title: Self-defense training as clinical intervention for survivors of trauma.
abstract: A well-designed self-defense curriculum, congruent with psychophysiologically informed trauma research and treatment, and integrated with input from therapists, can serve as an important adjunctive treatment. We provide a detailed description of such a program modified to be an experiential, psychoeducational intervention for female survivors of trauma. Recent research on the role of blocked motor responses in the development of pathology post-trauma is explored as a potential explanatory mechanism for the therapeutic benefits of self-defense training. Through specific examples and descriptions of teaching methods, we examine how this intervention compliments and augments traditional psychotherapeutic treatment of trauma sequelae.
authors.affiliation: Private Practice, Lawrenceville, NJ, USA.
authors.forename: Gianine D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Rosenblum
authors.forename: Lynn S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Taska
mesh_terms: D003479:Curriculum; D005081:Exercise Therapy / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009046:Motor Neurons; D010806:Physical Education and Training; D011209:Power, Psychological; D011602:Psychophysiologic Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D011603:Psychophysiology; D011902:Rape / Q000523:psychology*; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017741:Survivors; D014754:Violence; D014930:Women; D016387:Women's Health
keywords: personal safety; posttraumatic stress disorder; self-defense; trauma; treatment; women