Trauma-Informed Yoga

Trauma-Informed Yoga (sometimes called Trauma-Sensitive Yoga, or TCTSY in the David Emerson and Bessel van der Kolk lineage) is a yoga protocol modified for trauma survivors. The 2014 RCT by van der Kolk and colleagues at the Trauma Center applied a 10-week trauma-informed yoga protocol to chronic PTSD patients with limited response to other treatments and reported effect sizes comparable to EMDR.

Differences from regular yoga: no physical adjustments by the instructor (preserves bodily autonomy after trauma history); choice and consent emphasised throughout (the instructor offers options rather than direct postures); attention to subtle body sensation rather than achievement of postures; permission to opt out of any practice; and no narrative engagement with trauma content.

The mechanism is interoceptive awareness and autonomic regulation. Trauma disrupts the patient's relationship with their own body. They cannot read their internal signals. They cannot feel safe in their skin. The yoga protocol rebuilds this relationship through specific postures, breath work, and attention practices designed for trauma sensitivity.

Best fit: chronic PTSD with high somatic-arousal symptoms; trauma survivors in maintenance phase after primary treatment; patients who want a self-applicable practice they can continue indefinitely; treatment-resistant PTSD where other approaches have stalled.

Less suitable as standalone first-line treatment: severe acute PTSD, active dissociative episodes, trauma where specific intervention (EMDR, somatic experiencing) is needed first. Often best added to existing treatment rather than used alone.

Training credentials: the Trauma Center Trauma-Sensitive Yoga (TCTSY) certification is the most rigorous. Other trauma-informed yoga trainings vary in depth.