Social Work Today E-Zine

With a $98,000 grant from the Ohio Department of Mental Health, Deborah Akers, Miami University visiting assistant professor of anthropology, is working with Ohio State University‘s Moyee Lee, professor of social work, and Amy Zaharlick, professor of anthropology, on a project to investigate the impact of Tibetan meditation on victims of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The project will last two years.

Researchers are working with women diagnosed with PTSD who live in a women's treatment program for alcohol and drug addiction. Tibetan monk Geshe Kalsang Damdhul of the Institute of Higher Buddhist Dialectics in Dharamsala, India, will assist as a meditation instructor.

"Participants are being taught specialized meditation techniques and will be guided through meditation for a period of six weeks," says Akers. "This project charts new ground, bringing a holistic perspective to the treatment of PTSD." She adds that though meditation has been used in a variety of therapeutic settings in the West, such as reducing stress and coping with pain, its application in the treatment of mental illness has not been extensively explored.

"Whereas in the West treatment of PTSD may require years of prescription medicine and counseling, the Tibetan approach has been successful within one to two years by focusing on the spiritual connection between the mind and the body that seems to allow the patient to process the trauma more effectively," says Akers.

— Source: Miami University