Description

(W.W. Norton)

These Yoga strategies are drawn from the author’s research and study of multiple traditions and lineages, resulting in a compendium of Yoga-based practices that are specific to mood management.

Yoga Skills for Therapists offers specific yoga tools that therapists can teach their clients. These yoga tools include rituals and practices that strengthen the therapeutic bond and empower clients to self-regulate, increasing feelings of self-efficacy and control.

Available from your local bookseller or via the publisher (enter code OAW 1955 at check out for a 20% discount) or from online retailers like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Indiebound, and Powells.

Current Reviews and Interviews:

• Review by Sharon Steffenson, Editor Yoga Chicago
• Review by Michelle Sharp, Yoga International
• Review by Elissa Cobb
• Review by Patricia Gerbarg, M.D.
• Huffington Post Interview

Here’s what the experts are saying:

“Yoga Skills for Therapists brilliantly opens a door to the physical and spiritual layers of a client—one that many therapists and counselors have been waiting to walk through. From a place of genuine respect, integrity, and intention, Amy Weintraub offers easily applied foundational yogic practices to enrich the therapeutic experience for both client and practitioner.” — Elisa Cobb, Yoga Therapy Today

“Imagine immersing yourself in the wisdom of body-centered awareness from thousands of years of practice under the compassionate and skilled guidance of an experienced and illuminating practitioner. Yoga Skills for Therapists is Amy Weintraub’s gift of fresh air that weaves detailed instructions for personal and clinical applications with what modern research is now demonstrating to be effective clinical interventions for anxiety, depression, and trauma. Even your own mental and physical health will be greatly enhanced with the accessible steps illustrated in this fabulous contribution to our human journey toward well-being!” —Daniel J. Siegel, MD, Executive Director, Mindsight Institute, Clinical Professor, UCLA School of Medicine, author, The Mindful Brain, The Mindful Therapist, and Pocket Guide to Interpersonal Neurobiology

“Amy Weintraub has produced a groundbreaking manual that will guide a whole new generation of patients and therapists in the use of simple but extremely reliable yoga-based techniques for self-regulation.” — Stephen Cope, author, Yoga and the Quest for the True Self & Director, Kripalu Institute for Extraordinary Living

“Research now validates what yoga adepts have claimed for thousands of years: Yoga practices profoundly affect our state of heart and mind! Drawing on her wisdom and notable expertise, Amy Weintraub guides us in bringing this ancient science of healing into clinical settings. Yoga Skills for Therapists is both practical and inspiring; it will allow you to offer the precious gifts of yoga to your clients and deepen the roots of your own practice as well.” — Tara Brach, Ph.D., author of Radical Acceptance (Bantam, 2003)

“A psychotherapist might spend many years studying yoga and still not achieve anything near this elegant, practical, powerful integration. The instruction — while emerging from a 4000-year-oldtradition some consider esoteric — is immediately useful for treating abroad range of mental health disorders, even for therapists with no other background in yoga. As a bonus, the book seamlessly weaves in indispensable related tools, such as imagery, self-suggestion, and mindfulness meditation. It is a fabulous resource.” — Donna Eden & David Feinstein, Ph.D., Co-authors, Energy Medicine and The Promise of Energy Psychology

“Amy Weintraub helps us to bring the ancient wisdom and scientifically validated power of yoga into our clinical practices. This book is lucid, well documented, and immediately practical. Powerful medicine for our patients and clients, and for all of us.” — James S. Gordon, MD, author, Unstuck: Your Guide to the Seven-Stage Journey Out of Depression, founder & director, Center for Mind-Body Medicine

“Thank you! Thank you, Amy, for weaving your practical and inspiring yoga therapy skills and heartfelt experience into this groundbreaking book. Easy and clear to read, that will enrich us “ol’ war horses” in the healing professions and the new generation of students, clients and therapists for years to come.” — Lilias Folan, PBS host and author Lilias! Yoga – A Guide to Enhancing Body, Mind, and Spirit in Midlife and Beyond

“I offer gratitude for Amy Weintraub’s book, which provides those of us in the helping professions with a rich medley of well-designed interventions that enable us to integrate the powerful and now research-proven healing modalities of yoga into our daily interactions with clients.” —Richard Miller, PhD, author, Yoga Nidra: The Meditative Heart of Yoga, president, Integrative Restoration Institute 

