NEXT Teen Yoga training dates are: 7-11 April 2026 (face to face, Sweden) + 11 Sept - 24 Nov 2026 (online)

From Clinical Question to Embodied Solution

The pathway was initiated by Dr Jo Barker, Consultant Psychiatrist at CAMHS Southampton, following her experience of TeenYoga training. Reflecting on the limitations of conventional talking therapies for some young people, she observed: “Not every child is ready — or able — to engage verbally. Many experience distress primarily through their bodies. Yoga offered an embodied language of healing, allowing young people to reconnect with themselves in a way that felt accessible and safe.”

In April 2023, a yoga therapist was embedded within the CAMHS service as part of a formal pilot. The intention was both simple and ambitious: to integrate trauma-informed yoga therapy into routine clinical care, offering an additional pathway for children and adolescents whose needs were not fully met by existing interventions. Within twelve months, more than one hundred young people aged six to seventeen had engaged with the service. Feedback from families, clinicians, and service users was consistently positive. In April 2024, the role was made permanent.

What Makes This Different?

These are not general yoga classes. Sessions are individually tailored and delivered within clear clinical governance frameworks. Young people may work one-to-one, alongside a parent or carer, or in small therapeutic groups. Practices combine movement, breath regulation, relaxation, and mindfulness, underpinned by themes of safety, choice, self-compassion, and emotional regulation. Crucially, the work integrates both top-down cognitive understanding and bottom-up somatic awareness — helping young people recognise bodily signals, develop emotional literacy, and build practical self-regulation skills they can use in daily life.

Alignment with NICE, NHS and WHO Guidance

The Southampton yoga therapy pathway is closely aligned with current national and international health guidance, particularly around prevention, early intervention, and holistic models of care.

  • NICE guidance consistently emphasises the importance of early intervention, emotional regulation, self-management skills, and non-pharmacological approaches for children and young people experiencing anxiety, depression, trauma, and behavioural difficulties. Yoga therapy directly supports these aims by equipping young people with practical skills for regulating stress responses before difficulties escalate to higher-intensity interventions.• NHS policy on preventative and personalised care highlights the need to move “upstream” — reducing pressure on specialist services by supporting resilience, self-efficacy, and whole-person wellbeing. Embodied approaches such as yoga therapy align with the NHS Long Term Plan’s focus on prevention, integration, and offering a broader range of evidence-informed interventions alongside traditional talking therapies.

     

  • At an international level, the work reflects World Health Organization (WHO) guidance on the responsible inclusion of traditional and indigenous health practices within modern healthcare systems. The WHO advocates for integrating such practices where they are evidence-informed, ethically delivered, culturally respectful, and appropriately governed — criteria that this CAMHS pathway explicitly meets. Importantly, yoga therapy within CAMHS is not positioned as an alternative to medical or psychological treatment, but as a complementary, integrative intervention that strengthens existing care pathways and broadens access for young people who may otherwise struggle to engage.

Who Benefits?

The pathway has been particularly effective for young people experiencing trauma, anxiety, eating disorders, emotional dysregulation, ADHD, or a sense of disconnection from their bodies. Some participants had previously struggled to engage with verbal therapies or had become stuck within traditional treatment pathways.

One parent shared: “After yoga, my son came home and said, ‘Mum, I feel it here in my tummy.’ He had never been able to name feelings before.” Clinicians also noted the value of having yoga therapy available within the multidisciplinary team. 

A Consultant Psychiatrist commented: “Given how complex this young person’s difficulties were, the progress has been remarkable. Yoga therapy has been a significant part of him learning crucial new skills.”

Evidence and Outcomes

Alongside qualitative feedback, outcome measures demonstrated consistent improvement. Tools including the Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS), Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaires (SDQs), and bespoke measures of self-compassion and bodily awareness all showed positive change. Parents reported improved sleep, reduced anxiety, and better family relationships. Schools observed pupils applying breathing techniques independently and supporting peers with regulation strategies.

A Model Gaining National Momentum

What began in Southampton is no longer an isolated initiative. Several CAMHS units across the UK are now proactively approaching the team to explore how yoga therapy can be integrated into their own services, reflecting growing recognition of the need for embodied, preventative approaches within overstretched systems.

Training the Next Generation: Yoga Therapy within CAMHS

This momentum has informed the development of a new Yoga Therapy within CAMHS training programme, launching in autumn 2026.

The faculty brings together a multidisciplinary and international team, including:

  • NHS clinicians and mental health professionals with direct experience of delivering yoga therapy within CAMHS• Senior yoga therapists and educators specialising in trauma-informed and developmental practice

     

  • Indian experts in Vedanta and classical therapeutic traditions, ensuring the work is grounded in authentic indigenous knowledge systems while remaining clinically relevant, ethical, and evidence-informed

     

The programme is designed for experienced yoga practitioners seeking to work safely, ethically, and collaboratively within mental health and clinical settings, with a strong emphasis on scope of practice, safeguarding, and integration into statutory services.

Looking Ahead

Yoga therapy within CAMHS offers young people something both simple and profound: a way to experience safety and agency in their own bodies at a time when words alone may not be enough.

What began as a pilot is now a permanent service — and a model that reflects a broader shift towards preventative, holistic, and integrative mental health care for children and young people in the UK.