preview

Complementary And Alternative Therapies

Decent Essays

Discuss the various methods of complementary and alternative therapies.
CAMS are divided into five different categories: biological, manipulative-body, mind-body, energy, and alternative medicine. For example, dance therapy would fall under the manipulative-body based interventions, while mind-body interventions encompass alternatives like poetry, art, or music, and yoga would be an example of mind-body interventions and manipulative-body. Participants in music therapy have reported improved quality of life, and yoga therapy has been shown to lead individuals towards motivation to health improvement. As well, dance therapy has been proven to improve body image, coordination, body awareness, depression, anxiety, and stress relief; as well, sexual abuse survivors have used dance therapy to reconnect with their body by coping and processing, as well as give them a sense of freedom from their trauma (Complementary and Integrative, n.d.). …show more content…

I feel one of the most research CAMs is hippotherapy, and it is one that I am quite familiar with in my line of work. Hippotherapy is equine, or horse, therapy and is very common in special needs children, particularly those with autism. In conjunction with traditional therapies and treatment plans, it is proven to be very effective in regards to posture, gross motor skills, fine motor skills, as well as body and cognitive awareness. There is also extensive research done looking at how coping and communication skills improved in individuals since the start of hippotherapy (Ajzenman, Shurtleff, & Standeven,

Get Access