Media & News:
Mind-Body Therapy Study Results Revealed
Cynthia Price, Ph.D Research Asst. Professor,
University of Washington
Residence XII recently participated in a research study funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse at the National Institutes of Health to assess the feasibility of delivering, and benefits of, a mind-body therapy called Mindful Awareness in Body-oriented Therapy (MABT). MABT was developed by Dr. Price and involves massage, body awareness exercises, and mindful attention to the body to gain emotional and physical awareness. This was the first study to examine a therapy involving massage and mindful attention in substance use disorder treatment and was reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board of the University of Washington. Forty-six women enrolled in the study.
Once enrolled, they were randomly assigned to receive either eight weekly 90-minute sessions of MABT in addition to the usual treatment, or to just usual treatment. Four licensed massage therapists were trained to deliver Mindful Awareness in Body- oriented Therapy. Study questionnaires to measure substance use, psychological symptoms, physical symptoms and coping were filled out four times by participants over the course of nine months. The results of the study showed that the participants who received MABT had significantly fewer days of substance use compared to those who received just treatment. Notably, cravings and social pressure to use were significantly reduced for MABT compared to treatment alone.
Also examined were eating disorder symptoms, depression and anxiety, post-traumatic disorder symptoms, and physical symptoms. The MABT participants showed a significant reduction in eating disorder symptoms, depression, anxiety, and physical symptom frequency (how often they occurred). The study also showed that participants who received MABT sessions had significantly less dissociation and perceived stress, and significantly more emotion regulation skills. The participants who received the MABT sessions were asked to rate how much they liked the therapy and to write about their experience receiving the therapy. All participants indicated high overall satisfaction with the therapy. Their responses to the written questionnaire showed that they experienced an increase in mind-body awareness, learned tools for emotional awareness and stress reduction, and found that MABT facilitated recovery by increasing their ability to calm and regulate emotions. Overall, the study demonstrated the feasibility of delivering MABT to women in substance use disorder treatment. The positive health improvements and the positive experience of the participants indicates that MABT is worthy of further study.