“Yoga Skills for Therapists is the ideal resource for those who want to bring yoga practices into psychotherapy or healthcare. Weintraub, a leader in the field of yoga therapy, offers evidence-based, easy-to-introduce strategies for managing anxiety, improving mood, and relieving suffering. Helpful clinical insights and case examples emphasize safety, trust, and skillful adaptation to the individual, making it easy to apply the wisdom of yoga effectively in the therapeutic context.” — Kelly McGonigal, PhD, author, Yoga for Pain Relief, Editor-in-Chief, International Journal of Yoga Therapy

“Yoga helped me deal with depression and anxiety. After reading Amy Weintraub’s Yoga Skills for Therapists, I finally understand why. In clear language, Amy describes simple techniques accessible to everyone―breathing, mantras, mudras, imagery, affirmation, relaxation, and self-inquiry―explaining the evidence behind each, and relating stories of therapists who successfully used them with clients. While this book is written for psychotherapists, I highly recommend it to yoga teachers and practitioners looking to understand the mood-management power of yoga’s deeper practices.” – Danna Faulds, author of Into the Heart of Yoga and Go In and In

“Amy Weintraub shows how to use yoga as a resource for psychological healing and personal growth. Her methods are grounded in ancient wisdom, informed by modern science, and eminently practical for reducing anxiety, lifting mood, and improving self-regulation. She is a master teacher, and her skills and heart are woven throughout this new classic for therapists, clients, and anyone interested in inner strength and peace.” — Rick Hanson, Ph.D. author of Buddha’s Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, and Wisdom

“Yoga Skills for Therapists will become a timeless guide for therapists at all levels of experience.”—Richard P. Brown, MD, associate professor in Clinical Psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons; co-author, Non-Drug Treatments for ADHD and The Healing Power of the Breath

“…a concise, easy-to-read book that helps healers center themselves and, by doing so, expand the circle of healing to encompass others.” —Shirley Telles, MBBS, PhD, director of Research, Patanjali Research Foundation, Haridwar, India; head, Indian Council of Medical Research Center for Advanced Research in Yoga & Neurophysiology

“. . . an indispensable contribution to the emerging field of integrative mental health. This exceptionally clear and comprehensive discussion of time-honored and effective body-mind interventions should be required reading for all psychotherapists.” —Rubin Naiman, PhD, clinical assistant professor of medicine, University of Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine, author, Healing Nights: The Science and Spirit of Sleeping, Dreaming & Awakening

In this well-written and well-researched book Amy Weintraub provides therapists with simple, easy-to-apply but powerful, breathing, meditation, and hand gesture techniques that do not require a mat or body postures. Therapists can easily incorporate these techniques into their practices without otherwise having to change what they do, and clients can use them on their own. Thank you Amy for giving us access to this ancient healing wisdom. — Richard C. Schwartz, Ph.D., developer, Internal Family Systems Therapy, author, Introduction to the Internal Family Systems Model

Yoga Skills for Therapists brilliantly opens a door to the physical and spiritual layers of a client — one that therapists and counselors have been waiting to walk through. Its chapters unfold a unique and inspiring blend of ancient traditions and contemporary concerns. From a place of genuine respect, integrity and intention, Amy offers easily applied foundational yogic practices to enrich the therapeutic experience for both client and practitioner.  — Elissa Cobb, MA. Director of Programs, Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy

“This unique contribution to the integration of yoga, psychotherapy, and neuroscience provides an extensive set of practices for healing stress, anxiety, depression, and trauma . . . Amy deftly combines breathing, gestures, sounds, imagery, and meditation to address specific therapy issues such as mood, attachment, self esteem, and compassion. It is a pleasure to learn from master teacher, Amy Weintraub.” —Patricia Gerbarg, MD, assistant professor in clinical psychiatry, New York Medical College; co-author, How to Use Herbs, Nutrients, & Yoga in Mental Health

“Amy Weintraub is a leader, innovator, and an excellent teacher and writer. In her new book she brings therapists yogic tools to help emotional and physical healing and well-being.” —Richard Fields, PhD, owner/director, FACES Conferences

“Amy Weintraub represents the new masters of yoga . . . who will carry the art and science into the new millennium. She is one of the forerunners of integrating yoga and therapeutic modalities, and I highly commend her for courageously pioneering this field where others will follow.” —Rama Jyoti Vernon, co-founder, Yoga Journal; founder, Unity in Yoga