Yoga psychology

Domain VII · Transpersonal, psychedelic & altered states · Swami Rama, Rudolph Ballentine, Swami Ajaya · 1976

What it is

Yoga psychology is a framework, not a single manualised therapy. Swami Ajaya calls yoga psychotherapy a theoretical perspective on psychotherapy, in the same sense as Gestalt or client-centred therapy. Its authors set yoga's model of mind beside Western models of ego, instinct and consciousness,…

Format

• Neither school publishes a session-by-session protocol, session count or formal phase criteria for psychotherapy. The structure below is a clinical sequence assembled from the practice progressions the sources do give; the phase division and session format are.
• Phase 1. Assessment and formulation (1–2 sessions)

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Phase 3. Mind training and self-observation

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• How do you and the practitioner understand what is happening, in spiritual or cultural terms? Is that a source of comfort, worry, or both?
• Does it use a device, heat, cold, water or a physical procedure? Has a medical professional checked that it is safe for you?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• imposing meanings; nightmares from trauma need trauma-focused care.
• as A5; clients with chronic pain may find joint attention increases pain awareness.
• the same dissociation risks as B3. Working: less reactive self-report, more curiosity.
• mismatching frame and client. Working: progress in behaviour, insight and self-compassion together.
• turning discernment into harsh self-judgment. Working: more deliberate choices recorded between sessions.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.