The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
MIND, BODY AND SPIRIT
Connecticut Valley Hospital patients use alternative treatments to augment traditional therapy
Yoga is meant to be a transformative, meditative practice, aimed at augmenting mind, body and spirit.
And at a state hospital for the mentally ill, health workers are using yoga, as well as other alternatives to conventional methods, to help treat their patients.
Connecticut Valley Hospital will throw its annual health fair on Wednesday, which allows other patients to learn about health resources available inside and outside the hospital that can help them cope with mental and behavioral health issues, including drug and alcohol addiction.
In years past, experts on therapeutic yoga, reflexology, massage therapy and vibrational healing show the hospital residents techniques to unwind, while other professionals and public safety officials give demonstrations on fire safety and outdoor recreation.
At a request from the Press, CVH Chief Executive Officer Helene Vartelas organized a meeting with health workers and two patients who have made use of integrative medicine.
The two patients, who wished not to be identified by name or what they were undergoing treatment for, said yoga and sensory modulation had augmented and accelerated their treatment.
“Yoga is the big thing on campus right now,” said one patient who has been at CVH for 10 months.
An integrative medicine committee considers different treatment options up to and including shifting diets to present to hospital staff and administrators.
“I don’t practice much yoga by myself but I do meditate, deep breathing techniques when I get overwhelmed or stressed out, maybe once a week,” one patient said.
“It’s not a terrible place, the staff that’s here is wonderful, it’s just that being on a unit with gravely ill people can be hard,” he said. “It makes me realize that I need to change what I was doing before.”
Now, the patient is readying for discharge from his unit. “I haven’t been this perspicacious in my life for a very, very long time. I’mvery optimistic about the future. I have 14 months sober,” he said. “My favorite part of recovery here has been yoga.”
The other patient, who had only been at the hospital for a matter of weeks, used “sensory modulation” — focusing on one form of sensory input at a time — and other relaxation techniques to supplement his conventional treatment.
“It’s helped me clear my mind and to think and see clearer and it really helps me with relaxation, it brings down my stress and depression,” he said. “In sensory modulation, we’re taught to use our senses and notice the environment around us, objects, things ... it brings our awareness up but also helps us to relax and clear our minds.
“We learn to prettymuch relieve our stress and anxiety in that class.”
This patient has also had nightly vibrational healing sessions, wherein a practitioner places vibrating “singing bowls” on different parts of a subject’s body.
Of the hospital’s patients, the number of which oscillates between 565 and 580, about a quarter are currently making use of these techniques, according to Tracey Sondik, a clinical psychologist and yoga teacher.
Lou Sorrentino, a drug and alcohol counselor, has trained on the singing bowls after successfully using the treatment himself to manage pain after an auto accident. “It brought me back to complete clarity, and so I wanted to share it. I went on this training and I came back with the singing bowls and did it for the patients and one by one they came to my office.”
Sondik said research supports using yoga and mindfulness exercises as a “third wave” of psychotherapy.
“It’s well recognized as a treatment modality,” said Sondik. “It’s gone from new age to evidence-based.”
Even a few minutes of mindful breathing, she said, can generate a parasympathetic nervous response, calming the body down.
“It also is a nice complement to traditional psychiatry,” said Sharon Molloy, a rehabilitation therapist. “If they’re better able to cope with or regulate their emotions, maybe it’s less medication.”
“You don’t have to rely on a pill or medication,” said Sondik. “It’s a very portable, teachable skill.”
The second patient, the one who had been at CVH for just a few weeks, said integrative medicine “makes you a little more proud of yourself. You believe you can accomplish things with or without drugs, medicine.”
He said that, since coming to CVH, he has embraced his therapy and acknowledged that he is not yet ready to leave. “It inspired me to actually want to become a counselor and try to do the same things that they’re doing.”