Open AccessInvestigating Impacts of Incorporating an Adjuvant Mind–Body Intervention Method Into Treatment as Usual at a Community-Based Substance Abuse Treatment Facility
Author(s) -
Yoshio Nakamura,
David A. Lipschitz,
Elizabeth Kanarowski,
Theresa McCormick,
Debbie Sutherland,
Melinda Melow-Murchie
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
sage open
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.357
H-Index - 32
ISSN - 2158-2440
DOI - 10.1177/2158244015572489
Subject(s) - mindfulness , psychological intervention , intervention (counseling) , substance abuse , clinical psychology , randomized controlled trial , brief intervention , psychology , psychiatry , alcohol use disorder , clinical trial , medicine , psychotherapist , physical therapy , alcohol , surgery , biochemistry , chemistry
Treatment of substance use/misuse (SUM) continues to pose adifficult challenge. This exploratory pilot study evaluated whether a novel mind–bodyintervention program called “Mind–Body Bridging” (MBB) could be an effective short-termadjuvant intervention for managing SUM and coexisting symptoms in women undergoingresidential and outpatient substance use treatment in a community setting. Thirty-eightwomen attending a local substance abuse (SA) facility were recruited and randomlyassigned to either (a) treatment as usual (TAU) or (b) MBB and TAU. The MBB programconsisted of 20 sessions and lasted for 10 weeks. Participants were asked to complete aset of self-report questionnaires designed to assess drug/alcohol cravings, impact ofpast trauma, depression, sleep disturbance, mindfulness, self-compassion, andwell-being. They completed the questionnaires at three time points: preintervention,midintervention (after the fifth week), and postintervention. MBB + TAU significantlyreduced drug/alcohol cravings, trauma-related thinking, and disturbed sleep incomparison with TAU. Furthermore, MBB + TAU significantly increased mindfulness,self-compassion, and well-being in comparison with TAU. MBB for SUM appears promising asa complementary adjuvant intervention, warranting future larger scale randomizedcontrolled trials of MBB for SUM populations. SUM is a difficult condition to treat andmanage clinically, especially given the multiple comorbid conditions that frequentlyaffect those with SUM. In the search to develop effective adjuvant interventions forSUM, the present pilot study suggested that adding MBB to standard SUM treatment incommunity-based settings could enhance therapeutic efficacy and quality ofcare