Whole-body cryotherapy

Domain X · Body, movement, breath & physical

What it is

Brief exposure of the body to extremely cold, dry air or nitrogen vapour in a purpose-built enclosure. Two device families are described:

Format

• Because the psychotherapist does not deliver cryotherapy, the framework below is a referral-and-integration pathway for the therapist. Sessions are delivered by the provider as single exposures or as series; research protocols use repeated supervised exposures. No exposure parameters are given…
• Depression: one double-blind, sham-controlled RCT in medically stable adults with a depressive episode found greater improvement on depression scales when WBC was added to ongoing antidepressant medication. This is a single trial, in a medically supervised research setting, as an add-on; it does…

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Regulation: in the US no WBC device has been cleared or approved by the FDA to treat any medical condition.

Evidence status, as the guide reports it

• Version followed: whole-body cryotherapy/cryostimulation (WBC) and partial-body cryotherapy (PBC, "cryosauna") as described by the US Food and Drug Administration consumer update of July 2016, the Cochrane review by Costello et al. (2015), the international safety scoping review by Legrand et al.…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• 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?
• 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

• relapse signs, rising risk. Working: treatment decisions are made jointly with the prescriber.
• shame or self-blame; delays in seeking care. Working: the client has been assessed and the event recorded.
• the client feeling lectured or shamed; keep it informational. Working: the client can restate both the possible benefit and the uncertainty.
• reliance on a single dramatic intervention; disappointment when effects are brief. Working: the client generalises the meaningful part to daily life.
• escalating use or chasing intensity; mood change unrelated to cryotherapy being credited to it. Working: stable or improving mood with no adverse effects and no dropped treatment.

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.