub-group within the faculty. We’ll be exploring wide range of clients/patients we serve. this further. Feedback from the BPS survey about the workshop was encouraging and positive: There was a lovely combination of personal, knowledge sharing and audience interaction. To sum up, I felt “I enjoyed the interaction, discussion, the energy of energised, enthused and eager for more! Looking forward the speakers and what they said, the furthering of links to future events.”

Our next event Holistic Faculty Annual Conference - 29 & 30 May 2020 We’ll be joined by Andy Bellt (Centre for Mental Health), Ursula Philpot (Diet and Health) and Jess Bolton (emotioHealth) for our next faculty event in Brighton on “When you can’t fix it: Evidence-based practice and 29 and 30 May. . Save the date, and we’ll have more practice-based evidence in complex physical and mental details on registration soon. health.”

Get involved We’ll be discussing and organising further therapeutic you’re interested in getting involved with the Faculty for applications of yoga, among other faculty activities. If Holistic Psychology, please get in touch.

Committee members Chair: Jane Street Service User Rep: Tracey Bennett

Secretary: Susan Quinn Other members: Lawrence Yusupoff, Jonathon Cash, Helen Card, Galen Ives, Ann Childs, Gwendolyn Ball, Treasurer: Vacant Catherine Dooley, Daljit Sandhu, Nina Dhiman, Suzanne DCP Rep: Stuart Whomsley Heywood Everett