Assessing the Efficacy of Somatic Experiencing for Reducing Symptoms of Anxiety and Depresion
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Authors
Changaris, Michael C.
Issue Date
2012
Type
Dissertation
Language
en
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
Homelessness can be stressful and overwhelming. This study assessed the efficacy of Somatic Experiencing (SE), a short-term resiliency-based treatment, for reducing anxiety (State Trait Anxiety Inventory, STAI) and depression (Beck Depression Inventory, BDI-II) in homeless adults. A matched sample of homeless adults who received SE sessions (M=1.33, n=18) was compared with controls (n=18). State anxiety scores were significantly reduced in the SE group (p=.031). Trending toward symptom reduction, depression, and trait anxiety were not significantly reduced for the SE group. Somatic and cognitive symptoms of depression were significantly reduced for the SE group when controlling for the number of sessions and in a small sub-sample who completed the surveys five times. The number of individual sessions strongly covaried with the degree of reduction of symptoms of depression. Further, more controlled studies with larger subject samples are indicated.